You Look Just Fine

Words to live by. Yesterday I got several compliments; I preened my feathers and said thank you. Then I went home, snapped a couple of photos and was, um, less than thrilled with the results.

Hasn't looked at the picture yet.

I bought this cute tank from Garnet Hill in a lovely dove grey, but it was a little roomy in the armholes. I didn't have a clean white tank, so I stuck a little white tee under it and liked it in the mirror. I added leopard flats and a leopard scarf and liked it even more. La la la la.

I liked it all day and then I saw the picture, and whoa. Not happy. But - I had just read a blog post about the potential bullshit nightmare that is "figure flattering fashion" and I admit I am a slave to this myself. I'm always trying to look taller and thinner and smaller-chested and for all I know completely unlike myself. 

Now I don't know what to think. I really liked how the outfit felt, others liked it too - but the camera didn't. I am electing to forget about it, because it isn't a real problem, just a thought puzzle, but I am always curious to hear what YOU think (not about my outfit, about the thought puzzle). Do you ever say F*ck Flattering?

I opted for less thought-provoking today:

My $15 Land's End dress, Fidji pumps and a skinny yellow belt that might be Talbot's. The yellow in the dress is more mustardy than it looks in the lens. Not only was the dress only $15, it has a separate purple full slip that is perfect under my purple ponte dress. I dig my Fidji shoes and would like to own more of them.

Groovy, no?

 

 

Gray and Red

I was delighted with this Talbot's skirt. Nice to have a summery fabric (eyelet) in a sophisticated style (pencil). I wore an old favorite: a cross-dyed black and white linen shirt from Jones New York. I should take it in a bit; it's always been a bit floppy at the waist, but that was fine on a July day. I wore my Miz Mooz red pumps because my toes are getting a breather from polish and must be concealed.

I have rather mad hair as I gave in to the humidity and slathered my hair with Aveda Confixor.

I've been thinking more about the idea of buying one great thing instead of five pretty good items. It's kind of freeing. I have spent a lot of time trying to fill (possibly imaginary) holes in my wardrobe; searching for the "right" red summer skirt or the "perfect" gray tee. There isn't a lot of room for inspiration to strike in that scenario, not to mention that I end up with three different pink skirts because I've been thinking about them constantly.

The big, grand, fantastic purchases loom large in your head. You don't forget that you have a perfectly fabulous purse at home when you spent $300 on it. These purchases can and should be unique, too - not just another pencil skirt to wear to work. 

What if you could only buy clothes that were NOT on sale? What about buying only things that cost MORE than $200? I spent the weekend "flipping" purchases in my head that way. About a decade ago, I began to feel that the $40 items were preventing me from ever getting the big ticket items. I had 40 pairs of shoes and was still sitting on the scruffy couch we got when we got married. I tried aiming for more expensive things, but because I didn't really get the hang of it, I would up with some nice stuff and a boat load of debt.

Big (whatever that means to you) pieces feel risky. What if you stain it the first time you wear it, or gain weight and can't fit into it? It's not just clothes, of course. What if you drop that piece of pottery when dusting and it shatters? What if you leave it in a hotel somewhere (I've done that a few times) after buying it on vacation? And don't get me started on losing jewelry or breaking a heel, because when you wear it, you WEAR it, and it wears out. I could potentially keep a painting the rest of my life, but nothing that I put on will last forever.

Again with the aspect of freedom, though. If I buy something expensive, I'm not going to look at anything else that month. This might take some getting used to, but not if I am completely occupied with admiring my lovely new fill-in-the-blank. It was certainly super fun looking at $300 shoes on 6 PM.

Think! Chiara $240

What's New, Part Q

We're enjoying a typical hot, sticky Chicago week, so all bets are off as to what is appropriate for office wear. As Heidi said, we all go a bit feral when the air conditioning fails. We've had a couple of brown-outs that didn't last long, but when the chillers stop, it takes a while to get them rolling again in an 80,000 square foot building. Wow, I know way too much about HVAC.

I wore some new stuff, especially loving the new (eBay) Talbot's silk skirt, that I also own in a golden brown. I'd also love it in the deep burgundy Baccara Rose, if I can find it someday. Again with the multiples - that is a hard habit to break.

The tank is from Kohl's (Simply Vera Vera Wang), and it shows a bra strap or two, but who cares when it is in the nineties. I brought a pink pashmina in case it got cool in the office (it really didn't).

And look! The pencil skirt fairies came!

