If y’all have been following my blog recently, you’ll see that my last few posts involved me frolicking around in the piles of snow Canada keeps gifting us. This is truly difficult for my beach-loving heart to wrap its one-tracked mind around. Even though I’m becoming somewhat OK with the colder weather and learning to appreciate everything that Canada throws my way – good or bad – I’m still never going to be 100% on board with snow and cold temps. The good thing is, while I’m sitting here in the toasty cocoon of my office, I can blissfully ignore the great outdoors and play pretend! I don’t have to look out the window or go anywhere today, so I can merrily frolic through the virtual world of the internet and do a little spring dreaming (and shopping, of course!) In the spirit of positive thinking, I decided to share my absolute spring staples with you guys today. These are things that work really well for transitioning both from winter to spring, and then later, from spring to summer. These items will be on constant rotation for me this spring, so get ready to see lots more of ’em!
1. Wrap Bracelets
Ever since I ordered my first wrap bracelet from Victoria Emerson, I’ve been hooked. I simply can’t get enough! They’re great because you can layer them with other bracelets to create a unique look, so you can experiment and find your perfect combo. You can also throw one on if you’re in a hurry and still want to look put-together. With sleeveless weather right around the corner, I get even more crazy with my arm parties sometimes, so this is definitely a closet staple you won’t find me without!
2. Colored Reflective Sunnies
I looooove color! When these sunnies suddenly exploded in popularity, I knew I had to have a pair or two. Since I’m absolutely murderous to my poor sunglasses (hey, I can’t help it – I’m just accident-prone!), I simply cannot justify spending lots of money on a designer pair (R.I.P Kate Spades that were swallowed by the ocean). I got lucky this year and found not one, but three fantastic pairs with a nice tiny price tag that actually look great on me! I found the blue and the green-yellow pairs at Forever 21 and I got the orange-pink pair at Charming Charlie, each for under $10. Since they’re such fun, bright colors, they’re great to brighten up any outfit for spring!
3. Wide-Brimmed Hats
Most people either love or hate this style of hat. I was on the fence for so long because I never thought hats looked good on me. Then, one fateful day, I tried one on an I was shocked to find that I loved it! Hats are great because they can protect your head as the sun gets a little hotter, but you know what? They’re also perfect for covering up a bad hair day! ~WINNING~
4. Printed Dresses & Skirts
Skirts and dresses can be so versatile and that’s why I love them for spring! If I want to get dressed up or I’m simply feeling a ~little fancy~, I can pop one of these printed beauties on, pair it with a pair of ankle boots and a denim jacket, and I’m all set. I’ve been finding a lot of amazing deals on dresses and skirts at Dynamite Clothing and Forever 21 recently, so check them out!
5. Denim Jackets
Ahhh…jean jackets: the trend that comes and goes constantly. Since I finally found the perfect one at American Eagle a couple weeks ago (on sale for $20!), I find myself wanting to wear it every single day. Part of the reason is because it’s new, of course, but it’s also ridiculously versatile. As mentioned above, I love pairing one with a cute dress, but it also looks fantastic dressed down with cute jogging pants (as pictured above). I haven’t yet been brave enough, but perhaps one of these days I’ll try doing a more modern take on the ol’ “Canadian Tuxedo” (AKA denim on denim on denim on…OK, you get the point). The main thing is, you’ve gotta either match your jacket to your jeans very well or go the opposite direction an majorly contrast the two. I’m still terribly frightened of looking like a major Canadian Stereotype, though, so I may leave this up to my American friends out there 😛
6. Ponchos
I have such a love/hate relationship with ponchos. I think they’re one of the best clothing items out there because they can be thrown on top of literally anything and they’ll look cute and cozy. However, if you turn in juuuuust the wrong way or a breeze decides to make a new home inside of it, then suddenly, you look 10000000000x bigger! Let’s be real, though – this is not enough of a deterrent for me. I’m going to keep on keepin’ on, wearing my ponchos ’til the cows come home. I just love them that much. So maybe it’s actually a full on love/love relationship after all.
7. Ankle Boots
The fringier the better, I always say – which is probably why most of my ankle boots have this fun detail on them. Now that we’re getting into spring, it’s become less and less ~appropriate~ to wear full-on boots, so my solution is to keep wearing ankle-height ones. I love how they look with dresses and skirts (as mentioned above) because they add a bit of a cool edge to the outfit, but still maintain a dressy vibe. They also look fantastic with jeans and they can even look cute with shorts. Bottom line: you really can’t lose by wearing ankle boots in the spring.
8. Flared Jeans
I have been waiting so patiently until flared jeans come back in style. Back in the fall, the moment finally arrived! The problem is, I hate wearing them in any sort of wet conditions because they get all soggy at the bottoms and then I just want to rip them off. Yes, I know – spring can be quite rainy so my theory is somewhat flawed. However, there’s no snow to contend with (everywhere but here in Canada, of course) so as long as there’s no rain predicted, I’m going to waltz around town in my flared jeans! Byyyyye skinny jeans! Wait…I’m just kidding. Please come back.
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend everyone!
fashion lover • interior decorator • canadian girl with a southern soul