Style Diaries | Concert Style

Who remembers their first concert? I know I do. It was some Radio Disney-sponsored thing at a local outdoor venue + Youngstown performed. Do you remember them? They sang the hit single “I’ll Be Your Everything” from Inspector Gadget. I know you’re laughing. I am, too. But I was honestly obsessed with this song at the time. To jog your memory, here’s the video:

My best friend + I at Switchfoot. I wish I could tell you we had better pictures from high school but in all honesty, they look like this.

So fast forward to 2007. Somehow I won tickets to see Switchfoot. Not quite sure how that happened but I was doing a youth ministry day + our whole team was entered. So I brought my best friend Brittani with me. I’m sure I looked like a straight bum. My style in high school was Aero, Hollister or Abercrombie jeans with a shirt that had words on it. I once told my mom that “My clothes have to have attitude.” They still do but they speak for themselves. I knew there was one photo of us from this concert + if it still existed, it was still on my old pal, MySpace. Did you know they’ve COMPLETELY redone MySpace? I feel like I left it with a cute yellow layout with pink + blue hearts but that’s still not the case. I can’t for the life of me access my account because I can’t remember my email OR password but with my handle, I can still see my old + embarrassing photos. Well I couldn’t tell you what I was wearing because it’s not in the darn photo! This and a picture of the opening band are all that exist from this night. I should ask Brit but I’m sure what she has is no better. So feast your eyes on this lovely first concert makeup look. I guarantee the foundation, shadow, liner + mascara were all CoverGirl that I’d bought at Walgreens. Oh but I’ve come so far…. I also attended one other concert in high school: Maroon5 with Aja. There are photos of us on MySpace from right about that time, but they were taken at my house + I know her mom took us to that concert. Shouts to Mrs. Johnson! Thank you for the ride, the delicious cheeseburgers after + the dessert you bought that I fell asleep before I got to eat! They are still much appreciated. 🙂

The next concert of note I attended was Luke Bryan + Jason Aldean the summer of 2012 with my best friend Angie. I was still in Italy when she texted me + asked if I wanted to go. Of course I did! So I started thinking about what I should wear to my first country concert. It was also going to be outdoors in August + we’d have lawn seats. No matter. August here overs very warm nights I wasn’t too concerned about anything but bugs. So a month later when Ang comes to pick me up for the concert, I walk out of my house in a blue + turquoise flannel from Target (tied up, of course), navy tank top from PINK, Abercrombie shorts, western-inspired fashion boots (not to be confused with cowboy boots mind you) + a straw cowboy hat from Target with turquoise beading. Ang was low key embarrassed as she was in a plaid shirt, jeans + gym shoes. But thankfully for me, I fit right in with all the wanna be country girls wanting to shake it for Luke + be given a ride on Jason’s big green tractor. I’ve been to a couple dozen country shows since + my wardrobe has mellowed out since…. in that I’m not tying up my shirt for concerts anymore. The following year I wore a pretty lace dress, jean jacket + much more convincing boots for Brad Paisley + almost froze to death at a mid-May concert. The following week, Tim McGraw played + I wore a long sleeved shirt, jeans + my fluffy pink North Face. This summer I had a couple of cute outfits. Most important to note: a white lace cold shoulder blouse + jeans for Jason Aldean + a purple dress for Luke Bryan.

Two of my all time favorite concert looks were from this year. The first is this black + white look for Kesha back in October. The best part for me was that I already had all of these pieces in my closet so I didn’t spend any money on this look. The worst part is that some of the pieces are too old to link for you but I’ll do my best. The core of this outfit is this comfy + versatile long sleeve shirt from Target (currently on sale for $6!) + my black American Eagle pants (currently 25% off!). I own three pairs of these pants + I’m not even sorry. They’re comfy, yet dressy enough to pull off in the office. How fun is this fur vest? Mom says I look like Sonny Bono in it but that’s fine. She doesn’t have to wear it. I got this vest back in February from Target + it was initially inspired by a former friend’s friendsgiving outfit last year. She looked very chic + I’m not ashamed to admit my inspirations, even if I’m no longer friends with the person. Unfortunately, Target didn’t do women’s fur vests this season so when I was looking for a brown one, I consulted Amazon. I found this vest for under $30 plus it ships with Amazon Prime. You’ll continue to see these over the knee boots for the rest of the season. These are another fantastic Amazon find. I ordered them October of last year + they’re still going strong given I wear them several times a week. For heeled boots, these are quite comfortable as the heel is chunky + easier to balance on. Unfortunately my hip was acting up that night + I only saw half of the concert from up front. Eventually I had to go find somewhere to sit down to enjoy the rest of the concert. But at least I look cute. I bought my choker back in May as a possible jewelry option for a wedding I was attending. I went with a different chocker as this one felt a little too choke-y for me, but I’ve lost weight since + now it’s too big! I didn’t look like a single person at the concert but I feel like you can wear whatever you want to a Kesha concert + that’s just what I did.

My other favorite concert look is one I promised on my last post: my Jingle Bash look. I bought this awesome skirt at Forever 21 over the summer + planned to wear it this coming Saturday for the 98 Degrees concert. Unfortunately I’m not able to go to that concert anymore because I’ll be in New Orleans for Ellen’s graduation. I’m bummed I can’t take the Transformation Tuesday photo I had planned with Nick Lachey, but I get to be in the audience when my best friend’s Master’s degree is conferred so my life could be a lot worse. When Ashley, Steph + I decided to get tickets to the Jingle Bash, I new I had a new use for this “looks like leather, feels like plastic, gives ‘Oops I Did It Again’ vibes” skirt. With something this visually bold, I wanted to go with something neutral but still fun up top. Whether that meant a plain black shirt with a statement necklace or a more fun top with my subtle Arabic Chellie necklace I wear all the time, I wasn’t sure. I looked at Target for something simple but came up short. I figured my best bet was Forever 21. I thought I might want to try a crop top since the skirt is so high wasted. I ended up with three options: a plain black long sleeved crop top, a cold shoulder turtleneck +this fun off the shoulder body suit. (It’s a miracle y’all! I found it on Forever 21’s website!) This one came in the cheapest at $12.90 so that’s what I went with because my friends weren’t answering their phones. That afternoon when I’d finished my work day, I headed to the office restroom to change + wondered if I’d come to regret my choice of a body suit because I was wearing tights, too. But I was pleasantly surprised that nothing felt squished +, quite to my surprise, the off the shoulder stayed off the shoulder through all my dancing to Fifth Harmony, Backstreet Boys + Taylor Swift. The best part? I knew I’d be wearing red + black so I asked my friends to wear red + black. We looked so fabulous together. So here’s a toast to my real friends… But in all seriousness + not in Taylor lyrics, shouts to them for letting me talk them into dressing similar to me + especially to Steph who hates wearing jeans.