Outfit of the Day: It's T-shirt time

Today is the last day of my husband's internship here in the mountains, so my Dad took us and my siblings out to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant last night. Now, I don't get out much. I'm a stay-at-home-mom with a husband that's a student (not knocking you baby, it's just the facts)...when we go out to dinner, it's a pretty big deal to me. So I was going to take last night as an opportunity to do my makeup and wear a cute dress. I do my makeup, even curl my hair a little (didn't have much of a a choice, I had taken a nap with it wet from the shower and it was looking pretty rough by 5 pm), and put on a flowery summer dress that I bought this winter when it was on clearance and haven't had a chance to wear yet. But then my sister arrives...wearing a t-shirt. My husband changes out of his work clothes...into a t-shirt. Brother...t-shirt...brother-in-law...t-shirt. Damn it, I couldn't wear a dress out to dinner when apparently everyone else in the family was sick and tired of wearing work clothes all week and was looking forward to changing into a t-shirt and having a casual dinner. So...upstairs I go to change. But I did my makeup...HELLO-I curled my hair. I still want to look cute. This is my compromise-a dressed-up t-shirt look that I kinda put together on the fly but really like and will probably try again.

One-shoulder T-shirt from KMart
Silk shorts from Target
Gold flat sandals from Wal-mart
Leopard Print heart stud earrings from Wal-mart (you can't see them, but I loved them with this outfit)
Gold watch from Belk
Smoky Topaz and gold ring from my Ma!

If you like the idea of dressing up a T-shirt to wear out to dinner, here are some guildelines you might want to follow:
-Stick to a simple t-shirt. Black and white is pretty easy to work with, so you might want to start with that. Also make sure it's a fitted (not skintight, just flattering) t-shirt.
-Think of nice fabrics for what you wear on the bottom. Silk and lace are both good ideas.
-Consider tucking it in. It will look more put together, and that way you can wear a cute belt or belted shorts (like I did) and show it off. The only reason I didn't tuck my shirt in is that it was just the perfect length, and therefore a little too short to tuck in and actually stay.
-Wear elegant accessories. Don't pile on lots of bright and trendy jewelry. I had on big white hoop earrings with this outfit at first, and then decided to go with the studs. I liked it so much more-keeping your jewelry elegant is important for such a fun and youthful outfit.