Winter Style Essentials 2018 (Feat. StyleWe + SheIn)

Even though the winter season has been upon us for a little over a month now (am I the only one who has had enough of this deep freeze business?), we, unfortunately, still have about 2 more months to go. And though I am sure many of us already have our favorite winter pieces out and ready to go, if you are anything like me and hate to be cold, I am sure there is always some room for a new coat or winter accessories in your closet. So to help everyone keep toasty warm and stylish through the rest of the winter, I decided to share my top style essentials for winter 2018, featuring fabulous looks and accessories from my sponsors StyleWe and SheIn!

Cozy Hats

Though I am sure hats are one of our must have favorite products in order to keep our ears and head warm, this year they are also much more stylish than years past. This season you can be expecting to see embroidered embellishments, fur accents, and lots of color which is great for giving your winter outfit a nice pop.

Items Left to Right: White Beanie With Fur Puff, Black & Grey Fur Hat, Black Beanie With Embroidered Bee, Brown Fur Cap, Classic Beanie.

Fuzzy & Fashionable Coats

It wouldn't be the winter season without snowy and cold weather, which means if you have to be outdoors for any reason, you're definitely going to need a warm coat. Though being warm should be everyone's main priority in this weather, many of us also focus on fashion and styling as well. So, this season's best looking coats have lots of patterns, color blocking, and fur! The other trend you'll be seeing more of is winter are three quarter coats opposed to shorter jackets that were more frequently styled in years past. The reason this is great is because the added length helps keep you warm.

Items Left to Right: Black, Red Print, Fur Hood, Down Coat, Tan Color Block Coat, Yellow Plaid Coat, Color Block Fur Coat, Grey Fleece Coat.

Snuggly Sweaters

Another winter style staple is no other than classic sweaters. Again, to keep warm in the winter is a must, and obviously you can do this through layering warm pieces with your sweaters or cardigans. This year, much like with coats, the sweater trends include pops of color, color blocking, and loads of embroidering. 

Items Left to Right: Pink Color Block Cardigan, Light Grey Sweater, White Embroidered Sweater, Tan Patchwork Sweater, White and Tan Cardigan.

Captivating Capes

Here is probably my favorite style trend of winter 2018: Capes. I have always loved capes ever since I was little just because they have such a pretty and sophisticated look to them, so I'm surprised it took this long for this trend to catch on! The trends you'll be seeing in capes will include pretty accents such as buttons and bows, along with fur and fur trim.

Items Left to Right: Black Double Breasted Cape, Long Black Cape with Fur Trim, Maroon Cape with Bow, Short Green Cape, Red Print Cape.

Gorgeous Gloves

Another important accessory that is a must are gloves! Though many of us just wear gloves as a extra precaution to keep us warm, they're also essential to keep your hands from getting chapped and cracked during the cold winter months. Big trends that you will be seeing in gloves this season will be fur trims and accents, along with deep lush colors.

Items Left to Right: Black Fur Cuff Gloves, Grey Puff Ball Mittens, Red Fur Puff Ball Gloves, Grey Fold Back Mittens, Grey Patchwork Gloves.

Wonderfully Warm Winter Dresses

Though I personally avoid wearing dresses at all costs during the winter, sometimes I have events that require me to be a little more dressed up than just jeans and a sweater. So, considering I'm sure most of my readers have a similar dilemma, I decided to include some of my favorite dress trends for winter 2018. The top trends you will be seeing are cowl neck or turtle neck sweater dresses, a lot of plaid, fur accents, bold colors, and velvet.

Items Left to Right: Long Tan Sweater Dress, Rose Calf Length Sweater Dress, Royal Blue Velvet Dress, Grey Dress With Fur Collar, Grey Wool Plaid Dress.

Statement Making Pants

In case you are really opposed to wearing dresses in the cold months, another route to go is to add some dress pants to your wardrobe. And actually, due to the cool styles and trends in pants we will be seeing this winter, there is really no better time to snag some! Much like with dresses, you'll see lots of bold colors and patterns, along with pretty velvet material this season. Another trend is actually wide leg pants, which is quite the switch from the tapered and skinny pants we've been accustom to seeing in past years.

Items Left to Right: Blue Velvet Pants, Tan and Green Plaid Pants, Olive Wool Pants, Velvet Multi Color Print Pants, Yellow Wide Leg Pants.

Bold Boots

Last but not least, one of the most important things to keep warm are our feet, which means in the winter season we definitely need to invest in some warm boots! The top boot trends in 2018 include patterned boots, bold colors, fur accents, along with suede accents. 

Items Left to Right: Purple Bow Boots, Black Suede Boots, Black Leather Boots, Brown Checkered Boots, Brown Knee High Boots.

