Jalisa’s Fashion Files

CARDIGAN: Nordstrom Rack // SCARF: Charming Charlie // BELT: New York & Company // PANTS: ZARA // SHOES: Nine West // PURSE: Louis Vuitton 

One of my newly discovered color combinations this time of year is hot pink and brown. It's a combination that I don't see often, which is surprising since it's so beautiful and unique. I think it's a perfect option, especially during this time of year, when spring is not too far along; I so desperately wish she'd run to me instead of slowly walking! I also believe that this color pairing would look fantastic on every skin-tone and is perfect for work and school. It reads fun, yet professional at the same time. 

The inspiration all stemmed from this cardigan I had for a while now. I figured it would look great with a pair of brown leather pants and then decided to finish off the look with a pair of complimenting pumps, one of my faves! To dress up the look, I belted the cardigan, which redefined my waistline, a method all of us can use, regardless of body shape, size, or height. Plus, it helps the look appear more polished and put together. After all was done, I looked in the mirror and said, "girl, you need a scarf, as much as you think it's Spring in your head, it ain't!" Yes, I talk to myself, more than I'd probably like to admit. I'm one of those who talks out loud in the supermarket, while looking for what's on my list, haha. Don't judge, you know you've done it! Anyway, I then searched through my scarf collection and decided to go for this two toned leopard printed scarf. I thought the colors would work great and would add even more interest, because of the pattern mixture between it and the cardigan. Finally, to complete the entire outfit, I matched my purse to the color scheme, opting for this Louis Vuitton damier printed purse. 

What do YOU think of the pairing? I hope you like it! There are so many different ways you can recreate this look; check out a few alternatives:

Thanks so much for stopping by!

With lots of love,

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DRESS: Sans Souci (Marshalls) // SCARF: Jones New York (Marshalls) // WAIST-BELT: New York & Company // BEADED BRACELETS: Gifted by a friend BOOTS: COACH (6pm: HERE)

Hey guys!

I purchased this midi dress a while ago and had intentions of wearing it with something on top, such as a jacket, blazer, etc. The reason was mainly because on it's own, it does absolute NO justice for my body shape. I am a pear shape with a long torso, so I have that shelf like appearance that can exaggerate the width of my hips and this dress didn't help in that area, it made it more noticeable! I wore it one other time and that was with a denim blazer and this time around, I decided to wear a scarf draped across the back of my neck and cinched in with a waist-belt and it did the trick! This is not only a great way to create some visual balance for all my pear and hourglass shapes (in the bust) and dimension for both my rectangular (in the bust & thighs) apple (in the thighs) shapes, but just a very unique and boho like way to wear a scarf. What gave me this idea was a fellow Keaton Row stylist who I follow on Instagram, Denis, who used this method on one of his clients he posted a photo of on his feed. Then, I saw my muse (Olivia Palermo) wearing it this way and was like, yup, totally sporting this look, haha! 

To create a cohesive look, you can try wearing a scarf that is one of the colors that's featured within your dress, if yours is multicolored like mine. If it isn't, then you could just select a color that would compliment the solid color of your dress, which doesn't have to be form fitting like the one; you can totally rock this idea with a more flowy dress to really up the ante on that Bohemian vibe! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the post! Don't forget to check back tomorrow!

Lots of love,

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SWEATER: Michael Kors (Marshalls) // JEANS: 7 for all mankind (Marshalls) // PURSE: Michael Kors (TjMaxx) // SHOES: Ralph Lauren (Marshalls) // BRACELETS: c/o of Satya 

Hey Girlies, 

You know how much I love color, so I felt like wearing something that had subtle pops of it to make the outfit more interesting, yet appropriate for a more casual work outfit. I want to first discuss this sweater. I absolutely love the fact that it has an embellished neckline, giving the appearance of a necklace. This is perfect for those of you who may struggle with selecting necklaces to pair with your outfits; it eliminates the guess work in that department. Now, it's great that I was able to find a sweater that was reasonably priced that had this detailing already, but this is something you can totally do yourselves! In fact, I came across a blog tutorial that provides some very simple steps on how to do this on your own, which you can check out HERE). I not only like these sort of sweaters because it eliminates the need to wear a necklace (I wouldn't suggest wearing one with a top like this, it'll look too busy and will clash), I also like it because it's a great option for work. Since it dresses things up a bit for your ordinary sweater or even sweatshirt, it can make it a great wear to work option, too! 

