Five for Friday 7/10/15: Nordstrom Anniversary Sale

As I'm sure most, if not all, of you already know, the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is coming up soon. Here are five of my favorites from the sale:

BP Tassel Trim Colorblock Poncho - Ponchos remain a big trend for fall and the longer length on this one is great if you're on the taller side.  The length will also allow it to be belted easily, making it super versatile.  Also, tassels!!

Hinge Lace Mix Top - This lace top is so pretty.  It's also perfect for cooler summer days and can be layered through fall.

Kate Spade New York Glitter Stud Earrings - These earrings have been on my list for a long time, but they were sold out.  I'm thrilled they're back and on sale!  Also, glitter!!

Topshop Button-Front Denim Skirt - The 70s are also a big trend for this coming fall, and this skirt is 70s to me in the best possible way.  Perfect with tights, boots and a turtleneck sweater.

Born "Helen" Boots - I purchased my beloved Born boots at a Nordstrom Anniversary Sale in 2007 and they've finally given up the ghost.  I'm purchasing these as a replacement.


Now, the actual sale doesn't start until July 17th, but if you have a Nordstrom credit or debit card, you can shop my picks and all the other great stuff on sale right away!


Happy Shopping, All!

Gracey

Literary Stylings #17: In Zanesville

Although I really, really enjoyed all of the books I read last month (seriously, I recommend them all), I was most sartorially inspired by In Zanesville, by Jo Ann Beard:

As I said on Sunday, this book was absolutely wonderful.  I didn't grow up in Indiana in the 70s, but this book made me wish I had, if only to be friends with the two main characters.  Seriously, the narrator, and her best friend, Flea, were the type of girls I absolutely would have wanted to be friends with in high school.  They bond over corny jokes, favorite words and clothes.


In fact, clothing is so important to them that they take what has to be the worst babysitting job ever (EVER!) over the summer in order to put clothes on layaway for the school year.  And what did they put on layaway?  Oh, just awesome items like culottes and sweater vests:

I mean, if any book were tailor-made for me for this challenge, it's this one.  I love culottes and sweater vests!


Although, I think the colors on my sweater vest are more 80s than 70s:

Wrong decade or no, I'm just happy to have read this book and happy it inspired this outfit:

And now it's your turn, Reader Friends.  If you've got an outfit to share, please link up below:

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

The Long and Short of It

Anne, at Spy Girl, has a fun, weekly challenge on her blog with a different theme each week.  This week's theme is "long over short" which turned out to be quite a struggle for me.  I don't really do "short" especially not at work, but I was determined to find something that met the parameters.  And I think I did:

Dress & Belt: thrifted  Shoes: Seychelles

It may not look like it at first glance, but this is not a dress.  Or, rather, not just a dress.

No, it's actually a dress (long) layered over a romper (short):

I buttoned the dress for modesty's sake and because I don't think a dress just belted over a romper would fly at work, so you can't see it very well, but I promise you, there is a shorts romper under there.

That's right.  I wore a shorts romper.  To work.

Don't worry.  I don't think anyone noticed.  They were all too dazzled by my vintage Eye of Sauron belt and the fact that my shoes appear to match my dress.  (They don't, they just go really, really well).

I think I nailed Anne's challenge so I'm linking up with Spy Girl; make sure you stop by for more long-over-short inspiration!

And Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

P.S. If you haven't already entered, don't forget to enter my JORD wooden watches giveaway.  It ends today!

Sewing Savant and Possible Psychic

I love this dress:

Love the print, love the fit, love it. 

I mean, look at this thing.  It’s amazing:

It's perfect for swishing about, dramatic walks down spiral staircases, Mama Mia! viewings and casual summer parties.  I'd just add a white blazer for cool nights and I'd be set.  You can see it with a blazer at Everything Just So where the lovely Jill has included my pic with other party pics.

The best thing about this dress though?  It's handmade.  I’m always yelling about how much I love handmade vintage and this dress is a prime example why; it looks like it was made for me.  It wasn’t, of course, unless… Unless my 70s toddler-self sewed it for my future-self, at which point I should probably go on the next season of Project Runway because I’m clearly a sewing savant and possibly psychic!  

