What I Wore: A More Formal Outlook

I've been noticing things about my personal style recently.

First, I don't have one thing that defines my style - it varies so much day to day. If I'm stressed or tired, I tend to gravitate towards a more punk rocker chic look, almost always based on my black jeans and bootie heels. When it's sunny out or I'm working on an exciting project, I tend to let out my inner hippie with as much lace as possible, straw hats everywhere, and bright sundresses. If I'm feeling particularly artsy, I tend to go with basics - nice jeans, solid colors, basic designs, statement shoes, white v-neck shirt layered with something "bloggerly" etc.

But I realized that as of late, I've been combining the above styles with a more polished and clean (dare I say "grown up"??) look, especially for some recent formal pre-graduation events at my college. Here's what, lyke, I wore!*

The fish-hem thing isn't super big at my school yet, but I'm hopeful yet! I decided to go with this loose, casual, layered, and almost hippie dress for Spring Formal, but I wasn't sure whether it was too weird. Everything absolutely fell in place though - I even tried a new hair curling technique and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. The looseness of the dress allowed me to dance my (very comfortable thanks to my awesome DIY'ed ankle strap wedges) feet off without having to worry whether my dress was riding up or, well, down. Win!

(sorry for the awkward crop, didn't think my friends would appreciate having their [gorgeous] photos all over the internets - but let me know if you do!)

dress, F21 - shoes, DIY - necklace, Target

This next dress for Senior Ball was also love at first sight, but I was unsure how the color would look. Wrong again. I loved it! Weirdly, tons of people asked me if I had sewn the dress, which was super flattering. I threw my hair up a the last second into a twisted side bun kinda like this one and really liked the clean look.

dress, tobi.com - shoes, DIY - earrings, Target (? they're super old)

And then there was of course, this dress for Senior Cocktail Night.

From far away, it actually just looks like a cool lace pattern or something. Until you get up close...

And realize they're actually zebras!!

dress, Goodwill - shoes, Target

*Yes, I do actually feel kind of vapid for posting what I wore to senior formals. But think of it as the prom of college. Besides, I've done it before.