Tunic and Skinnies

While I wouldn’t say that I have a uniform, per se, a tunic and skinnies is probably as close as I get:

It’s just a really easy look for me on days when I need easy, but don’t necessarily feel like wearing a dress.  Today was one of those days, so I paired a dolman-sleeve tunic (Angie via Ross), layered over a lace-trim cami (Old Navy), with “regular” length Flirt skinnies (Old Navy) and a pair of wedges (Bamboo via TJ Maxx).  I added a watch and a bracelet and I was done.  Not the most inspired look, perhaps, but I think the tunic adds enough interest so that it’s not the most boring look either.

Now, I’d like to say a word about dolman sleeves.  I love them.  I have several pieces with dolman sleeves (my dress from this weekend, for example) and they’re just great.  Especially for someone with my broad shoulders – a dolman sleeve gives my shoulders a bit more room to move around, which I love.  I hate feel constricted in my clothes so these really work well for me.  Also, as my bloggy friend Erin has pointed out, they have a fabulous sense of drama.  And what girl doesn’t love drama, right?  Right.

Today’s Takeaway?  If you don’t already love dolman sleeves, crawl out from under that sartorial rock and give them a shot.  They’re comfy and dramatic.

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Gracey

More Coral, With a Side of Teal

I am having a rough day today.  I couldn’t even muster up a smile for some of my photos:



Boo on today.  For reals.



I have no idea why I’m wearing so much coral/orange this week.  I mean I did tell you all that I loved it (numerous times, I think), but this week I apparently really love it:

A semi-smile.  It's all I've got.


Today it’s a coral cardigan with white beading (Target) paired with a tiered blouse (Nordstrom), dark Real Straight Jeans (Gap) and my still-squeaky teal flats (Target).  I chose these flats to wear with this sweater because they’re of similar saturated hues.  Yesterday with my turquoise and lime scarf I wore earrings in a less intense shade orange.  Today the intensity of the coral of the cardigan invites a more intense shade of turquoise in the shoe, so these teal ones are a good fit.

Otherwise I’m basically recycling the color scheme from yesterday sans the lime with addition of white ruffles.  The ruffles are to distract those readers who are beginning to feel cheated by the lack of creativity going on over here.  If it helps any, I’m being punished by the squeakiness of these shoes and general dissatisfaction with work.  It’s just so busy.  Busy and squeaky; that’s my Thursday.

However, I hope your Thursday was awesome and less squeaky (unless that’s your thing).

Gracey

I Still Can’t Move My Arms

Especially my left one.  This has made washing my hair impossible.  However, because I care, I wore a bright coral blouse to give you, Dear Reader, something other than my unwashed hair to look at*:

See?  So bright.  What unwashed hair?  Exactly.  Just focus on the blouse, folks, focus on the blouse. 

Said blouse is a silk/linen blend that I thrifted awhile back.  I haven’t worn it before because it’s so darned boxy and my body doesn’t do well with boxy.  Boxy tops, unfortunately, eradicate the little bit of waist I do have, but I just love the color of this one.  And I needed something to draw the viewer’s eye away from my poor, lank ponytail.

The blouse is fairly sheer so I layered it over an orange tank (Banana Republic).  And I paired it with my trouser jeans (Gap), leopard wedges (Tahari via DSW), coral and opal earrings (Crafty Wonderland vendor), gold cuff (thrifted) and a multi-colored scarf (Nordstrom).

So, to recap.  Weight-lifting sucks.  I haven’t washed my hair in at least three days (really, the pain has caused me to lose track).  And I wear a lot of orange (I told you I loved it) and a lot of leopard (rowwrrr).

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Gracey

*Yes, I’m aware I could have kept my unwashed hair a secret, but transparency is a big deal here at Fashion for Giants.  Anything less than transparency and my thighs will use it as an excuse for a military coup.  It’s what they do.

Practicing Impracticality

Daily Outfit for Wednesday, June 1, 2011

In spite of the fact that I bike to work in platform heels, wedges and other ill-advised footwear, I like to think I maintain a pretty practical wardrobe.  Which I think is one of the reasons that, before this year, I’ve never been a fan of sweaters with short sleeves.  They seem a bit pointless, really.  I mean, if it’s cold enough for a sweater, you’d think it’d be cold enough for sleeves, right?  And yet, they’re something I find myself specifically looking for when I go thrifting as of late. 

