The Skirt Likes Leopard

Yesterday, Kelley, of Threads and Buttons, rescued one of her closet orphans and I remembered, “Hey, I have closet orphans – they might like to be rescued.”  This skirt is the orphan I decided to rescue today:

I actually have a great fondness for all of my closet orphans; I’m just not fond enough of them to wear them regularly.  This skirt is no exception; I like the color and the length and the fullness but I never wear it.  At first it was because it used to be a little big in the waist.  So, I took it in.  And I still never wore it.  But today?  Today the yellow linen skirt has been liberated.

I paired the skirt (thrifted Eileen Fisher) with a knotted white blouse (Banana Republic) and leopard mini-wedges (v. old via Ross) because the skirt hinted that it liked leopard.  I figured “who doesn’t” and added the leopard wedges and some bracelets (Mom-made) to tie them in.  And I liked it.  I just don’t know how versatile this skirt is going to be for me.  The skirt would like me to point out that the fact that I don’t have the imagination for multiple pairings isn’t it’s fault.  And that’s true – I should probably try harder before just giving up. 

To that end, how do you all think this skirt would look with grey?

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

EBEW: Gettin’ Thrifty With It

Yeah, that’s right, my title is a bad pun that references an even worse song.  Because that’s how I roll.  Also how I roll?  In thrifted clothes:

In fact, everything in this outfit is thrifted with the exception of the bangles (Nordstrom) and the necklace (vintage brooch-on-a-chain via Lil’ Gypsy).  And with the exclusion of those items, this outfit cost me a whopping $9.97.  The marigold blouse (never worn Liz Claiborne), which is silk and is the best color ever, was $1.98, the blue pleated skirt (vintage) was $3.00, the shoes (Franco Sarto) were $1.00 and the belt  (Mossimo/Target) was $3.99.

For those of you who bet yourself that I’d wear a pleated skirt for the EBEW Thrift Challenge, give yourself a cookie from me.  While my fabulous bloggy friend Katie loves to thrift silk scarves, I love to thrift pleated skirts.  And I was especially excited about this blue one. I’d been admiring the pleated blue Zara skirt that so many bloggers (like the lovely Katherine) rocked this summer, but we don’t have a Zara here in Oregon (hell, we just got H&M last fall).  So, of course I tried to thrift one.  And for months, I had no luck.  But, I kept my eyes open and finally found one, prompting a little happy dance in the aisle.

See? So happy!

If you’d like to see more of my thrifted pleated skirt collection, you can see this post, this one, or this guest post for gorgeous Fabienne of The House in the Clouds.  And if you’d like to see more thrifty posts (you know you want to), pop on over to Everybody, Everywear and feast your eyes.

Today’s Takeaway?  Whatever you’re looking to thrift (presumably pleated skirts because they’re awesome), be patient; it’ll pay off in the long run.

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

I Blame the Cardigan

This outfit doesn’t feel quite right to me, for which I blame the cardigan:

I think it’s the length and the poof of the sleeves – they’re giving my arms a complex.  Which caused my thighs to complain that if another part of my body had a complex then how would they (my thighs) get the attention they so desperately needed?  I talked them down by reminding them that A-line skirts are their friend so they didn’t have anything to worry about here. 

And really, they don’t.  This skirt sees a lot of use because the A-line is probably the most flattering cut for my particular shape.  Conversely, I never wear this cardigan (I can remember wearing it only once before) and now I know why.  I had actually placed it in the donation pile, but thought I’d give it another go-round before deciding for sure.

Today I paired the skirt (vintage, thrifted) with a floral tank (Old Navy) and the now-reviled cropped cardigan (August Silk via Ross).  I added my MRKT platform sandals (via DSW), a skinny brown belt (Gap), some green and floral bracelets and hot pink drop earrings (Alberta street vendor).  I thought the cardigan would work to today to cover up the spaghetti straps of the tank and it did, to an extent.  I mean, they’re covered, but it’s not terribly flattering.  So, the cardigan will be going to a new home and I’m confident I made the right decision.

Today’s Takeaway?  Don’t wear things that make your arms angry, no one likes angry arms.  Or, if you prefer; always give items one last shot before ousting them from your closet, there will be fewer regrets that way.

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

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

EBEW: Hello, Yellow!

First things first, I wanted to thank everyone for your lovely comments regarding the loss of our beloved pet.  All of your comments mean a great deal to me, so thank you all very much.

