Pretty as can "Bee" : Breaking All the Rules

It's amazing what a good night of sleep and warm weather can do for your attitude. It is supposed to hit the 70's here today and you can feel the happiness in the air. This is the first day that I was able to take photos outside in the morning. Not only was there enough light, but it is already so nice outside. I could actually wear a dress without tights. Not that I don't love my tights in every color, but I don't love winter and I am happy to pack them away as soon as allowable.

Dress: J Crew Panel Striped Dress in Black Ivory

Sweater: J Crew Factory Claire Cardigan in Sparkling Sea

Shoes: J Crew Factory Sylvia Patent Wedges in Bronzed Clay

Necklace: J Crew Factory Beaded Crystal in Summer Lime

One of the reasons that I do outfit posts on this blog is to help me determine how often I'm rotating and wearing each clothing article in my closet. I also thought that it would be a good way of determining the holes in my closet. And one thing that I have noticed since I started doing OOTD posts is that a substantial portion of my wardrobe comes from J Crew or J Crew Factory. I guess I never realized just how often I shop there until I started recording outfits especially on a day like today where everything that I'm wearing is from J Crew or its factory store. For a minute I thought to myself oh well no more shopping there for a while. You need to branch out-your wardrobe has to be more diverse. But then I stopped myself. My wardrobe is very diverse even if a majority of it comes from the same place.  I have to do most of my shopping online and I find J Crew's sizing to be consistent and their customer service to be excellent. Plus their clothing is gorgeous and I know that I am purchasing a pieces that will last. There is no rule that states I have to shop at different stores and even if there is I don't care. 

Nails: Revlon 110 Pink Lingerie 

I used to follow all of the fashion rules. You know the traditional ones like "no white after labor day", and "no mixing blue and black". I also tried to limit my clothing choices to what the fashion industry said would be best for my body type. Then I had a ton of additional rules for myself-like: 

• Everything had to match. If I was wearing a blue dress then I could only wear jewelry if it was also the same shade of blue. 
• No florals in the wintertime 
• No light colored clothing in the winter. Seriously I would only wear dark clothing during the winter. And for a girl who lives for color, this rule made winter that much harder to get through 
• No mixing orange and black because they were Halloween colors.
• No mixing yellow and black because you would look like a "bumble bee"

And the list goes on, but I was so busy trying to follow the fashion rules that I wasn't enjoying getting dressed. Well today's outfit breaks several of the rules and I couldn't be happier because when it comes to expressing yourself, there should be no rules and no limitations. 

Sunnies: Old Navy