What are some of you favorite style trends this winter season? Let's chat about it in the comments below or you can tweet me at @StarkRavingChic! Later, babes, try and stay warm!

Xx, Bree

P.S.  Having trouble finding all the goods you see here and on my Instagram? Fear not! I am a member of rewardStyle and LIKEtoKNOW.it! Meaning you can shop straight from my Instagram feed when you click here or here. Don't know what LIKEtoKNOW.it is all about? Learn more, here!

#BLOGMAS: Holiday Party Style Guide 2017

Wow, I cannot believe that there are only three more days until Christmas! Is it just me or has this holiday season just flown right by? However, with Christmas coming up quick, for those of us who celebrate it, means that there are many Christmas Eve and Christmas parties in the upcoming days as well, and if you're anything like me you might be trying to plan the best outfits for this year's Yuletide events. So in order to help you (and myself) brainstorm, I've decided to put together this holiday party style guide, which I am sure will have a little something for everyone as well as every occasion.

Greensleeves

This first look if perfect for a holiday cocktail hour with your girlfriends. Due to this green, lace dress' fun hemline and short cut, it's sure to be a show stopper at all those trendy Christmas pop-up bars and shops I'm sure you'll be hitting up. And of course you need some shimmery accessories to accompany this playful look, so try pairing it with these gorgeous earrings and fun faux pearl studded bag. Then, to complete this look, you can try something a little unconventional and pair it with these fun over the knee boots! (So this way you'll be rocking one of the hottest trends this winter and you'll keep your legs warm.)

Items Left to Right: Green Lace Dress, Gold & Bronze Earrings, Faux Pearl Studded Purse, Over The Knee Black Boots.

Rudolph Reds

This next outfit is a great choice for your office Christmas party. The reason this dress is a great choice is for this occasion because it is not overly formal and is comfortable for wear around the office, but also because it is super chic and easy to glam up a bit. To add some shimmer to this fabulous number, I paired it with a layer necklace along with a gorgeous gold and berry bracelet, along with this pretty envelope clutch. Then to top off this outfit, I chose to pair it with these nude, lace up stilettos.

Items Left to Right: Red/Orange Bell Sleeve Dress (Love this dress? See how I styled it here!), Layered Necklace, Gold and Berry Bracelet, Black Glitter Clutch, Lace Up Nude Stilettos.

Starry Night

The next look is for a more formal occasion, and features this beautiful star studded evening dress. Due to this dress' elegant nature, I chose to keep its accessories simple with a gorgeous rose gold pendant necklace and simple evening bag. But to up the wow factor, though this dress is gorgeous enough on its own, I chose to wrap up this formal look with these show stopping, diamond strap heels.

Items Left to Right: Black Star Mesh Evening Dress, Rose Gold Pendant Necklace, Black Evening Clutch, Diamond Ankle Strap Heels.

Blue Christmas

For those of you who want to put a twist on the classic holiday colors, I also always am a fan of the color blue for Christmas simply because it is so underrated this time of year. So, for the outfit I chose to style this pretty blue and silver lace dress. (Doesn't the lace remind you of frost? Which is totally perfect for this time of year.) The reason I chose this dress is because it is super versatile, meaning you can wear it to just about any type of holiday party without it being inappropriate. To style this piece, I chose some gorgeous drop earrings, a beautiful crystal clutch, and to complete this look I chose some faux pearl accented, glitter pumps.

Items Left to Right: Blue & Silver Lace Dress, Silver Drop Earrings, Crystal Clutch, Faux Pearl Accented Glitter Pumps.

Naughty or Nice

This next pretty holiday look is perfect for your more semi-formal occasions with friends and family. Much like the first outfit in this guide, this two piece dress would make for a perfect cocktail outfit while out with your girls, or even just for a casual holiday brunch with your family. To accessorize this pretty two piece, I chose to pair it with a gorgeous delicate choker, a fun fringe cuff, and a plain but chic evening clutch. And to add some extra shimmer to this outfit, I decided it would look best with some diamond accented heels. 

Items Left to Right: Red Two Piece Dress, Delicate Gold Choker, Gold Fringe Cuff, Red Evening Clutch, Red Diamond Accented Heels.

Silver & Gold

This last look is one of the more traditional variety. For this outfit I chose to go with this classic silver dress, which would be perfect for those of us who have traditional family Christmas parties to attend. The reason I went with this silver dress is simply because its just so pretty and its classic cut would be flattering on anybody. To style this gorgeous classic, I chose some pretty chandelier earrings, a nifty clutch, and some pretty, bedazzled pumps. 

Items Left to Right: Silver Dress, Chandelier Earrings, Silver Clutch, Bedazzled Pumps. 

