All That Glitters...

The holiday season is one of my favorite times of year, mostly because of the proliferation of metallic or sparkly items available to decorate your home and yourself. I'm not much of a jewelry person, and I'm not much of a glitter girl, but I can definitely get behind a good, non-cheesy metallic accent or two (or three if you're feeling fancy/festive). There's just something about the holidays that makes me want to break out all the mercury glass, sprinkle sequins down the table, and bedeck myself in all the pretty shiny baubles I own. We decorate our trees with ornaments, why not ourselves and our homes!

Anyway. There are SO MANY good metallic objects out there, I just had to do a quick little round-up. As an added bonus, lots of these items are good for gifting, whether it's for others or for yourself! I definitely won't judge...

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I feel like I need to clarify that I probably wouldn't recommend wearing any of the pieces above together...I'd pair each clothing piece or shoe with a healthy dose of neutrals/solids and make the glittery piece the focus. The sequin skirt would look amazing with a top like this, the glitter heels would be great with a skinny black pant, and either metallic top would be perfect with a pair of jeans or velvet skinnies for a party! Bring on the holidays!!

NEW Look!!!

I am so excited to debut the new look of What Kate Likes!!! I worked with Alison from Long Distance Loving on the design and she did SUCH a good job!! I didn't know exactly what I wanted, but I knew what I didn't want, and she was able to sort through my multiple and probably overwhelming sources of inspiration and boil it all down to a design that is so perfectly me, I can't even stand it.

If you're on Bloglovin or your phone, I'd love it if you clicked over to the full site to get the full impact!

A few notes on the new design:
-I now have social media icons, so it's even easier to follow me on all platforms that you want! Just click the icon to take you to my profile/page/site and then you'll be able to follow me!
-everything else has stayed the same, only it's all over to the right side!

Alison did such a great job! I highly recommend her if you ever need any blog-related design done. I was totally just expecting her to slap some social media icons on my blog and change up the header a tiny bit, but she did so much more and is the sweetest person to work with! Not to mention, her prices are extremely reasonable. I'm definitely not the easiest person to work with when it comes to design, but she handled all my slightly ridiculous requests so capably. I'm so happy with the new look of What Kate Likes, and I hope you are too!

:)

Friday's Fancies: Beach Trip!

Let's pretend we're taking a trip to the beach for a few days...here's a sampling of what I'd take!

 coverup//bag//sandal//swimsuit

For the beach: an easy cover up, a basic leather flipflop, a chic (and inexpensive!) swimsuit, and a bag that can get sandy. And while I didn't add it to my collage, this is my favorite sunscreen and a total beach essential!

I'd also pack this maxi, these shorts, this top, these sandals, and this leather tote! What would you bring?

Friday's Fancies: Summer Wishlist!

Woohoo! Today is officially the first day of summer!!!! I love summer. Everyone gets more relaxed and happier in the summertime. Plus summer has all of my favorite things: lots of navy and white, strawberries, ice cream, sunshine, beach trips, suntans, freckles, the days stay lighter longer, seersucker...basically there's a lot I love about summer.

The theme for this week's Friday's Fancies is "Summer Wishlist" and I just have to tell y'all, I struggled with the theme. I'd like to say it's because I don't have any wants, but in all honesty, this blog kind of serves as my continual wishlist, so it's hard to narrow down all my wants to a short and sweet compilation of The Best without reposting items and being repetitive. That seems horribly materialistic...yikes. #champagneproblems, right?

Anyway, I decided to focus more on items that I've been looking for for ages and have finally found the perfect iteration that needs to be added to my closet ASAP.

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1: sweetly sexy lingerie in the prettiest coral color

2: the perfect silk shirt

3: linen shorts that are both comfy and cute

4: a delicate sparkly bracelet that's neither too much nor too little

5: a summery floral dress that's easily dressed up or down

6: my ideal tan leather wedge from my favorite espadrille company

7: an almond toe, neutral version of my favorite espadrilles

Happy Summer!!

White Out

Lately I've found myself pinning and pining over more and more all-white or mostly white interiors and exteriors. I love color, but something about the simplicity and elegance of having a literal blank canvas is really appealing to me. All white can easily be blah and boring, but mixing textures, tones and tone-on-tone patterns can liven it up.

