Monday, June 4, 2012

..."Bourbon, BBQ and Boots" is the party theme.


Well, it's party-before-the-end-of-school season!   Just today, I received 2 questions from friends about upcoming events, and while I've answered via email, I thought it would be fun to write about them here. First up, a friend from college, who has a birthday party coming up:

"We've been invited to a 40th birthday party by my friend, who is from Kentucky.  It's a "Bourbon, BBQ and Boots" party for her husband.  I asked her whether we were actually supposed to wear boots, and she replied that it's "encouraged, but not required".  But of course, I love a theme!  However, I'm not sure What 2 Wear to this party.  ;-)  Can you help?"

My first thought is "she needs to wear boots".  With boots as a starting point, I have a couple of ideas, depending on how dressy the party is.  Knowing that it's a party for the husband, I'm going to venture a guess that ties are banned and therefore, cocktail dresses aren't going to work either.

First, does my friend have cowboy boots?  If so, she should absolutely wear them, with white slim or skinny jeans tucked into the boots and a fun, party blouse (silk to make dressier) on top with a fun necklace.  (If she doesn't own a pair and wants one, Zappos has a large assortment, including these Ariat boots.)
Image from zappos.com.
If she doesn't have cowboy boots, hopefully she has some flat riding boots, kind of like these Frye riding boots:
Image from zappos.com.
They can be black too.  And if she has these, she is set!  (If not, head straight to zappos.com and get a pair.  They are so useful in fall and winter.  That's another blog post altogether.)

You can do many things with riding boots.  You can go the pants route and tuck in a skinny denim blue, white jean, or black leggings.  All of which you can top with fun party blouse, big necklace OR drop earring.

A skirt with bare legs into boots is fun too.  I'd add a wide belt to cinch in the waist with a blouse (silk) tucked in.  Super cute and fun.

The most daring route would be the shorts route.  Lots of celebs have been spotted with boots and 'Daisy Dukes' but that might be a bit much for the 40+ crowd.  A dark navy or black short or a lighter white short would look great with a cute top as well.  This photo is kind of inspiring although the look is too casual for a 40th birthday party.  You get the idea.
Image from pinterest.
I played around on Polyvore, and made a set that shows a variety of styles, from white jeans to a skirt, accessorized and all.  Good luck bootsie! ~ JH

Outfits with Boots for Party


J Crew cotton blouse
$120 - net-a-porter.com

J Crew short sleeve shirt
$110 - jcrew.com

Splendid cotton tank
$71 - stanwells.com

Vince black t shirt
$235 - stylebop.com

Blazer
$70 - topshop.com

J brand jeans
$261 - my-wardrobe.com

Caroll skirt
€90 - placedestendances.com

American apparel legging
£33 - republic.co.uk

Enzo angiolini boots
$189 - macys.com

Dan Post cowgirl boots
$168 - sheplers.com

Corso Como knee high leather boots
$90 - bloomingdales.com

Cara Accessories metal jewelry
$58 - nordstrom.com

Amrita Singh 18k jewelry
$100 - amritasingh.com

J Crew crystal jewelry
$78 - net-a-porter.com

Wire earrings
$58 - boticca.com

Kendra Scott 14k jewelry
$55 - neimanmarcus.com

J Crew silk scarve
$55 - jcrew.com

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