Dress it up, Dress it down

Temps are dropping here in Michigan and I've really been wanting to do a dress with tights and boots. It's finally chilly enough today. I paired the dress with a simple off-white bolero. I went simple because the pattern of the dress is so busy. I got this dress for a steal--$4.98--at Fashion Bug a few weeks ago. It's nice because it can go with both blacks and browns and I love the hints of purple. The shape is nice, the collar is a bit higher than I normally go. With a larger bust, a high collar can look a little frumpy, but I don't think this one does. Plus, it's nice to have a few items that have a nice modest collar.

The bolero is from NY&Co. and the boots are from Avenue. You have seen them before.

I'd like to take a minute to talk about Fashion Bug and Lane Bryant. I didn't realize they are connected until I went to the Fashion Bug website to grab their URL just now. I have to say that I never really use to be a fan of the clothing in both of those stores. My mom always loved Fashion Bug, so we shopped there a lot when I was younger and I could never find anything--even in their "Juniors" department--at the time. I would say within about the last year or so, though, I've been finding all kinds of things in both stores that I just love. I don't really think that my style has changed all that much. So I think it means these stores are really kicking it up in the style departments. Fashion Bug is particularly nice for me, because they carry both plus and straight sizes and I tend to fall right in the middle. It's nice when I find that something is too small in the straight size, to be able to walk right over to the plus size and try that on and vice verse. I see posts all the time from bloggers like Kimberly at Fab Finds Under $50 on this very topic. She was just recently posting about JMS/Just My Size, a brand I would not have thought twice about, but now see that they are putting out some really stylish things.