Starting the New Year with a throw back

For the past couple of days I have been at home with the flu, and unfortunately started the New Year being sick.  So for New Year I spent the night relaxing and snuggled up.  Today I just started to feel a bit better, and thought what better way to start the new year but with a throw back? Lately I have been seeing a lot of people rocking the 1920's look, especially with hats from that decade.  For the past couple of months I have been eyeing 20's style hats that are all over, but just could not force myself to splurge on (especially since it was Christmas time and I was focused on buying presents for others).  Luckily I have an awesome sister who read my mind and got me the hat I had been wanting from Cost Plus World Market.  At first I struggled with an outfit to pair with the hat because I wanted to incorporate the 20's inspiration, but I did not want to look dated like I had just come straight out of the roaring 20's.  I debated jeans or leggings but decided on a delicate dress in the end.  I love the mix of edgy and clean cut with the soft and flowy aspects of the outfit.  For this year I hope to incorporate more flash back and vintage items into my wardrobe and share them with you guys.

Christmas day freepeople inspiration

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas Eve and was able to spend the day relaxing with family.  I had a wonderful day and was truly spoiled by my family and friends.  For the day before Christmas I had decided to go casual, but for Christmas day I wanted to go a little more dressy.  I have had this outfit in the back of my mind for a while, but wanted to save it for a special occasion and Christmas seemed like the perfect choice.  I purchased this number earlier in the month of December from my favorite store which also happens to be the same boutique that I work at.  The name of the store is Prim and I absolutely love it and by job.  I also absolutely fell in love with this Freepeople inspired dress once I laid eyes on it.  The detail and high collar are very dramatic along with its soft billowing skirt that is just the right length.  I normally don't gravitate to dresses that have high collars due to how self conscious I am about my long neck, but I enjoyed this one because it was not too much or too high.  In addition, I also was completely drawn to the color that is a dark maroon with a hint of a dull purple.  This bohemian, freepeople, flower child dress was perfect for lounging around my relatives houses and with my light blush colored kimono I was just the right temperature- not too hot, and not too cold.  Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday and a happy new year.  xoxo

My Christmas Eve outfit

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas Eve.  I hope everyones day today was filled with joy and involved spending time with family.  I must say that I am a very luck girl and deeply blessed with a family I could not imagine living without.  I truly hope every single person in my family realizes how much they mean to me.  A quick shout out to my mom and dad who are my heroes, and my sister who takes all the pictures for my blog, much love.

For my Christmas Eve outfit I had planned on going for a very dressy look, but then as the weather began to take a turn and become rainy I changed my mind.  Instead of going for a party dress I decided on a more casual approach to a holiday outfit with a plan to dress it up.  I have been dying to try the denim on denim look (even though I always make a big deal whenever I see someone wearing jeans and a jean jacket).  I always find that the best way to test out a look or popular trend that you are unsure about is to try it out around friends and family.  They will give you an honest opinion but also be considerate about your feelings.  I must say it takes a little planning to pull off a double denim outfit because you don't want your denim to be the same color, nor do you want to be over powered by the denim and have it be wearing you.  The best bet to rock this outfit is to go for a darker wash skinny or straight leg jean and pair it with a soft, light colored chambray top.  The mix of the dark and light is stunning along with the hard and soft play with the two forms of denim.  To add a pop of color, go along with the Christmas spirit, and to break up the denim a little I layered a plaid shirt under the simply chambray blouse.  I found it added a little dimension to the outfit and when I rolled up the sleeves with the chambray I loved the preppy, put together effect it gave the the whole outfit.  The flannel was also super comfy and warm.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised at how many compliments I got on my outfit and how comfortable I was as I devoured my families traditional clam chowder and pie (and of course opened very thoughtful gifts).  

Like I said before I am very grateful for my family and wish everyone a very merry, safe, and joyful holiday.  xoxo

Army jacket lovin'

Life has truly been a whirlwind since summer! With starting up school again, getting back into high school soccer, and attempting to begin training for my first half marathon I have been left with very little time to post about what I love (fashion).  Luckily now that I have my life in order and winter break on the way I have made it my new years resolution to post on a weekly basis, and I plan on sticking to that vow.  

As I said before time flies! It is already winter, and Christmas is right around the corner.  To go along with my life my wardrobe has not truly been up dated for winter weather just yet (which in Cali isn't really a problem because our winters are far from freezing).  None-the-less I have been adding warmer pieces to my fall/summer wardrobe to help keep me from turning into an icicle and still allow for me to save money during the holiday season.  By reusing pieces I wore during the warmer months I not only save money but can also look cute and warm all at the same time.  I figured the most popular winteresque item would have to be an army jacket.  I wear my olive, aztec printed jacket all the time. Its the perfect jacket to be able to just throw on and know it will keep you warm in any kind of weather.  I also love the knit aztec pattern on the back that adds a pop of color and a unique twist to the everyday army jacket.  I paired my jacket with a top I wore all summer with fringe detail and lace overlay, maroon skinny jeans, and an 80's inspired floppy hat.  

I recently wore this outfit to look at lights on Candy Cane lane.  It kept me warm and I got many compliments on my jacket and floppy hat.  This outfit would also be perfect for a day in the city, going ice skating, or simply christmas shopping at the mall.  xoxo

Flying outside of the birdcage

I am so excited to begin my blogging journey, but first I want to start by telling you a little bit about myself.  My name is MacKenzie and I first began expressing my fashion sense to the world through youtube videos.  My channel is called outside of the birdcage and for a year now I have posted and created videos.  Now I want to expand, I figured the next step would be to create a blog.  The first step I had to take when creating my youtube account was to create a name and with that my entire brand.  It took me a long time to decide what I wanted to be know by.  I knew I did not want to go by my name because that did not express my true message I wanted to deliver to my audience.  Eventually it came to me, I have always felt my style is not run of the mill.  I do not follow trends or fads.  I wear what I love and things that make me feel like myself.  My first thought was to do a play of words like "outside of the box" and some how turn that saying into a way to describe my style.  At this time I had recently discovered my love of birdcages and the underlying meaning of what they could represent metaphorically.  One night as I was reading, I looked up at my rustic birdcage perched on my dresser and it came to me.  The perfect name for my video blogs would be outside of the birdcage.  It was perfect. It symbolized everything I wanted my blog to stand for, fashion that did not follow the norm but brakes the hold of conformity.  Flying outside of the birdcage means as a person you have escaped the metal walls society and media wants us to live in and instead have chosen to be different.  You don't change to fit the mold, you create it. 

Here are some pictures me and my personal photographer, my sister, took to use for my blog,youtube channel, and google plus profiles .  Also check out my personal instagram and my instagram for this blog. xoxo