Guest Post : Jamie of Paint The Gown Red

Hey everyone - I have something a little different going on today. Jamie, of Paint The Gown Red, and I have swapped blogs for the day! Jamie is super adorable (I mean, look at that cat hat!), so please welcome her to HollyDolly. And don’t forget to head on over to Paint The Gown Red to check out my outfit!

Why, hello wonderful Holly Dolly readers! I’m Jamie of Paint The Gown Red, and I am super excited to be here today to share with you my handmade style. I’m often inspired by Holly and her incredible handmade pieces, and thought for this guest post I’d challenge myself to put a little dolly in my dress. However having just learned to sew this year, my sewing skills are a tad limited. But everyone’s got to start somewhere. Can you guess which piece is a Jamie original? 

If you guessed the cat hat, you’re not completely off base. This adorable cloche was handmade, but not by me. It’s actually by Jessicozy for Dear Creatures. I first spotted the cap in the Dear Creatures Fall lookbook and contacted them immediately to see when and where I could get one. It wasn’t for sale. I must not have been the only one crying, “woe is me” for a few months later they started selling the lovely cat hats. 

The one of a kind item that is in fact handmade by yours truly, is the apple skirt. It was one of the first pieces I ever made, and I’m pretty pleased with the result. There’s something very special about handmade clothing; it’s never perfect, each piece is unique, and you can always see the time and labor invested in its production. To me, that makes handmade all the more valuable. 

Thank you Holly for letting me be a part of your lovely blog. I hope you all enjoyed my handmade style and please stop by Paint The Gown Red and say hello!  

Blouse: Free People 

Skirt: Handmade

Petticoat: Legs Avenue 

Shoes: Barneys COOP

Hat: Jessicozy for Dear Creatures 

Purse: Vintage 

Loly In The Sky Giveaway

Loly In The Sky, a new sponsor of HollyDolly, is here today with an awesome giveaway for you guys! 

I’m sure you have seen their shoes around the web lately. They have the most adorable loafers that you just can’t help but love. And today they are offering one of you a pair of Regina loafers (pictured here). Super cute, right?! A classic black loafer with a metallic toe twist. LOVE.

To enter, simply use the Rafflecopter form below. Like their Facebook page to unlock 6 more entries. That’s 7 possible entries total! Giveaway closes on May 15th at 12am. Open to U.S residents only, sorry. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Henry Darling

You guys - we adopted a kitty! 

Boo and I have been trying add a little fur ball to our family for months now, but the stars just didn’t align… until this weekend. We headed to the shelter on a gorgeous saturday, after laying out in the sun and enjoying the city, not really expecting anything. We knew how crazy the shelter can be on kitty day - lines out the door, people fighting over the poor kittens. But we got in there, laid our eyes on this little guy, and were told we could take him home that day. 

His name is Henry. And he is pitch black. He’s a cuddler, but also a little maniac. And we love him. 

You’re sure to see him around here quite a bit. And if you follow me on Instagram, you will definitely be seeing a lot of him. I’ma cat lady now. 

Boston, You So Pretty

Seriously. I think it is pretty all the time, but this time of year is my absolute favorite. My favorite time to explore and enjoy this city. And Saturday was one of those days for us.

We walked around Beacon Hill (oh, the pretty buildings), laid a blanket out in The Common (oh, the people watching), took in all the pretty flowers (oh, all the colors!). And we even added a new little four-legged member to our family. Best.Day.Ever. But more on that tomorrow ;)

top: H&M

cardigan: JCrew

pants: Forever21

shoes: vintage Salvatore Ferragamo

In My Life

We’ve got a week of NEW things! So without further ado…

» My NEW posts on Design Diary this week - Basic Sewing Supplies you should have, and How To Keep Your Creations From Looking Homemade.

» Speaking of Megan Nielsen, her NEW collection of patterns have been released today! Seriously, go check them out… they are fricken adorable. I’m so excited to get to work on them!

» Please welcome two NEW sponsors to HollyDolly - Loly In The Sky and Amanda of Indie Jane!

