Holiday hair + twist back sweater

We are officially two weeks away from Christmas. Eeeek! I need to get my crap together! We are doing Christmas with his family early this Friday because his brother and his fiancé will be in town for the weekend. That moves up the deadline for gifts a bit! Outside of that, we had our department holiday get together last week and our party for the Pilates studio is on the 21st! Needless to say, I'm fully in holiday mode whether I'm ready for it or not!

Outfit details--- Earrings: Kendra Scott "Bexley" (option) | Necklace: Kendra Scott "Rayne" (current colors here) | Sweater: ASTR | Bag: Kate Spade (option, option, cheapest option) | Bottoms: American Eagle | Shoes: Kate Spade "Licorice" (budget option) ---

Kim at Boldly Defined Beauty reached out to me recently to see if I wanted to do a holiday collaboration with her. She is a local St. Louis blogger/ hairstylist and you have seen her on the blog in this post here. Holiday hair + a holiday outfit? Yes, please! You all know I love playing with hair and mixing up my styles based on what I'm wearing. She styled my hair two different ways, but I wore one outfit. I love how your hair can make subtle changes to the overall vibe of your outfit. 

You have probably seen this sweater floating around Instagram, and I finally caved and bought it. It was Christine's post here that pushed me over the edge. The drama of the back-twist is seriously awesome. I'm still able to wear a regular strapless bra with it, and the simple, covered-up front of this sweater is a nice contrast to it's sassier backside. If I had faux leather pants that were not leggings, I would have worn them because this sweater just screams the need to be worn with faux leather. Since the length basically rules out leggings for me, I decided to go for winter white and grabbed these skinnies and some glitter heels. I'm wearing a small in the sweater.

A loose updo like this is perfect for this sweater since I can clearly show off its back. Kim separated my hair into three braids then pinned up the braids to create this look. I will have to see if I can recreate this myself!

Ring: Kendra Scott "Naomi" (current colors here) | Polish: Essie "Exposed" with Chanel "Graphite" accent nail

Leaving my hair down with tighter retro-inspired curls is also great with this sweater, especially when I brush all my hair over one shoulder. It makes the outfit just a touch more casual than having my hair all up, though the curls are still nice and romantic, which plays well with the sweater!

These curls are tighter than I normally go on my own which is why it looks like I got a good three inches cut off my length! No cut here, just nice bouncy curls. The volume and dimension are great, and she used this Amika touchable hairspray that smells uh-mazing!

Hair and Photos by Kim: Instagram | Blog

None of my holiday parties this year are formal or even semi-formal, so simple outfits like these with interesting details like the twist back and fun accessories like the matching glitter pouch and pumps are definitely right up my alley! A good holiday hairstyle is such a fun added bonus! Thanks to Kim for not only styling my hair for this shoot but also taking the photos! If you're in the St. Louis area, definitely go see here. You can also stalk her on Instagram here.

As we bring 2017 to a close, I just wanted to give you a heads up about the linkup schedule! Christmas and New Year's both fall on a Monday. We will have our last linkup of 2017 next Monday the 18th, and then the Hello Monday linkup will be taking a holiday break! We will be back in full force on Monday, January 8th! I do have some posts to share with you before the hiatus - a couple of more outfit posts and then I'll be recapping the year with highlights, bloopers, and my favorite outfits! I'm still not quite sure how 2017 has come and gone!!

Bloglovin | Facebook | Instagram

SHOP THE LOOK:

Linking up with Rachelle

<div align="center"> <a href="http://morepiecesofme.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Linkup Button" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k269/clephobuck/clephobuck002/a6698cff-0812-47d9-8346-883112f20927_zpslnfpf2cu.png"/></a>

Hosted by:

Carylee: More Pieces of Me | Bloglovin | Instagram

Jenna: Sincerely Jenna Marie | Bloglovin | Instagram

Whether it's fashion, lifestyle, fitness, food, or DIY, share your latest musings with the Hello Monday Linkup! We just ask that you link back to the hosts within your exact blog post and throw a follow our way on Bloglovin or Instagram. Thanks for linking up!

An InLinkz Link-up