Pants Are Overrated

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I PROMISE I am working on the dirty mirror!

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Flannel (it's from Eddie Bauer I just can't find the exact shirt). Dress. Boots (aren't being sold anymore :( ). Tights. Sunglasses (similar)

Seriously, when was the last time I wore pants?

This is probably one of my favorite outfits. I started off with my ~party~ dress. Every girl has that one dress they wear when they go out with their girlfriends because they know it's juuuuuust cheeky enough, but just classy enough. Well, this is my dress. It hugs all my curves, it's just the right length, and I just feel great in it. One day, I was getting ready for class and I needed to feel pretty, so I instinctively put on this dress. I needed to dress it down a bit, and what dresses something down more than a flannel?

This is actually my dad's flannel! It's super comfy. I wear it a lot. I love flannels, but I hate girl flannels. Designers always tailor them in "girly" ways and it's so annoying! I had my ex-boyfriend's flannel until we broke up, and I didn't realize how much I actually wore it. So, I stole a couple of them from my dad (don't worry, he willingly gave them to me. Trust me, he has more than enough). 

This pair is perfect because the flannel is longer than the dress, so I don't have to worry about standing up and flashing the world, even if I am wearing Spanx. I have a pocket, and I'm covered if I get cold. I also wore my trusty stockings and, of course, my boots. 

I wore my usual makeup (with a lot less foundation, thank you Dr. Grey!) and usual jewelry, except today I wore two necklaces instead of one. One night when I was going out wearing this dress, I couldn't decide between two necklaces, so I just put on both.

I actually really loved it, so I tried it again for today. I should wear multiple necklaces more! 

My hair was also really messy today because I really didn't feel like straightening it. This is my natural hair when I really just couldn't care. I think it went well with the look, especially with my rounded glasses. 

If you couldn't tell, I really love taking risks and being a little more "dolled up" (as my mother calls me), but I also love making things a bit more casual. It really depends on my mood and what I'm doing that day. Today, I got lunch with some friends that still go to my high school. I wanted to be casual enough to go for lunch, but I still wanted to feel pretty, and I feel pretty when I'm ~dolled up~. 

That's all for today. Clunk it up! 

Inspired by Meredith Grey

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Dress (similar). Stockings (from CVS). Undershirt (similar). Sneakers.

Today, I wasn't doing anything except binge-watching Grey's Anatomy. Then, I remembered that now I have a blog to keep up with! So, I decided to create a look inspired by the one and only Meredith Grey.

Disclaimer: I'm only on season five! If Meredith has made any major changes to her appearance in the coming seasons, I'm not aware of it, so I didn't include it in my look. 

I'm completely aware that Meredith does not dress like this at Seattle Grace, but this look was just inspired by what she wears to work: usually blue scrubs and a long-sleeved shirt underneath. I love this dress and it was the same color as her scrubs, which was perfect! This dress is very near and dear to me because I wore it for my sorority's initiation. Ohh, memories. 

I also love the shirt under the dress. It's Underarmour which makes it tight, and I love tight clothes. They just make me more comfortable. I wear this shirt under sweaters in the winter and under some sleeveless dresses, but I've never worn it under this one before. I loved it!

I paired the dress with some white Converse. I'm not sure exactly which shoes Meredith wears, but I figured white sneakers were a safe bet, and they looked super cute! If I were wearing this on a normal day and I had to wear sneakers (I'm not sure why that would be an actual situation but whatever), I probably wouldn't even think about wearing white. I would automatically think black Converse because of the black undershirt, but I'm really happy I went with white. I also wore nude stockings because I feel naked when I don't wear stockings with a dress or skirt.

I took a nice amount of risks for this look, at least for me. The makeup was really different for me. I studied Meredith's face for a while (which was pretty easy because why wouldn't you wanna stare at Ellen Pompeo?) and figured out that she wears eyeliner on her top lid. I used to wear eyeliner all the time, but it makes my eyes look super small and for some reason it always bleeds! Even when I just put it on my top lids, it looked good for maybe ten minutes until it started spilling onto my lower lid, then below my eyes. Usually, I wear a crapton of mascara so my eyelashes are long enough to kill a man, but Meredith's a surgeon, so she doesn't have time for that. I brushed a little bit on the ends of my lashes and that got the job done.

Usually, I wear a nice amount of foundation, but since Meredith has a very natural look, I wore a lot less, and I really liked it! 