Although radiant orchid was the color of 2014, I'm still not over it and I don't think I'll ever be! It's such a beautiful color and looks great on every skin-tone, especially those of you who are cool toned. The reason is that it has a grayish tint, which is a cool toned color. Also, since it's also very rich, I feel it brings out our natural skin tones, making us appear more luminescent, despite the slight grey tint, which can tend to have the opposite affect. 

To maintain the slight casual vibe I was going for, I paired the sweater with darker denim jeans. You've heard me mention many times that darker denim tends to give a more dressed up feel, but they're still jeans, so the texture provides the mild relaxed feel synonymous with casual looks. I also slightly tucked in a part of the sweater, which looks like I put thought into my look, but without overthinking it.

When it comes to body shapes, I would suggest this look to all because it's one that features a darker palette to the actual look, with the pops of color represented in the accessories. However, there are some minor things I'd like to add or suggest to the apple shapes and that would be to select a sweater that has either a v-neckline that's embellished or that you add to yourself, or opt out of the embellishment if you're working with a wider neckline, which I generally don't suggest for this shape. The reason being is that it add visual width to the upper body and both the apple and inverted triangles have wider backs and chests as it is and this will only exaggerate it. So, if you are working with a wider neckline, I suggest wearing a long necklace that will counteract the width of the neckline. Also, for the jeans, I'd suggest substituting the darker wash with a medium wash. Since your legs are naturally more toned and slender, the dark wash will make them appear thinner, causing your upper body to appear much wider in proportion to your legs. In short, to enhance your naturally defined legs, wear a lighter wash. 

I hope you all enjoyed this post and don't forget to check back tomorrow for some more inspiration! As always, thanks so much for stopping by!

Lots of love,

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Hello my lovies, 

Today's post is a continuation of the color pairing series and the color we're working with is yellow! I have to be honest, in the past, there were times I kind of stood clear of yellow because I just didn't think it went well with much. I think the main reason I felt this way was because only one shade or tone of yellow was coming to my mind and that was canary yellow. Now, I've opened my mind to the various shades, which are very pretty, and that will also include canary yellow, haha. Also, it's important to remember that when we're creating these color combinations, we don't have to just focus on two colors, one of which would be yellow and the other. We should certainly consider working with patterns and various pieces that have yellow; it doesn't necessarily have to be a top or bottom, which you'll notice in the sets I've created. You could most definitely opt for a coat, blazer, cardigan, pair of shoes, or accessories to add the touch of yellow to your look. 

I hope this post opens your mind to the various color combinations that can be achieved when working with yellow as the starter! Especially if you are like I was and just couldn't stand the color! 

Thanks so much for stopping by! Make sure you're follow me on my social media outlets (LINKS ARE ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE BLOG PAGE!) to know when I'll be working on the next color, which will be green! 

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Hello my loves,

As it's snowing outside, I'm thinking of color and lots of it! If you haven't yet heard, we're expecting about four feet of snow, if not more, here in the Northeast. I'm not looking forward to it because people start acting really crazy (since we're not used to this much snow here), I mean I nearly got into a car accident on my way home from the gym this morning. Thankfully both myself and the other driver are okay, but the roads were slippery and she was on the phone, not a good combination at all. 

Anyway, as I said, I'm looking at color to take my mind away from the frigid temps and piles of snow that's sure to develop within the next few days. Today's color of choice is the second color in the rainbow, orange. If you're not familiar, I did a YouTube video on some outfit ideas using orange, but this post is much more detailed with outfit ideas. In the video, I mainly concentrated on the best shades of orange for your skin tone. If you're interested, you can check that out here.

Since I did an introduction of the different categories or groups of colors featured in the sets in last week's post, using the color red, I don't feel it necessary to mention them again. You can however take a look at the post to check out the sets of looks I created, along with the information I just mentioned. I do want to mention, though, that you'll notice that there are different hues or tones of orange that I used, which was dependent upon the color I was matching it up against. For example, when creating a look using orange and green, I selected a cooler shade of orange, which has a bit of a bluish tint. I also selected a different shade of green, leaning more towards teal because these two compliment each other better than a true orange and green would. You see, when working with colors, you don't need to think of the true color in it's original hue to combine colors. You can always opt for a lighter, softer hue or darker, depending on which shades would work best with the color you wish to pair with. So without further adieu, here are the looks I created:

I hope you found these pairing ideas helpful and give them a try when creating your own looks! Thanks so much for stopping by :)

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