Wear Your Praise Wednesday {...denim on denim, 3 ways...}

I don't know about you, but when I was young(er), wearing denim on denim was a definite faux pas...it was not done...just wrong.

Once again, throw the rule book out, hallelujah and amen.  Denim on denim is "a thing" now.

As in, perfectly fine.  Awesome.  Not a problem.

Here, I'm wearing a sleeveless chambray shirt from Target.  This little number is perfection.  I tend to be a bit "blessed" upstairs, and typically button-up shirts give me fits.  Not this one.  It has this cute little vented feature in the back (without being revealing at all) that also gives me a little room in the middle.

Putcha hands UP, girls.  You can't beat that.

The denim blazer is Liz Claiborne, and I found it in my trash can (well, laying on the top of it) about 8 years ago, after searching high and low for a denim blazer (tailored) and not finding one.  How, you ask?

Someone had given it to my daughter, and she wasn't feeling it.  So she decided to discard it, and got distracted before she could stuff it all the way in the trash can...she had laid it on the top of the can, and then she drove away.

You shoulda seen my face, when I walked out that morning, coffee in hand, and saw the sort of denim blazer I had had my heart set on and could not find - just that week.  I hadn't said a word about wanting one to anyone...and....there it was!!  I literally blinked and choked on my coffee.  I was freaked (in an almost creepy but thankful way) until my daughter came home from work later that day and the mystery was solved.

God loves on me in the weirdest ways.  I think He just loves punking me.

The fabric is the perfect weight, and it has tons of spandex.  It holds its shape like nobody's business - and it is the kind of piece that everyone loves it and asks where I got it.  I cough and I tell them.

Weird, I know...please come back.

The shorts are from (believe it or not) WalMart - for $8.

Can I put something just right out there for you?  You will never find expensive things on my body.  While I can't get all Flower Patch Farmgirl on you - she pretty much only wears thrift store clothing (she is one of my all-time favorite bloggers - I am so not hatin'.)...

...nor will you find me Stitch Fixin' (love Stitch Fix - but it got too expensive for this girl) or shopping Anthropologie without a hefty gift card.  (Not above shopping there...please, please know that all Anthro gift cards will be joyfully accepted...)

I'm somewhere in the middle of Anthro and Goodwill.  I'm a Target kind of girl, I guess.  Old Navy.  Modcloth.  My reasons for that fall somewhere between theology and necessity - and I don't examine myself too closely about it.  If you love Anthro - no condemnation here.  If you buy only thrift store scores - fly your freak flag, sister.

Tip:  It's always a good idea to buy something like chino shorts at a Wal-Mart.  I mean, how upscale can you get with 98% cotton, 2% spandex shorts with pockets?  The style is the style is the style, no matter where you spend your cash.  Get 'em at WalMart - then splurge on shoes.

Always, shoes.

This denim shirt is also Target - and the jeans are Target, but a discontinued style (the "Fit 3", in case you can score a pair on Ebay).  I bought them in "tall", and cut the hem off, because sometimes I love to wear ragged-hem jeans...that has been one of my signature "looks" for about 15 years, actually.

The shoes look like leather western boots, but are mules, and were a gift from a friend, nearly 10 years ago.  I get compliments on them all. the. time.

Here's our final look at denim-on-denim....transitioning from summer to fall.  The jacket is (wait for it...) Target.  The shirt is the same one as in the last picture.  The shorts are WalMart's cargo shorts in army green.

{anything army green you can get your hands on, for the upcoming fall season - do it...}

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The necklace is my design, and the open-lattice leather boots were a Sole Society score (on sale) about three years ago.  They are perfect with summer skirts and even shorts, which is a look I love...that whole "boots with summer dresses" bohemian vibe.  I can't go all-out "shorts-with-western-boots" like a younger twenty-something, but I can rock this look safely enough.

In conclusion - there are a few rules to pulling off the denim-with-denim look:

1.  Vary the tone/wash of the denim
2.  No more than two denim items in an outfit.  For example:  a shirt and jacket...but not pants.  Jeans and chambray shirt, but make sure your jacket is tweed or wool or even twill.