Red eyelet Talbot's pencil skirt

Pink and Blue Redux

Here's the lovely Ann Taylor pink pencil skirt. I went to Pinterest for inspiration, and repinned a few possibilities, but went with a Boden top, which never fails. I just realized that I wore this top less than a week ago, with my other new pink skirt. Huh. The skirt is a little roomy, which is pleasant on such a hot, sticky day.

It wouldn't hurt to have something at the waist, would it? Perhaps a silver belt? It seems like the waist is a little high. Other than that, I am completely happy. Note that this is my third pink skirt. Time to stop.

Heather, I'm really going to try the one fabulous thing a month approach. I've always been a quantity over quality girl (makeup, food, clothes, jewelry), and sometimes that works fine (jewelry), and sometimes not so much. The quantity approach allows you to have multiple little rewards. But that Ralph Lauren purse was really a lesson to me. It is great and I will love it for a long time. I'm not sure that will be true of an $80 t-shirt, but it is still worth a try.

Cool Neutrals

It's about a billion degrees with comparable humidity, so I ironed the hell out of my hair, and wore the white linen skirt. I was originally thinking yellow on top, but it seemed too cute.* Grey seemed a little more sophisticated, and I have a board meeting tonight. This will post while we're sitting down to dinner afterward.

The Ann Taylor skirt is pretty fab. It is lined, is a comfortable but not dowdy length, and has a perfectly flat yoke at the waist. It's also very easy to iron because it has no pleats, yay! With it I wore a Talbot's tee, grey and silver jewelry, and my new Miz Mooz sandals, which also kind of thrill me. They can be blue or green depending on what I need, and so comfortable. I'd like to get a new grey tee. This one is getting a little worn, and I'd like a little longer sleeve as well as a bit darker grey. But still, satisfactory for a rainforest day.

*I wore a pale yellow t-shirt with an olive skirt to run errands over the weekend, and everytime I glimpsed my reflection, I grimaced. A very pale yellow is not good for me at all. Strong yellow seems OK, I still love my sweaters and yellow military jacket. 

What's New, Pussycat?

Buffy helps me balance my checking account.

She's so fluffy I could die! (Agnes in Despicable Me). Yesterday, Riley was hopping and diving on an invisible cat toy, and when I bent over to look closely, it was a Tylenol. *sigh* I must get some real cat toys. Or look under the couch.

This is what's new, pussycat, or at least new to me. They aren't grouped as outfits, just in ways you can see what is there. First, a rust-colored silk Talbot's skirt via eBay, and a multi-colored tank from Kohl's.

A navy and white gingham button-front shirt from J. Crew and a white linen skirt, Ann Taylor via eBay.

The white skirt again, sorry, an electric blue shell from Ann Taylor, a pink lace pencil skirt from Ann Taylor, and a pink floral tee from Talbot's. The floral tee sounds kind of lame, but it fits great and is a flattering color. It will be cute with white jeans at the very least. This also makes three different pink skirts in my closet.

I will try to wear most of these seven new items this week, and tell the absolutely fascinating stories of why I bought them. All of these things seemed very important at the time I purchased them. 

Today, I wore this:

Aerosoles flats, blue eBay skirt and the lace top I bought a few months ago cheapy-cheap. This was inspired by an ensemble in the latest Sundance catalog, and I have leather accessories to pay homage to Mr. Redford. My hair is doing me no favors; it is wildly humid and I'm overdue for a bang trim. I might just go full-on curly tomorrow and embrace the rainforest.

The Sundance catalog moved me to make, yet again, the resolution to shop somewhere different, to try to evolve my personal style another notch, to buy one great thing a month instead of five good things. I think a higher price point will force me to buy only the things I adore, and not just the "Hey, it's an affordable white linen skirt - you want that!"  And more tunics, I want to find a way to wear that interesting and different proportion of long over lean. It looks so graceful and stylish on other people.

Willow Cardigan, $158 at Sundance.

 Pretty.

 

Pink and Blue

In silhouette, this is almost exactly the same outfit I wore yesterday. A loose, flowy top over a pencil skirt, with low sandals. the skirt is a variant of the Talbot's dark denim skirt I bought a few weeks ago, this time in a pale rose. Finally, a denim skirt I can love. I would have bought it in red also, but that sold out very quickly. The top is Boden, a rayon crepe in shades of blue to honor my manicure, and the aqua shoes are Miz Mooz. I also kind of want them in every color - pink! cognac! 

That blurry, overexposed image was the best of seven photos, seriously. Here's a better pic of the shoes and their wacky snake-ish leather. They are on sale at Zulily if you are interested - better than Amazon!

Miz Mooz Papaya