Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

My Closet- Holiday Looks

by Katie Haller

Every year around the holidays, I like to do a post for budget friendly holiday outfits.  This year, I have put together a few simple looks that I am planning on wearing over Christmas break.  I am flying home to spend Christmas in Michigan and my week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve is completely booked with family gatherings.  I can’t wait to see everyone, but of course, I like to have an idea of what I’m wearing.  It’s always best to plan your outfits ahead of time so that you don’t have to worry about thinking about what to wear on the day of an event.  Here are some of the outfits that I have planned to wear for the holidays. 
 
 I’m planning on wearing this look for Christmas Eve.  I love wearing leggings and boots with a simple dress.  I accessorized it with some of my favorite Christmas accessories; my infinity scarf from DSW (similar) and my red boyfriend cardigan from Target (similar).
I recently bought this cranberry colored cowl neck sweater from Target (similar).  I love how it looks with leggings, boots and leg warmers.  I think this would be such a cozy Christmas Day look. 
I love my new grey plaid scarf from Banana Republic Factory (similar and similar).  I love the neutral colors, it can be paired with any outfit almost.  For this look, I wore it with a forest green shirt which gives it that Christmas look. 
I bought this cream top at Target (similar) last year and I love accessorizing it with this green necklace from Charming Charlie (similar).  I always like to accessorize with green and red around Christmas time and this necklace is perfect for that. 

Those are my Christmas looks.  What are you planning on wearing over the holidays?

Making the Most of Your Wardrobe- Stripe Tunic

by Katie Haller

I just couldn’t help myself and I bought another piece of clothing in black and white stripes.  Back in September, while doing some fall shopping, I found this long sleeve tunic at Old Navy (exact).  It was on sale for 50% off, which came to $8.49.   I thought about buying it in another color, but they didn’t have my size, so I ended up with the stripes.

I’m really loving this top right now.  I wish I had it in every color because it’s perfect for fall and winter in the desert.  It’s lightweight, so it’s perfect for layering and I love the length on it.  It’s perfect to wear with leggings or jeans.

Here are 4 ways that I accessorized the top.

I love this first look.  I’m wearing my favorite pair of distress denim jeans from Target (similar) with my ankle boots (exact).  I accessorized with my black satchel purse (exact) and my turquoise pendant necklace.
For this next look, I wore black legging and a jean jacket with some leopard flats and my black satchel purse.  
I’m always a fan of mixing stripes with leopard, so I love this look here.  I wore my distressed jeans and ankle boots again and  accessorized with my leopard scarf (similar) and cognac tote purse (exact)

This last look is great for a cool fall day.  I wore black leggings with my brown boots.  I accessorized with my fuchsia knit infinity scarf (similar) and my black satchel purse.

Hopefully, these looks can help you finger out how to accessorize your stripes.

Instagram Outfit Review

by Katie Haller

It’s time for another Instagram outfit review.  I’ve been posting so many of my daily outfits on Instagram, it’s kind of replaced my weekly “What I Wore” outfit posts.  It’s just easier lately to take a quick outfit selfie, rather than put together a full blog post.  When I find the time, I like to do an overview of my favorite looks from the past month or so.

