3 BY 3 | Leopard Print

I've been looking forward to making this 3BY3 post for a few months now - it's all about the leopard print! Animal prints definitely come and go in terms of popularity and we've had several themed releases with them in the past, but it's perhaps been a little while now. Some prints can be tricky on the versatile front, hopefully I can try my best with these pieces! So for this post I'm styling up the HotBuys Leopard Jacket (Bizou), Leopard Print Serpent Skinny (Jordache) and the Black Animal Pants (It Girls, recolour of the Royalty green pair) - these are quite a mix of old and new pieces and I've styled/worn each of these at least once on the blog before.

H O T B U Y S L E O P A R D J A C K E T

I've had this piece a looong time, since it's release in October 2014 - despite having a number of the pieces from this Hotbuys release, I've never actually posted about this one which is a surprise to me! This was a very popular piece back at it's release and I've seen it styled a couple of times over the years, but definitely not so much recently. I don't remember the last time I styled it, but I really loved putting together these three looks, it was quite easy for me to find pieces that I liked with it. There's a very similar colour palate across the outfits and I think the jacket it highlighted perfectly in them all^ I love beige and brown tones a lot, and the black trim on the jacket made for another good choice in adding to looks. I like all of these looks equally, and would wear any of these again in an instant. They're a little more Spring/Autumn than Spring/Summer, but I do think the jacket has a good versatility about it and it works equally well with dresses/skirts as trousers. I didn't have any perfect leopard print accessories to match - the shoes I used in the first look aren't too bad and I think work ok, but I'd love a bag matching this jacket!

L E O P A R D P R I N T S E R P E N T S K I N N Y

These are the oldest piece of the three in this post, I'm not sure when they were released but it was pre-2010 and they're one of the oldest items in my wardrobe. I love the more subtle style of the animal print on these however I was concerned about the grey colour as it's not one I wear a lot or particularly enjoy styling. Despite my worries, these weren't too difficult to style and I'm relatively pleased with the looks. White and black pieces worked out the best with these and I think the print really pops in all the outfits. It's super classic for me, but this white bow blouse with the matching bow shoes looks super cute with the jeans. I was also glad to see this grey blazer actually looking not too bad with the jeans, I kind of regretted buying this blazer after trying to style it the first time, but I think it's a nice touch with the jeans.

B L A C K A N I M A L P A N T S

And the final piece, these are the most recent of the pieces and are still available in the Plaza. The print on these is quite subtle which I think makes these pretty easy to style compared to the other pieces. I think I went for a good mix of styles with these looks and have hopefully highlighted these trousers' versatility. Classic black and white looks great with these trousers, I particularly love this white ruffled blouse, I think it's super cute with the trousers and the tucked length is sleek. And then what I loved trying is the third look, I tried out a couple of coloured shirts and was so surprised by how fun this neon piece looked. The styles of the two fit well and I had some perfect accessories to add, love the pop with these shoes. These three looks have definitely made me excited to try out more with these trousers =D

3 BY 3 | Sequins

It's been a little while since one of these 3BY3 posts but with us in the midst of the festive party season I thought it was the perfect time to bring out these pieces - the theme is sequins! Sequins can be so fun in a look, but also can be tricky to style so I'm challenging myself today to style each of these in 3 ways - the Floral Sequin Jacket (still available in Windows On The World via the Plaza Catalogue), Dolce & Gabbana Inspired Glitter Coat (Inspired By Dolce&Gabbana)and the Sequin Midi (still available from Nelly). I have worn each of these pieces at least once, so lets see what I can come up with today!

F L O R A L S E Q U I N J A C K E T

This Floral Sequin Jacket is such a cute sequin piece for Spring with the light colours it has all over it, the mix is super cute and it's a lovely piece - it's just definitely one that falls into the 'tricky to style' category for me! I've really no idea why that is, but I also don't think I've seen anyone style this, so perhaps others feel the same. Once I got going and found a few pieces that I liked with the colour scheme and style of the jacket it wasn't too bad - whilst I do think that there will be other great ways to wear this piece, these are an alright start for me. In the first look I really loved these mint trousers with the jacket, the base colour is a great match for them and I think the styles are pretty nice together. It's pretty simple but I think it's an effective look. Next up I knew I wanted to use these sequin booties, to make them stand out I went simple with white between them and the jacket which I really like. I added more green to the styling with this cute top and the bag which I think both work well. I also love these sparkly earrings, they're a really nice accessory to use with this piece. And in the final styling of course I had to include the matching dress to the jacket, a perfect pairing^ I think this is my favourite outfit of the trio - I styled the dress more as a skirt and I really love it like that, the white shirt works well with it and introduced the colour to use in the accessories. These shoes are super cute and I love being able to use this shoulder bag, it's one of my favourite that I don't wear often enough anymore!

