Weekly Window Shopping: Lilly Pulitzer

While I was abroad for 3 1/2 weeks, I didn't have access to the Lilly Pulitzer website, I think it's blocked outside of the U.S., and I missed a lot of great new arrivals. So this week's Weekly Window Shopping will be spotlighting Lilly Pulitzer.

33" Bal Harbour Palazzo Pants in Bright Navy Jungley Stripe Vertical

If I was taller, I would swoop these up so fast. They are great pants for the transition from Summer to Fall. They're breezy and loose while still offering full pants coverage. They look great with sandals or ballet flats. And they can be paired with a simple tank, or layered with a cardigan. The stripes offer so many options for a solid colored top to pair with them. In the Fall, I would wear these with a plain navy tank, a camel cardigan, and nude flats.

Inez Top in Resort White Diamond Geo Lace

White eyelet tops are perfect for almost every season. I love the detailing around the neckline on this one, and the slight ruffle in the sleeves. If you're somewhere that is still hot and summery in September, this would look great with navy shorts, nude or white sandals, and a delicate pendant necklace. If you're somewhere that will start getting cooler in the next couple of weeks, I would wear this with dark wash skinny jeans, nude or brown heeled booties, and bright statement earrings.

Rorey Dress in True Navy 

I'm a sucker for classic Lilly navy dresses. I have over half a dozen in my closet already, and I'm dying to add this one. This dress is such a timeless and flattering style, and as an added bonus, it has pockets! The higher v-neck is feminine, without showing too much, and with the detail around the neckline you have the option of adding a delicate gold or pearl necklace, but it would look just as good with no necklace at all. This would be a great dress for end of summer weddings and brunches.

Taryn Maxi Dress in Melon Fig Ginger Jar

Another piece that makes me with I was taller. The ginger jar print on this dress is to die for. The details in the print are gorgeous, and the melon pink color is unexpected in this print, but it works. Since this pattern in so busy, I would keep my jewelry relatively simple with this dress, maybe a pair of blue or white studs, or a simple gold bangle. I would really let this dress speak for itself.

Leighton Shirt in Bennett Blue Beachy Stripe 

This top really gets back to Lilly's classically preppy roots. You can't go wrong with a blue and white striped button down, it never goes out of style, and the ruffles on the sleeve add that something special to really elevate the shirt. You could get away with wearing this shirt to work in an office environment, I would pair it with either a beige pencil skirt or navy straight leg dress pants, and nude pumps.

Tour of Tangier

I'm finally back home from my big trip to Spain, Morocco, and Portugal, and I've been enjoying just lounging around on the couch doing nothing. This is my last outfit post from the trip, it's from my brief stop in Tangier, Morocco. We only had one full day in Tangier, and two half days, but we made the most of our time. We booked a tour guide to take us around to all the sites outside the city center, and to take us through the various markets in the city. Morocco was very culturally different than Spain and Portugal, and since we were two young women traveling alone, we felt much more comfortable with a tour guide than we did walking through the streets of the Kasbah area by ourselves. We made an effort to be respectful of the Muslim culture, and dressed so that our shoulders and knees were covered each day.

We started our day driving out of the city to the coast. We went to a few gorgeous look out points, including where you can see the Atlantic Ocean meet the Mediterranean Sea. We drove along the beach and stopped to meet some camels. We had the opportunity to ride them, but I was too nervous to do that. I never really liked horses as a child, and a camel is kind of like a weird horse. After watching the camels stand up with people riding them, I was glad that I didn't participate, because they way they stand up is super weird, and everyone looked like they were about to fall off. Then we went to the famous Hercules caves, where Hercules from Ancient Rome is said to have stayed and slept in the caves before completing his 11th of the 12 Labors, getting the golden apples from Hesperides Garden. I minored in Classical Civilizations in college, which was basically just studying Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, so I was very excited to visit the caves. We drove back into town and ended the day with a late lunch at a local family restaurant, and wandering through the various markets.

