Terra Cotta and Turquoise

I think I “borrowed” this color combination from either Ana at Better in Sepia or Dotty from Dash Dot Dotty.  Or it’s evidence of the collective conscience of personal style bloggers.  I saw we go with the latter because sometimes I like to keep up at least a pretense of originality.  In which case, I came up with this all on my own today:

Genius, no?  Well, perhaps not genius, but I think it’s a rather lovely color combination, however the idea came to me.  For this possibly-genius look, I paired my terra cotta jersey dress (Target) with a thin turquoise belt (Target), turquoise beaded necklace (rummaged), flat sandals (Target), Timex watch, a charm bracelet (Banana Republic) and a beaded bracelet (made by Mom).

Today’s Takeaway?  If you can’t remember where you got an idea, just cite the collective conscience of personal style bloggers.  It's (possibly) a real thing.

Have a lovely weekend, Everyone!

Gracey

T-Shirt and Skirt, T-Shirt and Skirt

I have become mildly obsessed with wearing T-shirts and skirts over the past couple days; so much so that I practically wore the same thing two days in a row.

On Monday I wore this:

I paired my vintage poppy pleated skirt (thrifted) with a grey tee (Target), my increasingly ubiquitous cuff (thrifted), vintage “fringe” earrings and black platforms (G by Guess via Piperlime).

And, today, this:

This pose is so ridiculous, I had to include this picture.

I wore a blue vintage circle skirt (thrifted) with a black and white striped tee (Old Navy), a silver necklace-as-bracelet (gifted, I think) and black sandals (White Mountain via Macy’s).

They’re not exactly the same, but they have a similar feel to them.  A feel that was prompted by some advice in the latest In Style to pair pleated skirts with a casual sweater and boots.  I love my pleated skirts, but never thought to dress them down and was excited to try a new way to wear them.  I tried it Monday with my favorite poppy-colored pleated skirt, tying the tee at the side both to help define my waist and to add to the casual feel.  And I really liked it.

In fact, I liked the look so much that I decided to try a variation on the theme today.  Today’s skirt isn’t pleated, but it’s very full and a length that, like with the pleats, tends to make me want to dress up instead of down.  But, today, I paired it not only with a tee (this time tied in the back to define the waist), but with flat sandals.  And again, I like it.  I know the proportions are a bit tricky, but for some reason, I think it works. 

Could I be delusional?  It’s possible.  Maybe I’m sun-addled from the trip to the beach.  But, for whatever reason, I like these looks and will probably continue wearing variations on this theme for awhile yet, you lucky ducks.

No takeaway for today, instead I wanted to let you know that I and several other bloggers, are showing the world our shorts over at Fabienne’s blog, The House on the Clouds, today.  So, get your minds out of the gutters and go take a peek!

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

P.S. Ferge and I tried to take a picture of me twirling to show off the skirt, but it did not work.  At all.  It just made me dizzy and sort of nauseous and this is all we got:

Again, yes, it's ridiculous, but it's all I've have to show for all our efforts.

Gracey Goes to the Beach!

As promised, I finally made it over to the Oregon Coast for the first time this summer and it was as fabulous as always.  We went to a small beach a little north of Nye Beach and it was just perfect.  It was a little overcast when we first arrived, but it turned out to be gorgeous.

What I Wore

Because the day did start out a bit chilly, I layered a chambray tunic (Old Navy) over my striped tank (Target) and floral shorts (Loft Outlet).  I thought I’d be wearing my jorts (hee!) at the beach but I figured if a girl can’t wear short shorts at the beach, when can she wear them?  Right?  Right.

What I Saw

On our way:

One of the many fabulous things about going to the Oregon Coast is the drive over through heavily wooded passes.

A view from the top:

Views from the bottom:

Back towards the road.

Out towards the ocean and lighthouse.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse (I think):

What We Did

Frisbee was played:

Ollie the Octopus Kite was flown:

And surf was played in:

This is one of the few times I wished I cared just a little bit more about being a better photographer because I’m afraid my pictures aren’t doing this trip justice.  If you ever get a chance to visit the Oregon Coast, I encourage you to do so – it really is amazing.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend as well!