D O L C E & G A B B A N A I N S P I R E D G L I T T E R C O A T

This Dolce & Gabbana Inspired Glitter Coat for sure is one of the hardest pieces I own to style, I have tried so many times and either come up with the same look over and over again or just can't get away from pairing it with a couple of the same pieces - this set of looks took the longest to put together, and it really made me want to quit with this post, but I persevered! I'm glad I did though as the looks I've put together are completely different to what I've tried with this piece before. The looks are all bright and focus on colours in the sequins that aren't navy or the dark purple which takes over most of the coat. I really love these white trousers in the first look, they're a bright white but definitely have a blue/purple hue to them which I why I picked them over other pairs. The dark top helps the look not to be too bright, and accessorising was easy combining whites and purple, I love these shoes here especially, they really pop against the trousers. The second look also has some white pieces but includes lilac, such a beautiful colour pairing and I think the lilac is beautiful against this coat^ I like this silk skirt a lot with the heavy sequins of the coat, for sure this is a texture combination I would do again. The final look is maybe a bit wild, but there are indeed some yellow in the sequins on the coat, so I went all out! I love this look a lot^ The trousers are super fun and I loved that I had some perfect colour-matched pieces that worked well with the style of this look, love adding these boots and the bag and it's great to include these fabulous sunglasses =)

S E Q U I N M I D I

And the final piece, not outerwear, this time the Sequin Midi which I've had since it's release and perhaps styled once or twice - it deserves more limelight, how cool is a gold sequin midi skirt! I do think this was the easiest of the three pieces to style. First up is quite a classic black and gold styling, two colours which look great together so this outfit was easy to style. I kept the clothing simple black and added gold in the accessories, which are all great pieces^ Next up another classic with white, it's another combination that I really like to wear, but this is more a Summer style - this shirt is a great piece to style with gold with its own gold necktie detail. Super simple with the rest of the look, I love getting to use this cute little gold crossbody bag, it's been a staple in my gold bag collection for years! The final one was a bit of a wildcard styling, I love this white overcoat with the skirt so much, especially including these trainers in the look, they're a real winner in this set of pieces. I love being able to make use of the green gold chain shirt, and I do think it goes well with the skirt but I'm not sure it's perfect with the rest of the styling. I like the accessories here though, the necklace is great layered with this shirt and the little bag is pretty cute^

3 BY 3 | Chanel Summer Shoes

I loved putting together that last 3 BY 3, and have a few ideas for some more - next up are Chanel Summer shoes! I've just been wanting more Chanel in my style lately, I'm a little sad we didn't get a new Tribute release, but that gives the perfect opportunity to style up those pieces I already have, so today I'm including both the Chanel Inspired Mules Blue and Chanel Inspired Espadrilles from the 2019 Summer Tribute and then the Pearl Pink Sandals from the 2012 Summer Tribute; these are all pieces I've not seen styled much/at all around the site - hopefully you enjoy this post today, let me know if you're also missing some Chanel, and if you have any ideas of pieces you'd like to see included in this series =D

C H A N E L I N S P I R E D M U L E S B L U E

First up the recent Chanel Inspired Mules Blue, these also had a matching red pair (you will perhaps see them elsewhere on the blog very soon^), and I really love this style of sandal for the Summer season, we don't have many similar pairs so the design stands out in my sandal collection for sure. The shade of blue is quite a tricky one to work with, which is why I've perhaps avoided these shoes too much, but I tried to embrace it for these stylings! First up something super relaxed, this shirt has some blue tones in it, and I had to try out the babier blue of accessories to see how they worked with this brighter blue - I think they work ok, but they're not my favourite accessories of the bunch to pair with these shoes. The shirt is super fun with the shoes, I know it's simple, but sometimes that's what Summer-styling is all about! Next up I tried with the blue clothing, and a lot of it! I really like this jacket with the shoes, the colours are a pretty nice fit together, I'm just sad I don't have some matching trousers to work too, but I quite like these darker ones (they're not quite navy, but navy looks good too). I kept the rest of the pieces white in the styling as there's already a lot of blue going on - I think it works nicely in highlighting the shoes. And finally trying something a bit different, I really liked these shorts with the shoes, I think the blues together, along with the green on the pattern, looked quite nice - using this oversized shirt and showing just a bit of the shorts is a nice way to make sure the focus isn't distracted too much from the shoes. Accessorising, I love this bag with the shoes, the colours are perfect together, and I thought the yellow glasses could be a fun touch with the shorts print =)

