Distress Signals

Have you all noticed the uptick in distressed denim in retail lately?  It used to be a bit of a fringe trend and now it's all over the place.  It's available in different washes, including acid wash, different price points, from $19.99 to $690 (no, really) and in different cuts, from skinny to boyfriend.

And, of course, it's available in different levels of distress from minor shading and/or holes to I-fell-off-my-bike-and-tore-the-knees-out-of-my-jeans to full-on-honey-badger-attack:

Personally, I stick to minor distressing, but it doesn't really matter because none of the distressing looks natural anyway.  Natural distressing on me would be the inner thighs worn down to nothing; it certainly wouldn't look as if I just fought my way through a briar patch.

Unnaturally distressed or not, this trend is here to stay (at least for 2014).  So, I'm here to offer some advice on how to wear it.

Not Too Fancy, Not Too Casual, Just Right

This is my preferred deployment of distressed jeans:

Tops, L to R: Modcloth, Shop Ruche & Nordstrom
Jeans, L to R: Shop Ruche & Macy's
Sandals, L to R: Nordstrom, Modcloth & Moorea Seal

A pretty but easy top, simple shoes and mildly distressed jeans.  There is some juxtaposition between the top and the jeans, but a it's a believable juxtaposition.  I feel like if your pieces in an outfit are too oppositional, it no longer looks deliberate, it looks as if you got dressed on a dare.  I mean, sure, you can wear your ball gown with some Chucks, but I will ask you if you lost all your shoes in a fire.  I will ask sympathetically, but I will ask.

Trust me, you don't want to try to get too fancy with your distressed jeans.  These jeans cannot be dressed up.  No, that's not true, you can successfully pair them with a tuxedo jacket and heels and it will work in a certain context.  So I guess you can dress them up, but you can't take them out.  They're full of holes, for the love.  As a rule of thumb, if your destination calls for a tuxedo jacket, these jeans are too casual.  And if your destination is so casual as to warrant these jeans, then you probably shouldn't be wearing the jacket and heels.

But, of course, you also don't want to be too casual with your distressed jeans.  I mean, unless, of course you do.  Are you working in the yard?  Great, then by all means, wear your distressed jeans with a hole-y surf tee and rubber flip-flops.  But, if you're not and you wear that combination, you will look like you are and then what's the point of spending $690 on jeans?!!

What about you, Reader Friends?  Are you on board with this trend?  How do you wear your jeans?  Or does this trend just cause you distress?  (Yes, I went there).

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Crazy 'Bout Paisley

Okay, you caught me.  I am not, in fact, crazy about paisley.  I mean, I like it well enough, but I only own one paisley piece and it's this tunic:

However, I don't think "Paisley: I Like it Well Enough" has the same ring for a blog title that "Crazy 'Bout Paisley" does.

And I really do like paisley and I am, actually, crazy about certain aspects of it.  For example, I like how well it plays with other patterns, like in today's outfit:

I paired my paisley blouse (v. old Banana Republic) with checked pants.  And the paisley itself is mixed with polka dots on the blouse.  And they all play well together.  I think that's pretty awesome.

Also awesome?  Vintage squash blossom necklaces.  They also go well with paisley:

So, while I may not be crazy 'bout paisley, I'm crazy about this outfit, which contains paisley and therefore my title totally makes sense.  Totally.

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Get the Look

Similar paisley blouse

Similar checked pants

Similar metallic flats

Spring Sweatshirt

I wish I could tell you it's warm enough in Oregon to do away with sweatshirts.  But, it's not.  Not even close.  At least not for the last week or so.  No, instead, it's been raining and windy and basically sweatshirt weather.  Sure I could fight it and freeze to death, or I could just find a spring sweatshirt.

As you can probably guess, I did the latter, finding this cream-colored, embellished sweatshirt at the LOFT:

Top: LOFT  Jeans: Old Navy  Boots: Piperlime

I would have like to have paired it with a cute little skirt, but again, it's not warm enough for all that here.  Instead, I paired it with jeans, boots and even a scarf!

