Petite Fashion Challenge #19: Ombre Crochet Maxi Dress

Pitaya ombre pastel crochet tank maxi dress // H&M nude long tank top (underneath) //

Target pink beanie (gift from Dad) // Aldo nude pumps // Rue 21 wide woven belt //

Genius Outfitters dainty gold skull necklace (from Hawaii) //

Bracelets: Poshlocket Celeste gold and silver (c/o), Forever 21 pearl // 

Rings: green amethyst - Oklahoma medieval fair, silver statement - Erin Wasson Low Luv (thanks Suzy), turquoise cluster - gift //

Island Girl Hawaii neon yellow nail polish in Aloha Color //

Photography: Cassandra Morecroft King

Congrats! You made it to the great reveal of Petite Fashion Challenge #19: what did I have cooking for you guys? I call this look, THE MAXIMALIST. So as any of you may have guessed, I took my Trend Benders challenge too the extreme and went all-out. First off, maxi dresses are always a challenge for us petites. Tripping over your hem all day long, pulling down the entire dress with it, tattering the bottoms, sound familiar? The whole idea of maxi dresses is to let loose and take in all the chill vibe that comes associated with the slanky silhouette and length. On top of this comes another trend - ombre (and pastels while we're at it). Ombre is really cool - I have always been inspired by watercolours since I was young and avidly painting at every opportunity. The pretty purple and blue alternating drew my attention. Summer friendly crochet material? This shifts this dress all the way into the impractical-trend-why-did-I-buy-this zone, unless you have something handy to wear underneath (I went with a long nude tank top and black shorts). Leave it to me to have 4 trends or so in one piece going on.

Thanks to everyone who participated in PFC #19! It's been a pleasure to host and I can't wait to join the fun and creativity on many more to come. Here is the list of participants and their Trend Bending outfits. Please add yourself - you have until the end of September!
1. Click the “Click here to enter” button to add to the list.
2. In the “Link it to:” field, please provide the url of the specific post.
3. In the “Caption or Title:” field, please write the title of your blog (ie. Pandaphilia).
4. In the “Thumbnail field:” select pull from Web and follow the instructions to select your image.

So how did I acquire this dress? After the first few days of med school, I wanted a breather and ventured along the bustling street that lines Ohio State campus and there is my old boutique friend, Pitaya, inviting me in. I go in, frown at the prices like I usually do, and head for the sale section. Still too pricey. Then there's this huge bin full of heavily discounted pieces because of stains, tears, broken zippers, what have you. Like from Mary Poppins' carpet bag, I pull out this ombre crochet maxi tank dress and find it fun. After trying it on and noting the giant hole in the side, I think - this would be fun to wear to the beach. Oh ... except now I'm landlocked again. Deliberations about practicality aside, I finally decided with a slip underneath and some sewing skills I can patch this baby up and negotiated it down to $10. Not bad, eh?

Now to make it bend for me. Going off of the chillax SoCal 'tude, I threw on a beanie for a hint of the urban grunge, albeit the fact that it's in baby pink. Threw on a nude longggg tank top and some heels/Chucks. I took this outfit out for a spin on a grey Saturday to sell some of my clothes at a consignment shop (Rag-o-Rama on High) and I think it gave me brownie points with the hipster workers, who said I should get a job there. If only I weren't in med school, right? Bonus of being a style blogger: you can suggest what cute outfits can be made from your clothes and they're more likely to take them (they wanted nearly all of my clothing but I only sold $20 worth and kept the rest. Many pieces are worth more than $4 to me!). The rest of the night was spent at the mall with Cassandra, shopping for summer work-friendly clothes and enjoying girl time.