What2Wear - July 4th

Welp, 4th of July is right around the corner, which means it's time to start thinking about the perfect All-American ensemble. Thankfully, we've done some of the legwork for you. 

Check out our 4th of July looks below! 

Love,

c&e

EMILY 

In the past, my 4th of July outfit has always been red, white and blue. I never stray from the patriotic palette for this holiday. In my mind, there are no other acceptable colors to wear. I'm a sucker for a costume, so this is the closest thing to a 4th of July costume.

Knowing that I'll be spending next Wednesday at our lake house in New Buffalo, Michigan, I wanted an outfit that can go from day to night - aka beach to bars. I tried this Free People dress on the other day and knew it would be the perfect item to complete my transition {unfortunately, I had to hold off on buying because there were other items that took precedence}. I paired the dress with some festive accent pieces, my favorite of which is the American flag purse! The two coral inspired pieces {the ring and the cuff} are just the items I needed to complement the beach-y feel of this outfit.

CAITLIN

I, like Emily, love an excuse to dress up and nod to a holiday. For as long as I can recall, I have always embraced the Americana of 4th of July via my wardrobe. In fact, I used to have "special outfits" our mom would dress us in from Flapdoodles {remember those??} that featured multi-dimensional fireworks, pom-poms-- the whole deal. Thankfully, with age, my taste has matured. But that doesn't mean that I don't love a little embellishment. Take this sparkly anchor top from J.Crew, for example. It's screams 4th of July in a "grown up" manner. As for the accouterments, I am not one to go too over the top, so the rest of my picks balance out the top. I especially love the pink and navy striped shorts from Markus Lupfer. The whole ensemble just feels so nautical and preppy. Perfect for a holiday lake house celebration!

Weekend Wear - Real Life Grad Party

We spent the day {and night} together Saturday with loved ones celebrating Emily's college graduation. It's always a treat to have our friends and family gathered together, and it doesn't hurt that we're friends with each others friends. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives who care about us and who we care about in return. It was a fun day filled with laughter, great conversation, drinking games {probably one too many games of flip cup and beer pong} and of course - fashion!

As usual, our looks were as different as our personalities -- opposites in terms of style and color. But there was one similarity - we both had open backs on our dresses.

Cheers to a lovely memory we shared with our family and friends! Didn't the backyard look great with all the lighting? Gotta love summer.

Love,

c&e

Dress: Rachel Pally; Cable necklace: J.Crew {no longer available}; Purse: Rebecca Minkoff; Sunglasses: Mosley Tribes

Bracelets: Alex & Ani {thin bangles with blue beads}, Elements Chicago {thicker bangle with crystals}, SARCA {dark blue beads}, J.Crew {blue/teal resin, no longer available}; David Yurman {cable} Watch: Michele

Jacket: Topshop {on sale now!}

Emily's outfit - Dress: Free People via Vintage Charm; Skirt {worn underneath}: BCBG {borrowed from a friend}.

Earrings: Alixandra Collections; Necklace: chloe+isabel; Ring: chloe+isabel.

Our Take On - Getting Vested

After we both in-vest-ed in these similar items a couple months ago, it was about time they made their debut. Read on to see how we chose to premier our respective white vests!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Love,
c&e

CAITLIN

I got this vest about a two months ago at Zara and it comes with a great ROI! It's super versatile. In fact, I actually wore it with jeans to work and then changed into shorts when I got home since it was 99,999 degrees. I could also imagine wearing it with my black tuxedo pants {when it gets a bit cooler} or those floral lovelies you saw last week.

Also getting a lot of mileage? These Sam Edelman sandals. They go with everything! And add a bit of flair in the process. It was also a nice little treat to resurrect this ancient Rory Beca silk top from my closet {though with the vest on you can't see the cute roped strap detailing :( } All in all, the hubs should be happy because nothing I am wearing is that "new."

Shoes: Sam Edelman

Vest: Zara; Top: Rory Beca {ancient}; Shorts: Gap; Bag: Rebecca Minkoff

Bracelets: David Yurman, Sarca Boutique, Alex & Ani, Ann Taylor; Watch: Michael Kors; Necklace: Handle With Care Boutique {a million years ago}; Right hand ring: Grandmother's; Nail Polish: Butter

It was a wee bit windy!

EMILY

This outfit is definitely a change for me...this is about as "office-y" as I get. When I was wearing this outfit the other night, I felt more like Caitlin than I did myself. But nevertheless, I loved the outfit. This J.Crew skirt - with an awesome color combo - is, surprisingly, I might add, a piece I've come to love. To continue to the mature {in my definition of the word} feel of this outfit, I added the Forever 21 vest. After purchasing it a few months ago while at school, it was about time I wore it. I've put it on {and proceeded to take it off} many times, never being able to find quite the right occasion or outfit for it. But I think this works. While this look is outside my typical boho/hippie/eclectic realm, it was a nice and welcomed change. Sometimes you just gotta switch things up for some unexpected and adventurous wardrobe satisfaction. 

Vest: Forever 21; Shirt: Urban Outfitters; Bandeau: Free People; Skirt: J.Crew; Sandals: Enzo Angiolini; Purse: Deux Lux.

White Bracelet: Kate Spade; Animal Print Bracelet: Kate Spade; Blue Bracelet: Eira {gifted}; Bronze Bracelet: chloe+isabel; Watch: Michael Kors. 

Rose Gold Spike Bracelet: Urban Outfitters; Black Bracelet: chloe+isabel; Spike Bangles: chloe+isabel. 

Earrings: Alixandra Collectons.