Even though I have a strange desire to thrift short-sleeve sweaters, I’m still unsure on when they’re practical to wear.  In the past I’ve layered them over long-sleeve tees in the winter (yes, I know, if I am going through all that trouble I could just buy a long-sleeve sweater) but it’s (finally) no longer winter so that trick is out.  But, today.  Today we had thunderstorms so it was raining off and on but it was also crazy muggy.  Turns out that particular mix is the perfect weather for a short-sleeved sweater. 

I went with this one:

This sweater is thrifted and I wore it over a tiered chiffon blouse (Madison Lilly via Nordstrom) with some pin-tucked wide-legged jeans (Gap), Jeffrey Campbell sandals (Nordstrom) and cuff bracelet (thrifted).  It’s less color than I generally like to wear but I was hoping the different textures of the blouse and sweater along with the cuff added enough interest not to bore me to death and it worked well enough for me.

The message here?  If you try hard enough you can justify any addition to your wardrobe, no matter how impractical.  Trust me, I have a blog.

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

Gracey

Thriday

I had a fabulous day yesterday.  So fabulous, in fact, that I didn’t have time to write my post yesterday evening, so I’ve combined Thursday’s and Friday’s posts.  We’re calling it Thriday here at Fashion for Giants.

Yesterday really was fabulous.  My blog was mentioned on HuffPost Style, I got off work early to go to Last Thursday in Portland, I got to spend hours there with my much-loved and gorgeous friend Jodee and I even saw the man I like for a little while.  Oh, and my new shoes were cute (I’m just sayin’).  All in all, it was a good day, for which I wore the following:

I paired my Flirt Skinny Jeans (Old Navy) with a black ¾-sleeve tunic (Old Navy) layered under a tan batwing tunic (via Ross) and my cute new gladiator wedges (Bamboo via TJ Maxx).  I also wore my vintage squash blossom necklace (via Lil’ Gypsy Vintage) during the day.

For the afternoon and evening in Portland at Last Thursday with Jodee, I traded the squash blossom necklace out for a colorful scarf (???), coral and Peruvian opal earrings (via Crafty Wonderland) and a cuff (thrifted):

I figured I might need the scarf more than I needed the necklace for walking up and down Alberta Street in the rain while at Last Thursday.  I know most of you aren't from Oregon, so, briefly, Last Thursday is a sort of street festival that takes place on the last Thursday of every month during the summer, on Alberta Street in Northeast Portland.  It's amazingly fun with music and street vendors and food and jugglers and fire eaters and belly dancing troupes.  The galleries and shops stay open late on Last Thursday, giving it a sort of First Thursday feel, but with more dreadlocks.

Here are some photos from yesterday – the crowds were a lot smaller than usual because of the rain, but J and I still had a great time:

Fellow Last Thursday attendees

This was a wonderful ragtime band.  Wonderful.

I think this one is self-explanatory.

Rose City Vaudeville's mustachioed double-decker bus

If yesterday was fabulous, today was the antithesis of fabulous.  It was anti-fabulous.  Work continues to be crazy and today I had a three hour conference call.  THREE HOURS, Y’ALL.  That just isn’t right, especially considering that it was only scheduled for an hour.  And it rained on me on my way to work.  I have to tell you that I’m over being rained on, darnit.

At least I was dressed comfortably:

Today I paired some Real Straight Jeans (GAP) with a white tee (Target), beige cardigan (Santa Fe thrifted), gold flats (Kenneth Cole Reaction), a gold belt (???) and my new orange drop earrings purchased yesterday from an Alberta Street vendor.  I realized yesterday that for all my love of orange, I didn’t have any orange earrings, so I was very happy to find these.

As bad as today was (and it really was bad), it is Friday (hooray) and I do have a three-day weekend this weekend (double hooray), so I really can’t complain.

I hope everyone has a lovely, hopefully-three-day weekend and I will talk to you all later!

Gracey

Sunburn, Rain, Rain, Rain

Sorry I didn’t get around to posting a WeeCap this weekend, but I’ve included it all here in a super-sized post.

I had Friday off and it was gorgeous.  I think it got up to the mid-70s which we haven’t seen yet this year.  I love the sun and had nothing else to do so I spent the entire day (seriously, like six hours) sitting in the sun and reading The Help.  I know the book came out two years ago, but I just read Water for Elephants recently too.  I don’t worry too much about reading something as soon as it’s published – I’m pretty confident I’ll get around to it eventually.  The Help was a lovely book though and I absolutely suggest it to anyone else who hasn’t read it yet.