I am loving the weather right now.  It’s absolutely perfect.  Mornings are cool and the afternoons have highs in the 70’s and low 80’s.  It’s the perfect kind of weather for layering, which is my favorite way to dress. 
Here are some of my looks from the past month.  As always, I try to link my clothes, but because many of my clothes are older and I buy so many of them on clearance or at thrift stores, I’m not always able to link it to the exact item.  However, I always try to find similar affordable items to link up.  Unfortunately, I’ve had a hard time finding similar items for a few of my accessories, so I will just list the stores. 
Shirt- Target (similar)
Jeans- Target (similar)
Cardigan- Target (similar)
Shoes- Burlington Coat Factory
Purse- Last Call Neiman Marcus (exact)
Top- Old Navy
Waterfall Cardigan- Target (similar)
Jeans– (Old)- Express (similar)
Shoes- Target (exact)
Top- Target (exact)
Cardigan- Macy’s (similar)
Jeans- Old Navy (similar)
Necklace- Nordstrom Rack
Top- Nordstrom Rack (similar)
Leggings- Last Call Neiman Marcus (similar)
Scarf- Charming Charlie (similar)
Sandals- Target (no longer in stock online) 
Top- Old Navy (exact)
Cardigan- Forever 21 (similar)
Scarf- Charming Charlie (similar)
Boots- Burlington Coat Factory (exact)
Top- Old Navy (exact)
Jeans- Kohl’s (exact)
Shoes- Ross (similar)
Necklace- Burlington Coat Factory 
Top- Target (similar)
Cardigan- H&M (similar)
Boots- Target (similar)
Denim Jacket- Meijer (similar)
Jeggings- TJ Maxx (similar)
Scarf- Nordstrom (similar)
Purse- Last Call  (exact)
Top- Target (exact)
Cardigan- Target (similar)
 Jeggings- Old Navy/ thrifted (similar)
Shoes- Old Navy (similar)
Leggings- Forever 21 (exact)
Denim Jacket- Meijer (see above)
Scarf- Five Below (similar)
Shoes- DSW (exact)

I hope you like the looks.  Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @thriftywifehappylife to see more of my everyday looks.  Have a great week!!

Making the Most of your Wardrobe- White after Labor Day

by Katie Haller

  I’m not really sure who the person was that made up the saying that you can’t wear white after Labor Day, but I completely disagree with that statement.  What a silly idea that you can only wear white for 3 months out of the year.  I like to get the maximum use out of my clothes and I don’t believe that certain colors and styles can only be worn during a specific time of the year.  I love incorporating white into my fall and winter wardrobe by wearing my white jeans.  I bought my white pants at Target on clearance for under $10 about 3 years ago (similar).  I love having a white pair of pants in my closet because it gives me the opportunity to switch up my outfits from normal jeans to white every now and again. 

Here are 4 different ways that I’ve styled my white jeans for fall and winter. 
For my first look, I wore my favorite cardigan from H&M (similar) with a black tank top from Old Navy, and my ankle boots from Burlington Coat Factory (exact).  I accessorized the look with my turquoise pedant and my new black satchel purse from Neiman Marcus Last Call (exact).  
I’ve been seeing gingham shirts everywhere lately, so for this look, I styled my gingham button down (similar) with my waterfall cardigan (similar) both from Target.  I accessorized my ankle boots with my brown leather Coach purse. 
I love Navy and I love stripes, so for this look, I wore my navy striped tank top (exact), with my navy blazer (similar) and my boots (similar), all three from Target.  I accessorized with my gold pendant necklace and my brown Coach purse again. 
For this last look, I kept it casual with my green t-shirt from Target (similar), layered with my denim jacket (similar) and my Madden Girl lace-up flats (similar).  I accessorized again with my gold pendant necklace and my brown tote purse from Neiman Marcus Last Call (exact). 
Those are just 4 ways to wear white pants this fall and winter.  How will you be styling your white pants for the cooler months this year? 

Fall Outfits in the Heat

by Katie Haller

I absolutely love fall and everything that comes with it, especially the fashion.  Fall fashion is my favorite.  I love to layer and I love scarves, boots, and jeans.  Summer is difficult for me because the heat makes it hard for me to dress the way I want to, but with fall, I get to pull out some of my favorite pieces in my closet.  However, in Las Vegas, our fall feels more like summer to most people.  It creates a bit of a challenge because the mornings are cool, but the highs in the afternoon are in the 80’s and 90’s.  It’s okay though because I always love a challenge when it comes to styling my daily wardrobe. 
Here are some outfits I’ve come up with for my transitional fall wardrobe. 
………………………………………………………………

