Purple Thrift Blazer

Outfit Details 

Purple Blazer - Out of the Closet Thrift Store $1

White Tank Top - Old Navy $8

Black Pencil Skirt - Old Navy $8

Floral Strappy Heels - ShoeDazzle 

(Can't remember exact price of heels but I think they were around $20)

S

Feeling Fierce in my $20 Jumpsuit

If I had to pick a favorite piece of clothing, especially one to make a statement, it would be a jumpsuit. So I was so juiced when I found this jumpsuit for only $20 at K&G, a local discount retailer. Especially since before I went, I thought they only sold suits. Well I guess I was wrong, they actually had a bunch cute women's clothing. Then I just paired it with my DIY black faux crocodile clutch and some black strappy sandals.

Ode to a Tank Dress - Black Tank Dress & Blue Button Up

I actually got the inspiration for this outfit watching an episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. One of the housewives, Dorit, was wearing a tank dress with a denim shirt and I just thought it was so darn cute together. I don't have a denim button up currently in my closet, so I threw on this men's dress shirt that I got from a thrift store instead. Sometimes you have to make it work with what you have. And I actually like how it turned out.

Budget Outfit Details

Button-Up Shirt - Out of the Closet Thrift Store - $1

Black Tank Dress - Online from China - $8

100 Days of Fashion and Makeup

To kick this year of bold action off, I am challenging myself to post everyday on instagram for the next 100 days. In trying to build a brand and social media following, good content and consistency in posting in is paramount. And I feel like I have been in a real rut for a while in terms of my blog and social media. I am taking on this challenge to help me get out of that. Force me to post regularly and challenge my creativity and artistry. I got the idea from @mykie_ of Glam and Gore. She took on a similar challenge early in social media career and got a lot of success from it. I am excited and nervous at the same time. 100 days is a long time. But 2018 is my year for bold action and I'm determined to step out boldly even in the face of fear. So either I'm going to accomplish my goal or maybe I wont. But either way I am going to do my best and step past any fear I am have around it.

So follow along with me on my Instagram @mahoganycloset. And look for #100daysoffashionandmakeup

100 Fails Challenge

This year I am challenging myself to fail and/or get rejected at least 100 times. By fail I don't mean that I am going to attempt to do things poorly. Instead what I recognize is that failure is part of success. Failure is a chance to learn grow and redirect your effort. It is simply feedback. The most successful people in the world are the people that have also failed the most. They take risk, try new things, and learn from their past mistakes.  Failure is how we learn to do everything in life. When we first learned how to walk, we had to fall and fail a bunch of times before we ever got there. That was just part of the process and as baby we didn't feel bad and our parents didn't make us feel like losers because we fell over and over again. So why do we do that to ourselves now? If you want to do anything great, you have to be willing to step out, take chances and not be afraid to fail because there is growth and knowledge to be learned there.

My intention with this challenge is to help release any fear of rejection and failure. To step out and take bold action. Whenever I have that feeling of maybe I shouldn't ask that or what if that doesn't work, and I know those feeling are coming out of fear, I will do it anyway. On the positive side everything could work out, but at worst I will be at the very position I started before that step and now I can just add it as a check on my fails list toward my goal.

I challenge you to do this with me if you like. Come along with me on this journey and let's see what greatness we can create!

Working through Fear, Bellyflage and Stripe Pencil Skirts

So I know I haven't blogged in a while. Really my blogging and posting has been inconsistent for about the last year. It's easy to say I've been busy with work and family and that's all true but really I think for a while I just wasn't feeling inspired. Sometimes you can reach a point in pursuing you dreams and goals where it feel like things are not progressing like you would want or wonder if things are ever going to turn out like you hope it will, and I've been there. I feel like I hit a little road block and instead of letting that define me and allowing that to be the end, I'm working on pushing through and getting re inspired. And realizing that this is completely normal. Courage is not the absent of fear, but our ability to push through, work through, what we do with it. It is not that courageous or brave people don't ever feel fear or doubt, of course they do. It is how we face that doubt. How we deal with that fear. And I think I just need a reminder of that.

Now on to the outfit ...

One of the things I love about this shirt is its great bellyflage capabilities (and yes I made that up 😃). I hold a lot of my unwanted weight in my stomach area. So I'm always looking for ways to detract from that area and accentuate others and this shirt definitely does. And I got it from Kmart, yup I said Kmart, so you know it was a good deal. Paired it my one of my wardrobe staples, this navy and white pencil skirt ,that you may have seen me wear here, that I got from Old Navy years ago; and my royal blue strappy sandals for a pop of color. I feel my first inclination for a pop of color usually to go with a red accentuate, so I purposely just try to switch it up from time to time.