I'm definitely going to be wearing less from now on. I didn't know that I could! I don't have any problems with my skin, I just like the polished look of my face when I wear face makeup. Apparently, that look can be achieved with a smaller amount.

It also seems like Meredith wears some sort of eyeshadow, so I put a nude color on my eyelids, which I really liked too! I finished off the look with a pink lip color since Meredith has very pink lips. I used a very pale pink lipstick and dabbed a little bit of a brighter pink gloss, which created the final color after I blended them together with my lips.

The only jewelry I wore was my earrings, even though Meredith doesn't even wear earrings. I don't think I've ever seen her wear jewelry.

I really loved the look of my hair, but I don't think I would wear it if I was going out and actually doing something since it was delicate. I felt like if I turned around too quickly, everything would fall apart. Obviously, Meredith just throws her hair in a ponytail, but because I needed to create my own sidebangs, it was a little more complicated. I gave myself a side part and then dipped my hair near my cheeks. I secured them with bobby pins and then put my hair in a ponytail above the absolute bottom of my head, but a little below the middle of my head. That's a weird way to phrase it. Then, I wrapped a section of hair around the ponytail holder to make it a little more classy. 

I guess this was more of a ~classy~ Meredith Grey look than an actual recreation, but either way, I really love the way it turned out. I would totally wear this outfit again! And I definitely learned some lessons about my makeup. 

Onto more binge-watching! 

Pura Vida Bracelets

Today was a T-Shirt-And-Leggings Day for me (which is not a bad thing!) because I donated blood with my family! Though I thought I looked good, my outfit just wasn't something that I would post on here, not because I didn't like it, but because I didn't have a whole lot to say about it. 

So, I figured I'd take this opportunity to talk about Pura Vida Bracelets, which I've mentioned in my previous posts. I found out about Pura Vida a few years ago, and then I wrote an article about them in my school's newspaper. Now, I'm obsessed!

Pura Vida is a company based in La Jolla, California that sells beautiful bracelets as well as clothing, bathing suits, clutches, hair ties, and water bottles. Pura Vida is a Spanish saying used a lot in Costa Rica that translates to "Pure Life." The Pura Vida lifestyle is peaceful and free. 

Sure, Pura Vida makes some really cute items, but the best thing about Pura Vida is that it's a great cause. The founders of Pura Vida, Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman, met two men named Jorge and Joaquin on a trip to Costa Rica who made beautiful string bracelets, but they were living in poverty. Griffin and Paul took 400 of them back to San Diego, and the rest was history.

Every Pura Vida bracelet purchased helps provide full-time jobs for local artisans in Costa Rica, and certain bracelets donate proceeds to specific causes! So, not only do you look adorable, but you're putting food on a family's table, sending kids to college, and buying families new houses. 

Another cool thing about the bracelets is that no two are the same! Sure, all of the Beach Life bracelets have the same color scheme, but no two are exactly alike. 

Since I love Pura Vida so much, I became a Rep! Basically, I spread the good vibes of Pura Vida in the form of 20% DISCOUNTS! Use my code, KristenBruck20, at checkout. Even if you don't use my code, Pura Vida almost always has discounts and sales. And, like I mentioned before, it's all for a good cause!

If you have Pura Vida products or purchase them soon, show me your pictures in the comments! 

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Is This Considered a Jacket?

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Please excuse my awkwardness, room decor, excess of light, dirty mirror, unnecessary large size of this photo, etc... I'm still figuring this out!

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Jacket. Leggings. Tank Top (it's really just a basic tank that you can find anywhere!). Sunglasses (the ones I have are a little lighter). Boots (aren't being sold at Primark anymore, unfortunately).

Hello lovely reader, thank you for checking back! Today was a nice-ish day on Long Island; slightly overcast, but warm nonetheless, and in my mind that translates as TANK TOP! You'll soon learn that in my mind, relatively warm actually means super hot. I wear crop tops year round. No shame! 

Today's look consists of a plain white tank, black leggings, my trusty boots from yesterday's post, and this awesome jacket(? Is it really a jacket? What else would it be?) I got from H&M a few weeks ago. I've been obsessed with it ever since. It's super flowy and comfortable, and it completely matches my style. The only drawback is that it doesn't have pockets. Either way, I've been making many excuses to wear it over the past few weeks.

Just a warning if you decide to buy this thing, mine's in an extra-large size. I'm a big believer in straying from what your "actual" size is, but more on that later. I'm not sure how it fits in a smaller size, so just beware. I like my jackets/wraps/outerwear long and flowy. 