A few house crushes...

 obsessed with those vanities and the rugs...! a true dream bathroom with all the marble

so cottagey and crisp

the dark, dark floors paired with the white walls is such a good contrast

all the tones are great...and I love the natural light!

more color than the others, but the white walls, ceiling, doors and moulding are what I have in my head when I imagine my "dream apartment"

As far as exteriors go, apparently white clapboard or stucco is the way to my heart...this, this, this, and this are all dreamy.

What do you think about an all-white apartment or house? Love it or not for you? 

Also, I'm having a vaaague sense of deja vu, like I've already blogged about this, but I can't remember if I actually did or if I just did a draft that I never finished/posted...hmmmm

Saturday Summer

KS Saturday posted a bunch of new arrivals the other day and a lot of it is totally adorable and very summery. I just had to highlight some of my newest favorites...

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All of these dresses could easily be dressed up or down, and they all look so casually-chic. Perfect for summer! I think that little striped dress is just darling and is just screaming for a bow belt...and to be added to my closet.

Poll: Fashion Inspiration

I've already talked a little bit about my own style here, but I was thinking about personal style today and I got to wondering: does everyone have a fashion inspiration when they get dressed in the morning?*

I don't, not really. I don't attempt to recreate outfits I saw on Pinterest or other bloggers**. I only do that if I have an out-of-the-ordinary item like printed pants and I need a little help coming up with ways to wear them. When I get dressed for an event, I go on instinct: what looks right, what looks wrong, what looks right but feels weird, etc. On a lesser scale, I do this on a daily basis as well. I have some "tried and true" outfits that I can pull out if I'm short on ideas, but I don't really have a difficult time putting outfits together.

Does this mean I have innate style? Maybe, but I think it's more just the fact that I really have multifunctional pieces in my closet or pieces that can easily work in different settings. I don't ever want to look "styled" or overdone as so many "fashion bloggers" do, at least in my opinion.

What about you? Do you borrow liberally from bloggers and Pinterest for outfits or do you go on your own instinct? Or are you somewhere in the middle? Obviously there's no right or wrong answer, I'm just really interested!

*That sounds so Carrie Bradshaw...now I can't not hear SJP's voice reading that question.
**This made me actually go back and look at my style Pinterest board...I don't buy specific items thinking "oh, now I can recreate that outfit I saw in X pin or on Y blogger!", I buy items because I like them and my board is an extension of that--it's outfits and things I like but don't necessarily wear.

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Jennifer Latimer/Gilded Mint

"Chanel Falling Rich Petals"

"Mod Undercurrent no. 5"--this is SO ME.

"Marbleized DVF I"

"Marbleized DVF II"

24K Gold 4-Leaf Clover

I came across Jennifer Latimer's Gilded Mint Etsy store the other day and I'm in love with all of her prints and paintings. They're fun and modern and the canvas prints are a perfect way to have "real art" on a not-real-art budget. I've always wished I could paint and Jennifer's paintings are beautiful without being literal. The gold bits on some are just the icing on the cake!

My Style: Defined

 I've been scrolling through Pinterest for the past week, culling images, ideas and inspiration for my upcoming blog redesign, and it's gotten me thinking about my style and how to easily define it.

I don't think my personal style can be summed up in a single word like "preppy", because sometimes I hate things that are traditionally "preppy" and love things that aren't preppy in the least, but I have a closet full of some traditional prep staples.

Words that I think describe my style include uncomplicated, streamlined, casual, refined, classic, colorful, relaxed, crisp. While I appreciate and like things that aren't necessarily all of these qualities, I find that I keep coming back to them.

I may do an all-sequinned dress, but it's probably an uncomplicated, unfussy shape and a solid color. I love bright colors but prefer to do a single color paired with neutrals rather than other brights. I love the idea of bright, bold, busy patterns but end up purchasing solids or smaller-scale patterns. I feel most comfortable and myself in jeans, a t-shirt or buttonup and sneakers. Clutter on every surface makes me anxious, I prefer limited decorations and breathing room. I love saturated wall colors but want to keep everything else neutral.

I wish there was a way to sum all of that up into a single, easily-said word or phrase, but I'm glad there isn't. My style is me, pure and simple.

What's your style? Is it easily definable or more abstract like mine? Or is yours more random and multifaceted?  

Ps: how great is Pinterest? I love that I can scroll through my own boards and pick out common threads between pins and identify recurring themes...Pinterest is a post in itself!

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