Summer Lookbook ft. YesStyle, SheIn, and #Sunglasses
Hello, hello!
It has been a seriously busy July, full of festivities, workations, and being too dang tired to do anything. I also recently moved (YAY!), and that process has been insane. Because of all that, I haven't been able to blog at ALL in the month of July, and that makes me sad :( I'm really happy to be back and share with you a post that should have been posted a while ago... But as promised, here it is!
I'm going to start with my SheIn, which is a website with clothing that is sold for cheap. I really love this website because a lot of their clothes actually have awesome quality, and their sizes are much more versatile than most similar online stores. I found the sizing charts provided very helpful and accurate. They started out in New Jersey, which is nice, because I'm now (kind of) a New Jersey girl :)
In this first outfit, I paired a cute cropped sweater with shorts. There are certainly days out here in the east coast where it's chilly (like today), since storms roll in and we need a little warmth. To be honest though, I was dying when I was taking these pictures out in sunny southern California. Depending on your location and demographic, a lightweight sweater or cropped sweater paired with a pair of shorts is definitely a cute summer outfit. I really love this sweater in particular because it's simple, but cute. The words on the bottom band reads "Creative or die", which is a sentiment that I rather quite agree with. I'm a little self conscious about wearing cropped tops, but with such a forgiving colour, anything high waisted will do just fine :)
I definitely loved playing around with this 3/4 sleeve top a little too much. The wide sleeves make the top breathable for the summer, and the style is really fun and flirty, without being very in-your-face sexy. I was actually quite scared to photoshoot in this, because it was so hot and the light coloured fabric would have made for really obvious pit stains, but I was actually fine wearing this. The fabric is actually quite light, and I wasn't suffering at all. Style tip: don't be afraid to play with hats, especially when the sun is being crazy.
Next up is this cute little flowy number, which I absolutely adore. When I first saw it, I knew I wanted to do something dance-y with it as a tribute to my background in ballet and contemporary. I have missed dancing around, and this dress gave me every excuse to jump and leap and just have fun. This dress is so beautiful in how it moves with the wind and my body; I'm absolutely in love with it. I know I'm barefoot in this photoshoot, but it would be great with some strappy heels or sandals to finish off the dancer vibe.
(original photo on top; bottom photo cropped to show details of shorts more easily***)
The outfit is one that I didn't particularly feel comfortable posting, because I am honestly pretty insecure about how I looked, and I don't have the best body. I was going to pair this pair of lace-y flower shorts with a less form fitting black cropped top, but... that didn't happen because of laundry issues and last minute packing after a work trip. This was the outcome. I guess it could be worse, but hey: it actually is a really nice pair of shorts It's my favourite at the moment, because I love flowers, especially white and yellow ones. I've been rocking these shorts all summer, and I have no regrets. Style tip: If you have a similar body type to me and you're uncomfortable or insecure about your flab showing, I'd suggest maybe opt for a less form fitting cropped top, or tuck in a loose fitting top. If you've got a rocking body, go for the form fitting option. This is the last piece from SheIn, and definitely the best piece, in my opinion.
Next up is YesStyle. I'm sure many of you have heard about YesStyle; it's a similar website to SheIn. This online store is based in Hong Kong (which is where my mother's family is from), which makes me smile. The quality is not as great as the quality of SheIn, and the size selection is much more limited, which was disappointing. However, I do like most of the pieces I picked out from YesStyle, and I hope you enjoy this portion of my lookbook.
Can we talk about how beautiful this black and white dress is? It is very lightweight, which makes for a great dress to wear into the office. The material is unfortunately a little easy to wrinkle, but other than that, it's pretty awesome. I love the unexpected, slight asymmetrical silhouette to this otherwise serious dress. The design is also very slimming and unique, which will definitely let you stand out in a crowd of stuffy suits and dress suits. This dress would look great with a fitted blazer over top on cooler days (or when your office is blasting the AC to overcome the summer heat), or even just simply alone.
To be completely honest, I was quite disappointed by this floral sleeve dress. I loved how it looked online, and it looked really cute when it arrived. However, when I felt the fabric, the fabric was a bit... cheap feeling. The fabric kind of reminded me of high school sewing projects, and because the fabric was so thin yet stiff, it did not really serve to flatter the body very well. I love the design, but I think this dress is very much a dress that would only look good for a certain type of figure. I wish that this dress was made with a softer, flowy-er fabric, as it really would have made all the difference.
My last and favourite find from YesStyle was definitely this floral chiffon dress. I've worn it quite a few times, including on a date. I don't really have qualms about it, other than the fact that it is a little sheer, but it's nothing that nude undergarments can't fix. This style is really flattering, and I definitely felt like I was rocking an Asian (old-school) T-Swift vibe with the hat on. I just needed a guitar with some teardrops.
And lastly, I was contacted by #Sunglasses to pick out and feature their sunglasses. I was a little skeptical of the company, because I read some reviews that the sunglasses took forever to arrive (which it did). Also, for the price that they were selling the sunglasses for, it seemed a little. gimmicky. I have seen similar styles selling for a lot more (and also knock offs that were worth a few dollars). These sunglasses were mid-range priced, and I have to say that they are definitely worth the price. They aren't the quality of the sunglasses priced at hundreds of dollars, but I can definitely tell that they are a lot more durable than the sunglasses that can be found sitting in stalls downtown for a few bucks.
Of course, I had to get the #Cateyes sunglasses, because who do you think I am? I opted for the black on black for versatility. I aboslutely adore these sunglasses, not just because of the name and shape, but because they're actually really great quality and the frames are so thin, and it feels quite luxurious. I paired this up with a simple grey dress from Uniqlo, because hey, sunglasses match everything in the summer.
Don't laugh, but I also picked out he #Cateye because... well, I'm a cat. I do actually like these ones a little better, because they feel a little bit more durable and I love how size is a little bit more flattering for my face shape and size.
Anyhow, I really do love these sunglasses from #Sunglasses, and I truly would not be sharing them with you if I didn't. I have a promotional code for you: NewShades4You will get you 10% discount, so go for it! The sunglasses are great, and their Instagram team might give you a shoutout if you use the hashtag #sunglasses and tag them @hashtag.sunglasses.
I hope you enjoyed this little summer lookbook~ I had a lot of fun with my friend to make this lookbook possible. Check her out on Instagram: @mcspamela #XiaopanXuePhotography. I know Pamela from junior high, and we've worked together before, which was nice. I felt so awkward and uncomfortable because I didn't know how to pose, and there were so many flies that there were way too many moments where I was blowing them away from me. Changing in public was also a little daunting because... I'm not an exhibitionist. However, Pamela and her wife were really nice and helped me cover up and made the experience not awkward at all :)
** I am sometimes approached by companies' PR for collaborations and sponsorships. However, I am adamant to remain honest for my followers and give reliable reviews and recommendations, because that's important to me. Affiliate links may have been used, so beware!
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