Because it's that cold.  And because leopard scarves are awesome:

Earrings: Nordstrom  Scarf: FRAAS

So, while I am bitter that I have to wear a sweatshirt and jeans when it's nearly May, I'm glad it's a cute sweatshirt that pairs with leopard:

Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

Get the Look

Similar embellished sweatshirt (LOFT or here)

Old Navy skinny jeans

Similar flat boots

Similar scarf

Similar earrings

Teeth

I thrifted the best t-shirt a couple of months ago but it took me forever to wear it.  It's just so good, I wasn't sure what to wear with it.  But, I finally figured it out:

And yes, it did take me forever to figure out what goes best with teeth is... more teeth:

I know, right?  Shark tooth + houndstooth = obviously awesome:

At least in my book.

Seriously, I loved this outfit.  The tee makes me unreasonably happy, as does the randomly-fringed 80s skirt:

Put them together and this outfit is the whole reason I shop at second-hand stores; I can get an outfit I love for about $10.  Which is why I'm linking up with Citizen Rosebud for #SECONDHANDFIRST.


Happy Friday, All!

Gracey

Get the Look

Similar shark tee (here or here)

Similar skirt (sadly w/o the fringe)

Splendid Lucas boots

Similar moto (similar moto vest)

Blue Hair, Don't Care

I have blue hair.  Well, I have blue streaks in my hair:

You really can't see them at all far away, but they are there.  It's just not always obvious in my dark hair.  Which is the way I wanted it.

You can see them a bit better close up:

And from the back:

Why blue hair?  I blame the Tyroshi.  Okay, maybe not; I just knew that I wanted it and my stylist agreed.  She's pretty great like that.

Enough of the hair though.  I am also wearing clothing:

Top: Macy's  Vest/Skinnies: Old Navy  Sandals: Nordstrom  Necklace: Piperlime

Because, no matter how great you feel about your blue hair, you can't just wear it and nothing else.  At least not in public.  Unless, of course, it's during the World Naked Bike Ride, but that's not until June.  So I wore clothes.

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Get the Look

Similar lace top

Old Navy skinny jeans

Old Navy vest

Isola "Lucina" sandals

Similar chevron necklace

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Boxing Gloves

Last month, Ally, of Shybiker, posted a wonderful photo of herself in pink boxing gloves and asked if any of us wanted to join The Sisterhood of the Traveling Boxing Gloves.  I immediately said yes even though I had no idea what I would wear with pink boxing gloves.  Of course, I got them next and still had no idea what to pair with them.  Those gloves have been sitting by my computer for far, far too long, but this weekend, I finally (finally!) figured out what to wear with them.  Vintage, of course.

Specifically, my vintage bathing suit cover up:

Left haunch

Right haunch

As you can see, I tried to look tough in my photos; I am wearing boxing gloves after all!  But, me being me and boxing gloves and cover ups being fundamentally smile-inducing, I ending up grinning, per usual:

And then I became very, very interested in my feet:

But, at least it gives you a good idea of what my cover up looks like.  It's pretty awesome, right?

I am, however, happy to say that I got it together by the end and looked appropriately tough for the final shots:

Okay, here I'm less tough and more confused, but I tried.

So, yeah, on Easter Sunday I ran around in a giraffe-print swimsuit, a vintage cover up, pink boxing gloves and a lot more leg than you'll ever see again on this blog.  But, you know what?  I had fun.

Thank you so much, Ally, for including me in The Sisterhood!

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

SIA: Erte: NEC

Today I'm participating in the SIA (Style Imitating Art) Challenge.  Here is the piece of art, as chosen by Salazar, of 14 Shades of Grey:

It is Spring Rain, by Erté.


And here is my interpretation:

It is, sadly, NEC (Not Even Close).

I really, really wanted to participate this week because I love the inspiration picture & I hadn't participated in awhile.  But, when I was going through my closet trying to put something together, I realized that I don't have any lavender (I settled for plum) and I only own two pieces in green and they are bright green and otherwise all wrong.

So, I went with what I had.  Navy, plum and aqua.  And orange.  Of course I had orange!

Skirt & Blouse: thrifted, vintage  Sweater: Target  Belt: LOFT  Shoes: Seychelles

I have to admit that I was pretty down about my outfit being NEC, but then I spent a couple hours with Jen from Librarian for Life and Style and she made it all better!