Budget Outfit Details

Shirt - Kmart $12.99 on sale

Skirt - Old Navy $8

Shoes - Steve Madden $0 (to hear the story how I got them free click here)

So the entire outfit was just over $20!

That Striped BodySuit

With the re-popularization of the bodysuit, Ive been wanting to try one out for a minute. Thought it would give a more seamless look than having to tuck in shirts, but I wasn't sure if they would be uncomfortable. Ain't no body got time no wedgies. Picking in your butt all night is NOT cute!! So when I took my daughter back to school shopping at Forever 21, I was excited to see a couple cute bodysuits in my size. I know, I'm shopping at the same store as my middle school daughter, I'm smh in disbelief too! :-)

This navy mock turtleneck bodysuit is one of the ones I ended up taking home and I'm so glad I did. I paired it with this black skater skirt I had and some red gladiator heels for a little pop of color and voila! I really like how this look came together. What do you think?

Budget Outfit Details 

Top - Forever 21 - $10

Skirt - JustFab - $12.95 on sale
Gladiator Heels - Shoedazzle - $39.99

To An Amazing and Fabulous 2017 - Black Tank + Sheer Striped Skirt

I'mmmmm Backkkkkkk!!!! Okay, I know I have not posted in quite a while. Like many others, I had a lot of things happen in 2016 that made it difficult for me to be consistent, mainly my dad's health has been very up and down and I lost my photographer ie my boyfriend and I broke up. LOL I also had some really fun and amazing things happen in 2016 and hopefully I will get a chance to share some of that too. Now it is 2017 and I am recommitting myself to the blog and making some amazing things happen this year!!

Now on to the outfit! This outfit is particularly special to me because I got the skirt from someone who is a second mom to me. I've known her most of my life. Her and my mom where really good friends and when my mom passed she told me that she would be my other mom and be there for me. You may remember a little while ago when I told you that someone very close to me had passed away this past year at the age of only 23 from cystic fibrosis. Well, that was her son and this was the skirt she wore to his services. I had told her how pretty it looked on her and she gave it to me. So every time I wear it I think about both of them and it makes me smile.

Budget Outfit Details 

Tank Top - Old Navy - $8

Bracelet - Forever 21 - $5 | Sunglasses - Forever 21 - $7

Skirt - Free (Given to me, but I believe she only paid less than $20 for it)

Shoes - Steve Madden via consignment store - Free (Read how here and I also wore them here)

So all and all this whole outfit including accessorizes only cost me $20!

Nicki Minaj Collection + Link Up

A while ago a friend of mine asked me to meet her Kmart, she was picking up pizza for her students, so we can hang for a minute before she had to go in to work. So of course we had to peruse the aisles and they were having a big sale on clothes including their Nicki Minaj collection which I hadn't seen before. This dress is part of the Nicki Minaj collection and was on sale for only $8 on sale. Can't beat an $8 dress. Overall I was pleasantly surprised by the line. It is a line for Kmart however, so you have to have reasonable expectations, it's not super high-end with high end fabrics; but I didn't pick up a couple really cute pieces and a steal of a price. And I love the fact that she has gone the affordable collection route so that her fans and others really can afford to buy her pieces and potentially look good on a budget.

Mahogany Closet Mondays Fashion Link-Up

I love hosting this link up. It is meant to be a way for bloggers to share their person style, connect with other bloggers, and gain new followers. Bloggers can submit a link to one of their fashion posts using the Inlinkz widget below. I will share a couple of my favorites on social media and in a blog post. Link up will open on Monday and remain open throughout the week.

Featured Fashionistas from the last link up:

Birth of a Fashion Blogger 

Modavracha

As I mentioned last week I am thinking about starting to have guest Co-Host for the Link-UP so if you are interested in being a co-host one week then email me at mahgoanycloset@gmail.com and let me know. 

Rules:

1. Follow your host on Instagram, Facebook, and/or Bloglovin.

2. Use the widget below to link to a specific outfit post, not your homepage

3. Visit and leave a comment on at least 2 other links, preferably one from before and one after your own (This is the most important rule. The point of this link up is to network, become better, and help grow our blogs. The only way this will work is if we start by connecting with and supporting each other

   

    An InLinkz Link-up