whatnicolewore@gmail.com, Author at What Nicole Wore

Coral Print Swing Cami

May 27, 2016

Cheers to the freakin’ weekend, y’all! I’m so excited for summer to finally be here and the change in season means a change in wardrobe. I find myself holding onto certain winter staples throughout the spring because Louisville never seems to make a decision on the weather until late in the game. Last month, I was still wearing vests and even my snow boots {#amazing}, but I’m ready to put them all away until fall and only hold onto my rain jacket from here on out.

What Nicole Wore: Coral Print Swing Cami — featured in this post: old navy: pintuck swing cami {on sale!} + sts blue: distressed jeans {similar cropped option | also seen here} + karen walker: sunglasses c/o DITTO {try one month of DITTO, and rent designer eyewear, for free with code whatnicolewore | also seen here} + pink beaded statement necklace {also seen here} + spiked bracelet {similar | also seen here} + fossil: tan leather watch c/o {also seen here}

Cami style tops aren’t usually my thing because strapless bras are usually the enemy in my mind, but this pin tucked, printed cami jumped out at me and it was perfect for vacation, especially after my sunburn when I didn’t want to have a ton of fabric rubbing against my burnt skin. This top comes in a couple different patterns and is on major sale this weekend, so definitely scoop it up while it’s still in stock in your size. The straps are adjustable and the material is lightweight which makes it perfect for summer.

So let’s talk Friday Favorites:

I love Tif’s post on how to style a straw hat! She’s glowing {which makes me wonder if Lexington is getting more sunshine that Louisville right now…}, but there’s also a super fun yet subtle neon detail on her hat. #love
One of my photos was featured on the LIKEtoKNOW.it Instagram account yesterday; it’s always super exciting, but this was one of those pictures that I was just like, “ohhhh yeahhhh this is amazing” when I started editing over the weekend. PS. I’ve been fielding lots of emails about the dress, so if you happen to be looking for the under $20, tassel dress – here is a direct link before the post hits the blog on Monday!
The Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale started this week and I’m overwhelmed with how many pretty pieces are marked down to super reasonable prices….Also worth noting that I’m in love with some pretty pieces that are still unreasonable but you know how life is. If you scroll to the top of the sidebar, you can see my top picks for under $100 — most are under $50 though!
You know I love my donut beach hat, but how stinkin’ cute is this donut beach hat from Katie Bowhead?! #AlwaysDownForDonuts
Kelly’s post about how much she loves being her parents’ third wheel struck close to home because I’m such a “please never leave me” child and will probably always be crashing my parents’ plans 🙂

When it comes to accessories, I like to use color to contrast, so pairing my pink beaded statement necklace with the turquoise and white of this tank was a no brainer. Complementing the colors, I put on my tan leather strap watch that I’ve been wearing quite a bit lately + a couple go to’s: my gold spiked stretch bracelet, gold ring & tortoise sunglasses.

Wishing you a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend! See you on Monday 🙂

SHOP THE POST

White Caged Bikini

May 25, 2016

Memorial Day weekend is upon us and that means its time to unpack all your whites {if you’re someone that puts them away every Labor Day}, fire up the grill and bring out the swimsuits!

I snagged this suit about a month ago, the top is available in four different solid colors, two colorblock options and one fun print. I wanted to find a strappy top that wouldn’t make my chest completely disappear so this top was a good compromise for me, plus the price was great.

What Nicole Wore: White Caged Bikini — featured in this post: victoria’s secret pink: white caged bikini top + victoria’s secret pink: white strappy bikini bottoms + DIY beach hat {tutorial here, similar linked | also seen here} + kendra scott: black druzy necklace {also seen here} + karen walker: sunglasses c/o DITTO {also seen here} + windsor store: gold starfish cuff {old, similar} + stella & dot: gold ring {also seen here} + donut pool float {similar} + s’well: water bottle c/o DITTO + vera bradley: tassel beach towel c/o {also seen here} + vera bradley: striped beach tote c/o {also seen here} + colourpop: lipstick + opi: nail polish

I really bought this bikini top for the front, but the strappy back is fun but also functional — something I always worry about with bikinis. When picking out bottoms, I tend to go for pieces that provide more coverage for the booty; I liked that with picking a solid top I was able to look through all the various bikini bottom options VS had and find one that I really liked and felt comfortable with. This bottom has strappy, braided sides, but is not the “cheeky” bottom that haunts my ‘why didn’t I go to the gym sooner’ nightmares.