Now, for the post; it turns out that today is Everybody, Everywear’s Yellow Challenge.  And I figured that this challenge was as good a time as any to return to blogging.  It’s not exactly triumphant (we only got five photos before I started crying), but it’ll do:

This is not the outfit I intended to wear today; I had planned on wearing a black skirt but today is a little rainy and a lot of overcast so I substituted in my black pants (who are thrilled to be coming off the bench, btw).  I paired the pants (Banana Republic) with my yellow dolman-sleeved blouse (Target) which I layered over a black camisole for consistent opacity and belted it with a braided, cognac belt (thrifted).  I added cognac wedges (Kenzie via Macy’s), a watch (yes, I do own one) and a charm bracelet (Banana Republic).

I’m always cautious about wearing black and yellow due to the whole Bumblebee Effect, which, granted, doesn’t have the worldwide-tsunami impact of the Butterfly Effect, but, still, who wants to look like a bumblebee, right?  Right.  So, I added the cognac accessories to lessen the severity of the contrast between the black and yellow and I think it worked.

Thank you all again for your comments and I hope everyone has a lovely Tuesday,

Gracey

Bananarama

As it turns out, I really love kitschy prints.  Like the one on this dress:

Why, yes, those are bananas.  And palm fronds.  And what are either red bunches of coconuts or yet another made up flower.  And yes, I do love this dress in all of its kitschy glory.  So, I’ve finally decided to admit what I'm sure we've all long suspected: I Love Kitsch.  I might even make a bumper sticker to that effect, that’s how much I love it.

This dress is vintage (via Billy Goat Vintage in Portland) and, as I think I made abundantly clear, I think it’s fabulous.  I paired it with a white belt (thrifted) to try to reign in some of the volume, mushroom platforms (Bamboo via TJ Maxx) to add a little modernity and multicolored bangles (thrifted) because I can’t help myself.

I hope everyone had a lovely Fourth of July and that no one is having a cruel, (cruel), cruel summer.*  (Wow, talk about words losing meaning – I don’t think I’ll ever be able to type “cruel” again; that is one strange word).

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

Gracey

*If this song is now stuck in your head, I can only say: "You're welcome."

Casual Thursday

Daily Outfit for Thursday, May 19, 2011

Today is my Friday and it’s sunny out and work is driving me batty so I dressed casually today.  Possibly too casually, but I just can’t care:

For Casual Thursday (it’s a real thing), I paired my green pants (NY & Co via Ross) with a  possibly too-large yellow-striped tee (Old Navy), bronze sandals (Target) and turquoise earrings (gifted).  I love green and yellow together but I really do think this tee is a bit too large.  I seem to remember trying on a smaller size though and it being too body-con for my tastes.  I probably should just not have purchased the tee if my choices were either too big or too small, but it’s yellow (!) and striped (!).  It’s hard for me to say no to that combination.

Our offices are closed tomorrow so I will not have a daily outfit post, but will try to include Friday in my WeeCap for this weekend.  Hopefully we’ll have good weather for our three-day weekend, but I don’t know.  Although the weather is absolutely glorious today, I’ve heard both that it will and that it won’t last through the weekend, so we’ll see.  Fingers-crossed!

Happy Casual Thursday, Everyone!

Gracey

Squeaky Shoes

Daily Outfit for Tuesday, May 17, 2011

I love the color of these shoes, but they’re squeaky.  I hate squeaky shoes – I like to be all stealth and sneak up on folks.  These darn shoes didn’t allow me to sneak up on anyone today, in spite of my best efforts.  Boo on you, Squeaky Shoes!

In addition to my squeaky teal flats (Target), I wore cropped navy pants (Banana Republic), a silver-greige tunic (Target) and a yellow bracelet (Mississippi Street vendor).  I think that I’m not wild about the color of the tunic; well, I am, but I’m not.  I think it’s a lovely color, for a neutral.  I’m just not sure it’s a lovely color on me.  My skin generally gets along better with brighter colors; however, I think the shoes and the bracelet give me a little of the color I crave so I was good with this outfit.

Also, and this is going to sound weird, but my face has been driving me crazy in photographs lately.  I don't know what it is, but, just like the color of this shirt, I haven't been wild about my face lately.  That's a sort of weird thing to say, I know, but if anyone else has been thinking my face has been looking crazy as of late, I wanted you to know that you're not alone.  I'm here for you.  If you weren't thinking that, please don't feel obligated to think it now. 

And, finally, I wanted to apologize for all the short posts lately – my brain is on overload as of late and I feel lucky that I’m even posting at all.  And that the pictures are right-side up. (Not good, mind you, just not upside down).  So, thank you all for your patience and your continued reading.  It means an awful lot to me.

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.

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 

WeeCap: April 17th and 18th

Saturday, April 17th

On Saturday, Alex and I went thrifting to try and find her something to wear for 80s prom.  We were out all day and unfortunately I didn't get a photo of what I was wearing, but it involved color and my black and silver flats.  The good news is that we found something for Alex to wear.  I can't wait to post pictures from prom for you guys.

