fall essential #9: a woodland friend

i love woodland creatures: squirrels, deer, birds, and especially owls!! and when i think of fall, i think of all the pretty trees in the woods at my nana's house and all of the lovely animals that call that place their home.  so if you are going to be dressed in your best for the fall season, you need to bring a woodland friend along for the trip!

{sweater: Etsy; skinnies: Express; oxfords: DSW}

i originally planned on wearing some owls for this post (i really love owls), but instead i found this awesome vintage sweater on Etsy with these lovely deer!!! i just love the ruffled collar and the deer just made me go over the edge and buy it!  of course i got a decent price, $15!  i bought the sweater from 15dollarvintage, where everything is $15!  anyways, woodland friends are great and everyone should have one!!

don't forget to check out jessica's woodland friend, here!!

♥ mackenzie

fall essential #8: a pop of color

 

number 8 of 10: a POP of color!  this is on the list because with it being fall time it's easy to get tied up in the neutral and greyish colors that are a little bit dull.  i'm NOT saying that these colors are bad, in fact they are some of my favorite colors, BUT sometimes it's nice to through some bright colors in your fall pallet!

 

 

 

{headband: made by me; white button up: The Limited; skinnies: Express; oxfords: DSW Shoes; green purse: Target}

pops of color are awesome and fun! so try some in your next outfit!  jessica's yellow scarf was a great addition to her outfit so make sure you stop by her blog to see her fall essential #8 ensemble!!  And the final two installments of this series will be posted on the same day!! so come back tomorrow and see what the last essentials for fall are!!!

♥ mackenzie

fall essential #7: the boot

boots are a must have for fall.  i'm sorry if you didn't know that, your out of the loop!! but that's why jessica and i are here!! we keep you in check!!!
boots come in all different varieties.  some various types i have come to love are: the combat boot, the knee high boot, the boot with a heel, the flat boot, the leather boot, the fabric boot, the buckled boot, and the cowboy boot!  there are SO many different kinds but the type i have decided to post about today are my cowboy boots.  i got my boots in a little buy one get two free boot shop in TN-- yes i did say buy 1 get 2 free, it's AWESOME.  so i ended up paying like $75 for a pair of almost $200 boots and my sister got some too!! anyways, moving on from that awesomeness, i paired my boots with my favorite peachy top, a ruffled cardigan with a belt, my skinnies, and a hand made headband that i crocheted due to my unruly hair.  i'm hopefully going to be making more and that will have it's own blog post!

 

 

{headband: made by me; vintage opal owl necklace: Etsy; coral top: Target?; ruffle cardigan: Francesca's; belt: Ruche; skinnies: Express; boots: Tennessee shop}

 boots are amazing and just citing where my inspiration comes from-- the little collage idea and the video came from jessica's post today-- she's awesome so give her post a look!! & leave a shout out or some boot love in the comments section!!

♥ mackenzie

fall essential #6: pattern

 

when in doubt-- slap some pattern on it!!! (yes i just said that)

polka-dot, stripes, paisley, cheetah, zebra, there are just too many to choose from!!  pattern is so much fun!!! pattern gives that extra sha to the bam of your ensemble! lol

it's pretty self explanatory, so i'm not going to lecture you on how to use it.  but i will caution you-- you can become over-cautious with pattern, and that's not cool!! in my outfit, i was pretty cautious but my friend here, dared to put paisley with stripes... and it TOTALLY worked.  so with this post i'm going to challenge you to be a little more like jessica and be bold and brilliant when it comes to your pattern!!

 

 

 

 

{scalloped polka-dot top: Sears; maroon undershirt: New York, New York; necklace: Aerie; skinnies: Express; shoes: a shoe store}

i hope you enjoyed today's essential! and remember dare to pair!! and check out jessica's blog post today!

♥ mackenzie

fall essential #5: tights

so the fifth essential is tights.  when thinking about making tights an essential i thought: it's cold now, i love color, and i miss shorter pants and skirts!  so that's where tights come in!! tights are a great way to make a spring-ish/summer-ish outfit into something very fall-ish!

 

 

 

 

 

{white button up: The Limited; necklace: Maurice's; short over-all's: American Eagle; gold tights: Macy's; heels: Kohl's}

for this outfit i layered a white button up with a tank top and through some over-all's on over my gold tights! i've had these over-all's since i was in 8th or 9th grade but i never wore them!! i could never find anything to wear them with and i was too insecure to try anything too different.  but i think i have somewhat matured in my style trends and i was willing to try something a tad risky.  i love how the tights turned out! i know they are loud and radical but you can also wear tights in a more conservative manner, maybe a more subtle color & oh and panty hose SOO count in this essential {a little shear never hurt anybody}!!

jessica also did a post today too!! so make sure you run on over and see her use of tights too!!

♥ mackenzie