OOTD: Neutral Glam.

All pictures credit to Olivia Miller Photography

Dress: Spool 72 {Birthday gift from my bestie Jules!} || Shoes: Nine West ||  Sunglasses: LOFT || Necklace: Charlotte Russe || Bracelet: {Local Boutique} || Ring: {Old} || Purse: New Look {Bought on my trip to the UK last year} || Lips: Maybelline The Elixer ColorSensational in Nude Illusion

     Y'all don't even know how excited I was this past weekend to finally be able to do some blog pictures! :-) The spot where I did these pictures is currently my favorite spot in all of Charlotte to do blog pictures at. (You might even recognize the location from this post and this post!) My fabulous photographer for these pictures was a sweet friend of mine from school, Olivia from Olivia Miller Photography. How amazing did she do on these pictures?! If you're in the Charlotte area and need portrait photography services then definitely contact her! I'm sure this will be the first of many times that I will be featuring Olivia's photography on my blog... 

      So today I am linking up for the weekly Trend Spin Link-up for fashion bloggers hosted by Laura from Walking in Memphis in High Heels  and Erin from The Fashion Canvas. (Check out a previous Trend Spin Link-Up post of mine here!) This week's theme was "Dressed Up" so it really wasn't even a question that I would be participating. ;-) I think that putting together semi-formal or formal outfits during transition seasons can be difficult, so I wanted to share one of my favorite options for this time of year, which is to go with neutral colors. I am normally all about dressing up bright and bold colors, but I think that early Fall is the perfect time to make neutrals glam! Save the darker colors for the winter months, and keep the brights for the warmer months. 

     The dress that I'm wearing in the post has a special story attached with it. It was my birthday gift this year from my Maine bestie Jules! She had told me before my birthday this year that she wanted to send me something special and unique, and hopefully something that I could style on my blog. When my birthday package from her finally arrived in my school mailbox I was so excited to open it! This dress was the best surprise! It's from the online boutique Spool 72 which is one of Jules's favorite online places to shop (and somewhere I need to check out ASAP!), and it fit perfectly. I love this dress because you can easily dress it up or down. Last week I put together a more casual outfit for class with it by pairing it with a jean jacket and cowboy boots, and it looked great that way too. Thank-you Jules for such a sweet and thoughtful birthday gift! (She also mailed me two Maine whoopie pies- a favorite dessert of mine from home.) 

     I kept half of my accessories neutral; nude pumps and nude lipgloss, tiny stud earrings, and a simple bracelet and a glam cocktail ring. And then I finished off the look with a bold statement necklace and a colorful clutch for an element of surprise. I am still obsessed with this Charlotte Russe statement necklace! I have featured it in more casual OOTD posts before, but here it shows that it can easily be dressed up as well! I got the necklace last Spring for only $5 at a Charlotte Russe outlet store in NC- such a great bargain!!

      How do you dress for semi-formal or formal events during transition seasons? Do you also like to go with a nude color scheme?

     xoxo Miss ALK