Outfit planning for Tangier was a little bit tricky because we wanted to make sure our knees and shoulders were covered. I had been wearing a lot of sleeveless and above the knee dresses on the trip, but those weren't an option. I opted to go with my Lilly Pulitzer Travel Pants and a pearl embellished t-shirt. The Travel Pants are incredible, they're basically fancy, more structured leggings. They have an elastic waistband and they're stretchy, but the material is thicker than most leggings and they have a seem up the front of both legs which adds an element of sophistication. They're incredibly comfortable, I wore them on our both of our trans-Atlantic flights, and they were perfect for spending the day touring Tangier. I chose my pearl t-shirt, because it was such an easy way to cover my shoulders without getting too hot. I like to have a couple of cuter t-shirts on hand for things like this. The pearls around the neckline of my t-shirt make it more fun and feminine than just a simple plain white t-shirt. I added the scarf as a fun pop of color against the white t-shirt, and the navy in the scarf went well with my navy pants, it was the perfect accessory to elevate an otherwise simple outfit. I opted for comfort sandals this day, because we spent a lot of time walking around in the sand and dirt, and the ground in the markets was not the cleanest, so I didn't want to ruin a cute pair of sandals. Finding a pair of comfort sandals that are somewhat cute is crucial for any long trip with a lot of walking, they will save your feet.

~ Scarf ~ Top (similar) ~ Pants ~ Bag (similar) ~ Sandals (similar) ~ Sunglasses (similar) ~ Watch ~

Magic In Madrid

Madrid was one of the cities that we spent the most amount of time on this trip. We spent four entire days there, getting in at noon the first day and not leaving until 10PM the fourth day. Madrid was very different from most of the other Spanish cities we had visited so far. It was very urban and more modern than San Sebastian and LaGuardia, it even felt more urban and modern than Barcelona. It was a very convenient city to get around. Almost all of the tourist sites are in the same area of the city. The Royal Palace, the Cathedral, Plaza Mayor, the Prado Museum, and the Mercado de San Miguel are all within an easy walk from each other. Because everything was so close together, we got tourist sites checked off our list pretty quickly, and we had more time to relax and enjoy the culture of the city. We ended up spending a lot of time at the Mercado de San Miguel. It was the perfect place to grab lunch, because we could try small samples from each stall, instead of committing to one cafe or tapas bar. Our favorite stall was a burrata and mozzarella stand. They sold little pieces of bread piled sky high with an extremely pillowy and soft burrata, topped with some delicious flavor of jam or jelly and a bit of meat or nuts. My favorite one was topped with blueberry jam and sliced almonds. The contrast of the sweet jam with the salty burrata was absolutely delicious.

We also enjoyed wandering around the Sabatini Gardens. There has been a bit of a heat wave in Spain this August, and Madrid was very hot in the afternoons, so we woke up early one morning to get to the gardens soon after they opened, so we could enjoy our time there before it got too hot to be comfortable. This white romper came in handy with the heat. I'm usually not a big fan of rompers, they don't always look right on my body type, and I just generally don't feel comfortable in them. I love this style that Lilly Pulitzer has started making. It has an apron skirt in the front and back, to make it feel a bit more like a dress even though it is a romper. The apron skirt makes it more flattering, because it covers up any potential unflattering bunching of the shorts in the front. This romper made me feel like a greek goddess while I was wearing it. The pattern of the white lace is a more fun and summer pattern than a traditional lace pattern, and the gold detail around the neckline and shoulders adds the perfect amount of glamour, but it's still appropriate for daytime. I stuck with gold and white for my jewelry, to have a more cohesive look, and I love how it turned out. The gold bangle plays well off the neckline, and the white beaded earrings match the fun and summery tone of the lace print. I felt very cute and confident as I walked around Madrid that day. If you're someone that's on the fence about rompers, I highly recommend checking out Lilly Pulitzer's Donna Romper. It comes in different patterns and solid colors, so there's something for everyone.

~ Romper ~ Sandals (similar) ~ Earrings ~ Bracelet ~ Sunglasses (similar) ~ Purse (similar) ~