On Saturday, I realized I was a bit sunburned but the weather was back to being sort of rainy and not very warm so I couldn’t do any more damage.  I decided to do some damage to my checking account instead and went thrifting most of the day.  I actually didn’t spend that much, but realized that I may have a slight obsession with gold clutches and day dresses.

For Saturday’s thrifting, I wore my olive skinny jeans (GAP), pink ditsy floral tank (Frenchi via Nordstrom), oatmeal cardigan (Eddie Bauer, thrifted) and my pale gold flats (Kenneth Cole Reacation):

On Sunday I did some more thrifting, realized my obsession with day dresses may be more than “slight” and did a little laundry.

For Sunday’s thrifting, I wore lightweight wide-legged pants (GAP), an orange, striped tee (Old Navy), bronze sandals (Target) and pink drop earrings (Alberta street vendor):

My sister took my pictures on Sunday and insisted that we try to perfect our jumping shots.  Perfect they are not, but you can't say we didn't try our best:

Today it was supposed to get all the way up into the high 50s (exciting, no?) and rain much of the day, so I just gave in and resurrected the riding boots (Born Crown via Nordstrom):

I wore them with a red jersey dress (Banana Republic) layered under a navy cardigan (Urban Outfitters) and a studded belted (Michael Michael Kors via Nordstrom).  Basically, I now realize that I’m probably going to need these boots to get me through the summer – it’s a good thing I like them. 

Also?  Bloomers:

I love bloomers.

I hope everyone had a lovely Monday and didn’t have to ride their bikes home in the rain (luckily I missed the promised storm, although it is raining pretty hard now).

Gracey

A Flare for Color

Daily Outfit for Monday, May 16th, 2011

This outfit isn't actually that colorful, but I'm wearing flares and if there is anything I learned from Mary at Stylefyles it's that it's a lot of fun to create blog titles out of nonsensical wordplay.

In addition to my grey flares (GAP), I wore a ditsy floral blouse (Old Navy), coral cardigan (GAP), brown wedge sandals (Kenzie via Macys) and turquoise earrings (gifted).  I don't know why I don't wear these jeans more often - they're super-comfortable and probably the most flattering fit of any of my jeans.  And yet I resist them.  I hope they're not taking it personally.

Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

WeeCap: May 14th and 15th

A busy weekend in which Gracey goes to a track meet, visits a flower garden and goes on a date. 

Sadly I only have pictures of the track meet outfit and the flower garden, but the date was just a brunch date and wasn't anything stellar (The outfit, I mean.  The date was fantastic).

Saturday, May 14th

Today I went to the track of a local college (Willamette University) to watch two of my nephews run 4 x 100 relays:

They both did extremely well with Dominic's team coming in first and Damian's coming in third.  I was definitely the proud auntie.  To watch them I wore my Real Straight jeans (GAP), a white tee (Target), olive jacket (Old Navy), leopard scarf (???) and gold flats (Kenneth Cole Reaction).

The Willamette University track is located practically in a park called Bush Park.  I walked through Bush Park on my way back to my car which I had parked at historic Deepwood Estates.  It was a lovely walk and because I didn't get a photo of my brunch date outfit from Sunday, I'll share some photos of the park and gardens with you all.

I hope everyone had an absolutely lovely weekend!

Gracey

A Stripe-y, Persimmon-y Friday

A better-late-than-never daily outfit post for Friday, May 6, 2011

It’s overcast and misty in Oregon today, so I wore my persimmon-colored coat to combat the gloom:

And I think it worked.  Well, the coat and the bright purple azalea behind me.  It’s hard to be too upset with Oregon’s hit-or-miss sunshine when the flowers and trees clearly benefit from all of the rain.  And, of course, I’m also in a good mood because 80s prom is tonight.  Nothing cheers a girl up like giant puffy sleeves and some blue eye shadow.

In spite of its cheering powers, I’m saving the blue eye shadow for tonight – today I’m just rocking the blue stripes.  This navy and white striped tunic (Old Navy) seems like the perfect fit with this coat (thrifted) – I always want to pair the two.  Today I wore them with some cropped skinny jeans (Bandolino via Macy’s), my Born Crown boots (Nordstrom) and my multi-stripe scarf (unknown).

Happy Friday, Everyone, and have a wonderful weekend!

Gracey

WeeCap: April 30th and May 1st

This is the recap for a gloriously sunny weekend in which Gracey goes to a rummage sale, goes on a coffee date, spends time with family, goes on a dinner date and that was just Saturday!  On Sunday, I spent the whole day doing nothing.  A little reading in the much-hoped-for sunshine with the dog and nothing else.

