From "Pieces" to "Party"

My husband is celebrating his 31st birthday today. He wanted a big party for his 30th but because we were in the Bahamas, we didn't have one. Just dinner, cake and a ginormous Bahamian guy singing Happy Birthday so loud the entire restaurant noticed. So he's smoking ribs and grilling pork chops and chicken. He's a fabulous cook so the food will be terrific. But I needed an outfit that would be stylish yet comfortable and casual enough for a BBQ. So today my post is how to take an outfit from casual, basic pieces to a put together "outfit".

I started with a purple long-sleeve shirt and my favorite jean skirt. Pretty blah, right? So I tucked in the shirt and added my super cute black bow belt. Then I added a scarf I tied to make a vest. Basically adding a colorful accessory and pieces with structure or texture to basic pieces create a more pulled together look. If I were headed out to dinner or something less casual I would have changed my shoes to my black wedge sandals. In this case my scarf/vest was my colorful accent and the belt gave structure.

Shirt - Old Navy
Skirt - Kohls
Scarf - TJ Maxx (How to turn it into a vest here - http://realitychicblog.com/2012/10/how-to-turn-your-scarf-into-a-vest-in-5-very-easy-brainless-steps/ )
Sandals - Walmart

(Excuse the photo quality. One of these days I will actually find a better place to take pictures. For now it's terrible lighting and my iPhone.)