C H A N E L I N S P I R E D E S P A D R I L L E S

Next up are the Chanel Inspired Espadrilles, and I really can't think of a reason for not styling them apart from the fact that they are flat shoes - the design and style of them is great! I found them super easy to choose clothing to match, the colours are neutral and so there are many options. For my first styling I tried to keep very Summery, and I really like the outcome, these white trousers are a great match for the colour on the shoes, I kept the top in a similar shade, the flounced sleeves are a fun touch - then I used the black trim details of the shoes for my accessories, and I think that makes a perfect final touch for a classic styling in the Summer^ Next up, perhaps this was an obvious choice, but my favourite trousers also colour-match well to these shoes, I kept the vibes of using black in the accessories and as a detail on the jacket and again it really works nicely here for more smart Summer vibes. And the final look is my favourite, in fact it's my favourite look of this whole post, I used the fact that the toe of the shoe is leather and picked that out in these trousers, they are great for transitional looks into the Autumn, I just love this pairing with the shoes so much! I decided to use the browns from the base of the shoe for the rest of my look, and I think it works out very nicely, I don't so much mind the different shades of brown in the jacket and bag, I think both work very nicely with the trousers - this is a styling I will repeat again for sure =D

P E A R L P I N K S A N D A L S

And the final shoes, the Pearl Pink Sandals which I've had the longest of the 3 pairs, and I think perhaps I've never styled - the colour is a little different to my usual shade of pink, and I know I find T-bar style shoes particularly difficult to style, but I think I've given them a good try! First up, I think these trousers are a pretty good colour-match for the shoes and the styles of the pieces are nice together too. I stuck with pink accessories, this bag is great with the shoes, I really like the combination. Kept a simple shirt, any more pink might have been a bit much, but I also don't have a jacket or coat that's the perfect pink to fit. It's still pretty cute though^ Next up I tried out a print, and I think this one actually works well, that was a pleasant surprise! There's a lot of colours in these trousers, and I think that helps make the shoes fit in nicely - I did try out the matching shirt too, but that was a little overwhelming, so stuck with plain pink which I think is a nice compromise. The black jacket and sunglasses work well with the trim on the trousers and help give the pink some balance. With the last look I was struggling a little over what to choose, but I'm pretty happy with the look in the end - I'd completely forgotten that I had this cardigan, and I think it's very nice with the shoes, the white trousers are a nice light split between the two. I definitely struggled with the accessories, I've resized/reangled this belt bag, and I do think it works, and the colour is very nice in the styling, but it's not perfect for what I was thinking. But I'm really glad I managed to get 3 different stylings with these shoes given that I've had them for so long and barely worn them!

3 BY 3 | Gucci Shirts

I have had a couple of these shirts sitting in my 'styling room' of my suite for almost a couple of months now, finally getting around to this post, a 3 BY 3 which I tried to start up back in November, but only got as far as one post - I have a few ideas lined up for this now, so hopefully it can be a little more regular. Anyway, I was really wanting to style up a couple of these Gucci-inspired shirts and this was the perfect post-type for it! These are all actually Hotbuys (I miss them so much!) which have been around for a couple of years now, but have been quite popular among members, so they are: the Hotbuys Gucci Inspired Silk Shirt (It Girls, 24SD's; February 2019 Hotbuys), the Hotbuys Embroidered Cotton Blouse (Bizou, 23SD's; August 2018 Hotbuys) and the Gucci Inspired T Shirt (Bizou, 19SD's; August 2018 Hotbuys).

H O T B U Y S G U C C I I N S P I R E D S I L K S H I R T

This was the piece I was most looking forward to styling, I just really had the inclination to wear it! I'm really happy with the outcome of this set of stylings for the piece, I think they fit well together as a set. The contrasting colours of the piece make it easy for both light and dark tones to be used in the outfits, which I've completely gone with - a good thing I've got a lot of beige and black pieces in my wardrobe! I love this shirt paired with both a skirt or trousers, just need some more beige skirts now, but the black mini in the first outfit looks super cute I think^ I particularly love these ombre-style beige trousers with the shirt in the second styling, the style of them alongside the colour really works well. And super fun to accessorise, I loved adding a few other Gucci style pieces =) I just wish we'd also gotten the matching trousers for these, now that would have made for a fabulous styling!

H O T B U Y S E M B R O I D E R E D C O T T O N B L O U S E

This next blouse is the one that I've worn least of the three in previous stylings, but it was pretty easy to work with for these stylings, so I think it will make a great Autumn piece to work with =) The bow detailing on the blouse is super pretty and in classic red and green colours, this gives an easy option for styling which I've completely gone with! I've got trousers in perfect shades to match this and I love the outfits with them, so easy to wear and accessorise for something simple yet stylish, the green is a particularly winning combination for me and I know I'll wear this again^ I would have loved the perfect pair of pale yellow trousers to work with the base colouring of the blouse, but until I have something that fits the bill, I think these beige trousers in the second look are a pretty good choice as well for a more neutral styling. Accessorising these looks was also fun with some more Gucci vibes =) Next up is trying to get some skirts working nicely with this shirt, would love to see that!

