DD's Style File - Oh, How I Love Boyfriend Jeans

This is only like the second time I've worn a pair of denim jeans on this blog. I own several pairs in skinny, prints, colored and boyfriend. But boyfriend cuts are by far my favorites. I hate shopping for jeans. Sounds cliché, I know. But it's true.

I frequently run into the "perfect fit in the behind, but too large in the waist" scenario, which means trying them on is a must.  And some days I just feel like, *sigh* ain't nobody got time for that. And because the rise is also super important, boyfriend jeans always seem to fit the bill.

I'm fortunate to work for a corporate company that offers casual Fridays, as does my department on Thursdays. But I don't wear them to the office often, probably more so in the fall if anything. And if I have meetings, then I nix the denim.

My thing is, up here in the northeast we don't get too many sunny warm days, so I've got to make the most of 'em while I've got 'em. So I try to cram in as many flirty dresses and skirts as I can before I'm back to wearing thick tights and scarves. However, I will say those "jeans days" definitely come in handy. Like today, for example. Too tired to pick out my clothes last night and wake up in a timely manner this morning, and then I remembered, "hey, it's Thursday - jeans it is!"

White blazer - Macy's
Coral top - Jennifer Lopez for Kohl's
Boyfriend jean - The Limited
Aqua pump - INC for Macy's

As many of you probably know, office's can be super chilly, so the blazer added some warmth and a dash of polish to what is otherwise a super laid back outfit.

On another note, I think Jennifer Lopez has done pretty great things with her Kohl's collaboration. This top, which is sleeveless with a gold exposed zipper down the back, is a closet keeper along with my teal fit and flare dress from her line. I used to hate Kohl's. Sorry, I did. I thought it was for old folks. But for the last couple of years Kohl's has been my shopping diamond find thanks to this line and others like Lauren Conrad, ELLE and Apt. 9.

Today's post is also part of The Fashionista Next Door's Style Me Friday link up, head on over and join in the fun!



Also don't forget to throw your name in the hat for a chance to win my first giveaway featuring a Phillip Lim x Target Mini satchel! Click here to join in now!


P.S. Thanks to my mommy for snapping these photos for me! xoxo

3.1 Phillip Lim for Target GIVEAWAY [CLOSED]

Hello beauties! I'm super amped to be holding my first ever giveaway here on Dazzling Diva! Soooo exciting, right?!

And because it was just that special, I wanted to make it a good one!

And I thought the best way to do that was to gift one lucky reader a "Fall Fabulous Mini Haul!"
The winner's "mini haul" gift will include:

3.1 Phillip Lim for Target Mini Satchel in Yellow (currently sold out online)
The Limited Foil Sweater Scarf in Gold
Grab bag of mini goodies from Sephora



Polka dot scarf NOT included

To enter, use the Rafflecopter below. Each entry will give you points. The more points you earn, the closer you are to winning this awesome prize! After completing the mandatory entry, it will unlock more options that can bring you one step closer to winning! The #FFMiniHaul Giveaway will run from 9/26 - 10/3.
The winner will be announced via Rafflecopter and contacted through email.

This giveaway is only open to US and Canada residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway will end at 11:59 PM EST on October 3, 2013

Somebody Had a Birthday!

Hey y'all!! If you follow me on Instagram then you know my birthday was on Saturday. However, since my birthday is rather special to lil' ol' me, I usually try to make it a weekend event. So, Friday I took the day off work and treated myself a facial.

My loved ones and I headed over to Cleveland on Saturday to do some celebrating. To my disappointment, the weather was a bit cooler than I would have liked (considering Friday was a warm beautiful 75 degrees), but I soldiered on in my sleeveless birthday dress anyway. I found the chill to be tolerable...especially after a chocolate martini or two!

We had dinner at XO Prime Steaks, where I was treated to my first crème brulee. Mmmm! I was quite surprised that it was actually so tasty. The creamy mousse hidden under the layer of crunchy caramel was smooth and sweet, though not overly so. And the side of mixed berries created the perfect flavor compliment.

Dinner was followed up by a comedy show at the Improv, where I laughed until tears ran down my cheeks and my tummy ached. And my celebration weekend was capped off on Sunday as I spent some time cashing in a few of those gift cards! *smile*  Why wait?...

I hope you all had a weekend as enjoyable as I did and that your week is off to a fabulous start. And don't forget to head on back here on Thursday when I'll be kicking off my Fall Fabulous giveaway featuring a yellow Phillip Lim x Target mini satchel!



My Thoughts - 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target Review

It came. We saw. It conquered.

The 3.1 Phillip Lim collab with Target can be referred to nothing less than a success. It will pretty much rank right next to the Missoni, Prabal Gurung and Jason Wu collab sell outs. Doing so so quickly that it left fashionistas nationwide dashing for eBay and Poshmark attempting to get pieces that had sold out online and in their local stores.

Ok, so you don't typically see me saying anything at all positive about my hometown, here in little ol' nowhere Pennsylvania by the lake, but occasionally there's a sunny side. Interestingly, some of the ladies around here couldn't be less concerned with Target collaborations (unless perhaps it was from Oprah) and would likely only buy a piece from the collection because they thought it was "cute," not because of the connection to a fashion Gawd which they've never heard of.

So although our local store will stock just a small volume of the collab collections, they don't always sell out immediately (Missoni excluded, because I think that was an epic fail across the nation).

And this time, it meant when I visited our store on day four after the Lim collection launched, there were still pieces to be pondered and purchased.

Admittedly, some items were more popular than others, specifically the bags versus the clothes. Even the yellow bags versus the other colors. My personal thoughts on the clothes were that they would be cute on the right body, but that body does not belong to me.  Although several of the pieces were lovely and appeared to be well made, there was nothing that I couldn't absolutely do without.

For example, the cream ruffled top on the right in the pic below looked quite chic, but the material was surprisingly stiff to the touch, nothing like a softer chiffon-like fabric.

I considered the top or dresses with the jeweled encrusted necklines, but figured I could create essentially the same look on my own with a nice neck piece and a simple layering blouse or sheath. Actually the only piece of clothing I'm interested in purchasing seems to be the piece that no one else is lol! Which is fine by me!

The grey joggers are still available in all sizes online and there were still several sizes available locally. However, I am not at all interested in paying $30 for some sweatpants, so I'm just gonna bide my time until they go on somebody's clearance rack, feel me?

 

As an aside, the guys clothing was also still rather plentiful. Though I could tell it had been shopped, there were no gaps in the rack. I perused their pieces a bit too, but felt they looked better in the online photos than in person. Perhaps had I seen them tried on an actual body or a mannequin, I would have felt different. Did any of you grabbed pieces for the fella in your life?

 

 

Anywho... So obviously me and everyone else were all about those luxurious looking bags. My store sold out of all the handbags the first day. The only thing remaining when I visited four days later were two of the travel wallets. If you follow me on Instagram then you already know that I was lucky enough to grab the last of the yellow handbags and one of the ever so popular Boom sweatshirts (there were still several in varying sizes). But I was trying to not be greedy and stay budget focused, so I passed on the other bags.

The good news is, one of these lovely bags will be up for grabs when I host my FIRST GIVEAWAY!! I'm excited!! Be sure to come back and visit next week for all the details!