Starting the new year off right, with pretty jewelry! Everyone could use a bit of sparkle during these long cold Winter days and Aurate New York has great options from necklaces and delicate huggie earrings to rings and bracelets. In my years of working with Aurate I have amassed quite the collection of beautiful pieces I continue to reach for when I'm accessorizing.
I wore this outfit for Christmas Eve with the family. I decided to wear a dress I haven't worn since Christmas 2015 - wowza! It's a knit silver and gold dress so I decided to accessorize mixing silver and gold. The silver came in with my sandals and the gold was all my jewelry! I also used the new Melie Bianco bag I won from Marijane Boutique last month! It's such a fun piece and is very similar to the new cult favorite Bottega Veneta Jodie bag but at a much lower price point. The woven (vegan) leather creates such a beautiful texture and makes the bag feel very fancy and the black makes it a classic that will never go out of style. But we all know that my crazy colorful bags also never go out of style, I'll wear them with anything!
I've only worn these sandals three other times since I bought them in 2017 (for my
cousin's wedding,) but I keep them around in case I want something very shiny, like I did here! They're the perfect splash of fun for the holidays. This sweater dress was a holiday staple for a couple years before it was basically retired for newer things. I wore it for various Thanksgivings and Christmases in the mid-2010s. I'm glad I was able to give it a new life when Lydia was done enjoying it and now bringing it back out again after 7 years, crazy!
I haven't taken the huggie earrings off since Christmas Eve, they're so comfortable and I don't even notice they're there. I like how close they are to my ear so I'm not afraid of them getting ripped off. I also wore two gold station necklaces from Aurate. One is Rose Quartz and the other Lavender Jade. The lavender gemstones I got were more blue than purple, but still pretty! I also got a pearl station necklace in rose gold that I can't wait to wear!
Dress: London Times metallic stripe dress (from Lydia)
Belt: Kenneth Cole Reaction (Marshalls)
Bag: Melie Bianco 'Drew' (Marijane Boutique giveaway)
Sandals: New Look Metallic Block Heel sandal (ASOS)
Jewelry: Endless Gemstone Station Necklaces, Skinny Gold Hinged Huggie Earrings c/o Aurate
Can't believe it's my last wardrobe update of 2022, wow! I did buy a couple things this month. One cheap, one not so much...
Christian and I took a walk through Marshalls while visiting his family in Missouri (I needed a taste of home, ha ha) and we each got a new Christmas sweater. They're both men's sweaters because I didn't like any of the women's options. Luckily they had a small for me! I wanted the same sweater as Christian, but they only had mediums.
I also finally visited Marijane Boutique in Guilford and splurged on a Burberry Brit coat. Earlier in the month I won an Instagram giveaway they held for a
vegan leather bag by Melie Bianco. It's a dead ringer for the Bottega Veneta Jodie bag that retails for $2650. (I had them ship it to me because I didn't know when I'd be able to get up there, turns out pretty soon, haha! Whoops.) Lydia works there so I've been meaning to stop by for a loooooong time! Christian and I were "just going to look" but of course I spotted this bright red coat and instantly had flashbacks of writing a dream outfit blog post in 2011 for going to the Christmas tree farm. It featured a Stella McCartney sweater (which I bought 2 years later on sale) and a coat very similar to this one. I'm also pretty sure when this coat originally was for sale I had it on various wish lists, but never bought it because of the price tag, even on sale. The 2022 version of the outfit came out pretty good!
Got a couple clothing gifts for Christmas too. A sweater to (hopefully) replace a super thin sweater I like to toss in my bag on Disney trips and other Summer destinations and a super fun coat from Anthropologie I've had on my wish list for over a year.
THE (modified) RULES
- Be mindful of purchases
- Quality over quantity
- Basics are best
MY PROGRESS
Clothes:
- Marc by Marc Jacobs cropped sweater ($12.50, retail $298, used ad money)
- J Brand Maria High Rise in Purple Velvet ($7.50, retail $228, used ad money)
- Current/Elliott "The Muscle" leopard print tank ($8, retail $75?, used ad money)
- *NEW!* Aspen Christmas Sweater in green via Marshalls ($7, retail $19.99 - similar sweater)
- *NEW!* Greylin Longline Shirt Jacket in purple via Anthropologie (Christmas gift, retail $178)
Basics:
- mīere the label "Frankie" knit sweater in Faded Black ($56.92, $32.15 if we omit shipping)
- Madewell Whisper Cotton V-Neck Tee in Spiced Plum ($2, retail $19.50, used ad money)
- Madewell Whisper Cotton V-Neck Tee in Sahara Sand ($2, retail $19.50, used ad money)
- *NEW!* Burberry Brit Wool Minstead Duffle Coat In Military Red via Marijane Boutique ($230, retail $995, used ad money)
- *NEW!* Everlane The Featherweight Alpaca Cardigan in Taupe Grey (Christmas gift, retail $80)
Shoes:
- Ancient Greek Sandals Kore of Berlin ($365, Shopbop gift cards + ad money + 15% off)
Handbags:
- *NEW!* Melie Bianco Drew Woven Bag in black via Marijane Boutique ($110 retail, giveaway win!)
Accessories:
- None yet
Activewear/Swimwear:
- Ryka "Belong" Walking Shoe in Plum Red/Burgundy via DSW ($26.58, $79.99 retail)
Gifted from Brands:
- Pearl and Gold Bar Duo Stud Earring - Rose Gold c/o Aurate
- Gold Bar Stud Earrings - Rose Gold c/o Aurate
- Gold Bar Stud Earrings - Yellow Gold c/o Aurate
- Janey Sport Sandal - Pewter c/o Aetrex
- Active Biker Short in Jungle c/o Dona Jo
- Adjustable Bra in Jungle c/o Dona Jo
- Urban Tank in Pitanga c/o Dona Jo
- Destination Aura Beaded Necklace in Marrakech c/o Aurate
- Endless Gemstone Station Necklace in Rose Quartz c/o Aurate
- Libby Comfort Clog - Tobacco c/o Aetrex
- Skinny Gold Hinged Huggie Earrings in yellow gold c/o Aurate
- Endless Pearl Station Necklace in rose gold c/o Aurate
- Lavender Jade Endless Gemstone Station Necklace in yellow gold c/o Aurate
Spent in December: $7
Spent in 2022: $90.50
Spent in 2022 - counting ad money: $717.42
When you join Nyopoly you get a $5 credit AND if you email joe[at]nyopoly.com and say I referred you to the site you'll get your credit doubled to $10! You can get more Nyopoly money when an offer you make is accepted. If it is accepted on the first offer you get 20% back, the second gets you 10%.
I thought long and hard about what item I wanted to attempt to purchase. In the end I decided on the Sachi Front Woven Hobo by Melie Bianco in Aqua (unfortunately that had sold out so I got the blush instead.) The retail price is $99 and I got it for $73.99, a little over 25% savings, not too shabby! To test things out I started my offer at (a very low) $20, and was given a counter offer, then repeated that process until we arrived at the final price. The item got to me fairly quickly, the site says within 7 to 14 days, but for me it was closer to 7.
Below I paired it with a gorgeous new Free People dress I got on vacation! I love all the braided details and the cutout in the back :) It is part of the New Romantics collection but unfortunately is sold out online.
Dress: Free People (Marshalls), Heels: Lanvin (Roundabout Resale), Necklace: Geoclassics, Bag: Melie Bianco c/o Nyopoly, Watch: Michael Kors (Lord & Taylor), Rings: vintage & Mom's
*I was given a credit to Nyopoly, but my opinions are my own.
