Gold party outfit

Hello, friends! Happy Monday! I’m excited for the short week, and to be celebrating with my family soon! In the meantime, I wanted to take a minute and tell you a little bit about my outfit for the Southern Weddings V5 launch party, because I received lots of questions about it and a few compliments on it!

The directive was to wear something gold and/or glittery, which meant there was one obvious place to turn: Forever 21 (even though I hadn’t stepped foot inside in ages). I tried on several (very not work appropriate) options before coming across a little number with a pleated skirt. It didn’t fit perfectly in the dressing room, but I took it home anyway, and even after paying for alterations, the total was just $55!! Can’t beat that, especially when I had several people ask me if it was from Kate Spade. Score!

I love that its muted gold color and tank style top stretch its usefulness far beyond that of something more obviously glittery, and that I’ll be able to wear it for lots of holiday parties and church services in the future!

For this particular event, though, I did want to punch up the glitter quotient a bit, and thought a belt would be just the thing. I originally fell in love with this one, but there was NO way I was paying $98. In a totally serendipitous move, I stumbled across a very similar belt (sans bow) at a J. Crew outlet store for just $14 (with tax!). The catch? It was in the Crew Cuts section. The reason it worked — and, I think, would work for most of you — is that I was wearing it around my waist, not my hips. I don’t know about y’all, but usually when I try to wear a normal-sized belt around my waist, I always get this long tail past the buckle, and/or end up having to punch extra holes in the belt. The girls’ size one fit perfectly!

My Factory belt isn’t available on the website, but I did find this one and this one (with bow!!) for $22 and $28, respectively. SO much better that it’s worth a try, wouldn’t you say?

The sad part about this post is that if you happen to like my dress, it actually doesn’t seem to be available anymore — at least not on the F21 site. (Worth checking in stores, though!) If you do happen to visit the stores, here’s a tip I just learned: Look for the Love 21 label, which this dress was under. The prices are a tad higher (though still super reasonable!), but the construction is supposed to be better, the styles more sophisticated, and the cuts less suited for teeny boppers (basically, longer hems).

I didn’t get a great shot of the dress in action, but at least you can see the top half here, and a bit of the belt!

I have to say, this find makes me want to shop at Forever 21 more often! Have any of y’all had good luck there recently?