I also wore a cute headband that I got while I was away at school! It's from this secondhand-ish shop (they call it an "alternative department store") in Cambridge called The Garment District. I got some adorable scrunchies there too! I miss that place.

Anyway, I usually wear this headband when I'm having a bad hair day, which was today. I love the 70s vibe it gives off. You'd think the patterns of the jacket-thing and the headband would clash, but they actually work really well together. I was actually wearing this tank top, leggings, headband, and boots when I tried it on at H&M. Outfit inspo can come from anywhere! 

My sunglasses choice for today was an adorable pair that I wear pretty often. They have a wood pattern that basically goes with anything, especially the boots. Last time I wore this outfit, I wasn't wearing a headband, so I wore the circular glasses I posted about yesterday. They looked really cute, but the wooden glasses looked better with the headband. 

I wore my usual makeup, long lashes and nude lips, as well as a silver bracelet, lots of silver earrings, Pura Vida bracelets, and a necklace (I remembered today!). I basically wear the same jewelry every day. 

I love this look because, as I said, it's super comfortable. It also transitions really well from event to event. It can be casual or put together. It was casual enough for when I met my friend/future suitemate for lunch/shopping this morning, but nice enough to wear out to dinner with my family. It was comfortable enough to wear while binge-watching Grey's Anatomy as well (I'm on season five and I'm dying. Starting this series was the best/worst decision of my life). 

Happy Clunking! 

UPDATE: The H&M website calls it a jacket, but it was listed under the "Blazers and Kimonos" section. I guess we'll never know. 

My First Post! Aghh!

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Please excuse my dirty mirror and American Girl dolls!

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Dress. Vest. Tights. Boots (aren't being sold anymore :( ). Sunglasses (similar).

I can't believe I actually started this blog! I've been wanting to do this for probably about a year now, but I never had the time or motivation. Well, here I am! 

My name's Kristen, and I am your Clunkster. If you wanna find out more about me, check out my about page! 

Now, onto the look. I kind of stumbled upon this outfit choice this morning. I had two job interviews today, and my original plan was to wear a flannel with this dress for the first interview (I know it seems kind of sloppy, but trust me, it totally matched the vibe of the store) and then take the flannel off for the second. Then, I found this jacket/vest thing I bought at Charlotte Russe the other day and I figured I'd try it out. It turns out I loved the look! I ended up wearing it for both interviews. I love how the vest was juuuuuust a little shorter than the dress. 

I really love this dress because it's very flowy and comfortable. It's casual, but dressy when it needs to be. Today was actually the first time I wore it without black Underarmour underneath. I liked it! The dress has hidden pockets, which I love, even though I used the pockets in my vest today. I added stockings because I almost always wear stockings with my dresses. Not only am I a dancer, but I also went to Catholic school for twelve years, so that's what I get. I have way too many pairs of black stockings, but I use them to my advantage! 

I paired it with boots because I freakin' love these boots. I got them at Primark, a European store in Boston, for like dirt cheap. They've held up pretty well! There's a slight knick at the toe of one of them and the laces completely fell apart, but I replaced them with some laces I stole from my dad's boots. Everyone thinks they're Timberlands. These boots pretty much go with everything I've been wearing lately. 

Then, I added the sunglasses. One thing y'all should know about me is that I am a sunglasses freak. I have like ten million pairs and I match them to my outfits every day. I just got these maybe last month and I was a little iffy because of the weird bar on the top, but I actually love them. I feel very boho. And they do a good job blocking the sun without completely erasing it, which is a plus! 

I really like the military style. The longer I've been living in the city, the darker my color choices get. I guess I'm just used to that urban vibe at this point. I'm definitely a little out of place on Long Island, but I felt comfy and cute, so whatever. 

As far as makeup goes, I went with my signature style: super super super long lashes and nude lips. I wore a silver ring, many silver earrings, a silver bracelet and some Pura Vida bracelets (more on Pura Vida another time!).  I love silver. But I forgot to put on a necklace, which I realized later when I tried to play with the necklace and ended up grabbing the air. 

I feel like this is a really good outfit as a first post because I love it so much so I'm really passionate about it but it also really expresses me. It merges my urban and girly sides perfectly, and most importantly, I was comfortable and confident. 

Keep reading for more fun looks, and don't forget to subscribe to my emails and follow me on social media! The links are on the top of my blog.

Have a clunky day!