I brought tons of towels to the beach with me and ended sticking with this tasseled beach towel almost the whole trip. I’m also a big fan of how long Vera Bradley’s beach towels are; I’m not sure if my mom just made me use my little kid towels for too long, but my late childhood pool memories always include my ankles and head not fitting on. This towel really can be spread out and would be perfect to throw over the seat on your boat or for having a picnic on.

I’ve talked up these tortoise frames a few times since I snagged them from DITTO, but I’m having the hardest time thinking about sending them back. They go with everything, are oversized without being too big and I love how they fit on my face. I’m not usually a designer sunglass person, because I have a track record that includes losing sunglasses in the bottom of my purse and crushing them when I forget that I left them sitting in the seat of my car, but my DITTO subscription has been a great way to try different shapes, colors and sizes without financially committing. So far the Karen Walker and Ray Ban shades I’ve tried have been my favorites.

Of course, with the ‘sun’s out, guns out’ mentality, I had to be sure to get sunscreen from my beach bag and wear my DIY beach hat for added sun protection. Summer’s my favorite season and I’m thrilled to be able to bring out all my pool floats again {saw the CUTEST pizza slice + ice cream cone at FiveBelow on Monday but resisted…for now.}

What are your Memorial Day weekend plans?

SHOP THIS POST

What To Do On a Day Trip to Miami

May 23, 2016

Last week’s vacation was some of the best unwinding I’ve done in a while. During my last day in Florida we headed to Miami for a few hours. Per my request, we visited the Wynwood Walls and we also went by and checked out Vizcaya {where I seemed to take a lot less photos #oops}. I’m sharing some of my favorite photos below!

I’d seen the wall murals at Wynwood in numerous blog posts and knew that if we went to Miami, I wanted to be able to experience them in person. My love for bright colors and pattern shows a lot in my personal style and also translates to what I appreciate in art. Taking in all of the different murals, which were all so unique, was something I really loved {and so did the crew for the day #phew!}

This was the last building we went to during our stroll around the wall art, but my dad must have asked me three different times if we were going to come back to this one. I love the varying stripes and the optical illusion it creates — across from this building are several buildings, including one that was painted to look like marble! #Swoon

I practically sprinted across the street to get to this mural; I love the bright colors and kaleidoscope effect of this painting.

What Nicole Wore: Favorite Miami Attractions — featured in this photo: karen walker sunglasses c/o DITTO {use code whatnicolewore at sign up to try one month FREE} + fossil watch c/o

After Wynwood, we stopped to eat lunch at La Camaronera, a restaurant that was featured on Food Network, and it was delicious. Admittedly, I was mildly concerned when I saw patrons walking in with their own six packs, but the food more than made up for it.

Then we headed to Villa Vizcaya. The estate sits on the Biscayne Bay and is beautiful.

Inside the house, there is a strict ‘no pictures’ policy, but the outside was much prettier, in my opinion. The back gardens were very intricate and maze-like with several smaller gardens split off on the sides. Surprisingly, I didn’t get any bug bites while wandering outside. I did get to see a few different lizards, including a gorgeous male with an orange head. The male lizards kept doing push ups to impress the lady lizards, but I was entranced as well.

Striped Romper

May 20, 2016

I’m leaving my parents and flying home from Florida today and while I’m super sad for vacation to be over, I am super pumped to sleep in my own bed and be able to bathe in aloe vera and recover from my sunburn in peace.

