Sweater Trends 2013!

People seem to be impressed with my fashion knowledge considering I haven't been taught any of it in school. All I have to say is this, if you want to learn something, sometimes you have to teach yourself. To me, life is about achieving your dreams no matter what stands in your way. Majoring in fashion isn't an option for me, for personal reasons, but I love it and plan to make it a career. Whenever I hear of a new print or learn of a new trend, I research it....find out what it means and apply my new found knowledge to my look every morning for as long as it's relevant. Sometimes, I simply store it away for future use. Lately, I've been hearing and seeing the term "fair isle" atop a lot of the sweaters I've been wanting [online] at my favorite stores. I kept wondering how Target, Penneys and J.Crew could be selling the same type of sweater considering their style and demographic are worlds apart. So what did I learn.....quite a bit actually. Today, I'll be passing my new found knowledge on to you to share with you a few sweater trends I have noticed and learned about lately, complete with outfit examples.....of course.

Fair Isle Sweaters

After doing a little bit of research, I learned the following: Fair Isle is a knitting technique that has been used for many years as a way to create multi-colored patterns. Dating all the way back to 1921 when the Prince of Wales wore fair isle tank tops. I've been seeing these sweaters all over the place and knowing what it means now, that totally makes sense. I found myself gravitating towards a fair isle sweater on virtually every site I visited around Thanksgiving time, and when I found the perfect balance of festive, and (let's be real) slightly comical and tacky at Old Navy, I had to invest. Old Navy is one of those stores that is slightly hit or miss with me when it comes to pricing. I love a lot of their pieces but sometimes, I'm not willing to pay what it's selling for. I waited until Black Friday to pick up the following sweater, and styled it with a little replicating of a great outfit originally worn by Blair Eadie. I added my J.Crew ram cuff, and Duro Olowu chunky bracelet to complete my look.

Sweater: Old Navy / Denim Shirt, Skinnies & Booties: Target / Ram Cuff: J.Crew

Embellished Necklines

This is something I just happened to pick up on, embellished necklines are all over the freaking place lately. I really wanted one of these sweaters with a "built in necklace" but I have a feeling it will be a timestamped trend, and might not be that in by next winter so I didn't want to spend a lot on it. I found this super cute embellished sweatshirt at JCPenney, and got it for 60% on Black Friday. To style this look I tucked my top into a cute drop waist quilted pleather skirt, and added minimal accessories with these cute little present bow earrings that I got the other day at Kohls for just $1.99!

Skirt and Sweatshirt: JCPenney / Boots: Endless.com (super old) / Bow Ring: Sears / Bow Earrings: Khols

Neon Knits

I absolutely love that neons have been going strong for over a year now, season by season they refuse to go away and this winter isn't any different. Worthington brand at JCPenney came out with these amazing knits, releasing this amazing neon color in both this sweater and a super cute blouse. I kept all the attention on this amazing sweater by adding an old Old Navy scarf with a matching neon chartreuse and cute little stripes. I kept the bottom half of the look super casual with some black skinnies and black ankle booties.

Skinnies: Target / Booties: DSW / Sweater: JCPenney / Scarf: Old Navy / Necklace: Prabal Gurung

'Tacky' Holiday Sweaters

What fun would fashion be without a little tacky-ness from time to time, eh? I COULD....NOT....pass up this black Chihuahua sweater because, well......my dog is a rockstar. I mean, the dog on the Target sweater even has a little white patch on his neck so CLEARLY it's Peppy, Thanks Target! For this look, I had fun with layering and styled my sweater over a striped pencil skirt that I got at JCPenney during Black Friday. To add a little extra spunk to this outfit, I opted for over the knee knit socks instead of stockings, leaving a little peek of skin between my socks and my skirt. I paired the look with my cream leather jacket and cute little ankle booties!