style + beauty blog in the dc metro area
Happy Thursday! Feeling all the happy feelings thinking about the long weekend; I’ll pop on with a quick post Saturday morning with a quick overview of some of the best Labor Day weekend sales + items I own that you can score at a great price this weekend, so be sure to stop by!
{This post contains affiliate and/or referral links. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through a link in this post. Thank you for your support of What Nicole Wore.}
An April 2017 update! A year later this post about the LuLaRoe Cassie skirt continues to be one of my most popular blog posts; if you’re interested in seeing more LuLaRoe check out the following posts:
I will try my best to continue updating this with LuLaRoe posts!
One of my big focuses the past few years has been not only to take better care of myself across the board, but also to work on how I think about myself and talk to myself {surprise — I’m totally one of those crazy people that has full blown conversations with themselves!}
I read this poem about two years ago and it’s something that’s resonated strongly with me ever since.
“I treat myself like I would treat my daughter. I brush her hair, wash her laundry, tuck her in goodnight. Most importantly, I feed her. I do not punish her. I do not berate her, leave tears staining her face. I do not leave her alone. I know she deserves more. I know I deserve more.” — Michelle K.
I don’t write about my struggles with anxiety and depression all that often but the fact is that even now, years after my initial diagnosis, I still struggle day to day with being kind to myself. Reaching a point where I don’t feel the need to internally berate myself for something small has been a huge milestone for me personally, but perhaps an even bigger success lately has been recognizing things when I’m in situations that are causing me to backslide. The past couple months have been extremely tough personally, but I’m proud of the way I’ve stuck up for myself and known that my heart and intentions are pure.
So what does that long intro have to do with today’s post? Well aside from the fact that it’s heavy on my heart and mind as I’m writing, it also has a little bit to do with LuLaRoe. {Disclaimer: this is not a sponsored post!} My good friend Tracy was my first real introduction to LuLaRoe’s products. I had previously blown them off; I’m not a leggings kinda gal — I know atrocious right? One of Tracy’s college friends is a Louisville local and I shopped with her a bit before this post. While I was shopping with Sue, I was struck by how incredible it is to find a company so focused on empowering women through clothing that includes a wide variety of sizes, shapes and silhouettes.
I entered Sue’s house fully intending to pick something out for my blog post and leave and ended up spending over an hour with her talking about LuLaRoe the company and how powerful inclusive clothing can be and ended up leaving with several purchases for myself and my mom on top of the item for my blog post. My mom ended up not liking the skirt I picked out for her {ironic, I know}, so I went back last month and swapped it out for this fun polka dot LuLaRoe Cassie skirt for me.
In so many ways, blogging has been my creative outlet beyond work, beyond school, beyond reading and all the other things I enjoy doing to keep myself busy and focused on the good. I don’t think I realized it at the time, but fashion was something that allowed me to feel good about myself when I wasn’t able to see much good in myself. And what a blessing it is to be able to understand what the difference in those two is now.
I’m always amazed at the power and reach of social media and the connections I’ve been able to make thanks to it. A few weeks ago my Instagram friend Tracy, put me in contact with her friend from college Sue, who recently moved to Louisville and became a LuLaRoe consultant. Sue invited me to her first open house and when I shared that I wouldn’t be able to make it {morning 5k + afternoon/evening sorority advisor commitments #wah}, she was sweet enough to offer to let me shop beforehand!
While I’ve been hearing and seeing a lot of LuLaRoe on Instagram and through fellow bloggers {I love Tif’s post with her Cassie skirt!}, this was the first time that I’d shopped, tried on and touched LuLaRoe clothing.
So here’s the basic gist: each LuLaRoe consultant is able to place an order for the styles she wants to carry. After that, it’s all a surprise — the fabric is made into a variety of styles so there’s no telling what each consultant will receive. It also means that when you see a piece you like in your size, you should grab it, because you probably will not be able to find it again. {There’s some exceptions — like the pair of solid black leggings I ended up buying.} Overall, I had a great shopping experience. I love that the clothes:
Sue was kind enough to not only open her home to me, but also to tell me all about LuLaRoe and allow me to try on every and anything I thought was cute. This Cassie skirt immediately caught my eye since we all are completely aware of my love for all things cobalt. The mint polka dots were a huge bonus and I was super pumped when the skirt fit {I went with a small for reference.} I like that the Cassie is made of a stretchy but somewhat thick and forgiving material. The waist can be folded over {like I’m wearing it here} or left alone for a length that hits the knee.
I was trying to decide how I wanted to style this and while going through my closet realized that it would look so cute mixed with even more polka dots. I liked my white rose necklace to bring out some more neutral color and emphasize the white polka dots in my shirt. I always forget how lacking my jewelry collection is when it comes to white necklaces…but it really is. I have a bad habit of picking something colorful over something neutral, but I’m currently crushing on these fun white necklaces:
Sue’s first online shopping party is tomorrow, Thursday, April 21! You can shop it by joining her VIP Facebook group here.