What are you wearing to your holiday parties this year? Let's chat about it in the comments below or you can tweet about it at @StarkRavingChic! Wanna show off your favorite holiday party outfit? I'd love to see it! So feel free to tag me in your Instagram story at @StarkRavingChic. Later, babes!

Xx, Bree

P.S. Psssssst! If you love the jewelry in this post as much as I do, you can try Rocksbox for a whole month 100% FREE when you sign up using my promo code "starkravingchicxoxo". Don't know what Rocksbox is or how it works? You can learn more here!

Also, I am now a proud member of rewardStyle and LIKEtoKNOW.it! Meaning you can shop straight from my Instagram feed when you click here or here. Don't know what LIKEtoKNOW.it is all about? Learn more, here!

#OOTD: Lovely In Lace (Feat. StyleWe)

Though I generally complain about the winter season and how much I absolutely loathe the snowy and cold weather, I must say that there is a least one redeeming thing about this time of year, and that one thing would be the holiday season. Like all small children, when I was a little girl I always loved the magic of Christmas, despite never liking the cold, an this still holds true to me today. However, now that I am long past my years of believing in Santa Claus, I still love the festive and joyous mood that this time of year seems to put mostly everybody in.

I also particularly love the holidays because I have a huge family, and pretty much only get to see all of them at once spanning from Thanksgiving to Christmas. And generally at my family's get togethers, we all tend to get a little dressed up for the occasion. However, the outfit in this post was not worn for a family affair of mine, but it was actually worn to attend a dinner cruise on Pittsburgh’s Gateway Clipper. But before heading to the docks to board the boat, I made a pit stop at Old Economy Village to take some photos on their beautifully decorated grounds. 

Fashionably Festive

The reason why I chose this gorgeous lace dress from StyleWe for my outing on the Gateway Clipper is because the dinner cruise itself was a black tie affair, so I felt that this dress was a perfect choice due to its chic and modern nature. However, though this dress is a bit more on the modern side, it also has a very elegant and classic feel to it as well. So, when faced with a decision of what to wear to a swanky dinner party, this dress gives you the best of both worlds, which is a total win in my book!

As I mentioned earlier, this dress is from my lovely sponsor and affiliate StyleWe, and though I have talked about them loads on here before, just for my new readers, I will give you a quick run down. StyleWe is an online clothing retailer specializing in women's clothing. And though they do sell some more casual pieces, their main focus is on business, evening, and cocktail attire. Personally, if you have a formal affair to attend, or are looking for some new dress clothes for the office, I would suggest shopping with them because they have a fabulous selection of clothes and a variety of unique designers. And since they have some many unique designers, you are guaranteed to have a fresh and stylish look no matter what the occasion.

And this dress is no different in the unique department. Though everyone I met at the dinner party was fabulously dressed, there was definitely no one there wearing anything remotely similar to this piece, which was great because who wants to ever look the same as someone else? The dress itself also holds up to StyleWe's pristine standards. Much like every other piece I have modeled and reviewed for StyleWe, this garment is incredibly well made. The under slip of the dress is polyester so it has a semi-satin feel making it very comfortable. And the outer shell, lace portion of the dress is actually quite thick and heavy which is great, because this will help keep the dress fro getting snagged or torn. This garment is also true to size and fit me perfectly.

To style this beautiful lace dress, I decided to go with classic accessories and jewelry due to the nature of the event. Since this dinner cruise was black tie, I did want to go overboard on jewelry, or add a pop of color by wearing colored pumps, so I went the one hundred percent classic route: some plain gold hoops, a simple gold bracelet, a small evening bag, and my black Kate Spade heels. These accessories were practical and kept me looking classically chic for the dinner party.

Lastly, to complete my classic evening look, I decided to have my hair done in a simple twist, thank you to my local beauty salon, The Cut Company, located in Baden, Pennsylvania, and paired it with some simple makeup. The makeup I chose to use for the occasion was my classic bareMinerals kit, my Maybelline City Minis palette, and my Kat Von D lip liner and lipstick. The reason I chose such a neutral palette is because I really wanted stick with a classic, sophisticated feel. And though I do love bold makeup looks, I just felt it wouldn't be right for this occasion.

One Last Look

What looks are you styling for your swanky holiday events? I'd love to hear about them! So, let's chat in the comments below or you can tweet me about it at @StarkRavingChic. Have a fabulous holiday party look you just need to show off? Feel free to tag me in your Instagram story at @StarkRavingChic. Later, dolls.

Xx, Bree

P.S. Psssssst! In case you haven't heard, I am now a proud member of the rewardStyle and LIKEtoKNOW.it family! Meaning you can shop straight from my Instagram feed when you click here or here. Don't know what LIKEtoKNOW.it is all about? Learn more, here!