Re-branding of Belle On Trend!

I am going to use this post to brag a little about my good friend, Katie Arnold Carter. She is incredibly talented, and she has created my business cards for Belle On Trend! Check her website out here, and prepare to be amazed!

A special shout out goes to my mom: she bought me this Kate Spade business card holder for Christmas. I just sort of laughed because I am a teacher, and why would I need business cards? But, she said it was for the BLOG!  Duh! But at that point, I was just beginning, and I had no idea people would actually want to know about the blog and care for a business card.

Back to the brains of this operation: Katie.  Katie has been besties with my sister, Anna, for over 2 decades. I grew up with Katie as an "extra" big sis. Her resume is incredible: Katie has designed for Old Navy, Juicy Couture and Abercrombie and Fitch, to name a few of the companies lucky enough to employ her.

She had me create a Pinterest board so she could better come up with a design for Belle On Trend. I pinned-- you guessed it-- a lot of bows, glitter, sequins, monograms, Lilly Pulitzer and all things girly and/or Saint Mary's College related. Katie then took over and turned my vision into reality.

The bells are perfect for my Twitter and Insta icons. These banners are perfect for my blog, Twitter, and my *brand new* Facebook page! ("Like" it, if you have a chance!)

One of the most amazing pieces to her creation was this Lilly Pulitzer-inspired design (below). She texted me one afternoon and simply asked, "what's your favorite flower and animal?" I had no idea where she was going with this, but I answered dutifully. "Gerber daisies and Anna and Shawn's dog, Cooper!" From there, Katie painted a Lilly design with Gerbers and Cooper!

I am telling her she needs to get it to Lilly for their use. It's incredible! It is everything I imagined and more. (See Cooper there between the N of on and D of trend?).

We used Moo.com for my business cards. Let me tell you: I will never buy business cards from another company! The quality, presentation and customer service (not to mention affordable price!) at Moo are so great! They send you a pack of their various (blank) business cards (free of charge), and from there, you can pick out which one you'd like to go with. I chose the "green" business card. You can also have as many backs as you want for your cards. I had 8 different backs, with the Mary Fremeau and glittery bow front. I just put my cell phone number and email address/website on the front.

I've talked to so many awesome women after Pure Barre classes who I've wanted to tell about my blog, but it's always so hard to quickly spell out "Belle on Trend" to someone and to remember, too, without writing it down. Having business cards will make this so much easier! Also, Mike won't have to be my constant "hype man" everywhere we go because I can just hand out a biz card if someone asks about the blog! :)


I am so grateful to Katie for her expertise. She is a true master of her craft and can create anything your heart desires.

So... what do you think!!??
xxoo
Mary

Glitter is My Favorite Color

There is nothing that makes me happier than a fully glittered shoe, pant, skirt, top, purse or cell phone case. 

Actually, fully glittered ANYTHING pretty much makes my day. (Shout out to my girl, Julie, who loves all things glitter as much as I do! Pictured below at her bachelorette party!).

Find Julie's sequin and tulle dress, here. 

I never thought it was possible to wear a fully sequined shirt to work until I gave it a spin last year. I wore this J. Crew sequined top (pictured below) with a nice pair of Gap khaki pants and a chambray collared shirt underneath. I knew I had nailed my outfit when my sweet coworker and BFF, Sarah, told me that it was "her favorite outfit I'd ever worn." SHE knows her stuff, so this was a huge compliment.

Here is a fabulous alternative (from Banana Republic) to my older J. Crew Factory shirt.

Also, can we please talk about this amazing (pictured below) fully-sequined bronze blazer from B-rep? I am so impressed by the current Banana pieces for the holiday season!

I recently became obsessed with finding these glitter Ann Taylor gold pants (below). I blame Maria for this (haha), but they really are beautiful. However, there was no sign of them at the Naperville or Geneva Ann Taylor, and they were totally sold out online. I was so sad!

[Addendum: I was just searching again while editing my post, and I see that Ann Taylor has one size left in the sequin pants! See them here! Sadly,  not my size, but maybe they're yours!]

Until, however, my dear friend, Jamie, came to the rescue. She'd seen similar ones at Target back home in Ohio and picked up a pair for me.  The best part about a sequined pant or skirt is that all you need on top is a plain shirt. It can be plain black (to contrast the gold or silver) or white to embrace a "winter white" look.

Here is a phenomenal option of sequin leggings from Nordstroms.

The Target ones are not available online, but you can find them in the junior's section of your local store. 

I have also been totally melting for these fully sequined skirts.

These two are under $50 from Mindy Mae's Market, an online boutique that has amazing deals and trends. I have purchased two idiom tee shirts (gifts for my sis and bestie) from MMM, and the shipping is extremely fast and FREE!

Check out the great $49.99 price tag on this gold stunner.

Shop this beauty, here.

My dear friend, Mandy, sent me these great skirts from Banana the other day.

I foresee many a NYE being celebrated in this one!

Currently, Banana Republic has a 40% off sale happening! Scoop this up for December 31!

This bronze sequined skirt looks perfect with a cozy, chunky sweater. 

It is demure enough in this bronze color to be worn to work. 

J. Crew Factory never lets me down. This gorgeous skirt is $70 currently and available online. 

If you don't know if you could be as daring as fully sequined pieces, I challenge you to add in a little sparkle in a more subtle way. I wear this skirt (below) so often! It is about 3 years old, but J. Crew Factory just re-released another design of it, here. 

Julie, Alison and me! 

This pleated skirt with a ruffle is another fantastic alternative to fully sequined. You can step cautiously into the realm of sparkle with this one.

Add a statement necklace to your simple top (crisp, collared shirts or chambray work wonders paired with sequins, too), and you have the perfect outfit!

My advice for fully sequined skirts is to stay at pencil fit and knee length to avoid looking to "clubby."  I, for one, can no longer rock my fully sequined Express mini skirts of my days at Fever or Tao Night Club in Vegas :-)  Plus, it adds class and sparkle simultaneously to your look.


How do you incorporate sequins into your clothing regime?
xxoo
Mary