Isabel Lu gray 3/4 sleeve sweater / J. Brand lipstick skinny jeans / brown cowboy boots

Carrie’s pic from denim debutante

1. Don’t feel like you need to center the focal point of your photos. Follow the “rule of thirds,” which is to divide the photo into 3 sections and place your focal point in one of the left or right thirds.

2. Use hashtags and comment on photos. It’s so easy to double tap and like photos, but like any social network, Instagram is a community so letting people know why you like their photo will help build a following. Using hashtags helps too.

3. It’s ok to only like a couple filters. If you find that you always gravitate towards a few of the Instagram filter options, that’s ok. Personally, I find myself using “rise” a lot.

Any other Instagram tips you have to share?

Here are some of the photos I’ve posted to @KristenD56 since the Style Summit:

Let me know what your Instagram username is so I can follow you!

color block Express skater dress / black White House Black Market skater dress / MinkPink striped skater dress / pink 3/4 sleeve ASOS skater dress

For women

(Read below to find out where to buy these.)

1. Do I need to wear a suit?

It depends on the job, but for most jobs, the answer is yes, especially if they are in an office. Even if it’s a casual place, like an advertising agency, where you won’t be wearing a suit every day, you should still invest in one. I bought my first suit at Express. Look out for sales and buy a black suit that will last you years.

2. Do I need to wear nylons?

Again, this depends on the company. If you’re working somewhere corporate like a bank or a law firm, it’s a good idea to suck it up and wear nylons for the interviews until you figure out what the rules are. At non-coporate jobs, you should be ok without nylons.

3. Are open-toe shoes ok?

Not really. For the interviews, you should find some closed toe shoes, like these from Nine West. If you’re wearing heels, make sure they’re not too high and you can actually walk in them!

4. What kind of jewelry is appropriate?

Keep the jewerly to a minimum wearing a subtle necklace, like this triangle Gorjana necklace,  and subtle earrings, like these from A.L.C. Do not stack on the bracelets showing off your arm candy. That will be very distracting to the interviewer.

For men

(Read below to find out where to buy these.)

1. Do I need to wear a suit?

For most jobs, the answer is yes. Even if you wouldn’t be wearing a suit every day, it’s best to dress to impress during interviews. Suits are expensive so buy a black suit that you can wear for years. Men’s Wearhouse has a good selection of suits for reasonable prices.

2. Do I need to wear a tie?

You should wear a tie, especially if you’re wearing a suit. Go with solid colors or subtle prints, like this striped Brooks Brothers tie. Keep your fish print tie at home during interview time.

3. What socks and shoes do I wear?

If you’re keeping it simple with a black suit, wear black shoes and black dress socks. It’s ok if the socks have a subtle gray print on them. Although bright socks are really popular right now, you don’t want to wear bright socks that are going to distract the interviewer.

4. What kind of bag is appropriate?

You should bring copies of your resume, so you’re going to need something to bring them in. You can buy a nice leather folder to carry or a bag, like this leather Banana Republic bag, that you’ll end up bringing to work each day once you get the job!

Want to buy one of these dresses? The middle dress is from ModCloth, upper right is Rebecca Taylor, and bottom right is Hugo.

Here are a couple fun facts related to the fashion in this new rendition of The Great Gatsby (from PSFK):

• Brooks Brothers produced all of the men’s clothes in the movie, designed by Catherine Martin
• F. Scott Fitzgerald was a lifelong Brooks Brothers customer

So naturally, Brooks Brothers is now selling clothes for men inspired by the film in their The Gatsby Collection. They have a lot of good stuff (some of it at a steep price), like the brown wing tip shoes for $598. If you want a piece of the collection, the accessories are a little bit more affordable, like $98 for a gold stripe tie.

Here’s what I bought:

Yellow Gaimo espadrilles - I’ve been looking for wedge shoes that aren’t too high so I’m not wearing my brown or nude wedges all summer.  I love the yellow in these – they’ll be a fun pop of color to add to outfits.

Kenar blue print wrap dress – This dress will go well with my new yellow wedges!

Jones New York pink business dress (originally $128!) – I was looking for summer dresses for work, so this one is perfect. I was originally going to buy the light blue dress since I always buy blue clothes, but I thought I’d take a risk since this is for the summer and bought hot pink.

Ellen Tracy print pleated dress – I’ve been wanting a pleated dress, so I was happy to find this. There is a button missing around the chest so I’ve never done this before but I asked the cashier if they could give me a discount since I’ll have to bring it to the tailor to add that button back in and they took off $3.99, which was good enough for me.

Cynthia Steffe lace peplum top – Lace and peplum. Can’t go wrong with that combo!

Lucky Brand ikat flats – I’ve been looking for some neutral flats so I’m not wearing my plain black ones all of the time. I love the ikat print on these.

Gray Cynthia Rowley capris – I tried on a mint green version of these, but they were a size too big. I went back to see if they had a pair in my size in mint green, which they didn’t, so I bought this gray pair in my size instead.

This post is part of the Budgeting Bloggers group..join in!

• The bags are adorable. The vintage-inspired looks are so classic and will be in style for decades.
• The company’s mission, Donate by Color, revolves around donating a portion of each bag sale to a non-profit health organization to increase awareness of each cause by color. For example, buy a pink bag and Angela & Roi will donate $5 of the sale to support a breast cancer research nonprofit.
• The bags are made of vegan leather and made to last. Read more about their craftsmanship process.
• The company is based in Boston.
• It was founded by a couple, Angela and Roi.

Please look around their online shop and let me know if you love the bags as much as I do!

The trip wasn’t great because the island was too touristy and we weren’t a fan of the all-inclusive deal. We had never done that before, but it was just wasn’t for us. This trip made us realize we like going somewhere where we can explore the culture and not be asked to buy things whenever we leave the resort. We also could not keep up with drinking as much as everyone else (50 year olds drinking 10AM-10PM) so we’d rather just buy beer at the local supermarket. It was fun though meeting people from Toronto, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Michigan.

Either way, it was definitely worth it to be away for a week..time to start to get back to reality today!