Preppy Pattern Mixing and the Sunshine Award

Daily Outfit for Thursday, April 21, 2011

I feel so preppy in this outfit.  I suspect it’s not “true prep” and like my grunge look it’s probably my own special brand of prep…

… but I do feel preppy – I think it’s probably the striped Foxcroft shirt (thrifted).  I don’t wear button-downs very much (maybe ever), but I do like it paired with this zigzag-patterned skirt (Mossimo – thrifted).  I think the skirt helps make the shirt more fun than a plain skirt would.  I would have loved to have worn my orange sandals with this, but it is still not warm enough for bare legs, so I wore my trusty Born Crown boots (Nordstrom).  (That’s right, bare knees two times this week.  I told you I was a total Billy Bad Bottom).

This outfit, like Monday’s Prim and Proper outfit, was sort of fun for me because “preppy” is not an aesthetic I subscribe to very often.  The bright colors appeal to me, but it’s just so buttoned-up (dare I say repressed?) which I don’t love.  Again, I think it has a lot to do with how I view myself, which is more footloose and fancy free than prep usually indicates.  Truthfully, I think I am probably less of a free spirit than I’d like to be, and that buttoned-up repression is more my speed, but I’m in denial about that.  So even though prep does have the benefit of bright colors and the occasional whimsical print, I don’t think I’ll make this my go-to look.

In more exciting news, the ever fabulous Claire from Spinning Threads awarded me the Sunshine Award.  Thank you, Claire! 

As part of the award, I get to award it to some other bloggers.  So, here they are, 12 blogs that make me smile: From the Rez to the City, She’s Addicted to Clothes, Steffy’s Pros and Cons, Well Curated, The Chronicles of Lady K, Northeast Chic, Basic Cravings, dash dot dotty, Diversions, Rags Against the Machine, Destrehan’s Daughter and Lovely Apidae.  The rules say to choose twelve, but I could easily choose twice as many.

Tips for Giants: If you have a long torso, tucking your shirts in can be difficult.  A few tricks I use are wearing tunics (or short dresses) as tops – they’re actually long enough to stay put.  Or wearing high-waisted skirts (or pants) – these are getting increasingly easy to find in retail stores, and thrift stores are a great source.  And, finally, what I did today; I’m wearing DKNY Smoothies which are like lightweight Spanx in that they don’t cut off all circulation in your body, but still provide some assistance in sucking it in on those days you don’t feel like it.  They’re great.  They are also great for tucking not-so-long blouses into – this blouse didn’t come un-tucked once today.  If it's still tights weather for you (for which I am sorry) try tucking your blouse into your tights.

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

P.S. If you write “preppy” enough it loses all meaning.  True story.


P.P.S My camera broke today so I had to borrow my sister's which was difficult for me to work with and caused me to over-photoshop.  I have one coming, but you'll have to bear with me for a bit.