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Sunday, August 21, 2011

weekends

I'm hot, I know.

Weekends spent in the parks with my new boy.

Queens Wardrobe jacket, COS shirt, H&M skirt, ballet flats from Milan, LV bag, Fenton necklace

Bonus Footage: Gracey Does Stuff

Plucky Maidens Junk Fest

On Thursday, I went with my trusty partner in crime, Alex, and her daughter, Sophie, to the Plucky Maidens Junk Fest at McMenamin’s Edgefield in Troutdale and I wore this:

It's (hopefully obviously) not what I work to work. I changed out of Thursday's too-big pencil skirt into olive green shorts (Old Navy), a floral tank (Old Navy) and flat sandals (Target). I brought along my trusty vintage patchwork bag (gifted from my mom - thanks, Mom!) and a couple shopping bags for anticipated treasures.

Alex and I got off of work early, picked Sophie up and headed up to the Portland area for a smorgasbord of vintage wares on the grounds of McMenamin’s Edgefield which is an absolutely beautiful, untraditional resort east of Portland. Edgefield was built in 1911 as the county poor farm so the grounds are huge (70+ acres, I think). It was renovated for use as a resort by McMenamin’s and has several restaurants and pubs, a huge lawn for concerts, gorgeous gardens and vineyards and even an onsite glass-blower and potter. Edgefield is easily my favorite McMenamin’s facility (they have several) so I was very excited to go.

I am a fool for a veranda and Edgefield has several.

One of the vineyards - I think there may be more than one of these as well.

And it did not disappoint. There were around 50 vendors of vintage goods of all sorts, arrayed under the trees by the main building. There was food, music and large quantities of McMenamins wines and ales and the crowds weren't too big. We had an absolutely lovely time. I didn’t buy much, but it was a fabulous way to spend a summer afternoon.

Vendors beneath the trees

Girl with raccoon tail - I think this is a thing now?

Beach Wedding

On Saturday afternoon, my gorgeous friend, Jodee, and I drove up to Cathlamet, Washington, along the Columbia River to attend a wedding of some friends of Jodee's. And I wore this:

I had never heard of Cathlamet, but it was absolutely gorgeous:

And hot. The wedding was right on the beach, in the middle of the afternoon and I'm pretty sure it got up into the mid-90s. It was a lovely wedding though, just simple and pretty:

I hope everyone else is having a wonderful weekend as well!

Gracey

Saturday, August 20, 2011

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

Friday, August 19, 2011

My Kingdom for Some Belt Loops

Daily Outfit for Thursday, August 18th

Okay, so I don’t have a kingdom*, but, if I did, I’d probably give at least some of it up for a skirt with belt loops. Because, once again I was sorely feeling the lack of belt loops:

I paired my belt loop-less skirt (vintage, thrifted) with a silk blouse (Nordstrom, also seen here), cognac belt (Old Navy) and leopard wedges (Tahari via DSW). Once again I wore this blouse backwards because it has what has to be the lowest cut keyhole neckline ever. Seriously, this blouse doesn't even try to be work appropriate; but, the colors are so pretty I don't want to get rid of it. I actually loved all of the colors in this outfit but it wasn’t very comfortable because my belt kept sliding everywhere.

It’s sort of my fault (only sort of, though) because this skirt is a size too big. But, it’s such a pretty color and it’s vintage Neiman Marcus and did I mention how much I love the color? And, as demonstrated with the blouse, I will keep something just for the color. Unfortunately, the skirt is too big so not belting it is not an option, but when I do belt it it’s a hot damn mess. Really, the practical thing would be to just get rid of the skirt, but practicality is not my strong suit, so that probably won’t happen.

Also, you may have noticed (and if you didn’t, that’s okay too), but I am a day off on my posts. I didn’t have time yesterday to post this because I was in a meeting all morning and at a smorgasbord of vintage wares all afternoon and evening. So, I’ll post today’s outfit sometime tonight or early tomorrow, and post pictures from yesterday afternoon and tomorrow’s wedding maybe Sunday? Or something like that. Don’t worry, we’ll get it all sorted.

You may have also noticed that today is Friday (I’d be a little concerned if you missed this one), so I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Happy Friday, Everyone!

Gracey

*Outside my head, at least. In my head, it’s the Balkan kingdom of Gigantistan.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Silver Flowers on a Blue Field

I’ve always liked that flags and coats of arms are described as having a design element on a “field” (like a red lion on a green field). I just think it’s both a lovely and effective way to describe them. So it made me quite happy to be able to describe the "blouse" in today’s outfit in a similar manner:

Here is a close up of the aforementioned print:

The background looks black here, but it really is navy.

The “blouse” on this outfit is actually a tank dress (Gap, thrifted) that is a bit too short for me to wear as a dress but that I love the print of. I decided to try it today as a top, paired with my blue high-waist skirt (vintage, thrifted) and navy platform sandals (MRKT via DSW). I added a thin belt (Gap), watch and blue and white bracelet (local craftsman).

I’m always hesitant to layer dresses under skirts because my hips have threatened to join my thighs in rebellion if there is too much volume. However, I think the thin fabric of the dress works well under the thicker, stiffer fabric of the skirt in this instance.

Today’s Takeaway? When layering, pay attention to the thickness of the fabrics involved – it can be the difference between looking sleek, and having to fight off an attempted coup by volume-hating body parts.

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

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.

Control Myself

Soft military, tak bym ujął inspirację mojego outfitu, który prezentuję w dzisiejszym poście. Zainspirowałem się sesją zdjęciową męskiej kolekcji marki Balmain z 2010 roku. Już dawno chodziło mi po głowie, coś w tym stylu. Nie jestem wielkim fanem military, ale lubię delikatne nawiązania, typu detale, aplikacje itp. Tu udało mi się to osiągnąć dzięki koszuli z tegorocznej kolekcji Reserved. Ma chłodny odcień khaki- idealny do mojego typu urody. Koszulę włożyłem w spodnie, żeby nadać całości trochę wygląd uniformu, kombinezonu... Pod spód założyłem tank w marynarskie paski, który nadał świeżości militarnym detalom, które nie są silną tendecją w tym sezonie. Można by było podpiąć to pod styl safari, ale nie takie było moje założenie. Do tego ubrałem wąskie, sprane jeansy z Zary. Dodatki- oczywiście skórzany pasek, trampki i torba z Reserved, która- UWAGA jest moim projektem :) Jest to jedna z ok 3 modeli męskich toreb mojego projektu, które weszły do regularnej sprzedaży. Do całości jednak jeszcze mi czegoś brakowało... Przy zdjęciach wpadliśmy z Effką na super pomysł aby strój uzupełnić okularami Effki :D Totalnie dopełniły wizerunku :D zrobił się trochę policyjny. Wyobraźnia popłynęła, nie warto się kontrolować ;) Wracając do męskiej kolekcji Balmaina- marka prezentuje nieskomplikowane zestawy, które są gotowe do noszenia. Mnie osobiście bardzo ten styl odpowiada, każdą sylwetkę z kolekcji Bailmain mógłbym nosić, dokładnie tak jak na zdjęciach. Są poprawne jeśli chodzi o tendencje w modzie, nie specialnie wyszukanie oryginalne ale mają coś w sobie i odpowiada to mojemu gustowi i stylowi. W kampanii z SS10, której zdjęcia znajdziecie poniżej wystąpił jeden z moich ulubionych modeli -Clement Chabernaud, który obecnie zajmuje 4 miejsce w rankingu MODELS.COM

outfit z dzisiejszego postu: