It's 80, No, Wait, It's 55!

On Monday I wore my yellow voile skirt and a green cardigan and because it was 80 degrees, I was hot. I love grass green and yellow together, but I think I look a little rumpled and pillow-y.

Perhaps I should have worn the sweater open? There was a tank underneath. Even though I was warm, I was grinning like a fool because I was just back from the salon - with PURPLE HAIR.

I really love it. I know it will fade into more sedate golden brown highlights, but I love the purple sheen this morning. It also looks perfectly sleek because of the awesome blowout. We'll see what happens when I style it my own self. Naturally, I planned my clothes around my hair. On Tuesday (board meeting day!) it was 55 when I left the house, so the cardigan was FINE. I almost wore black boots.

The purple skirt is just the right shade. The cardigan is new and is a very light jersey, on deep discount from L & T.

Skirts and Such

When I was in sixth grade (1972), our dress code changed, and we were suddenly allowed to wear pants to school. My friend Lydia remembers this vividly also, and suggests it was not only because people were starting to clamor for the change, but because skirts were getting so short that the administration thought pants would be a relief. I remember many Ohio winters, waiting for the school bus wearing snow pants, or later, leg warmers, that I had to peel off and stuff in my locker when I arrived. I also still remember the dreamy outfit I wore on the first day of seventh grade: burgundy moleskin flares and a burgundy and gold paisley poet top with a leather lace-up neckline (both from Paul Harris, if that rings a bell). We spent hours picking out that first day of school outfit.

I had several babydoll dresses.

After that pivotal year I didn't wear a skirt or dress again for literally decades, unless someone forced me - weddings, maybe - and then it was complete torture because I had no idea how to pick out a dress and make it look decent on me. And how I HATED pantyhose. In the late 80s I had a job that required a skirt (this seems medieval now), and I bought ONE navy skirt and wore it every day. It was a uniform. Every other moment, I wore pants.

So it is with some surprise that I realize how much I like skirts and dresses now. I think they're more flattering to my figure. Pants hide my best bits, calves and ankles, but of course I didn't think those were my best bits in 1988. Anyway, let's see some skirts, shall we?

I have loved this Boden skirt for years, and of course was thrilled to wear my Born boots again, but the rest . . . eh.

Another Best Beloved skirt, the Michael Kors linen, and a Talbot's emerald green cardigan. I have half a dozen ivory tops, but I always end up wearing the Kohl's tank that my sister-in-law gave me, as it is opaque and slinky. 

I have new-to-me shoes on; Miz Mooz flats via eBay. They're very simple, with a super cute big button over the toes. They were a bit tight in the same area, but a little shoe stretching spray fixed that problem.

Fifteen bucks!

Some Clothes and a Big Adventure

Huh. Look at the time. My days have been a little more dense than usual, with new board members coming on board (see what I did there), and a July board meeting that followed the June meeting shockingly fast, and the commencement of the budget process.

The other, and more personally significant, news is that Ben has accepted a job offer in Rhode Island. I understand that Rhode Island is quite far away from here. I understand that, in theory, I may not see Ben for many days at a time. And I am very, very happy for him to have a job, to be looking for an apartment with a college friend who is from the Isle of Rodes, to be launching himself as young people should. I myself came to Chicago with two suitcases and my five favorite record albums. Made of vinyl.

All that optimism is going a long way to making me feel better about the fact that my favorite person in the world will be nearly a thousand miles away from me.

This is exactly the push I needed to plan a vacation back to Boston, as it is a mere hour away from lovely Providence. This way I can take Ben and his pals out for lobster rolls and see more of the beautiful coast.

So earlier in the week, while I was first thinking about all this, I wore some stuff, and didn't take pictures, and it was all super cute. Here's what I did manage to capture.

I attended a visitation for a friend's father on Thursday, so I chose closed toe shoes and something more somber than I would normally wear on a 90 degree day. This is my lovely, twirly ginger chiffon skirt and my stalwart RL polka-dot top. The proportions on this top are the Golden Mean of my closet; the sleeves, neckline and hem all hit at exactly the right spot.

Then came Friday, and something related to the Box O' Pink:

I look freakishly tall here, don't I?

I had ordered a pair of twill flares in this "pink salt" color from Talbot's, but the hip pockets just didn't sit right on me, as much as I loved the color and gorgeous soft fabric. When I returned them, I stumbled upon these twill ankle pants in the same color, the only pair in the store, (probably a return) and bought them in a heartbeat. They have brass zippers at the ankles. I'm wearing them with my cloverleaf cardigan (which Jo says is THE color for fall), and some heavy gold jewelry. I love my gold bubble ring. It was about eight bucks on eBay. The watch is a Skagen, also from eBay.

Worn on one hand for photographic convenience.

There is one item left in the Box O' Pink, and I will wear it when it is NOT 90 degrees outside. Have a lovely weekend!  



 

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:

  

Green and Black and Leopard

This skirt is one of my very favorite pieces of clothing because:

• It was a gift from a friend
• It does great things for my bottom half
• It's wildly comfortable
• It has never seen the inside of a Talbot's store

It's a black, stretchy, wool Moth skirt from Anthropologie!

Forced "I'm tired get this over with" smile.

I'm wearing it with a (sigh) Talbot's cardigan, Anne Klein boots, and the leopard chiffon top I made last year. The skirt has "inside out" seaming, which I hope you can see a little better here.

All the jewelry is from eBay: a Premier Designs sparkly shiny glittery bracelet, green amber earrings and a Fossil watch. 

Green and Grey, Miss Holloway

What's missing from this picture is my Joan Holloway pen necklace, which I brought out to lend to a friend today. I put it on and it looked so cute that I realized I should wear it once in a while. I was attending a shower today at our weekly Rotary get-together, for a friend who recently became Mrs. Green, and we were asked to wear green in some form. I felt sad for the men, who could only wear green ties or pocket squares. I wore GREEN AND THEN SOME. Let's start with outerwear.

This is a Nine West beauty, via eBay. It is just the right length, and that wide collar is very flattering. No excitement in the lining, though.

From the ground up: Talbot's gray boots, a Target Merona (via eBay) gray wool skirt, and a Talbot's green cardigan. The color is actually cloverleaf and I love it so much I paid full screaming retail. Notice the three quarter length sleeves. I also have on my pearls from Nerissa, pearl earrings and an opal ring that Ben's Dad gave me many, many years ago. Riley is an excellent matching accessory, being sort of grey and pearl-colored himself.