Thanks, Jen!  And thank you, Salazar, for hosting SIA this week!


Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

Pencil Midi & A Bomber

Today's post was inspired by Angie's post on midi pencil skirts & bombers on You Look Fab the other day.  I think I was most inspired by this idea because I actually own a pencil midi and a bomber jacket and I figured I may as well wear them together.  So I did:

As you can see, my bomber "jacket" is actually a cardigan:

But that put this look more into my comfort zone.  I can't image I'd get as much use from, say, a satin or leather bomber jacket.  And, I honestly think the silhouette is what matters with this look, not the fabrication.

And I think I got the silhouette right:

The shoes might be a bit heavy, but I'm obsessed with these darned Splendid boots and plan on wearing them whenever possible until it gets up to about 80.  You've been warned.

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

Get the Look

Topshop pencil midi skirt

Similar bomber jacket (here or here)

Similar star print tee

Exact Splendid ankle boots

Styling a Maxi Skirt

Maxi skirts are pieces that I often have a hard time styling.  They appeal to me because they're comfortable like pajamas, but I never know what to pair them with.  I mean, probably not a pajama top and slippers, so what then?

Well, today, I thought I'd pair my maxi with a plaid shirt and flat ankle boots:

Shirt: c/o Foxcroft  Skirt: LOFT  Boots: Nine West

As it turns out, plaid was the answer.  In fact, I think plaid maybe the the answer to most things.  Okay, maybe not, but it was certainly the answer to what to wear with this maxi skirt:

And although the combination of the plaid and the boots is a little more cowboy-adjacent than I'd like (the fringe necklace doesn't help matters), I think the boots were part of the answer as well:

So, there you go, folks; my solution to what to wear with a maxi.

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Get the Look

Foxcroft plaid shirt (exact, similar on sale)

Lou & Grey maxi (exact, similar for less)

Similar ankle boots (save, splurge)

Similar fringe necklace

Getting Waisted: We Have A Winner

And that winner is...

Melanie, from Bag and a Beret!

Congratulations, Melanie!  I hope you love Monica's book as much as I did.  I will provide your contact info and you should get your book soon.

For those of you who didn't win, I do hope you'll consider picking up the book on your own.  You can find it here.

Thank you to everyone who entered and congrats again, Melanie!


xoxo,

Gracey

Prim and Proper and Bright

At it's core, this outfit is prim and proper.  It's a pleated skirt, a sweater and cap-toe shoes.  But, that sweater?  Yeah, it's bright chartreuse:

I think it's fun to wear brights in an outfit like this.  Adding unexpected color to an otherwise classic silhouette is a good way to keep it feeling like me.

I did the same thing with my jewelry, wearing studs and a chunky necklace, but, once again, the studs are a bright chartreuse:

Necklace: LOFT   Earrings: Kate Spade NY

So, yes, this look is a bit prim and proper, but it's also bright, just the way I like it:

Sweater: Old Navy   Skirt: thrifted vintage  Shoes: Bandolio

Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

Get the Look

Chartreuse sweater (exact, similar)

Similar skirt

Similar cap-toe wedges (save, splurge)

Similar necklace

Exact Kate Spade NY studs

Coral, Olive & Taupe-A-Dots

My new FRAAS scarf is taupe, with polka dots:

FRAAS "Dottie" Scarf

Of course, I immediately began referring to it as my "taupe-a-dot" scarf.  Because I am ridiculous.

But, this scarf isn't.  For a color that really isn't much of a color, I find that taupe is working well in my wardrobe.  Like this outfit, with coral and olive:

Scarf: c/o FRAAS  Jacket: thrifted  Tee & Jeans: Gap  Flats: Old Navy

Of course, if taupe polka dots aren't your thing, the scarf is available in bright, spring-y colors too, such as turquoise, yellow and pink.  I'm a bit surprised that I didn't pick one of the brighter colors when I was offered a sample, but I really do love the taupe so far.

Happy Friday, All!

Gracey

Get the Look

FRAAS "Dottie" scarf (call 212-575-0191 to order)

Similar coral skinny jeans

Similar Gap tee

Similar olive jacket

Similar pewter flats