Simplygailg

Transitional Style with Sammy Dress

September 30, 2016

Happy Friday! It’s a rainy day in NY but I’m not complaining – I appreciate the rain. I’m sure everyone is ready for the weekend at this point. I plan do as little as possible this weekend because October is shaping up to be a busy month and I want to at least enjoy a couple of rest days. My only plan so far is my son’s soccer game tomorrow and I hope to keep it that way. Haha. We’ll see…

The dress that I’m wearing is a piece from a multi-part collaboration with Sammy Dress and a few other brands. I’ve shared a few so far from my last two posts and I’ll have a few more to come so please bear with me. Shopping on the Sammy Dress website was easy but pretty overwhelming. There’s just so much to choose from and the minute you think that you’ve pinpointed something you’d like to purchase, something else pops up. This is another fast-fashion site so they sell a lot of trendy items at really affordable prices which makes choosing difficult. This dress is under $11!

The best element to me are the sleeves. I mean, who doesn’t love flared sleeves? This particular one has extra material that hangs down which makes them even more stylish. The color is called “tea” and reminds me of mocha. The sizes are tricky on this site but this dress fits true to size. I’m wearing a size small for reference.

I find that I can easily transition this dress into fall by throwing on a jacket and switching out sandals for booties like the Steve Madden ones I’m wearing (sold out but I’ve linked similar below).

To shop this dress, click on this link using this coupon code for an extra 15% off.

You can also visit Sammy on their instagram page here.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

How To Cope With S.A.D. + A Different Spin On Tulle

September 28, 2016

Happy Wednesday!

Today, I want to talk about something important which has affected me in the past and let you know how I dealt with it. Have you heard of SAD? Well, it stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder and many of us suffer from it.

SAD (fitting name, isn’t it?) is a type of depression that’s related to the change of seasons. SAD typically begins and ends at about the same time every year. Most people will begin to feel symptoms in the fall and it continues into the winter months. This disorder saps your energy, making you feel lethargic, irritable and moody among other things. What you may think of as “winter blues” could actually be Seasonal Affective Disorder and should be taken seriously because it can be treated.

SAD may be treated with light therapy (phototherapy), psychotherapy and/or medications.

I’ve done all three.

Coming from a tropical country, it wasn’t easy dealing with the change of seasons and winter was always the most difficult for me. Year after year, I would get into this funk as soon as the time would change and it would become colder and darker early. I was so afraid of the nighttime because that’s when the sadness would come on and not to mention insomnia. I battled with insomnia for two years! So, I went to therapy and the first thing my therapist suggested was to walk towards the sun. So, I would get out of bed early and walk in the direction of the rising sun. At nights, I would sit in front of a lightbox like this one for about 30 minutes and all of this helped. Eventually, the sadness would go away, and after a few years, I was able to embrace fall and winter.

This is why I am a true sun lover. I’m my happiest when the sun is out. You will never catch me in a room with closed curtains. Well, unless it’s someone else’s house, then that would just be weird if I just got up and opened up their curtains. But, when I get up in the mornings, the first thing I do is draw the curtains. It drives me crazy when my husband sits in a room with closed curtains.

Light is good. Repeat after me, light is good.

Have you heard of SAD? How have you dealt with it?

I’ve always wanted to try a tulle skirt but I didn’t want to risk looking like a little girl. I was happy when I found this skirt on The Rose Wholesale website. I figured why not, it wouldn’t hurt to try something different. When I received the skirt and tried it on, it was a little tight in the waist but nothing I couldn’t work with. It has elastic in the back so I was able to stretch it and not feel like I was being split in half. The skirt has a nice flow to it and it has a pretty grey tone.

The top, also from Rose Wholesale is currently one of my favorites. The quality of the material is pretty sweet and I can tell that it will last for a long time. The collar, which unfortunately, you can’t see in the photos has the prettiest pearl details and the sleeves also have frill on the hem. It’s just an overall beautiful top and I’ve already worn it twice and get this, it’s only $16.08! What??? Oh yeah, and the skirt is currently on clearance for $8.22! The top is true to size but the skirt is one size (fits XS-M) which would work for someone who has a 24-26 waist. My waist is 27 so you see where I’m going with this.

Since I didn’t want to look like a little ballet princess, I dressed down the look with my Converse sneakers and it was the most comfortable look ever! Comfortable and chic.

What do you think of this look? Let me know in the comments below.

I’ve linked everything below so feel free to check them out.

Outfit Details

Blouse // Skirt // Shoes // Bag, sold out, similar here

*This post was sponsored by Rose Wholesale and Sammy Dress. As always, all opinions are my own.

Polka Dot OTS Dress

September 26, 2016

Dress: Make Me Chic // Clutch: Amazon (sold out, similar here and here) // Shoes: Nine West

Happy Monday!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend! As always, it goes by way too fast and you just have to make the best of it, right?

If you followed me on Snap on Friday, you’ll see that I attended an NYC Ballet performance at Lincoln Center for the first time, ever! A friend of mine had an extra ticket and who am I to turn down a free ticket to the ballet? It was a 2-1/2 hour show and it was wonderful but more on that another time.

On Saturday, I had crazy issues with my knee so it turned out to be one of those non-productive rest days which was fine because I needed the rest. This past Thursday, I started working with a personal trainer to gain better mobility on my left side so I’m really excited about that. The first session was great and I can already feel the difference. But you know when you feel great one day and overdo it the next and then you can’t do anything after that? Well, that’s me. So now I have to learn to do things in moderation and stop trying to be superwoman! On Sunday, the hubby and I spent the day in Long Beach, LI, while the kids spent the day with their aunt and grandma. It was a great day to just reconnect without the kids.

Though it’s cooled down a bit, the day that I wore this off-the-shoulder dress, it was pretty hot. But who’s to say though that you can’t rock OTS during fall? All you need is a shawl, sweater or a jacket and you’re good to go! The good thing about this dress is that it comes fully lined. Though if I were designing it, I would make the lining a little shorter so that it wouldn’t show in the back since it’s a high-low design. But I’m no designer! Hehe

I styled it with my vegan leather clutch (sold out) and these Nine West nude heels.

Have a great day lovelies and thanks for reading!

How Style Collective Helped Me Navigate Through NYFW

September 23, 2016

Hello Lovelies,

I’m excited about this post because of two things: 1) Last week, I was able to experience NYFW up close for the first time ever; and 2) I met some of my Style Collective sisters for the first time. I call that a double bonus!

You must have heard of Style Collective by now because we’ve been around for quite some time and our group is growing daily. Now, if you haven’t heard of Style Collective, we’re consisted of a group of women who help to provide guidance and support to new bloggers as well as seasoned bloggers. Check out our instagram page here. The group was founded by Annie Spano and she has been such a positive light. There’s no competition amongst these women, just genuine support of each other.

If it weren’t for this group, I probably would not have attended fashion week. I had no clue how to get the “hook up” so to speak, to get into shows. With the help of another blogger, Taylor Aube (blog here), we were provided with all the info we needed to get into shows and events, and how to make the most out of fashion week.

I had the pleasure of meeting a few of these ladies last week and it was wonderful. Click on the links below to check out their blogs!

Our first meetup of the day was brunch at the Pennsylvania 6 NYC restaurant and we had an amazing time getting to know each other and being able to put names to the faces or vice versa. I was fortunate enough to have the photographer husband of one our Style Collective sisters take a few photos of me in my outfit.

Images via Bora Images (@boraimages)

Shop the Look

After that, we headed over to the Shopstyle Social House event where we were able to meet even more bloggers and enjoy a few freebies.

img_0455-2 — Annie (founder of Style Collective).

img_0453-2 — Left: Taylor Aube of Stop, Drop and Vogue; Center: Kait of Basking in Burgundy

Left to Right: Anna (@pepperedinstyle); Lindsey (@lifelutzurious); Donna (@onthedllifestyle); Annie (@annie_spano); Jamie (@raelynsroulette); Me (@simplygailg); Taylor (@tayloraube); Nicole (@whereyourheartisnow)

This beautiful engraved bag was courtesy of Gigi New York at the Shopstyle event.

The following night, a few of us attended the Christina Ruales show. This designer showcased her designs through movement.

And that wraps it up for my experience at this year’s fashion week. I can’t wait to do it all over again plus more. I hope you enjoyed this post. Leave me feedback in the comments below.

High-low Top with Rose Wholesale

September 21, 2016

How adorable is this top? The high-low feature was the first thing that caught my eye. It’s the perfect top for fall with the three-quarter sleeves and it can easily be worn with skinny pants, jeans or leggings. Once the temps decrease, just throw on a jacket like I did below with this Topshop faux leather jacket and you’re good to go. The top is from Rose Wholesale whom I recently partnered with. If you remember my Zaful posts here and here, Rose Wholesale is also affiliated with them.

It’s another Chinese company, so of course, you have to be very wary of the sizing. I’m wearing a small for reference but I could have gone with a medium because it’s a bit tight around the chest area and the seams were starting to loosen a bit. However, it’s a great top and I wouldn’t mind getting it in a larger size so that I can rock it in the fall, and for a price tag of $8.63, why not? I paired it with my H&M faux leather leggings and block-heeled sandals for a sleek look. I would definitely wear this out for a date night or for a night out with the girls.