Saturday, April 30th

This is what I wore to a rummage sale to raise money for my nephews' school and then to my first date:

I wore Flirt Skinny Jeans (Old Navy), with a brown tunic (New York & Co via Ross) and a black knit blazer (Liz Claiborne via Goodwill).  I love yellow with black and brown and actually wanted to wear yellow peep toe flats with this outfit, but it was raining very hard on Saturday morning.  So, I went with my low boots (Target) and accessorized with my yellow scarf and a yellow bangle instead.  I added a brown wood bangle to tie in the brown elements in the outfit, and a turquoise wood-beaded bracelet to pick up the turquoise stripe in the scarf.  And, because you can't go wrong with a pop of turquoise.

Later that evening, I went on a dinner date, and changed into this:

For date # 2, I wore my Wide-Leg Trouser Jeans (GAP), a black tunic (JC Penney), black Vince Camuto wedges (via Ideeli), and accessorized with another trio of bracelets: vintage turquoise beads (Portland vintage shop), black glass and clear glass (Macy's).  I also wore large silver hoops and carried my new favorite clutch.  It's vintage eel skin and I thrifted it for a mere $6.00!  It's fabulous, no?

I have to say, both dates went very well.  Both men were very nice and for the most part, conversation with both was easy and natural.  Deciding what to wear was a bit difficult, but I was ultimately very comfortable with both outfits.  I didn't feel like I had tried too hard, or that I didn't try hard enough, both of which were concerns of mine going into this.


I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Gracey

P.S. I will be posting more details on the actual dates on my other blog, The Mingling Single, if anyone wants to hear more.

Exhibiting a Complete Lack of Creativity

Daily Outfit for Thursday, April 28, 2011

The outfit I had planned to wear today involved a muumuu and some boots.  It didn’t work out.   I was running late and under the gun to wear something (nakedness generally being frowned upon at my job) and I chose this:

That’s right, I’m exhibiting a complete lack of creativity with today’s outfit.  A few bloggers have made reference to “uniforms” and I think that this look may be one of mine; jeans, tunic and a cardigan.   I know I wear this look a lot, but it really is comfortable and easy to put together, especially when I’m running late and nudity is not an option.  Also I just realized that this is my second blue and brown look from this week.  To be honest, before I began blogging I didn’t notice how often I pair those colors.  I think it’s fair to say they’re some of my go-to colors, just like this is one of my go-to outfits.

Today’s uniform incorporates Real Straight jeans (GAP), a floral tunic (thrifted), ever-present brown cardigan (Old Navy), blue scarf (H&M) and blue leopard flats (Nine West).  Even though it’s formulaic and possibly boring, it’s nice to have a go-to look.  Sometimes I just can’t decide what to wear.  And instead of wearing something that’s innovative and creative but that I don’t love and am therefore uncomfortable with, I’d rather be comfortable today and resume the creativity battle the next day.  (Just an FYI – tomorrow’s outfit is probably not going to be any more creative, but I planned it that way on purpose.  So far as you know.)

How about you, Friend Reader?  Do you have any go-to outfits and/or color combinations?  Something that might not rock your world but at least you know you’re presentable and/or not naked?

Happy Thursday, All, we’re nearly there!

Gracey

P. S. Thanks again to Fergita Pepita, Kathy and Phylissa for taking these pictures while I'm waiting for my new camera.

Some Citron, Some Leopard, An Award and Some Questions

Daily Outfit for Tuesday, April 26, 2011

High winds again today meant no skirt again today (no, C., the wind does NOT understand our pain):

So, once again, I’ve resorted to some skinny jeans (Old Navy), this time paired with a tiered blouse (Nordstrom), citron cardigan (JC Penney) and peep-toe leopard-print flats (v. old via Ross).  I have only worn this cardigan once before because although I love the color, I don’t do well with shapeless clothes.  I always want to belt them into submission, but this time I just let it be and actually really like it with this blouse.  As in like it so much I’m probably going to repeat this combination in the future.  You’ve been warned.  And what goes better together than citron and leopard, right?  Right.

In addition to brow-beating you into agreeing with me on my citron/leopard love, I wanted to tell you that the sweet and wonderful Gretchen of GretchTM gave me an award the other day.  I have been given the “One Lovely Blog” award:

Dear Gretchen, I accept.  And thank you.

One of the conditions of the award is that I need to share seven random (not specific, it’s in the rules) things about myself and award it to 15 other deserving bloggers.  Let’s start with the random, shall we?

