The fails and fixes of 500

Yesterday marked my 500th post, and it's truly hard to believe that I've written that many! That's 500-ish outfits, y'all! Which is even crazier to think about in terms of outfits because I started photo documenting my OOTDs a few months before I braved the blogging world! I've done a few of these milestone posts before - you can catch yourself up here on how I celebrated 100, 200, and 1-year.

For my 500th post, I thought it would be interesting to highlight some of my fails. But so this doesn't turn into a Debbie Downer post, I thought I would not only share the fail, but also the fix! I've said before that the best thing about blogging is truly being able to *see* yourself in your outfit. And since I take my photos the weekend before I'm actually wearing them, that gives me time to make tweaks based on things I didn't really like. A couple times they were so bad that I re-photographed the outfits before publishing them altogether, but most times, it was just a matter of making a minor tweak here and there to make an ok outfit a great outfit.

Original post here

I already commented about this fix and fail in the original post, so I thought this was a good one to start with to refresh your memory. The outfit on the left could actually work with bare legs and neutral sandals, but trying to winterize the metallic skirt with taupe tights and metallic booties was a disaster. The plum skinnies was such a better life choice and I'm really loving how those booties add shine to the look on the right.

Left: Never published | Right: Original post here

Holy slouchy, Batman!! I look so scrunched up and sad in the left photo! Not to mention like a really bad fashion victim with a fur vest AND a furry bag? What the heck was I thinking? Then I try and add in a leopard belt and moto boots. I wonder if I thought there was an award for the most trends I could wear all at the same time. It all was just a hot mess, so it never got published. I was determined to wear the vest with the red skinnies, though, and it's amazing what a few tweaks will do. I still have the leopard I love, but keeping it monochromatic with the other accessories and just letting the pants be the one pop of color simplifies the entire look and puts me at ease. The vest is also its best when it is the only textured piece I am wearing, and zipping it helps eliminate the frump factor.

Left: Never published

Right: Never published - Cardi: Halogen | Tank and Scarf: Express | Jeans: Forever 21| Wedges: Sperry

OK, so this is me just being a girl. At first glance, the outfit on the left doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary, right? Oh but trust me - the pants were tighter than they should have been and it was giving me crazy muffin top. I really don't know how the husband didn't notice this while he was photo'ing me. God bless him and his love goggles. It looks like just bunching of the tank in the front, but that's muffin top, folks, and there's also terrible creasing at the waist, through the cardigan, right below the arm holding the bag. If you can see muffin top through a cardigan, it's time to change and retire those pants. I realize you all may never have noticed this had I not mentioned it, but no one needs to see a muffin top. And while I could have just edited the photo and posted the outfit anyway - I just choose not to edit my photos for cosmetic purposes like that. The pants didn't fit me, so I didn't need to be wearing them in public, period. So, I ditched the white skinnies for some grey skinnies that actually fit me. I ended up liking the wedges better than the nude flat sandals, and added the coral leopard scarf for my must-have color pop. I can breath easier in the outfit on the right - literally and figuratively.

Left: Original post here | Right: Original post here

I ended up switching up my shoes to the flat sandals because this was right after my 39 mile walk and I couldn't fit my feet in anything else. But outside of that, I think I just really have trouble styling these gold shoes. The only time I've truly *liked* an outfit with them is this one here, but otherwise, I just feel so. Tacky. Should I just give up?

Left: Original post here | Right: Original post here

See, case in point. Another outfit where the metallic oxfords ended up getting ditched. Granted, it's not really the shoes' fault in the left pic - it was my fault for over accessorizing in the first place! OMG, I really cannot take myself seriously in the left photo. It's so awful. I think I'd rather wear the first outfit in this post with almost-pantyhose than wear this gaudy combo again!

Left: Original post here | Right: Never published

OK, I'll stop being so hard on myself, I promise! This is a good note to end on. You see, nothing is worse than spending 2 hours or so getting ready and taking photos than downloading the photos just to see that the outfit was off. I lovedddd the outfit on the left so much, but it was really distracting to me to see my pants super bunchy at my knee! Plus, I felt like I was showing too much ankle with these booties. Those two scenarios were making me look pretty stumpy. So, the actual day I was wearing the outfit, I decided to change into a different pair of pants - the pants were more mushroom colored than olive colored, but the fit was so much better. Look how much more long and lean my legs look. And your eye doesn't get distracted by my bare ankles anymore either. Since there was such a small gap between my booties and my pants hem, I was also able to wear my Keysocks, which not only help for foot comfort and warmth, but they help keep my pants in place vs riding up on my knees/calves. It really is amazing how fit can change the whole outfit!

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We can add all these outfits to a "things I have learned from blogging" list! It's definitely very gratifying to see the before and after shots of these fails and fixes. Someone told me that they're so glad that even *I* have to make tweaks to outfits before I wear them. Oh yes, you better believe I do! I only *wish* I could just throw something on and look flawless without even checking the mirror. I do wonder how people get dressed without a full length mirror - I don't think I could function. But now as a blogger, I can't function without seeing the photos! A picture is worth a thousand words, right? 

Thanks for going down memory lane with me! It's been such a great 500, to say the least!! Can't wait to see how I evolve over the next 500!!

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