H O T B U Y S G U C C I I N S P I R E D T S H I R T

And the final piece - this is the one I've styled the most previously, I've even done a 1 Piece 1 Week with this piece too, so I tried to choose completely different outfits this time than in that post as that would have been too easy (but go check it out, there are some cute looks in that post too^) - this was the last piece I styled for, and I was running out of Gucci pieces to include and had really run through a lot of the beige and pieces I always reach for by the time I got to these looks, but I think they're fairly successful still. This tee looks great styled up or in a casual way which I love, but the great print on the front makes it tricky to wear a jacket or something on top as I really like having it on show! I love the detailed pleating of these gold trousers in the first look, they're a great summer piece to style with the shirt, and I think the gold accessories are great with the shirt too^ Neutrals are great to let the colours on the shirt pop, but I do also love a bold look - these orange trousers are completely perfect for that! They fit well with the stripe detail on the top, and I kept up the bold with some matching shoes and glasses and a fabulous bag - the design of this also has a little green in it, so a perfect inclusion to match the colour scheme of the tee; it's for sure my favourite styling of this piece =D

3 BY 3 | Winter Jeans

I've not done many styling posts this year that haven't come from specific new Plaza releases but recently I've thought of starting some up again - refreshing some old post ideas and bringing in some new ones, and it's a new one I'm bring out today '3 BY 3' where I will style up 3 pieces from one theme/item type in 3 different ways to show the versatility of the pieces. I think it could be pretty fun and I already have quite a few themes picked out already, starting off today with Winter jeans, enjoy!

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Despite not wearing jeans a lot of the time, I have a bizarrely large collection of jeans from over the years - I used to be a firm 'skinny jeans only' person, but now for my doll I love a range of fits and find I have a lot more looser pairs than skinny in my collection. I have a total of 35 pairs in my wardrobe at the moment (that shocks me a little!) and today I will be styling the Hotbuys High Rise Jeans (Pretty 'N Love, 17SD's;  February 2019 HBs), the Pearl Beaded Loose Fit Denim (Subcouture, 25SD's) and the GOM Fade Out Black Denim (Special Offer, GOM Reward December 2016).

H O T B U Y S H I G H R I S E J E A N S

These have definitely been one of my favourite pairs of jeans recently, I love so many things about them from the waist-line design, the wash and the fit on the doll, they're really quite perfect^ I found these jeans very easy to style up, they work with a range of different colours in both light and dark tones - I think the beige and whites look fab with the jeans for a lighter style, I'm especially loving the combination of these beige boots and the Chloe Drew in the first styling^ But equally also adoring the navy polo in look two, there are so many navy options to choose from as well. And I already knew black pieces looked great with these jeans, they really pop in the third styling - I've paired the jeans with these boots before and just had to repeat the pairing, it's perfect for me =D 

P E A R L B E A D E D L O O S E F I T D E N I M

These are another pair that I love having in my wardrobe and love styling fairly regularly despite the fact that they're not really an every-day pair of jeans with their pearl embellishments. They're super fancy for jeans and I think that's maybe why I've been loving them so much! I found these super easy to style in 3 completely different looks, and several more wouldn't have been an issue. I've always loved pairing up these pink pearl-embellished heels with the jeans, it's such a cute pairing and I think it makes for a fun party-styling - and there are plenty of other pink pieces which work well with the jeans to include, I particularly love this pearlescent coat with the pairing. And the jeans look fab with both black and white, I really don't think I could pick a favourite between these two looks! I'm a big fan of black with blue denim like this, I think the jeans really pop in a styling like this, and also adoring these accessories, definitely my favourite pairing these boots, the bag and the earrings together^ The white is also great, and really makes the pearls be eye-catching in the styling. With a shorter jacket the cut of the jeans can really be shown off and it works equally well as styling them with an overcoat.

G O M F A D E O U T B L A C K D E N I M

This pair are somewhat of my 'wildcard' choice of the 3 pairs of jeans, I think I've maybe worn them once but they're not a pair I reach for if a look needs jeans and I really went into this with almost no ideas on how to style them - they're a real challenge for me! For me it's the different tones of washed denim that make it a challenge, I think these are maybe a little too casual for me to comfortably style. I do really like the checks with these jeans though, I think this first jacket looks really good with them but I definitely struggled a little with the rest of the look and choosing a direction - it's not too bad, but I think it could be better! The second look is my least favourite, I like the boots and bag with the jeans, but I'm not happy with the rest of the look. And I do really love the overcoat in the final look, however it does blend into the colour of the jeans quite a lot, they're quite hidden in this styling which I didn't mean to do! I think the silver in the accessories and the sweater look great with the wash on the jeans though, so I think this one isn't too bad either^ Room for improvement with these jeans for sure!