1.      Dancing is my preferred form of exercise and I have tried pole dancing, Jazzercise and belly dancing to stay fit.

2.      I didn’t learn to drive until I was 20.

3.      I don’t like swimming in water where I can’t see the bottom.

4.      I have a terrible ear for languages and it makes me sad.

5.      I was a tomboy through high school – no skirts or dresses, ever.

6.      I love salmon in any form – raw, baked, grilled and barbecued; I love it all.

7.      My family goes white water rafting every summer and I am terrible at it.

Now for the fun part; I’d like to pass this award on to these lovely blogs: A Day in the Life Too, Aberrant Moda, Blogging for Joy, Boheme Noir, Em’s Fashion Finds, Girls Day Out, Madeline Quaint, Squirrel and Starling, Styled by 3, Tall Girl Blogging, The Elegant Bohemian, the other emily, two birds, Tart Lemon Drop and Stylefyles.

I know this is a long post, but stick with me for just a bit longer because I need to ask you all something.  As you know, in my outfit description I include the brand of the item and where I got it.  My question is this: is that helpful and/or interesting to anyone?  And if it is, would you like me to include links to the actual item or a reasonable facsimile?  I guess what I need to know is if you’re interested in the provenance of what I’m wearing and if you’d like to know where to get your own or not.

Please to let me know in the comments or via email – whichever makes you happiest.

Also, I wanted to say hello to my new readers/followers and as always, thank everyone for reading.

Happy Tuesday!

Gracey 

Monday Blues (and Browns)

Daily Outfit for Monday, April 25, 2011

Today was a strange day, weather-wise.  Although you can't really tell from these pictures, it was crazy-windy here today.

For part of my ride I was riding into a headwind so strong I felt like I was trying to peddle through quicksand.  It was hard going, but the idea of slow-motion bike riding is hilarious to me and actually made me laugh out loud during some of the windier spots.

At least it wasn’t terribly cold.  I was warm enough in my skinny jeans (Old Navy), tunic (via Galore), cardigan (Old Navy), blue scarf (H&M) and boots (Target).  I wanted to wear a skirt today, but the wind completely killed that idea.  I’ve only had my skirt blow up once while riding, but that was enough.  I try to avoid that at all costs now; I'm sure you understand.

I hope that everyone had a lovely Easter weekend!

Gracey

This week has been brought to you by the letter P

Daily Outfit for Friday, April 22, 2011

I was getting ready to title this post "Peachy Keen" in honor of my peach-striped sweater, when I realized that would have been the fifth title beginning with the letter 'P' this week.  I've been Prim, Proper and Pleated, Puffy and Plain, a Pretty Shiny Copycat and done some Preppy Pattern Mixing.  And today I'm wearing Peach:

I paired my peach and white striped sweater (Old Navy) with my olive skinny jeans (Gap), silver Sperry Topsiders (via Ross) and clear blue belt (Old Navy).  If yesterday's look was my attempt at preppy, today is my attempt at the tomboy look.  I was physically comfortable in this look, but it's not an emotionally comfortable look for me.  With my height and size I am hypersensitive about appearing mannish in any way and rarely try anything androgynous. And frankly with my "curvy" build, I don't think I pull it off well anyway.

I liked this look well enough though.  I don't think I looked mannish (right? right.) and even though I'm not sure androgyny is right for me, it's an aesthetic that appeals to me on others so I try it every once in awhile.

How about you, dearest Reader Friends, are there any looks you admire but don't dare try?

Happy Friday, Everyone!  Have a wonderful weekend!!

Gracey

Pretty Shiny Copycat

Daily Outfit for Wednesday, April 20, 2011

I featured a look from Kristine of Pretty Shiny Sparkly on my blog earlier today, and here is my version of her outfit:

As soon as I saw Kristine’s post I knew it was something I wanted to try out myself with my new Gap trouser jeans (my whiny thighs having caused the ouster of my last pair).  Taking my cues directly from Kristine, I paired my jeans with a floral tank (Frenchi via Nordstrom), drape-y cardigan (Mossimo/Target), bright belt (Style & Co via Macy’s) and platforms (Franco Sarto via Nordstrom).   

Inspired by Kristine’s brilliant accessorizing, I even wore a little jewelry in the form of turquoise earrings (gifted) and a vintage cameo bracelet.

This outfit was amazingly comfortable.  I wish it had photographed better because I really do think it was flattering and is definitely something I would wear again.  And it’s a look that works for giants and non-giants alike!

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey