BOHO MAXI DRESS + NORDSTROM SALE PICKS

Happy Memorial Day weekend! I hope you have the best holiday weekend wherever you are. Now that we’re getting some summer weather I’m going to be wearing lots of dresses…and hats. No hats in this post, though looking at my limp hair maybe a hat would have been a good call. I’m terrible with hair and getting worse instead of better. I have a hair cut in two weeks (new place) and will be barraging the poor hair stylist with questions on how I can style my hair better. She’ll offer up all kinds of excellent advice and I’ll nod back and then…my hair will still look the same because I’m that terrible with hair. Oh well!

I love all kind of dresses – solids and prints, long and short, classic, preppy or boho. I love it all. This dress is from a place I’ve been buying clothes at way too much lately. I really like the mix of reds, pinks, and blues, and the floral and paisley print next to each gives off a whimsical vibe that is so summery.

DRESS: TARGET | SANDALS: ANN TAYLOR or similar HERE | BLOUSE: FOREVER 21 and sold out online but similar HERE or HERE | SUNGLASSES: ILLESTEVA | BELT: ANN TAYLOR (now 50% off with code SUMMER50. If you’re a fan of light pink or blush, this belt is a must-have | JACKET: LOFT

This dress is the definition of light and airy, and perfect for summer. It has adjustable spaghetti straps and lining until about mid-thigh (on me). If you’re not Petite I don’t see how this dress could reasonably be called a Maxi as the hem would end higher than the ankle. Anyway the length of the lining as well as overall length worked perfectly on me and in case you missed it in earlier posts, I’m 5’1″-ish, closer to 5’2″ in my opinion, but this is ongoing debate between me and my husband.

I layered my blush lace popover over the dress because I can’t stop wearing it and when I first get something I wear it all the time, in as many different ways as possible. It’s easy to do with this top because it goes with everything. The front is lined so it’s perfect for layering over other things and helps if you wanted to style a dress as a skirt.

The dress doesn’t have any waist definition and I never miss an opportunity to wear a belt so I went with my milky pink patent leather belt from Ann Taylor, which I adore. This color gets me every time – the milkiness of it and the fact that it’s not baby pink but has the most subtle bit of taupe in it and looks so pretty.

I recently bought a denim jacket, which incredibly, I’ve never owned before. I tried once years ago and gave up after finding all the ones I tried to be either too boxy or constricting. This time around I tried the J.Crew Riley jacket in Petite, Paige Rowan, and Kut from the Kloth in my first try. The Riley was too tight in the arms and shoulders – I couldn’t lift up my arms up to even shoulder height. The other two were too boxy on me but I have a very narrow torso and like my denim jackets to be fitted. The Paige Rowan jacket has a note on the Nordstrom site that it runs small but I didn’t find that to be the case. My search continued. Next I stopped in at Anthropologie and tried the Pilcro jacket – boom, loved this one. The fabric is super soft, the fit is really nice – cut close to the body but not shrunken and layers over summer knits easily. I really like this jacket for the quality and fact that it goes with everything.

The one I’m wearing here though is a second one that I found unexpectedly at Loft while checking out a sale. It’s a classic denim jacket, no distressing but super soft and is a really nice fit. It was under $50 and impossible to pass up at that price but honestly would have been equally tempting at the full price of $79. I love finding pieces that I’m happy with in the under-$100 range.

Speaking of good pricing, Memorial Day weekend is full of great sales and I took total advantage. I mostly grabbed neutrals which will work perfectly with both summer whites and brights. Here are a few of the things I bought and since sale stuff sells out really fast, be quick if you like any of them. It’s not unusual for things to sell out while they’re sitting in your cart over a 15 min time-span.

NORDSTROM ANNIVERSARY SALE PICKS

– A metallic flat sandal that’s amazing for vacations with maxi dresses or at the beach. I’m not really a flip flops kind of person, even at the beach, so these are such a nice alternative: JACK ROGERS SANDALS

– A dressier neutral sandal that can be worn for brunches and pairs equally well with day or night dresses or with a linen pant: VINCE CAMUTO COURT SANDAL

– The vegan tote I’m carrying in the first picture is included in the Nordstrom sale – the quality of this bag is really good. It carries so much and is really light weight – amazing deal for under $35: STREET LEVEL FAUX LEATHER TOTE

– A really pretty black and white floral high-neck maxi with a side slit that will get tons of wear all through the summer. This transitions so well from walks on the beach, to sight-seeing, to dinner and everything in between. And I love how soft Lush dresses are: LUSH MAXI.

Enjoy the weekend, and the sales!