» NEW Boston bloggers to be added to my blog reader : Elissa of Style Wire, Katherine of Style Tab, Alyssa of Ruffle and Curl, Smita of Hogger & Co. And so many more! One of these days, I should do a round up of all the lovely Boston ladies that I’ve met. 

» Lastly, I’ve done a tiny bit of an update to HollyDolly. Not much - just a few changes to the sidebar, and I’ve added a NEW shopHollyDolly page. 

Black & White // Day & Night

I love the simplicity and versatility of this top. When I first got it, I immediately dreamt up 6 or 7 outfits. Which is such a good sign! It will obviously have some longevity in my closet. 

So, I decided to do a little remix post for you. I wore the first outfit to a bbq at a friends house, and then changed later in the evening for dinner with Boo. Granted, this clean white blouse is probably the last thing I should be wearing to a bbq where I’m stuffing my face full of burgers and hot dogs over a flimsy paper plate. But I’m proud to announce that I didn’t get a single drop on me! Phew. 

top: Modcloth

polka dot skirt: Forever21

full skirt: Diane von Furstenberg (from when I interned there)

polka dot bag: Target (gift from a friend)

chanel bag: ….Chanel

sneakers: Converse

pumps: Nine West

Lust List : Summer Shoes

————————————————————— 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 —————————————————————

Shoes. Shoes. Shoes. You can never have too many pairs. Am I right?! 

I’ll take one pair of each of these, please. 

#BBBos

Continuing my obsession with crop tops, I present you with my outfit that I wore the Blog Better Boston: Style Summit. I’ve had this outfit planned out since  before I even had this skirt made up. And it worked out just as good in real life, as it did in my head. 

Now, I was a bad little blogger and deserve a slap on the wrist. I barely took any photos at the event. I know. Not cool. I was just too busy mingling and chatting with all the other lovely Boston bloggers to realize I had my own blogging duties! Please forgive me. But at least I had my iPhone permanently attached to my hand the entire day, so I did manage to get a good number of Instagram photos. 

But I seriously had a blast the entire day. I met some new blogger friends, caught up with Julie from Orchid Grey, met Tieka from Selective Potential, won a dress from Lulu’s, and learned awesome new stuff that I can’t wait to put to work here. Isn’t it amazing that after almost 3 years of blogging, there is still so much to learn about it?!

Thank you Amy, Alana and the rest of the Blog Better Boston and Boston.com teams for putting on such an awesome event!

crop top: American Apparel

skirt : handmade using Megan Nielsen Kelly Skirt, my colorblock tutorial here

shoes : Seychelles

bag: THEIT

Recap: LOFT [Prudential] Grand Re-Opening

Last Thursday, I was invited to co-host the LOFT grand re-opening event at Prudential Center. Alongside Emily, Amy, and Alana, we mingled with customers, offered styling advice, and took way too many Instagram photos (in true blogger fashion). Oh, and there were music and delicious cocktails. So.Fun. 

The store looked impeccable, and the clothes were the cutest. Seriously, I’m not just saying that. I spent some time before the event trying on a bunch of different outfits, and I wanted them all. In fact, I think I might be going back for a few more items (shhhh, don’t tell Boo).

Thanks to the LOFT and Blog Better Boston girls for such a lovely evening! 

P.S - I didn’t get any proper outfit photos (seeing as I picked it out just before the event started). But trust me - I will definitely be repeating this outfit. 

Here’s what I wore:

In My Life

» This week on Design Diary, along with my Kelly maxi skirt, I also shared important sewing terms, and a round-up of fun business cards.

» I had a blast at the LOFT Prudential grand re-opening event last night with Emily, Amy, and Alana! I’ll have a re-cap post up on monday.

» I’m also excited to see all the girls (plus so many more!) again tomorrow for Blog Better Boston: Style Summit! I’ll have a recap of that event next week too, but you can follow along with me tomorrow on Instagram. 

» I’m still eating lots of birthday cake. Funfetti birthday cake. And I never want it to end.

» I picked up this sweatshirt, this skirt, and this dress for my birthday. And I’m really excited to wear them.

» Don’t forget - you can follow along with HollyDolly on Bloglovin’!