Fourth of July Outfit

The Fourth is coming up, and that means red, white, and blue. However, that does not mean you have to buy one of those $10 American flag shirts near the checkout of your Wal-Mart or Target to be festive.

As a kid we would always go up to Merrillville, Indiana for the Fourth of July parade to spend time with my grandma. This was the biggest holiday for a lot of my relatives, so going up there was a tradition for everyone, even those who lived much further than we did. The people in the parade would throw candy out and the "kids" would fight over it. However, I put quotes around kids because the adults were just as competitive as we were. Needless to say, the Merrillville Fourth of July parade is where I learned to "box-out" for basketball and elbow without getting caught in soccer. If you weren't competitive in my family you were leaving empty handed.

Since we don't go to Merrillville for the Fourth anymore, we still get together with family, and someone is always throwing a party. Therefore, of course, I need a festive outfit, and here is why this is the one chose. While I was at work at Madewell, this outfit came in our shipment. It reminded so much of all my Fourth of July memories, so I just had to buy and share it.
The best thing about this outfit is, while it looks like a dress, it is actually a two piece set, (insert heart-eyes emoji here). This means I can wear the crop top with jeans and the skirt with a white tee shirt and some sneaks. So you basically get 3 full outfits from 2 pieces. Yep, it's that versatile folks. Added bonus: its navy and white gingham; nothing says summer better.

The shoes are just simple brown wedges but flat sandals would be perfect with the look as well. I bought them at Nordstrom a couple years back, but linked a similar pair here. The brown cross body is a staple, but I am in the market for a new one, so I linked the one I have my eye on here.

The look was finished off with a couple of details, bright red lipstick from Clinique and my monogram necklace (of course).

Thanks for reading. :) I hope everyone has a blessed Fourth of July filled with loads of bomb pops, s'mores, and sparklers.