Dresses are always great for transitioning into the fall weather.  I love being able to wear a dress in the warmer weather and accessorize it with some of my favorite fall accessories, like boots and denim.  I am loving my new ankle boots (exact) I bought last month.  They give the perfect fall touch with a few of my favorite dresses.  I also always love to layer with my denim jacket (similar).  Here are a few looks I’ve come up with. 
Dress- H&M (exact)

Dress- Nordstrom Rack (similar)
Dress- Pink Blush (exact)
You can never go wrong with a great pair of jeans.  I miss my jeans in the summer, so I always get excited when the temperatures cool off enough for some jeans.  Right now, I am loving the distressed denim look.  I have a few pairs of distress jeans that I rotate through.  I really love wearing flats with my jeans while the weather is still warm.  Flats and jeans are pretty much my workweek uniform.  Here are a couple looks wearing my jeans with some of my favorite new pairs of flats and accessorizing with my new Linea Pelle cognac tote handbag (exact) from Neiman Marcus Last Call.  I’m kind of obsessed with this purse right now. It’s the perfect fall accessory. 
 Top- Target (exact)/ Jeans- Target (similar) Shoes- Ross (similar)
 Top- Target (similar) Jeans- Kohl’s (similar) Shoes- Burlington Coat Factory (similar)
Who doesn’t love leggings?  They are so comfortable, I could literally wear them every day.  I love wearing leggings in the early fall because sometimes they are lighter than wearing jeans.  I love to style them with a long t-shirt or tunic top.  Here are a couple ways that I styled my leggings with my ankle boots to give them that fall touch.  
Top- Nordstrom Rack (similar)
Top- Old Navy (exact)
Those are some of my transitional falls looks for this year.  You can check out some of my older falls looks from last year’s post here to get some more ideas on how to style your fall wardrobe in the heat.  Enjoy the rest of the fall and remember that just because it’s hot out, doesn’t mean that you can’t embrace the new season and also stay on budget with your wardrobe! 

Making the Most of Your Wardrobe- Striped Dress

by Katie Haller

I always love doing my “Making the Most of Your Wardrobe” post, because I love sharing how I accessorize my clothes.  My closet is full of simple clothing pieces that can be re-worn over and over again, I just accessorize it a little differently each time.  I feel like this is the practical way to make the most of your clothing.

 I bought this simple stripe racerback dress at Walmart back in August (similar here here and here).  Every August, I go get my school supplies at Walmart and I can never help myself but to take a quick peek at the clothes.  I found that a lot of their junior summer clothes were on clearance for really low prices between $1-$5.  I stumbled upon this little dress and couldn’t reset it.  It was only $5.  As I’m sure you can tell, I have a bit of an obsession with stripe patterns, especially black and white stripes.  I just find stripes to be so classic and simple to accessorize.

Here are some ways that I’ve worn this little dress.

This first look is my favorite!  I wore my black blazer from Forever 21 (similar), my new turquoise pendant necklace from Nordstrom Rack (similar), my nude flats from Target (exact) and my cross over blush purse from Ross (similar). 

This is a perfect weekend look.  I wore the denim jacket that I bought a couple summers ago while grocery shopping at Meijer (similar), my white sandals from Target (exact), a coral statement necklace from Charming Charlie (similar) and my coral Coach purse.

This is a great transitional fall look, perfect for the Las Vegas fall temperatures.  I wore my long cardigan from H&M (similar), my gold pendant necklace from Burlington Coat Factory (similar) and my new ankle boots also from Burlington Coat Factory (similar).

For this last look, I really love wearing sneakers with a dress.  It just helps to dress it down and give it a casual look.  I wore my same denim jacket as above, with a simple long silver necklace (I’ve had this one so long I can’t remember where I bought it.) and my pink sneakers from Target (similar).

  This dress has quickly become one of my favorite dresses.  I love how a little $5 purchase can add so much to your wardrobe.  Look for more posts like this, because I have a lot more closet favorites that I would love to share!

Follow

@thriftywifehappylife