What Nicole Wore: Striped Romper — featured in this post: old navy: striped romper {on sale | also seen here} + target style: jean vest {old, similar – on sale | also seen here} + forever 21: fringe wedges {also seen here} + rebecca minkoff: love crossbody {also seen here} + kendra scott: black druzy necklace {also seen here} + fossil: tan leather watch c/o {also seen here} + karen walker: sunglasses c/o DITTO {also seen here} + opi: nail polish {on fingers} + china glaze: nail polish {on toes}

I’m way behind on blog reading, but here are some Friday Favorites:

We’re still about a month away from Father’s Day, but how cute are these “World’s Best Dad” cupcakes that Sam shared this week on Brit + Co?!
Baublebar is running a great sale right now and I’m thinking now may be the time to go ahead and pull the trigger on this necklace and this bracelet set. What are you thinking about snagging?
This outfit that Kayla put together is only $30.50 total and super cute — proving once again that you don’t have to spend a ton to look great!
I’m constantly reading Buzzfeed articles but I really love this one about wearing Pinterest updos for an entire week {I wish I had the patience/time management skills} and this one about Blac Chyna getting in on the Kardashian’s money game. The second one definitely isn’t for everyone but I’m fascinated by how the Kardashians have marketed themselves and found it interesting to see how someone took their marketing and made it their own.
This weekend you can beat the Memorial Day weekend crowds and still get some great deals from J. Crew Factory {50-60% off online}, Old Navy {40% off online and in stores} and Kate Spade {new markdowns + free shipping} just to name a few.
I’ve confessed my love for my S’well bottle but after Shannon posted about her S’ip {the Target exclusive bottles created by S’well} I can’t wait to get my hands on this cute dachshund bottle as well as a couple of the summer prints.

Our house sat right on the water and I saw it as the perfect opportunity to get some great shots on our dock. Before I went to shoot I got super distracted by this huge bird feather; one of our palm trees was the perch for an osprey.

This striped romper is something I picked up specifically for vacation; I love the fit and that the straps can be made longer or shorter. I wore this on the day we went out on a small boat cruise to look for manatees. I was worried about my shoulders burning so I threw on my jean vest and made sure to throw on my sunglasses too. These oversized tortoise frames have pretty much been attached to my face all week; the shape is very flattering and the tortoise goes with so much — I packed a pretty wide variety of colors and found that these shades went with all my vacation outfits.

I brought my crossbody to lunch and then switched over to my straw beach bag when we went out on the water. This quilted leather bag is such a great size especially for vacation since it fits my sunglasses, wallet, keys, phone and a backup phone charger.

SHOP THE POST

What’s In My Bag: Beach Edition

May 18, 2016

I picked up some fun new goodies for my trip to Florida this week from Vera Bradley and wanted to share how versatile their striped beach tote is as well as some of the items I keep throwing into said bag.

What Nicole Wore: What's in my Bag, Beach Edition — featured in this photo: vera bradley striped beach tote c/o

The bag is super lightweight, has a super fun double tassel charm and hangs from a 12″ drop strap that makes it easy to throw over your shoulder. As much as I love my leather bags, taking them near water never seems like the smartest idea, so it’s been nice to have this bag for anytime I’ve gone near water — like when we went on a river cruise to look for manatees.

I picked the natural stripe color because I thought it would give me more mix and match options, but the bag also comes in navy stripes and lilac stripes. Resisting the navy was super hard for me, but I’m trying to hold myself accountable and step outside my color comfort zone. So what are the essentials that you need in your bag?

I always carry one of my Vera Bradley beach towels with me when I go to the beach or pool, this trip I’ve been using my tassel beach towel, but I also have several of the printed towels too. They’re nice and thick and wash nicely too. I don’t usually need my full wallet and to cut back on weight, I’ve switched to a small card sized coin purse that I can stick my debit and credit cards into as well as my license and some cash.

I love my Instax camera to take fun snapshots with so I’ve been throwing that in my bag as well as my S’well bottle. I’ve told you all how much I love my S’well, but it has been a major key to this Florida trip. With the heat and humidity here, a refrigerated water bottle is room temperature in under an hour. The S’well keeps my water {or whatever I’m sipping on} cold all day.

One of the things that I love about Vera Bradley is that they have their classic styles {even for collections like Beach}, but they always work to incorporate the latest trends into said pieces. I love the fun double tassel charm on this bag.

Be sure to check out the rest of Vera Bradley‘s beach line here.

Thank you to Vera Bradley for partnering with me on this post. Working with brands I love allows me to continue to create fresh, new content for What Nicole Wore. All opinions expressed are my own.

SHOP THE POST

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: