Own: Summer Whites You Can Destroy

I love the trend of wearing lots of white in the summer, but there are SO many ways to get completely dirty in NYC that I had avoided wearing white for so long.  From the random mystery drops of water in the subway to the dirty hands of strangers that you might come in contact with, just the idea of wearing white gave me anxiety.

The solution for me was to find cheap, white clothes!  That way, my heart would be broken when I inevitably discovered an unremovable stain in the back of my perfectly white blouse.

Here's my round up of wonderful whites that are definitely affordable and totally okay to destroy.

These two are from the Gap and I totally love them.  So affordable and simple.  You could wear them pretty much anywhere and because they're cotton, there's also no need to dry clean.

GAP Bib Tunic

GAP Seersucker Sleeveless Top

Here's a cute and simple top from H&M

H&M Crepe Camisole Top

Lastly, my picks from Zara.  So many things are on sale right now and there are so many more cute white items, but I thought it would be overwhelming to post them all.  I love a good pair of white fitted pants and the ones from Zara are only $40!

Zara Cut Work Top

Zara White Zip trousers

Own: Update your Costume Jewelry

So, I'm not the kind of person that wears a whole lot of costume jewelry.  I sometimes struggle with buying fancy fashion jewelry because I feel like some of it costs the same as fine jewelry!  ABSURD.  Also, I generally like small, delicate and understand jewelry (read: everything at Catbird), but I had a change of heart recently.  Not completely saying that I'm abandoning my love for the dainty, but I realized that I needed to shake things up a little.

The other day, a chic friend of mine came over for dinner wearing a beautiful pair of earrings that were not small and understated and that's when I had a moment.  They were beautiful pair of Alexis Bittar gold drop earrings with a clear lucite stone on the end.  I've been searching high and low for a picture to share with you, but no such luck so here's a similar picture:

It just made me realize that I was missing out on a whole world of beautiful costume jewelry and I needed to some investigating.  I did more searching on Alexis Bittar Jewelry, and found that it was full of beautiful creations, but I didn't want to enter the costume jewelry world by dropping a couple hundred bucks, so I needed to start smaller.  I took a stroll over to my neighborhood Zara and H&M and did a little perusing on the interwebs, and MY FRIENDS, I was not disappointed.  I think I've generally avoided these chain stores because I worry that the baubles will look overly cheap and I will say that while some of the accessories were cute in-store, many of them had been badly man-handled. :(

Let me share with you some of my favorite and Own-worthy items.  Also, ordering online assures that your product comes to in mint condition!  

This awesome metal and pearl collar necklace from Zara.  I think Zara has really stepped up their accessories game.  Most of their accessories are pretty hard hitting and good quality.  They feel substantial and therefore, don't look cheap.

I've really been loving the rose gold stuff that's out there right now.  I love this one from H&M- while I haven't decided if rose gold is here to stay or just a fad, for $15, I can't really argue with it.

Though I'm venturing outside the delicate jewelry realm, I have to say that I still mostly lean towards the more structural and simplified costume jewelry styles, like this one from H&M.  I find that they are easiest to wear with both busy and simple outfits.

For something simple that really makes you look put together, consider a cuff or structured bracelet.  H&M has that, TOO.

OH in other news.  I recently cut my hair and by "cut my hair" I mean i chopped off close to 9 inches so we're now at a chin grazing bob level, so I've really had to up my earring game.  I don't usually wear earrings so I'll have to really do some research here, but here's on pair that I love from Asos.

These visually unique simplified statement baubles from Asos

I'm open to recommendations!  Know of any other stores I should check out for some new earrings??