Welcome Back, Penny Darlings!
Another exciting week here as the days get warmer and the nights get longer.
Preston and I have taken to spending the dimming part of the evening out on the front stoop with Harvey. Harvey loves to just lay in the grass and keep a vigilant watch over us. For a six pound dog, he sure is a menace to society.
(Just kidding! He’s a rescue pup with some abandonment issues so he is the snuggliest and cutest pup of all time.)
Preston is finishing up his play this week – which is v. exciting! He’s doing the ‘Cripple of Inishman’ which my mom said ‘no one has ever heard of’ and my answer was ‘Harry Potter did a Broadway revival of it!’ (which is true!)
Make sure to follow me! Check me out on Instagram here! I also started a Twitter account! Find that here!
So I want to talk today about something near and dear to my heart.
My Personal Fashion Motto:
If you find something that you love – buy it in every color.
Seriously, this may become like a series of: if you love something, buy it in every color. As a fashionista (and often one on a budget!) and a plus sized fatshionista – I will buy something I love in every color.
For real, if something fits, looks good, and is comfortable – why would you not buy it?
And there have been times of my life where I have worn this dress in a different pattern every day for two week and NO ONE NOTICED. Because you can style them a bit differently, they have totally different colors and patterns, and they’re cute.
I am the biggest advocate of this.
If you find jeans you love: buy them in every rinse.
If you find a blazer you love: buy it in a bunch of colors.
Shoes that are comfortable, sweaters, pajamas, underpants, bras, whatever. If it fits, if it’s comfortable, if it is durable, if it is flattering, if it’s YOUR style piece…let me
There is absolutely NO SHAME in this game.
My biggest vice is:
Effie’s Heart Dolce Vita Dress (sold on Modcloth as Guest of Honor).
BTW. This is NOT a sponsored post. I actually am THIS obsessed with my items.
I have….*drum roll*….TEN of these dresses. Ten. Two full work weeks.
I wear these on dates, to work, to school, to job interviews, to casual days out, to the theatre, to the bar, to karaoke, to run errands, etc. There is NEVER a time that I haven’t found at least one these dresses to work. I’ve worn one to a wedding, one to a spa, one to a flea market, etc. THEY ARE SO VERSATILE.
These dresses are a stretchy, thick, jersey material. They have a sash waistband that I usually just throw into a knot. They are knee length and I can wear a regular bra since the straps are SO thick. It’s easy to dress up and dress casually.
I literally have NOTHING but nice things to say about this dress.
Obsessed is an understatement.
So I wanted to take today to show off my fave dresses.
This is a sort of Look Book situation too!
Let’s first talk about my requirements for a dress.
Price. – These retail for approx. $100. I will say I did NOT pay that price for ANY of these. I paid an average of $50 for them. I waited for sales and clearance and resale and swaps and eBay, etc. The most expensive one I paid for was approx. $70.
Utility. – However, that price plays into my perception of utility. I will wear these approx. a zillion times each – so I am willing to pay a little more. I have literally worn these to ALL of these places listed above. Work, weddings, spa, outdoor festivals, parties, job interviews, etc. All the places. So for me, I’m willing to pay a little more per item because I know I will use the heck out of them.
Pockets. – These dresses have pockets. Need I say more about that?
Twirl. – Also, these have twirly skirts. Also, do I need to say more about that?
Bonus: These dresses are jersey and stretchy and breathable. That’s all I want!
Hot Air Balloons!
This is my favorite pattern. Preston makes fun of me. This is actually my favorite dress of all time. Of all the dresses I’ve ever had: this is the cake topper. It’s these vintage, design-y, art deco pattern hot air balloons.
I snagged this dress with a coupon on a sale day. I’ve worn this dress approx. 1,000 times.
But oh, Preston makes fun of me – because this is my absolute FAVORITE dress and I stopped wearing it…because I don’t want to ruin it. I used to wear it every single week. (sometimes I would even do a mid-week wash to get the dress ready).
So that’s a bad habit I need to break!
Dresses are meant to be SEEN!
