Fashion Inspiration Simply Blended

Simply Orange Juice Company recently unveiled three delicious orange juice and lemonade blends that offer a refreshing new twist on the classic Simply Orange and Simply Lemonade varieties. Have you tried any of them yet?

• Simply Orange® with Banana – the perfect juice blend for a day at the beach
• Simply Orange® with Tangerine – to switch up  your regular breakfast routine
• Simply Lemonade® with Blueberry – a delightful summer refresher

My family loves orange juice and lemonade. I don’t buy it often, but when I do it’s gone almost overnight. When I was asked to try these new juice blends from Simply Orange, I knew I’d be the most popular mom on the block — at least for the day, anyway. I brought home one of each, and we all dug in. Everyone has his or her favorite. My girls love the Orange with Banana with their lunches and snacks, and the Orange with Tangerine is great with a plate of eggs and bacon in the morning.

I’m not an OJ girl, but I do love a refreshing glass of lemonade, so my personal favorite is definitely the Lemonade with Blueberry. It is the perfect drink for serving over ice at a summer gathering, and I bet it would be great spiked with bourbon for a girls’ nite on the patio!

In celebration of these tasty new varieties, Simply Orange has challenged a few bloggers to reimagine a favorite old post by blending what inspires us from one of these three new Simply varieties.

It took me a while to decide on the post I wanted to use — at first I was thinking of reworking one of my popular summer cocktail posts. But then I thought, how fun would it be to use these new juice blends to inspire a new outfit combination!?

One of my most popular fashion posts over the years is the one about how to wear jeans and a t-shirt.

We often think of jeans and a t-shirt as a lazy outfit, but jeans and a tee can go from drab to fab in a matter of seconds with the right accessories. Take a look!

Outfit #1

The first outfit was inspired by the flavors in Simply Orange® with Banana. Usually you think of mixing a warm color with a cool one, but I’ve recently discovered how pleasing it is to blend warm colors in an outfit — like yellow and orange.

I started with a simple jeans and t-shirt. I love my banana-yellow wedges so I knew that I wanted to incorporate them into the outfit, and I changed out my white watch band for my coral one and added a pretty silver necklace to fill in the neckline. (The sun was in my eyes, can you tell??)

And you know, this outfit is really just fine. The jewelry is understated, but the shoes make it fun. I could have grabbed my orange bag and called it done. (And honestly, I probably would, if I were going to wear this outfit.) But I wanted to see if I could take it to the next level.

The orange bag was the next addition to my outfit. Then I added the orange bracelet. The final addition was the scarf. I felt that I needed some color near my face, so I grabbed this lightweight scarf and tied it very loosely so that isn’t not too restricting for this warm weather.

For a cooler evening (certainly not LAST NIGHT!) I could take the outfit one step further and add an orange cardigan.

With the addition of the orange cardigan, I think my green handbag would have been the perfect finishing touch. It was getting a bit matchy-matchy, and I like the cool contrast of green with the warmer yellow and orange — in both the outfit AND the drink!

Notice how I added a sprig of mint to the drink photo? The same holds true for the outfit. A green handbag would provide a nice contrast against the orange and yellow. If I ever put this outfit together again, I’ll remember that!

Outfit #2

The second outfit was inspired by Simply Lemonade® with Blueberry. This juice blend ends up being a gorgeous shade of magenta — a cross between pink and purple that I just love. And that’s a great color with denim.

Check this one out. This picture was actually taken a few weeks ago, but I thought it worked perfectly for this post.

The scarf in Outfit #1 was feeling a bit toasty last night in this 90-degree heat, but a bold statement necklace is also a great accessory that will take an ordinary tee and jeans to the next level. I’m loving this trend because you don’t need much else to complete the outfit. A great necklace pretty much stands alone.

Rather than adding more jewelry and risk competing with the necklace, I opted for flat sandals and a small crossbody bag in a coordinating shade of pink.

Let’s break it down, using my advice in the original post.

how to rock jeans and a t-shirt

1. Start with a great pair of jeans.

As I stated in the original post, if I could only splurge on ONE thing for my wardrobe, it would be a great pair of jeans.  See my Find the Perfect Jeans post for more details on finding the right style and fit. I show two different jeans in this post — the bootcut jeans look great with wedge sandals, and the dark wash skinny jeans are nice with flats or dressier pumps. Both are wardrobe essentials!!

For those wanting to know about what I’m wearing (someone always asks if I don’t include the info in the post!) — the bootcut jeans are old, but these 7 For All Mankind High Waist Bootcut Stretch Jeans are similar, and the Kimmie is a good basic bootcut too.  My skinny jeans (Paige ‘Skyline’ Skinnies) are actually on sale now for $119, and that’s an awesome price for Paige denim so if you’re in the market for a great pair of dark-wash skinny jeans, grab ’em while you can! No, you do not need to buy designer jeans to get a great looking pair, but I do think they’re worth it if you have the budget for it. Also check places like Marshall’s, TJMaxx, Nordstrom Rack and those places for discounted designer denim. And even check your local consignment shop! And my friend Stephanie at Metropolitan Mama has had good luck buying designer jeans second-hand on thred-UP so check that out as well.

2. And a great t-shirt.

Generally I prefer a fitted t-shirt, but this Essential Short-Sleeve T from GAP has a relaxed fit. What makes it work is a combination of nice material (it’s not too thin so that it’s see-through, but it’s not so thick that it’s bulky) and the neckline. A gently scooped neckline is universally flattering. Stay away from crew-neck tees unless you’re super skinny and/or small-busted. V-necks are universally flattering too, but they’re over used. This modest scoop neck (or U-neck, as they call it) is nice for a change.

3. To tuck or not to tuck.

When I wrote the original post, I was definitely a fan of untucked t-shirts. It seems that tucking is coming back in style, and I’m slowly getting used to the trend. It really depends on the cut of the shirt and each person’s individual proportions.

4. Layer.

I used the cardigan as an extra layer to add another element of interest to a basic outfit.

5. Accessorize. 

Shelby said it best: “The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize.”

As all women know, accessories are key to any outfit. But putting them together isn’t always as easy as it looks.

In the second outfit, the statement necklace makes the look. I didn’t even bother with any other jewelry, I just used my other accessories to pick up on the colors the necklace brought to the outfit.

The shoes and bag strike a pleasing contrast against the dark denim.

In the first outfit, the scarf provides texture and color, and the orange bracelet and watch band offer a fun contrast to the yellow — inspired by the orange and banana flavors in the juice.

The shoes and handbag repeat the yellow and orange combination and pull it all together.

What do you think? How did I do?

This post is sponsored by Simply Orange Juice Company. All opinions, editorial decisions, and images are my own and presented without prejudice.