Chambray and a Wee Shoe Ramble

This dress is pretty much a one trick pony. It looks great with this belt and matching shoes or boots. I could possibly wear a short jacket over it, but the sleeves would be lumpy under a cardigan. It is also short and full, and a trifle risky on a windy day like today. Perhaps I should have worn bike shorts under it. 

Still, I get a dozen compliments whenever I wear it, so it's a keeper.

Now, about shoes. I received these in the mail yesterday.

Color Riley unimpressed.

They are Orthaheels, designed specifically to combat heel pain, from which I've been suffering particularly in the last few weeks. Not only do I walk a lot, but I live in a 100% hard floor (wood and ceramic tile over concrete) condo.

The only reason I gave in and bought them is because they were half price. (Discounts can be found at 6PM and Amazon.) This brand is expensive, especially considering they are entirely vinyl and plastic. The faux cork footbed looks like contact paper lining pantry shelves in a 50s ranch house. The strips are stiff and squeaky.

However, they are genuinely therapeutic. I wore these for four hours at home yesterday, and my heel is barely twingeing today. Is "twingeing" a word? These will be my new house slippers. At first they felt like I was walking on a tennis ball, but that is the point, I guess, to stretch out the plantar fascia and reduce the "itis" part. My (possibly vain, and I really mean vain) hope is that wearing these constantly at home will allow me to continue wearing my non-orthopedic shoes at work.

Because what I really want to purchase are THESE:

Spring Step Cheyenne. Oh my.

 

 

 

Brown and Gold

Still thinking about colors. Today I'm wearing a brown Talbot's jacket, a gold Athleta corduroy skirt, brown textured tights from Target, a brown and green necklace from Kohl's and my trusty Golcs.

I must be rigorous whenever I pick up something brown and clutch it to my bosom. "The reason you like it," I tell myself, "is because you have five things like it at home." Off the top of my head, I have at least six brown jackets and sweaters, as many skirts, three pairs of pants and half a dozen tops. Conservatively.

Brown is my comfort color. Black has been a little too severe for me since I passed 40, and brown seems to be both dark (concealing!) and warm (flattering!) at the same time. Plus there are so many yummy shades. I love navy, it goes with many colors too, but in the end there's really one true neutral navy and everything else becomes a COLOR, and you have to start CONSIDERING it and what will work with it. And navy can easily make you look like a flight attendant. Navy and GREY makes you look like airport security. Brown has the UPS connection, but really only if you are wearing shorts.

The day started with the necklace.

It's still fairly cool outside, so I thought about tights, and from there it was a hop, skip and a jump to chocolatey happiness.

The Great Wardrobe Switch

This weekend it reached 90 degrees, so I felt motivated to put (almost) all of my boots, cashmere sweaters (proud owner of four!), gloves and scarves, long-sleeved t-shirts, and about forty pairs of Smartwool socks away for the summer. I also brought a dozen pairs of sandals out of their boxes, a Rubbermaid container of tees and shorts, and a couple of summer weight scarves. 

I am always surprised at how much WORK this is. After about three hours of bending, lifting, wrapping, bagging, and going up and down to the storage unit, I have to take two Ibuprofen and call it a morning. This mid-year review also points out the items I didn't wear, not once, or the things I did wear but should not have, and those get put aside for Goodwill. Three pairs of shoes bit the dust. One pair I actually put in the trash with the tea leaves to ensure I did not fish them out again. More folding and lifting and bagging. There is also the vacuuming and dusting as I stir up dust rhinos and endless cat fur. Buffy hides underneath the couch, convinced we are moving.

Last year I switched closets, too, but this year I realized that was INSANE since they are both in my bedroom. That's an old habit from when I had to move clothes to another room (and another floor) in my Skokie house. There are very few items I wear year round.

But, look! I had forgotten I bought these sunny creatures last year in October on Amazon for a pittance. Still for sale there!

Kenneth Cole Shine Through Sandals

And THESE beauties, oh, my feet love these Arturo Chiang sandals. I should be so lucky to find another pair this year. I've only seen them at Lord and Taylor. They give me some height, are super stable, and go with everything.

Now, of course, it is 65 degrees again, but I don't care, because it gave me the chance to wear The Sundance Jacket! Yes, I bought it, and it is fabulous. It's also wool, and will be put carefully away in my closet for this fall. But NOT YET.

I felt like wearing orange on Monday, and was muttering to myself about having packed away the matching orange sweater on Saturday.  Then, because the Sundance jacket was just hanging there, I put the two together and saw how the bitty plaid actually was burnt orange and teal blue! Tres fantastique! The sleeves are long and intended to be rolled up. Here's a closeup of the jacket ruching and the blue thread in the buttons.

It was a bit too warm to wear the jacket all day, so mostly I looked like this.

Riley looks perfectly square. I could wrap him in Kraft paper and mail him. The pants are Talbot's cords, with that slightly annoying Signature rise, which hits me at a podgy spot. I much prefer the Heritage cut.

Yes, I got a haircut for my birthday too. I was feeling like I needed a visible CHANGE in my hair, and Ivana said, "Pixie?" "Yes, please!" I had a pixie like this a few years ago.

Me and Veronica at the Dewey - 2010?

It was also my birthday on Sunday, so Ben came out to visit. He took me to Home Depot to get some plants and a new chair for my balcony (pictures to come). There's nothing Ben enjoys more than languishing with the cart while I mull over little pots. Thank God for the iPhone. In previous years he would have nothing to entertain himself with while I compared the virtues of pansies to impatiens. That young man can be pretty saintly.

Then we had The Eating of the Chinese Food and The Cake, and watched Sherlock. A perfect day.

Olive and Red Revisited

I love olive and red together. This Talbot's cardigan was last seen here, with navy pants. Today I combined it with a springy Boden tank and a red Talbot's pencil skirt, olive tights, and the Golc Mary Janes.

You didn't really need to see the top of my head, did you?


But wait, are those . . . shoe boxes?

All will soon be revealed.

Inspiration and A Book Talk

As I mentioned, I keep a color wheel on my closet door, and a running collection of photos copied from my favorite bloggers (Hi Kristen, Sally and Sheila). I also have a folder full of pages torn from magazines and catalogs. Vogue is occasionally useful; more for color combinations than for actual clothes, since I can't afford anything in its pages. The Sundance and Anthropologie and J. Crew catalogs are clipped regularly.

There's also a fantastic website called Go Chic or Go Home that in part, is a vast clipboard of looks on a theme (like colorful tights), submitted by a zillion different women. My favorite thing about this site is the wide array of ages and shapes as well as style. I can usually find "myself" in the images. An iPad would be handy here, to prop up on my dresser while I rummage through my closet.

Of course, I like to read about clothes and fashion as well. Here's a list what has been on the nightstand in the last year (and of course I borrowed them from the library):

Autobiography of a Wardrobe by Elizabeth Kendall: too brief, in that I wish she had expanded on her thoughts about clothes reflecting a time or state of mind. The book is a little precious in its narration by the author's wardrobe, and though I bet the author is fascinating (a dancer, an author, a New Yorker), this doesn't really come across in this slight book. I recommend instead Love, Loss and What I Wore, by Ilene Beckerman, which is beautifully personal and wry.

A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff: Charming and thoughtful not-quite-romance about a woman opening a vintage clothing shop in London. Her history makes her wary of love, but the people she meets while estate shopping and hunting for vintage garments encourage her to open her heart once more.

The House of Gucci by Sara Gay Forden: A generally successful attempt at straight journalism is cheerfully run down by the sheer personality of the book's subjects. Mistresses! Murder! Movies! The three Gucci sons live large enough for a dozen glamorous families.

The Thoughtful Dresser by Linda Grant: An extraordinary writer contemplates the relationship between clothes and women, including aging, plus-size clothing, women in retail, the mere notion of "dress", even the fashion world's reaction to 9/11.

What I Wore by Jessica Quirk: I gave (forced) this book on my sister-in-law for Christmas, as one of those presents we give because we like it so much. A lot of fashion books have too much design and not enough practical advice, but I really liked Quirk's approach to building a basic wardrobe for each season, remixing elements for work, weekends and parties, and particularly her clear, sensible drawings (no over-produced photo shoots here). Ms. Quirk has a long running blog by the same name. It's a Tumblr site, which doesn't play well with Google Reader, so I don't follow it as regularly as I could.

And here's what I wore Thursday. Talbots cord jacket, Talbots camel skirt (purchased solely for the back ruffle), and Jones Wear top underneath. I am delightedly clutching the first season of Boardwalk Empire.

The bits and bobs are a ring from my dear mother-in-law, years ago, a big honking Skagen watch from eBay, some crystal earrings that MIGHT be Talbots, and of course, my Rotary pin, because it was Thursday.

 

30 Days and Counting

I am one month into the attempt to not buy any new clothes. How have I done? Well, I did buy one maxi skirt on eBay, which was advertised as suede, but instead turned out to be "suede". Ish. Which is why I got it for nine bucks. I chastised the vendor, who claimed it had been "an honest mistake", blah blah blah. Like the label didn't clearly say polyester.

Aside from that skirt, I acquired a jacket, pants and skirt from Talbots with awards dollars, and I weeded two large bags of clothing from my closet. I own fewer items of clothing now.


That's all well and good, but how is the savings coming? You see, I bought two belts and some amazing boots this month (they are ACCESSORIES, not clothes). That means the overall savings is nil for January.  Here's to February being a model of thrift and restraint!

I love bright yellow year-round, but especially in January when our eyes are starved for color: 

There are those Golc Mary Janes again. Heather suggested last year that I wear them with dark patterned tights, so I did and she was out sick. Cheers, Heather! The sweater skirt is an old reliable from J. Jill, which has fit me through thick and thin. The leopard chiffon tee I sewed myself, and the crocheted cardi is an eBay steal (defined as under ten bucks). 


I really didn't intend for this blog to be a daily shot of Riley, but I take these pics when I get home, and he is trying to impress on me the idea that he luuuurrrrrves me and is only incidentally hoping I will feed him.

Ginger-iffic!

I love this skirt, because not only is it swishy and light and silk chiffon, it is the same color as these Talbot's cords - ginger! Which also happens to be my favorite spice. Gingerbread, ginger ale, candied ginger, ginger tea, pickled ginger; I love all of these things.  It's also very good for you. 


Anyway. The skirt was free (Christmas gift card), the cashmere sweater was 10 bucks on eBay, and the scarf was a gift from my mother. I love blue and brown together; excuse me, blue and ginger.

Please notice that you can see my FEET, as I got a little tripod to hold my phone, and no longer have to perch on the island. I can still pet Riley while the timer ticks down. I have to point out my shoes, which I love for a variety of reasons. They're from Golc (clog spelled backwards!) and they have that great 40's style, like character shoes. Very comfy, European sizing, and that warm brown color that is sort of cognac, and sort of . . . ginger.