Gracey

EBEW: Mixin’ It Up

Today was Everybody, Everywear’s Mixed Print Challenge and it made me a little nervous.  I have mixed prints before (here and here), but it’s definitely not a style that comes naturally to me, so I decided to keep it simple today:



I mixed an abstract floral skirt (Fossil via Goodwill) with a striped three-quarters sleeve tee (Target), braided cognac belt (thrifted) and my oft-worn platform sandals (MRKT via DSW). 

For my money, stripes are one of the easiest patterns to mix as they seem to work well with other graphic prints (such as polka dots) but also with more organic prints such as florals.  So, pairing this striped tee with the abstract floral skirt didn’t take a lot of thought (I don’t have a lot of thoughts to spare lately).  It was also a pretty easy pairing because both pieces have at least one color in common; in this case the navy blue.  Although I’ve mixed pieces that didn’t have common colors, I find it easier if they do.

Today’s Takeaway: There is all sort of advice out there on how best to mix patterns, but I’d say the real trick is confidence.  If you don’t believe you’re rocking an outfit, no one else will either (and really, this is pretty much true for any outfit, not just pattern mixing).

Have a happy Tuesday, Everyone; and make sure you visit Everybody, Everywear for more looks featuring mixed prints!

Gracey

P.S. No, I did not ride my bike in this little-ass skirt.  I drove in today so as not to be arrested for indecent exposure.

Cheering Cherry* and Magenta

It’s been fairly overcast the last few mornings before warming up to the 80s.  Today was no exception and it even misted a little bit on my ride in.  When the weather is gloomy, I often like to wear bright, cheerful colors and today was no exception:

Last week Sal posted a link to this post about this fall’s top color trends.  They include my favorite cobalt, my beloved pumpkin orange and cherry and magenta.  The magenta was sort of surprising to me; one, because it doesn’t seem like fall and two because it reminds me of the 90s.  Which isn’t so much a reason not to be on board with something, but sometimes that’s what happens.

The cherry I was absolutely on board with, having already identified a couple of cherry red items I’d like to find for fall.  One of which was a cardigan and I found this one* (Beatrix Ost) last week on the sale rack at Nordstrom.  I decided to wear it today with my magenta dress (Target), a cherry, studded belt (thrifted) and cognac sandals. 

*While I truly did think this cardigan was red (damn your soft lighting, Nordstrom) when I bought it and even when I put it on, I think Lyddie is right, this is more coral than cherry.  While I do love cherry, for fall and otherwise, I apparently love coral more.

Although I was a little bit hesitant about magenta for fall, I can see how both of these colors will transition nicely from bright summery combinations to more autumn-appropriate outfits when paired with more neutral fall shades.  It’s like magic!

Today’s Takeaway?  Cherry is cheery, magenta is magical but orange is irresistable.  And all make for fabulous transitional colors.

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Gracey

P.S. My date on Friday was absolutely wonderful!  We ended up having dinner in; we listened to jazz, had a bottle of wine and talked about everything – it was just perfect!

P.P.S. Holy crackers, folks, I have a hundred followers!  I have no idea how that happened, but thank you all so much for reading and presumably for laughing at both my jokes and my bad puns.  I'm very flattered and very grateful to all of you.

*ETA

Black and Brights

It was sort of chilly this morning – it was only 62 when I left for work – so I decided to wear a warmer, knit dress instead of a woven one:

This dress is another one from Walmart that I’ve gotten a ton of use out of.  Today I paired it with bright accessories in the form of an embroidered belt (Target), teal flats (Target), a red necklace-as-bracelet (thrifted) and my vintage crystal and brass necklace (Special).  That’s one good thing about black; it offers such a great backdrop for accessories.

It has been a very long week for me, y’all.  I’m very, very happy that the weekend is here, even though I have a fairly busy weekend.  Tonight I have a date (!), nothing planned yet for Saturday although I think I might go to a couple thrift stores, and then on Sunday, my friend Alex and I are going shopping.  I think it’s going to be a wonderful weekend.

Today’s Takeaway?  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend as well!

Happy Friday, All!

Gracey

A Day of Don’ts

A Day of Don’ts

If you read anything fashion-related (magazines, blogs, etc) they are often full of advice on what not to wear and what not to do.  In short, they are full of don’ts.  Today I had a day full of don’ts, but in a good way:

For example, they say “don’t wear racer-backs if you’re broad-shouldered; it will make you look broader.”  I have the broadest of shoulders and today wore this abstract animal print racer-back tank (Target).  They also say “don’t wear cropped pants; it will shorten your legs.”  And they say “don’t wear slim cut pants if you have big legs.”  My big, long legs laughed at that challenge and today I paired my tank with my slim, cropped black pants (Banana Republic).  They say, “if you insist on wearing cropped pants, don’t wear flats; you’ll look stumpy.”  Me?  Stumpy? I don’t think so.  So, today I paired my cropped pants with silver and black flats (Target).

Is it possible I would have looked taller and slimmer if I hadn’t worn flats?  Sure; life is full of possibilities and I’m willing to concede that as one.  But, it’s also a possibility that this outfit looks just fine on my broad-shoulder, big-legged, flat-wearing self and that’s the possibility I explored today.

Today’s Takeaway?  Try a don’t every once in awhile just to make sure it’s actually a don’t for you.  Or, for added fun, try a bunch of don’ts in single day while also trying to make messy hair happen – it’s fab.

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

Gracey

Summer Whites

It finally (finally!) got warm here in Oregon last week, getting up to the low 90s this past weekend.  I know that’s not nearly as hot as most of the rest of the country, but it’s warm enough to make me resort to linen and semi-sheer clothes:

I don’t usually wear a lot of white – it’s often too see-through for my tastes, and I’m mad clumsy so I usually ruin it.  But, I just can’t see myself pedaling home this afternoon in the heat in anything darker or heavier, so white it is.  I paired a white linen blend skirt (Ann Taylor) with a white and fuchsia printed blouse (Old Navy - also seen here), nude platform sandals (Target) and this vintage turquoise beaded bracelet (Ray’s Ragtime):

Even though I’m forced to wear easily-stained whites, I’m definitely not complaining about the heat.  I love the sun and relaxed outdoors much of the weekend.  Including my trip Friday night to a local winery (Kathken Vineyards) to listen to music.  It was a great night; the wine was delicious (we had the Syrah), the company was fabulous and the music was just delightful.  And the view?  Can’t be beat:

I hope you all had a lovely weekend as well.  And happy Monday!

Gracey

Saturation Point

I love saturated colors (which may be pointing out the obvious, but it’s better to be obvious than oblivious):

I especially like to wear them during the summer.  They just feel like summer to me and have a tendency to look better than pastels against my summer-skin.  I often pair my saturated pieces with more neutral pieces, but today I decided to go all out.  In part because I was inspired by Ana at Better in Sepia’s look here, and in part by the fact that I just found this tank top in my dresser (what?  It’s a big dresser).

I wore a coral (which photographed as neon salmon) skirt (Banana Republic) with a violet tank (Old Navy) and turquoise-beaded necklace (rummaged).  All three of these pieces are pretty highly saturated so I wore my neutral platform sandals (Target) to give the eyes a rest.  And I added a belt (thrifted) to help wrangle some of the drape of the pieces.

Today’s Takeaway?  If you usually pair saturated items with neutrals, try them with other saturated colors; it can be a fun change.

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

Gracey

Put A Tassel On It

Turns out that I am a sucker for anything with a tassel on it.  Like this bracelet:

I got this bracelet and some tasseled carnelian earrings the last time I was at our local vintage store, Lil’ Gypsy.  And I’m kicking myself for passing up a tasseled lavaliere, but I think I’ll go back and see if it’s still there.  I’m telling you, folks, put a tassel on it and I’ll probably buy it.

Oh, I also wore clothes today:

Not nearly as exciting as the tasseled bracelet, to be sure, but probably more work appropriate than just the tasseled bracelet.  In addition to the bracelet I wore my black-and-gray twofer dress (Target) belted with a multi-colored cotton sash (thrifted), my purple-blue platform sandals (MRKT via DSW), turquoise bead necklace (rummaged) and vintage cameo bracelet.