Turquoise & Pink Roses
I’m usually not into florals but I was obsessed with this distressed teal and the vintage-English-Garden-y hot pink roses.
This has become a serious go-to.
Bicycles
This dark blue bicycle dress fulfills some of my most important qualifiers for this dress.
It’s a GREAT shade of navy blue AND it has a novelty print.
I am all about the novelty prints.
Fun fact: One of my work projects was to help implement a Bike Share program – so I wore this dress to the meeting.
In Antiques
People are often confused what this print is – but it is actually several shelves covered in vases and decorative plates and glass bottles. The print is called: In Antiques.
I wore this to a flea market and it was totally awesome!
This print was something I don’t normally buy for myself, and I actually missed this print at $20 on Modcloth clearance because I didn’t care for the print. I ended up snagging this off Poshmark after I decided that I needed this dress in every print.
Red Vines
What the hell cant they do? (Any AVPM fans still out there?)
I usually like to wear this dress with a little red cardigan and a funky purse in the fall!
It’s the perfect fall outfit. And I like that the sleeves are a very thick tank top style straps. It adds a feminine touch without showing my bra straps. Win win.
I wore this to a fall wedding and it was a stunner. Perfect for dinner, dancing, and a drastic temp drop between afternoon and evening!
Blue Ivy
Although, unfortunately, Beyoncé and I don’t have much in common – we both love Blue Ivy. I’ll see myself out for that joke.
But I want you to know that my iPad corrected Beyoncé from me writing beyonce but did not correct me writing cant as opposed to can’t.
Autocorrect has some real priorities.
Brown Plaid
I wear this dress far less in the summer – but I’ve worn this on snowy trips to the bookstore for a cup of coffee and to binge read some books, I’ve worn it to Thanksgiving, and all kinds of snuggly winter activities.
It’s so cute and I usually pair this with a burgundy cardigan. It’s the perfect winter outfit!
Black & White Circles
This always reminds me of being so artsy…and me trying to draw a circle.
I snagged this dress is a BST group and wear it with a black cardigan tied at the waist. This one also looks amazing by itself!
Lemon Tree
I wanted this dress SO bad – but since I’ve graduated college – I have NEVER had an extra $100 that I could splurge – so I usually had to save up for these dresses.
I wanted this one so bad! But before I could save up it sold out on Modcloth and its resale price on eBay and Poshmark and stuff was WAY too high. So I had kind of resigned myself to never getting this one.
AND THEN GWYNNIE BEE GOT IT IN THEIR SHOP. So I bought it for, like, $25. It was a super happy day. It’s definitely a new favorite. For real. And spoiler alert: I am meeting with a cosmetics company for a blog post this week and I’m wearing this dress.
Green Dots
This is also from the Gwynnie Bee closet! Effie’s Heart & Gwynnie Bee are all wrapped up together – so I was quick to snag this emerald green (my birthstone!) dress!
I was so heart broken at the prospect of having to send it back…so I bought it.
So what do you think?
Are you a ‘buy it in every color’ person?
Should I make this a Look Book series so I can show you how many dupes I actually have?
Let me know!
SO HERE’S THE “END OF BLOG” SPIEL!
The next few weeks have some awesome stuff planned! Some hauls, the LBD, etc, styling my mom Part II, Lindy Bop, Cherry Velvet, and more!
If you are at all interested in doing a collab or working with me – please feel free to check out my new Contact Me! page!
Do you want me to write a post about chub rub? I’d be happy to buy a few things and review them for everyone?
I definitely want to do more His & Her fashion. Do you guys like seeing Preston more?
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If you want to follow my darling, Preston – you can click here!
I’d really love to do that Barbie post. If anyone can seriously sponsor it – let me know. I think that would just be the coolest and most fun to do.
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Comment for topics you would like to see me cover! Like to help my self esteem! What do you think so far? More fashion? More lifestyle? Do you like the mix?
Thank you for all that you do. You are truly extraordinary.
Love all you wonderful ladies (and gents!) out there!
How Very,
Abby❤
Penny Darling 
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