Get the look for less : Valentino Butterfly Tote

Ahhhh, butterflies! I have loved them for as long as I can remember. Valentino has had some gorgeous pieces in their collections the past few years. Dresses and coats scattered with embroidered wings, my favorite being an army like coat (I just love the contrast of the drab green with the pretty colors). I've honestly toyed around with the idea of trying to DIY this with a plain jacket and some butterfly patches. Anyway, just do a search on Pinterest for "Valentino Butterfly" and your eyes will thank you.

Since I don't have time for a DIY right now, I DID find some comparable bags to the Valentino version! The designer made several styles of bags, all ranging in the thousands, but I zero'd in on a tote style below.

SAVE: Bueno brand comes in the cheapest, and I feel the print is the closest match to the Valentino. I actually came across 2 styles of this bag at Meijer (yes, Meijer, my big box store I do my grocery shopping at). They have a bucket bag and cross body, both for $40 or less. I went online though to find this tote style that fits my needs best. I bought it when it was on sale for $29.99

SPEND: The next tier, the little bit nicer brand of Nine West. The print is a little bit larger on this one. I got mine at Younkers - original price $79, on clearance now for under $30! I've been carrying it since mid-December and just love it!

SPLURGE: I do not have the MZ Wallace bag, but when I started research for this post I came across it and thought I would add it so you could see 3 different price points. This one retailed for $295. As the price goes up on my comparisons, so does the size of the print. You can find this bag here.

Coincidentally, while looking up the Nine West bag above I found another striking similarity - this time to Fendi's "Monster". Is Nine West the new, legit knockoff brand? This usually isn't my style, but I'm intrigued. If you want to look at all of the options, just Google "Fendi Monster" and "Nine West Faces". Links to the ones I pulled are below:

Fendi Monster Shopper via Nordstrom

Nine West Faces Tote via Amazon

 

Get the look for less : Anthropologie Horn Swirl Necklace

Several of the post ideas on my list are "get the look for less", and I intended to space them out in between outfit or home decor posts. However, most of my spare time lately is being taken up by creating new things for our booth at The Antique Mercantile. Also, it finally got around to being Winter here so it's harder to take outfit pictures when it is so cold. Since I do not want to lose my momentum of posting, at least this is something for now and I hope you enjoy or benefit from it.

Anthropologie Horn Swirl Necklace = $98

The same necklace was on TJ Maxx's website for $49.99 (sold out so I don't have the link). When I went to my local store, it was selling for $29.99 so I decided to pick it up.

Get the look for less : ballet flats

I recently came across a health plan specifically for "mummy tummy" a.k.a. MuTu. I haven't officially started yet (more on that later), but one of the issues it addresses is proper alignment. The creator insists on wearing completely flat (or zero drop) footwear. While I know I will never be able to give up my heels (at least I wear chunky ones) and wedges for good, I will say that since having kids I have been more into flats than ever before. 

I've loved my Minnetonka Mocassins for years, pregnant or not, and when I was pregnant with Richard I bought a pair of black ballet flats from Target that were pretty much the only thing that would fit on my feet at the time. Almost 5 years later, it's time to replace them. I had heard a lot about Tieks from the Mom's group for MuTu, so I decided to research them. Real leather, ok. They can fold in half, ok. But I was scratching my head at the $175 price tag! And quite honestly, I'm not keen on the blue sole which shows quite a bit. I found an identical looking pair at JC Penney for $34.99 and then I had some coupons on top of that. So that's today's get the look for less:

 Tieks Classic in Matte Black = $175

a.n.a. Epic = $34.99

Winter Floral

My wonderful hubby got me a gift card to Anthropologie for Christmas, so you know I hightailed it there after the holidays when their tag sale started. I found so many good deals, this dress being one of them! It was normally $158, marked down to $49.95 and then an extra 40% off. The style and print is what I always gravitate towards, and since it is sleeveless you know I'll be pairing it with black sandals this Spring and Summer. Truly, a dress for all season!

Maeve "Bretin" Dress : Anthropologie

Black Shrug : Casual Corner (old)

Necklace : Express (old)

Tights : Kohl's

"Maris" Bootie : Sole Society

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy

Get the look for less : elephant teapot

I love doing these comparative posts, and I hope you enjoy them too since I have a ton of them on queue. We've had the Pier 1 elephant teapot for YEARS, and using it the other day reminded me of this savings. Both stores seem to stock these regularly, so without further ado, here are the links:

Losin Teapot - Anthropologie

Elephant Teapot - Pier 1

Back in Plaid

I didn't really intend to take a month long break from blogging, but I must say it was nice to give myself permission to just relax and try to enjoy the holidays and time off as much as possible. That's not to say the month of December was not stupidly crazy busy, but it was nice to not have to worry, "Oh, I have to get a picture of my outfit today" or worry about editing pictures and writing and finding links. Taking a break was also good in the way that I am newly inspired with a list of post ideas!

These pictures were actually taken mid-December and our winter in general has been so mild and wonderful! I honestly didn't really even start wearing my winter coat until recently, thanks to cozy sweaters or ponchos like this (especially if you layer them over something already long sleeved). I just couldn't resist the gorgeous colors of this plaid number, knowing it would go with most anything. It is really just a big blanket like scarf with arm holes sewn in, so it could be worn like a traditional scarf as well. Vice versa, I am sure it gives us all inspiration to make just about any hunk of fabric into a poncho by simply cutting some arm holes in!

a.n.a. High Rise Flare Jeans - JC Penney

Chamechaude Poncho - option from Anthropologie

Better deal straight from Saachi

Best deal from Overstock.com

brown turtleneck - Kohl's (old)

a.n.a. boots - JC Penney (old)

Lucky Brand necklace

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy