Wine and Taupe and New Baubles

Cool enough for boots! Boots and bare legs mean lovely Indian Summer to me. I got a fabulous pedicure last Friday, an hour of candles and panflute music and hot towels and sea salt scrubs and what looked like yak butter. I felt like Jennifer Aniston. But then the weather turned cool and I had to hide my ruby toes away.

A wine-colored Ann Taylor tee and my old faithful J. Jill skirt and Born boots. I'm wearing my ID badge to sort of break up the large expanse of bosom there.

This is my major expense for September, a tortoise and gold Michael Kors watch from Macy's. I tried on several different styles, but watch faces are quite large these days, and many of them felt kind of ponderous. This watch is still substantial, but the rectangular face makes it more wearable.

I also gave up and retired my beloved Fossil wallet. The card slots were so loose that my credit cards would fall out randomly, and the snap no longer worked on the little coin purse. Boo. However, I do really like my new wallet from The Sak, and it has the same open flat features that my Fossil wallet did.  It is a bit heftier, but it goes nicely with my summer and winter bag and is easy to see in a dark purse interior.

I love this brand. I have a large, soft yellow leather shoulder bag, a case for my Nook (adorable but I never use it) and a wee convertible pursie that can be carried as a wristlet or hung over my shoulder on its skinny strap. I have a feeling I'll be carrying this wallet for years. 

Orange and, Whatever

Not much to report, gang. I have a lovely new phone, my tripod doesn't fit it, and I haven't gotten out to get a new tripod yet.  Plus there was a wonderful four day weekend and a visit from Ben along the way. We went out to eat, saw Skyfall (hubba, hubba, Mr. Craig), and sat around with the cats.
 

I wore this at some point, and really liked it even though my neck was cold. J. Jill skirt, Talbots burnt orange top, and taupe Born boots.

Then I tried to make THIS happen without success.

I look all hunchy because I'm trying to keep the blouse from gapping in the front - it is just too small in the chest. Beware purchasing something on eBay that you hope will fit even though you know that isn't your size. I trusted the measurements and hoped the tunic was loose and blousey. It is Jones New York and the most fabulous fabric; silky, drapey, filled with orange and gold and brown and even a bit of plum. The pants are brown ponte from Talbot's and went immediately back to the store. Look at those baggy knees! I don't know if they are too big and I don't care. I'll stick to brown pants OR brown Leggings, both of which I have a-plenty.

And now I'm going to have a good whine about how FAT I feel.  GIANT and PUFFY and MICHELIN MAN-ISH. I know it isn't particularly true (probably no more than five pounds) and I'm sure I don't look different, but everything feels snug except the truly stretchy things or tunics. I really don't like that big shirt/ leggings look at all, but I feel like my waist is VANISHING. Many of my pants and skirts feel very tight. Some of this might be, shall we say, timing. I'm just coming out of M (abbreviated in sympathy for my readers) and I know weird body changes are to be expected - just like puberty! Ha!

Also, I haven't been my usual walkabout self. My left foot is really hurting - plantar fasciitis - so my roaming habits have been curtailed, though hopefully only for a while. I went out and bought a bunch of rugs for my hardwood-over-concrete floors. I also ordered cushy mats for my kitchen. 

The combination of ouchy feet and many delicious meals makes me a big couch potato. And it pisses me off that I have a number of great things that I paid good money for and now make me feel like ten pounds of couch potato in an eight pound sack. I bought a shaping camisole but it mostly makes me feel squished and even fatter. It's all mental, people.  

So. Salads for dinner as many nights as possible, and no new clothes until the new year. I even resisted Monday/Cyber/Black/Whatever. I did venture out to Barnes and Noble to replace my Nook at 40% off. That was totally worth it. I went to the Barn quite early and then had breakfast at The Bagel.

And then (I'm excited to do this) I'm going to keep track of piece of clothing I buy in 2013 in an Excel chart! Tracking my eating always worked really well for me, and I think this will be a really good habit. I already track the spending, but I haven't tracked the what very closely. I'd like to do an inventory of my closet someday, but the idea has been too overwhelming. I hope this chart will be a step in that direction.
 

 

Third Strike for the Military Jacket

Sigh. I'm just not feeling it, as the kids say. I like the concept, the color, just not the execution. I'm going to put this jacket in the coat closet, and wear it as a light jacket on weekends. Maybe a sage green fitted cardigan would work better?

What I was aiming for is the tough/girly combination look, which I like so well on others. Here's Sally in the best example ever, but I can't love it on me, despite having tried virtually every arrangement seen on Sally. Which I hope is the sincerest form of flattery, and not stalking.  

Unforeseen Hiatus

Sorry about that! It was really a packed week at work last week - I was heading in early and coming home beat, so took no pictures. This week I took pictures, but couldn't find time to post them. And maybe, MAYBE, I'm getting a little tired of looking at myself so often.

Just ugh.

Better.

 First, I was entertained to find two pairs of boots in Ben's dresser - boots I thought were long gone to Goodwill or Ebay. The red boots above got a final outing, but they are consigned to the Goodwill bag/pile/semi-sentient lifeform. They are just a very dated style. Second, I love that black fuzzy Loft sweater so much, but it looks perfectly square on me. Kimono arms and short sleeves are not a good combination. Also not a good combination, that dress, those boots and bare legs. Seemed like a lot of skin in September.

Forced smile and significant tum.

I love this Anthropologie top equally, but with better results. It goes with everything and is like wearing . . . air. The top is an acid green Loft tee, with an Eileen Fisher knit skirt and Born boots. I'm wearing the necklace I bought at the Bucktown Art Fest.

I feel you, Nora Ephron.

Old favorites were in heavy rotation this week - fashion comfort food.

My J. Jill crochet skirt and denim jacket, with a purple tee underneath and Miz Mooz boots this time. Although I know they are remarkably similar in hue to the Born boots.

I've definitely put on a few pounds since last winter. The corduroy straightlegs which I am wearing today, which were dreamily comfortable last winter, now feel a little UNcomfortable at the waist, and nothing bugs me more than something pinching my middle. I might have gotten a little complacent about all the walking I do, and had a few too many pieces of cake over the summer. And too few salads. You can see why I am wearing the two skirts with the most forgiving waists in my closet.

I shared a piece of Cannoli cake with Blonde Girl yesterday for her birthday. So worth it, sweetie!


 

Dress n' Boots

I ordered a fantastic pair of Kenneth Cole boots when I was in Philadelphia in March, and it was almost 80 degrees. I had a vision of wearing them with cute dresses and short skirts. When the boots arrived, the faux summer had passed, and so had the boot/dress moment. When summer returned for real, the weather switched into meltingly hot, nothing but 90 degree days, which is too hot for anything boot-like on my feet.

FINALLY we had a day under 80, and I trotted those boots right out.

Again with the jean-ish jacket, this time over a tank dress from Kohl's. I felt a little silly at the mall after it had warmed up to 78 and I was the only woman in boots and a jacket, but I stood my ground.

I faced a harbinger of doom at the mall, because the Woodfield Talbot's store is closing. 

Bum bum BUM. The outlet store is also madly selling off its inventory with the exact same signage. Thinking of a world without Talbot's makes me feel like this:

Anxious Buffy.

Purple and Ruffles

It's barely 50 degrees today - and rainy at that! So of course I wore my Born boots again. I am thinking about buying them in black. I have two pairs of tall black boots, and certainly don't need another pair. But. These are very well made, comfortable, soothing to my feet and back, and are so well finished inside that I can wear them without socks or tights. $90 off plus another 20% at Shoemall? Hmmm.

This is a favorite combo from last summer; floofy skirt, tee and little jacket (cotton or linen). Yesterday's version was a J. Jill jacket (via eBay), Boden skirt, purple Talbot's tee (with vertical ruffles to contrast with the skirt's horizontal ruffle action).

Detail of the skirt's raw edge ruffles.

I also wore my sparkly bracelet, handmade by my friend Carol and her two granddaughters.

Shiny!

And on the other wrist my pink Skagen watch (via eBay).

 

 

A "Good" Color

Whenever I wear my canteloupe linen jacket I get a compliment, usually on the lines of "Great color on you!" Yet orange is one of those colors that people think is hard to wear. I've never had my colors done, and I think maybe I'm a summer or summer/fall? I have blotchy rosy skin and light brown eyes, so winter is out, and most of the spring colors are too pale for me. Except pale pink which I have expounded on before. But orange LOVES me, and this is why I have at least five orange jackets and sweaters.

The weather went from the 90s to the 60s overnight (what a relief, I say), so I started with the Talbot's skirt, which has two layers of cotton and is fairly substantial. This was also my chance to wear my Born boots again, my feet being tired from wearing flimsy sandals all weekend. Then I more or less said eeny meeny miney moe to pick the jacket, hoping it would all work out.

 
The jacket isn't particularly flattering in cut, being kind of boxy, even a little mumsy. CONCLUSION: COLOR TRUMPS ALL.

Underneath I have a white tee with a slather of bugle beads, and a Talbot's bracelet that looks heavy but isn't, as the "stones" are all plastic. 

Talbot's, of course

Should I buy the matching necklace?

I discovered this week that this is my ONLY short-sleeved white top (lots of ivory and beige versions), and that I have NO short-sleeved black tops (lots of sleeveless shells). So I might have to use up that Lord and Taylor gift card in my wallet.


 

 

Green and Blue, Ole!

The weather has been so grand, sunny and clear, cool enough for a cardigan but warm enough to skip tights. Like living in San Diego.

Tuesday I wore my cloverleaf green Talbot's cardigan, cadet blue Talbot's knit skirt, Ann Taylor Loft scarf, and Born boots. I am constantly on the hunt for a dress in this color green. Talbot's has a couple of sleeveless versions, but then I'd have to wear something over it in the office, which defeats the purpose of wearing that lovely bright green. The Vivienne Files showed a pretty green Dorothy Perkins dress today, but it appears to be a little short for me. A side note, I'm very fond of this particular blog because she mixes high/low pricing consistently, and introduces me to new brands all the time. Dorothy Perkins is British, reasonably priced, like Boden, and has a U. S. site here. It is wonderfully easy to navigate. Not as CUTE as Boden, though.


I experimented with the scarf at my waist:

But I felt a little bit too flamenco:

  

Red and Gray, no, Taupe, no, Gray

I don't know what color this J. Jill skirt is. I do know that it is regularly voted MVP in my closet for comfort, flattering my figure, and going with everything for nearly a decade.

The Talbot's jacket is wool and warm enough to wear on a crisp April day with only a scarf. The jacket is a little big on me and a little staid, as I mentioned yesterday. I did order the Sundance jacket after all. Sundance has ruinous shipping charges, so I really hope I like it.

I thought when I put these together that the outfit was a little more cohesive than it actually appears in the pic. It kind of looks like two halves of different ensembles. Maybe a gray tee and red boots would have been better choices? Of course that never would have happened, because I intend to wear these boots EVERY DAY. I'm also wearing a new ring - but this is the last one, I swear. It's Lia Sophia, via eBay.

This weekend I'm going to a Rotary Trivia Night, determined to win a set of Chicago Shakespeare Theater tickets in the raffle. Even if I don't win them, I'm still going to see this:

The extraordinarily elegant Ian McDarmaid

Who wouldn't want to see the Emperor Palpatine in Timon of Athens? Appearing now through June 10 at Navy Pier.

Blue and Born

Not a misprint - I'm all about these Born boots because they make my feet so happy.

I also have on a new blue knit skirt from Talbot's, my faded wash J. Jill jacket, and a blue, purple and green chiffon top from Lord and Taylor. I've been looking for a dark blue skirt that is multi-season; I have a blue cord skirt that is winter-weight, and a couple linen and cotton summer versions. I was a little dubious of this one when I opened the package, but it is really comfy on, and is the perfect length, so I'm keeping it. I might still be looking for a more formal navy pencil skirt.

In a while, crocodile.

Green, Brown - Boots!

When my feet are happy, the rest of me is smiling too. Even on a board meeting day! Said meeting was only an hour and I was home by 9:15 to take this picture.

This might be an overshare, but this outfit is a convincing visual argument for a different bra. Still, I like the tweed skirt with the twinset and tough girl boots.

 The chunky bracelet is Lia Sophia via eBay. I really like the colors and weight, even if it leaves dents in my wrist. It doesn't clank like a bangle or FEEL heavy. The necklace and earrings are Talbot's.

Ah, the boot action. They are Born Magda, via 6pm, at a price I was helpless to resist. They are fully leather-lined, so I can wear them without tights in warmer weather, and yet they're not terribly heavy.  The sole and heel are shock-absorbing rubber, and the insole has so much support and cushioning that I literally smiled all day. Happy feet.