I know my accessories look like a hodgepodge of colors, but although you can’t see it very well, the sash combines the black and gray of the dress with the purple of the shoes, the turquoise of the tasseled bracelet and necklace and the rose and cream of the cameo bracelet.  And in addition to be tied together with the belt, all of the accessories are similar in hue (or is it tone?) which helps unify the look without being matchy-matchy.

Today’s Takeaway?  Tassels rock.  That is all.

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Petite Pleats

You may have already noticed, but I am not petite.  My skirt is though:

And, now that I think of it, so is my tunic.  I like to thrift petite midi-skirts because they’re right about knee-length for my giant self.  And my “tunic” is actually a petite dress.

I paired the pleated skirt (thrifted) with the polka dot tunic/dress (thrifted), a black studded belt (JC Penny) and neutral platform sandals (Target).  I used the belt to rein in some of the volume of the tunic/dress but also to put my waist where I wanted it.  Without the belt, my torso would have seemed disproportionately long.  With the belt, I look leggier and less torso-y (it’s a word).  The neutral shoes with this serve the same purpose, elongating my legs with what can be a tricky skirt length.

The takeaway for today?  That giants can wear petites and if you want to look like a giant, move your belt up. 

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Pretend Lessons and A Bit More Yellow

Although I’m sure many of you are all yellowed out from yesterday’s Everybody, Everywear challenge, you’re going to have to suffer through a bit more today (unless, of course, you leave now, but what’s the fun in that?).  If it’s any consolation, this is (once again), not the outfit I intended to wear today so I’m not intentionally wearing every bit of yellow I have in my closet.  Although, the intended outfit included citron which is practically yellow so either way you were going to get some yellow today.

As the citron cardigan was no good (proportionally-speaking), I decided to pair my embellished white tunic (Design History via Ross) and skinny jeans (Gap Always Skinny) with an olive open cardigan (Target) instead.  I love yellow with olive so I added yellow peep-toe flats (Me Too via Nordstrom) and earrings with a bit of yellow on them (Target).

I finished up with olive and gold-toned bracelets (from top to bottom: Macy's, Mom-made & Banana Republic) to help tie in the earrings and the rest of the yellow.

Speaking of proportions (see paragraph 2 above), I know the length of the cardigan shortens my legs a bit and I should probably have worn heels with this, but I didn’t feel like it.  Although I like to think I can get away with things because of my height, I’m not sure I got away with anything here.  However, I have a plan; we can all pretend this is a lesson on proportions and that I’m showing you what NOT to do and then we’re all winners.  Agreed?  Fabulous.  I love it when we all get along.

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Last Thursday: Fire Dancers, Drum Circles and New Earrings

As you probably already know, yesterday was the last Thursday of the month.  Here at Fashion for Giants that means we get off work early and head up to Portland for Last Thursday on Alberta Street in NE Portland.  Unlike last month, the weather for this month’s Last Thursday was gorgeous and there were tons of people out and about:

There were people on stilts:

And men in bamboo hats:

There were cellists:

And there were saxophonists (he rode his bike there – isn’t that fab?):

There were drum circles:

 

And there were fire dancers:

And Super Hot Sex Advice was offered (for a reasonable donation):

There were also men in kilts, women in tutus, truly excellent DJs (Bell Biv Devoe, anyone?), food carts (Thai, Korean, Hawaiian, barbecue, roasted corn on the cob), jugglers, rock bands, blues singers and violinists.  It was absolutely lovely.

I wore this:

(Gap Always Skinny Jeans, DKNY tunic, Banana Republic sweater & leopard flats)

And I bought these:

They're wood and I think they're fabulous!

And today, I wore those new earrings (as I do):

In addition to my new wooden earrings, I wore a rasberry dress (Target), embroidered belt (Target), abstract floral cardigan (also Target) and my MRKT platform sandals (DSW).  I got in pretty late last night (didn't get into bed until nearly midnight) so I needed something I could throw on without too much thought, and this outfit is perfect for that.

In other news, Happy Canada Day!  I don't think I'll be posting much if anything this weekend, so Happy Fourth of July (!) as well.  And I'll see everyone on Tuesday!

Gracey