G.I. Jane

Dress: Bebe, Tights: Macy's, Shoes: Anne Michelle, Vest: Kennar  Belt: Target, Bracelets: Ivy &Leo, HandPicked, Stella & Dot, Watch and Bag: Michael Kors, Rings: LeVian and HandPicked, Earrings: Marthe Pinaire (photos: Carrie Hawkins Foust)

This entire outfit was put together around a new pair of earrings and these daaaaarling little booties. I picked up these earrings at a great little shop in Charlotte called, The Boulevard (at South End). It offers an eclectic mix of affordable, fun, and unique gifts including: jewelry, women's clothing, hats, sunglasses, things for baby, inspirational prints, funny cards, stuff for guys and pets, candles, lotions, etc. It is wonderful addition to Charlotte's growing number of locally owned shops and boutiques. These earrings are my new staples. They are flowers and the perfect size (they also come in a slightly smaller version). The pair that I am wearing today are gold, but they also come in almost every color in the rainbow. They were only $7.00 so I picked up a pink, red, and neon yellow pair for myself as well (my goal is to get them in every color). They are made by a woman named, Marthe Pinaire, whose company is a one-woman shop. She makes earrings, hair accessories, and hand-painted dishes. I picked up a cute, pink version of the pair of the earrings I am wearing and a mug that said "The thing women have yet to learn is that no one gives you power. You just take it." (Rosanne Barr) as a "thank-you" gift for my friend, Nicole, last week. Nicole is a sweetheart. She loves the color pink, Starbucks coffee, and cupcakes (I also found adorable cards that said "Keep Calm and Eat A Cupcake"), and needs to be reminded of her own strength once in a while; so the gifts I found at "The Boulevard" were perfect. Okay, enough about my new obsession with this shop and Marthe Pinaire goodies....for now. These booties...kind of fabulous, right!? My longtime, long distance friend, Stacey, put me on to this website called ShoeOcean.com. That is where I found these bad boys. I think they were between $30-$40 and arrived at my house in no time. I'll give you the same disclaimer that Stacey gave me. There are plenty of shoes on this site that are kind of cheap/"stripperish" looking. However, there are also some gems. It's definitely worth a look in my opinion. My first thought was to pair these boots with some skinny jeans, but once I had them on I looked kind of ridiculous. So, I went straight to these brown tights and a dress that is a shade or two lighter than the boots. I normally only wear this dress out at night. It is like second skin, has a deep v-neck, and is a touch on the short side (it's from Bebe's Kardashian collection after all); but when paired with opaque tights, booties, and a fluffy, furry, hooded vest it is much more versatile. The "hooch" factor decreases and the "wearability" factor increases. You may have noticed that I love a good "NPB" (an acronym I created for my favorite accessory: the No Purpose Belt). The NPB can define your waist, add a pop of color or texture, or simply spice up an otherwise predictable outfit. Winter brings a lot of bulky outerwear, so I am bringing the NPB out from under the coat and adding it to the outside of a lot of my outfits. There is not much you can do to make outerwear flattering, but hey, every little bit helps, right?