Surprising Myself {A CLEO MADISON Clothing Review}

I love surprises. Big surprises, small surprises, I’m not picky. I love the adrenaline-hype build-up and the oxytocin rush that follows. The most startling surprises to take in, I think, are the types when we discover new characteristics about ourselves.

Take, for example, this year when I learned a new fact about myself: I enjoy style.

(And I do mean enjoy. Believe me, I am NOT claiming sartorial expertise!)

Back in March, I started to appreciate the act of pulling together outfits. I began to value the idea of putting myself together for various occasions. And you can imagine how truly surprising this change was for someone who has lived the majority of her 28 years without a lick of fashion sense.

You can also imagine how fun it was to get an email from Liz at CLEO MADISON about doing a clothing collaboration! (Again, no one is more surprised than I that I jumped at this opportunity.) Ever since fall and winter florals started popping up in my news feed, I’ve been wanting to try one. Because apparently, I follow fashion trends now. I’m SO glad I got to try out this Veronica Floral Dress from CLEO MADISON.

I just love the muted tones in this dress, which is perfect for autumn or winter. Plus, this dress is SUPER soft – as I imagine most of their dress offerings would be. The dresses are true to size (I’m wearing a Medium size dress here, and that’s my tee shirt size.) But as you can tell this dress does naturally have a nice bit of swing and flow to it.

My only trouble with the dress is I didn’t feel entirely comfortable wearing it without some coverage underneath. But frankly, I find with most any article of clothing I’m obsessing over the ‘see through’ factor. I’m blaming that on years of my mother having me stand in front of the window in a Sunday dress to determine if I needed a slip or not…I always wore a slip. Maybe this is a very Southern woman issue.

You can see I also dressed up this outfit with a belt, but let’s be honest that was more so to highlight my baby bump. Y’all know me, I can’t resist a baby bump.

Overall what I really appreciate is that all CLEO MADISON pieces are stylish, modest, AND affordable. Hello!? That’s a winning combination, right!?

Hop on over to CLEO MADISON to shop your own look. (And let me know which piece you decided to grab!)

*I received this dress from Cleo Madison in exchange for a review. This review is honest and the thoughts are all my own.

PHOTO CREDIT to Crossland Photography.