Sunday, April 18th

On Sunday I cleaned my room, did some laundry and ran some errands.  It was actually pretty nice on Sunday, so I let my ankles out to play:

I wore my "regular" length Flirt skinnies (Old Navy), which are conveniently ankle length on my giant self, along with a grey tee (Target), grey cardi, raspberry belt (thrifted), yellow-stripe scarf (???) and my black and silver flats (Mossimo/Target).

I have no idea what I'm doing in these poses.  Showing off my giant man-hands?  Smirking?  Both?  I don't know, but all of my film looked like this, so I posted them.  You're welcome?

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and that it was warm enough for some ankle-flashing.

Gracey

Do These Shoes Make Me Look Skinny?

Daily Outfit, 4/4/11

Spring still hasn’t quite sprung in Oregon, so I’m still combining my brights with black.  Today it was citron and teal with black:

And it was a combination I actually rather liked.  I wore my black-skirted Mossimo “2-fer” dress (Target) under a citron and white abstract-patterned cardigan (Target) with a multi-colored scarf (Ann Taylor Outlet), black shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction – thrifted), and a black bracelet (Macys).  I'm also wearing my Kenneth Cole trench (via Ideeli).  The tights were a last minute addition, but think they were a good choice in that they are some of my favorites and they pick the teal in the scarf up quite nicely.

But, the question of the day is not whether or not these tights were a good choice (I believe they were).  No, the question of the day is: Do these shoes make me look skinny?

These shoes are chunkier than I usually wear and took a little getting used to.  I thought I would try them though because I think they work with this outfit, but also I read somewhere (The Sartorialist, I think) that it is a good idea for larger women to wear a heavier shoe to help balance their heavier bodies.  And that a delicate shoe on a larger woman just makes her look larger. 

I have to be honest; this is not something I had ever consciously considered before.  But, I do think maybe I am subconsciously aware of what my shoes do to and for my body.  For example, I do prefer my skinny jeans with boots because in that instance I do think they help to balance my thighs, but I wore skinnies and flats on Saturday and really liked that look.  Was that a no-no?  Were Saturday’s shoes a miss?

What do you all think?  Do you select your shoes based on your body type?  Do you think a delicate shoe makes a woman look bigger?  Does a heavier shoe help balance a heavier torso and/or thigh?  Is this something I should be putting more thought into?  I’m very interested to hear what you all think about this.

Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

More of the Same

Daily Outfit, 3/4/11

I’m wearing slightly more color today, but not much. 

The chiffon blouse (thrifted) is a muted, yellow floral and the cardigan (via Sweet Jayne) is olive.  Paired with jeans (Long and Lean/Gap) and brown boots (Mossimo/Target) there is just not much color here at all (excepting the orange scarf (Nordstrom)).  But, I’m okay with that.  I’ve actually liked most of the outfits I’ve worn during Switzerland Week, in spite of their neutrality.

I really have been wearing a lot of neutrals.  For example, last night Jenny, Lori and I went to an event at out favorite boutique, Mabel and Zora, and I was decked out in neutrals for that too.  Either I’m not as colorful as I’d like to think or I’m more versatile that I thought.  I’m going to go with the latter.

I’ll post outfit pics and more from last night a soon as I can.  I’ll also put together a scarf-tying tutorial this weekend.  I’m going to try to do a video, but I’m not at all technologically savvy, so you may just get pictures.  But, they’ll be helpful pictures.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Gracey

Yellow Cords Redux – This One’s for Ferge

Daily Outfit, 2/22/11

It’s no secret that I love pairing bright colors together.  I love it, but apparently some others hate it with the same fiery burning passion that they hate these pants.  I don’t understand hating these pants (they’re awesome) or pairing bright colors (double the awesome), but my friend Ferge hates them both.

So, Ferge, this one’s for you…

The cords are, of course, my mustard-yellow, cropped cords from the Gap, the tan/cream tunic is Old Navy, the blue sweater is Beth Bowley via Nordstrom Rack, the boots are Born Crown via Nordstrom, the scarf is very old and I can’t remember where I got it from and the belt is Mossimo (Target).

This outfit makes me very happy.  For me, yellow pants = happiness and the multi-colored belt increases the happiness quotient by 10 (Ferge rolled her eyes when she saw it).  Adding to the happiness is the fact that this is one of my all-time favorite cardigans, and you all know how much I love the boots.  The outfit is bright, but I don’t feel like its over-the-top because I’ve paired it with cream and tan and brown; for me, this is perfect.

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

Gracey