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

Gracey

Lucky Lamb

This outfit was directly inspired by an outfit that I saw in Lucky Magazine a couple of months ago.  And by a trick of Catherine’s at Not Dressed as Lamb:

A couple of months ago, Lucky suggested pairing a super-full skirt with a turtleneck layered under a printed shirt.  I knew immediately that I wanted to try to recreate the look but didn’t have a suitable skirt.  And then, a couple of weeks later, I found this skirt so I thought I’d give it a whirl:

And I love how it turned out.  In spite of it’s awkward length, this skirt has become one of my favorites to wear and today’s outfit is no exception.  I paired the skirt (Ralph Lauren via Goodwill) with a burgundy turtleneck (Gap) layered under a houndstooth shirt (vintage via Vintage by the Pound).  I also added a tie belt (DIY with belts from St. Vincent de Paul), tights (Hue via Nordstrom Rack), booties (Nine West Darsy) and a neon necklace (Target).

Although I do love the skirt, I was a bit iffy about the shirt.  It’s vintage and therefore has an appropriately crazy collar.  Which is where Catherine’s trick comes in; in this post here, she pins the collar of a shirt into a stand-up collar.  I did something similar with today’s shirt.  My collar wasn’t robust enough to pin behind my neck, so I folded the collar inside the shirt and used a stick pin to keep in place, creating a sort of mandarin collar:

And I think it worked.

So, thank you, Lucky.  And thank you, Catherine.  Also, a special thanks to my friend, Jeanne from I Dream of...{by Jeanne}.  She was with me when I bought this shirt and swore I could rock it.  Best enabler ever.

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Lord Jeff’s Cousin, Chet

In November, I wore a vintage cardigan made by “Lord Jeff” (you can see it here).  Well, I’m pretty sure this cardigan was made by Lord Jeff’s cousin, Chet:

Excuse me, I mean Lord Chet.  My understanding is that Lord Jeff and Lord Chet were minor royals/playboy cousins during the 70s.  They spent a lot of time in Ibiza, of course, but also in Switzerland.  It was their time in Switzerland that encouraged them to create their own lines of après ski wear.  Like this sweater:

In the spirit of the 70s, when they wore the heck out of some turtlenecks (and also because I love turtlenecks,) I layered the sweater (vintage via Vintage by the Pound) over a black turtleneck (Hinge via Nordstrom).  I also wore a pleated skirt (Goodwill), tights (Spanx via Nordstrom) and my new rain boots (Merona “Zajac” via Target).  I feel like Lord Chet would totally approve of this look.

You know who else would approve?  Starsky.  Little known fact: Starsky, of Starsky and Hutch, was dressed almost exclusively in sweaters by Lord Jeff and Lord Chet.  From what I’ve heard, their cousin Penny was the costume designer for the show so they had an in.

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

Gracey

Shop the Look:

I couldn't find my exact cardigan anywhere, but there are a lot on eBay and Etsy vendor hellhoundvintage, has a great selection.

Spanx Tight End tights

Similar skirt

Similar turtleneck

Merona Zajac Rain Boots (I think you can find them in the store for 1/2 off)

** Disclosure: Actions taken from the hyperlinks in this blog post may yield commission/compensation for the writer. Please see the Disclosure tab for more details.

Drama! Polka Dots! 70s! Coats! Dresses!

I didn’t do a lot of thrifting this weekend, but the little bit I did do was fabulous.  I found two skirts for my sister and two coats for myself.  This is one of the coats:

Isn’t it adorable?!  I love the polka dots (of course) and the crazy, dramatic collar.  Not only is the coat (Mycra Pac via Goodwill) spotted and dramatic, it is also water-resistant, wrinkle-resistant and reversible!  And, you can find it here, but, be warned, it costs considerably more than the $12.99 I paid at Goodwill.

In addition to my new coat, I also wore this dress (vintage Coco of California, thrifted):

It’s sooooo 70s, I couldn’t resist pairing it with my also-very-70s Eye of Sauron belt (thrifted, Goodwill).  But, I did also add tights (SPANX via Nordstrom) and booties (Luxury Rebel “Yuma” via Piperlime) to try to modernize the look a bit.  Because I do wear a lot of vintage clothes I try to be careful not to look like an extra in a period piece and I usually do that with my shoes.  It’s hard to resist the urge to go full 70s though; if I’d had the right pair of heeled boots, I think I would have worn them.

What about you, Reader Friends?  Do you try to modernize your vintage or do you go full Foxy Brown?

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Gracey