Spring is in the Air

Spring is in the air… Or is it?! It actually SNOWED in Chicago on Sunday, and I’m not talking a few flurries. We had a straight up winter snow storm and the snow was falling down all day and well into the night. Crazy for mid-April, right?! I remember last year when I was at Coachella and hearing that it was snowing back in Chicago on that Sunday of the festival and being so glad that I wasn’t in town for it! Last year, I believe it was just a few flurries, but this year it was almost blizzard-like conditions with the wind! Spring, where are you at?!

We’ve had a few (read: one or two) beautiful days that have gotten me so excited for spring, and well, summer. Is it just me or does spring seem to not really exist in Chicago? In my mind, it tends to be a vicious cycle where we have one nice spring-like day, followed by ten more days of winter.

But even as I’m sitting at my desk writing this post right now, it appears to be sunny and blue skies outside and my weather app is telling me the high will be near 50 today! Which is a start contrast from Sunday afternoon when it looked like I was living in a snow globe. Ov vey!

When we’re sporadically graced with some sunshine and warmer temperatures, I’m always the first to try to break out my spring clothes and have some fun with fashion! After months and months of being bundled up in coats, boots, and beanies, I crave being able to put on a dress or skirt and break out some of the clothes I’ve been collecting in my closet and have been not-so-patiently waiting to wear. (This could potentially also contribute to the fact that I’m currently sick as a dog, but who really knows…)

I styled this mock-neck pointelle striped sweater with a white denim skirt and my favorite white sandals that I just picked up. These braided white slides look SO much more expensive than they are (they’re $55 and I also got them in brown!) and I know I’ll be wearing them on repeat all summer long. Skinny jeans, cropped flare, jean shorts, dresses, skirts, you name it. They’re classic and go with everything, especially in a seasonally-appropriate shade of white or can’t-go-wrong cognac brown.

If it’s still a bit chilly and you need a third piece, I think a cropped army green jacket does the trick! And if not, simply toss on a leather belt to make your outfit complete. I love this outfit styled both ways so I wanted to show how I would wear it now (with the jacket) and later (sans jacket + belt).

I first found Prive Revaux sunglasses last year when I was shopping for new Coachella shades! Right after Coachella, I headed to Japan so you can see them a lot in this post: What I Wore in Japan. When it comes to what I wear to a music festival, the more inexpensive, the better. Everything tends to get very dirty and I’ve lost *countless* pairs of shades while dancing at shows! So when I found Prive Revaux last year and saw all of their sunglasses are under $30, but could pass as designer shades, I was sold.

Small frame glasses are all the rage right now, but they can be hard to pull off if you’ve got a round face shape. (Like I do! 🙋🏼‍♀️) Sunglasses can be super hard to shop for online (thank goodness for free returns!), but I took a gamble on this semi-small pair and absolutely loved them when they arrived in the mail. While the lenses look round, the frames stick out a bit wider than the lenses, almost making them more of an oval-y shape, which suits my face and features so much more! I’ve worn them daily since I got them a few weeks ago, highly recommend.

Plus, now that I’ve owned 3-4 pairs from Prive Revaux, I feel like I can speak to the general quality of their brand. For $29.95, they don’t fall apart after a few wears and they also come with a hard case to carry them in, not a flimsy pouch that provides hardly any protection. 🙌🏼

Would you believe me if I told you that you can shop everything I’m wearing at Walmart?! Believe me, initially I was just as shocked as you probably are. When Walmart reached out about working together, the timing was pretty eerie. Just a week or two before, I was listening to my favorite business-y podcast (you can see the full list of my favorites here!) and they were talking about how Walmart has been CRUSHING IT. If you follow me on Instagram Stories, I actually talked about this on there!

Before I heard that podcast episode, I had no idea that Walmart offered free two-day shipping (without a membership fee!) and upon further investigation, I also found out that Walmart has a partnership with Lord & Taylor so you can shop lots of your favorite brands right from the Walmart site. (You can even take advantage of Lord & Taylor’s Friends & Family happening right now!)

When I agreed to take part in a partnership with Walmart, I made sure that I would be able to solely feature fashion items from their “Premium Brands” section. First and foremost, staying true to myself, my voice, my tastes, and my brand that I’ve built is the most important part of any collaboration that I say yes to.

But as I got to shopping online, I was actually pretty impressed with so many pieces that were outside of the “Premium Brands” umbrella. And just to make sure I was doing my due diligence, I ordered a ton of extra product (on my dime, mind you) to try it out for quality, fit, etc. And honestly, I was just as impressed in person! Truly. If I hadn’t been impressed, I would have just skipped over their own selection of items and solely featured items from their premium selection or their collaboration with Lord + Taylor like we originally agreed upon.

I picked up this floral maxi dress under $20, these criss-cross slide sandals under $30, and this $12 belt bag to get my trendy on. And I purchased these sunglasses under $30 elsewhere last year, but Walmart carries them!

Shop the Outfits…

Miss Selfridges Striped Pointelle Top
White Denim Skirt
Cropped Green Jacket
Rattan Bag
Sam Edelman White Sandals
Leather Belt
Privé Rivaux Sunglasses

I’d love to know… Have you purchased anything at Walmart lately? Did you know about their free two-day shipping on most items? What has your experience been? Let me know in the comments below!

This post was created in partnership with Walmart. Thank you for supporting the brands and collaborations that make Bows & Sequins possible!