Embroidery, Tassels, and a Ram

This outfit has everything:

Embroidery.

Tassels.

And a ram:

All of which make it, possibly, the perfect fall outfit:

Dress: LOFT (similar) Ram belt: secondhand vintage  
Scarf: Nordstrom Rack (similar here and here)
Boots: Bettye Bettye Muller (save, splurge, bigger splurge)

Or at least perfect for what's supposed to be a rainy, not-too-cold fall day.



Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

Literary Stylings #25 - Mislaid

For today's LitSty look, I was inspired by the book Mislaid, by Nell Zink:

I chose this book because it was one of my favorites from last month.  I had never read Zink before, but am now a huge fan.  She takes what are definitely sensitive subjects, like homosexuality in the 50s and 60s and race relations in the 60s and 70s and passing (!) for black (!) in the south (!) and writes about them with both pathos and humor.

The main character of the book is Peggy, who realized in high school that she loved women and wanted to love women.  She began dressing in masculine clothing and went to a liberal all-girls school.  However, at that school, she ends up having an affair.  With a professor.  With a homosexual, male professor.  Neither of them being experience with birth control, Peggy ends up pregnant.  And she and Lee, her professor, end up married.

Peggy eventually flees her marriage with her young daughter and in an attempt to hide them both, decides to pass as black.  In the South.  In the 60s.  Again, somehow, Zink manages to handle all of these issues deftly and often amusingly.  It's such a well written book, I recommend it to everyone.


As for my outfit, I wore a vintage dress layered over pants to demonstrate the duality of Peggy's position as both a lesbian and a wife and mother:

I chose this specific dress because although it's printed with roses, they're scribbled roses so it's not too sweet:

All in all, I'm not 100% sure this outfit makes sense in real life, but it made sense to me for this book.  And I was surprisingly comfortable wearing it.

Dress: vintage thrifted  Pants: LOFT
Turtleneck: hinge via Nordstrom  Shoes: Bettye by Bettye Muller

And now it's your turn; link your looks up below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Friday, All!

Gracey

Welcome to March

So, my co-worker, a native Pittsburgher and overwhelming optimist, assures me that Spring is almost here and it's going to be nice all week next week.  I am, understandably, I think, skeptical.  Why?  Because the past two days, it's been freezing and alternating between rain and snow.

Basically, I'm still wearing as many layers in March as I was in December and January:

Heck, maybe even more.


The good news is that I rather like this combination of pieces:

The bad news is that I'm getting real tired of the wind messing up my perfect pleats:

Stupid wind.


So, yeah, welcome to March:

Hat: Nordstrom (similar) Scarf: La Fiorentina via Bluefly  Sweater: LOFT (similar)
Wool Blazer: Gap (similar)  Skirt: thrifted vintage (similar)  Boots: Franco Sarto "Eminent"

And Happy Friday!

Gracey

Non-Boring Neutrals

As you probably noticed from my last post, and the one before, I usually like to brighten up my winters with color.  I also like to brighten up my springs, summers and autumns with color.  But in winter, especially, neutrals can feel kind of boring to me.

But, not these neutrals:

The different textures (suede! leather! fuzzy-wuzzy!) keep the outfit interesting:

And, frankly, the different textures also help keep it warm.



I mean, say what you will about Pennsylvania winters (no, really, I say bad things about it all the time, it's okay, everyone does), but they do provide opportunities to wear fun things like suede and layered sweaters:

Turtleneck sweater: Gap (similar)  Fuzzy sweater: vintage, thrifted
Skirt: thrifted (cute faux version)  Tights: HUE  Boots: MICHAEL Michael Kors (similar)

Things like non-boring neutrals.


Happy Friday, All!

Gracey

No Nonsense, Well, Maybe Just a Little

But, not with the tights.  No, these tights were given to me by No Nonsense, and they are living up to their name:

The skirt, on the other hand, is straight up full of nonsense.  The darn thing insists on spinning around on my waist like it's being paid to do so.  Seriously, that front pocket seems to think it's a side pocket and is trying it's darnedest to get back home.

But, enough of the silly skirt.  Let's talk about these tights:

I'm not kidding folks, they are fantastic.

Now, this particular pair, while fabulously patterned, isn't especially thick, but for Fall, or mild winters, these are perfect.  Also perfect?  The fit.  I'd never tried No Nonsense tights because I tend to shy away from tights that have combined sizes, like L/XL, because I've found they're more on the "L" side than on the "XL" side and I am the opposite.  But, these tights fit beautifully.  They're long enough for my legs and didn't sag at all during the day.  They also didn't pinch my thighs, which is good because my thighs hate being pinched.

If your thighs also hate being pinched, I highly recommend No Nonsense tights.  Because, having No Nonsense on your legs gives you more time to deal with the nonsense of your skirt:

Nonsense Skirt: LOFT  Sweater: Woolovers (get 10% off with that link)
Tights: No Nonsense  Boots: Franco Sarto "Eminent"

And that takes a lot of energy.

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Pleated and Printed

This dress has everything a gal could ask for in a vintage dress.  It's both pleated and printed:

What, exactly, it's printed with, I can't say.  It's some sort of random, 60s print:

But, that random 60s print works well with modern neutrals.


Modern neutrals like this faux leather moto and the suede boots:

Dress: thrifted vintage (similar)
Moto: Guess via Nordstrom Rack (similar)  Boots: Circa Joan & David (similar)

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Boots and Bridges

I’m working with a bit of a skeleton wardrobe for the next month or so and when I was trying to decide what to keep out and what to store I knew I had to keep my Born boots.

I honestly can’t imagine a fall without these boots:

Boots: Born Crown "Sosie" (similar)  Top: LOFT  Skirt: Old Navy  Tights: Spanx

Or a winter.  Or most of spring.

Today I paired my boots with black and blue:

Now, before you cringe and unfollow me over the wearing of black with brown, please allow me to explain.

I know a lot of people are against pairing black with brown, but I am rather for it.  Especially when worn with a “bridging” color, like blue.  What’s a bridging color, you ask?  Well, it’s a term I made up, as one does, to describe a color that helps bridge the gap between two other colors.

Like this sweater is doing with the skirt and the boots:

This is a picture of me explaining why this outfit works; I'm demonstrating the gap I'm bridging with blue.

Just black and brown together looks fine to my eye, but I can admit that if I had worn a black top with this, the brown boots would have looked out of place.  And then you totally could have left in a huff, vowing never to return until I got my act together and stopped mixing neutrals.

But the blue, especially a printed blue, helps tie the brown in.  Because it’s a bridging color.  See?

Hooray for made up terms!  And boots!  Yay, boots!

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Guess What?! Culottes!!

Guess what?

If you guessed culottes, you're either very smart or very literate (both good things):

Because I am, in fact, wearing CULOTTES!!!!

Yes, this is the best picture I've ever taken.

Man, I love, love, love me some culottes.  When I was younger, I had a white pair with a rainbow embroidered across the pelvis and down the legs.  They were a bit of 70s heaven and because of them, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for culottes.


In fact, I've been looking to thrift a pair for the past year or so, but without any luck.  Happily my Mom is basically a thrifting goddess and found this pair for me:

They make me smirk with joy!

Now, don't get me wrong; I recognize that culottes aren't the most figure-flattering things in the world.  But, they're beyond great for bike riding and I feel slouchy and cool in them, as opposed to sloppy and plump.

And this particular pair not only makes me feel magically cool, they have both pockets and awesome buttons:

Man, I love these things.

What about you, Reader Friends?  Are you a fan of culottes?


Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey