A Little Wine With That Cheese

Someone the other day made the comment that I have a big, cheesy smile.  This is true.  I do.  And, I figured if I was putting all this cheese out, I should offer some wine too.  So here you go:

Get it?  I'm wearing a wine-colored outfit.  Yeah, my sense of humor is pretty cheesy too.  But, this outfit isn't, right?  It's kind of great?  I always forget how flattering monochromatic looks can be, as I tend towards a riot of color and prints, but this is almost slimming:

Skirt and Sweater: thrifted  Boots: MICHAEL Michael Kors "Bromley"  Necklace: Macy's

In real life, the skirt and the sweater aren't actually as similar in color as they appear in pictures.  In fact, I thought the skirt might be radiant orchid, but it really is reading as wine (or burgundy or oxblood) in these photos.  Which is cool . It helps the title make sense.

Also, because I really don't do monochromatic, I added some color with my earrings:

They're vintage Mexican silver (via Lil' Gypsy) and I think they're a lovely addition to my otherwise monochromatic look.

Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

Neutral Layers

As most of you know, I'm just not that into neutrals.  But, I love layers, texture and patterns which is why I think this outfit works for me:

The turtleneck  and boots add a bit of color, but otherwise, my outfit is dependent on layers, texture and patterns for interest.  The cream sweater has a non-standard stitch, the gray skirt is a diamond pattern and the gray tights are herringbone.

I even layered my necklaces:

So, yeah, even though this outfit is mainly neutrals, it still feels like me.

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

Get the Look

Similar skirt

Similar sweater

Exact Naya "Virtue" boots

Similar moss agate necklace

A Reprieve

We're having a reprieve from the rain for a few days and it is delightful.  It's still pretty cold in the mornings but the afternoons have been glorious.  So I took the opportunity to shed some layers:

I know, it's not a very fall-like palette but I actually really liked the skirt (Old Navy) with the gray sweater (JC Penney).  But the boots (Enzo Angolini via Nordstrom, similar), the boots are totally fall-like.  An effect I probably ruined with my pink and blue necklace (via Etsy shop, Nest of the Bluebird) and neon pink studs (Kate Spade New York).

Still, I'm sure I'll be back to fall colors once Oregon gets back to fall weather.

Happy Friday, All.  And have a lovely weekend!

Gracey

SIA: Woman of Substance

Today, I am linking up to Salazar's blog, 14 Shades of Grey, for this week's SIA Challenge.  As soon as I saw the piece Salazar chose, I knew I had to participate:

Woman of Substance - Octavio Ocampo

In spite of all the blue in the piece, I was drawn most to the combination of cream, green and orange-y yellows.  So, those are the colors I used in my outfit:

For this outfit, I paired my green, knit pencil skirt (vintage via Vintage by the Pound) with a cream blouse (LOFT), yellow sandals (Franco Sarto via Nordstrom Rack) and a yellow necklace (LOFT).  I also added a leopard belt because, well, I'm sure the artist meant to put of leopard in the inspiration piece.  Probably.



All in all, I loved the inspiration piece and I love my resultant outfit:

To see everyone else's inspired looks, please stop by 14 Shades of Grey and take a peek.

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Embrace the Gray

Oregon, being Oregon, only has summery weather approximately every fourth or fifth day.  Saturday was gorgeous, Sunday it rained like hell, yesterday was overcast and today is more of the same.  With some more rain thrown in because Oregon is ridiculous.  I don't have the strength to fight it, so I've decided to embrace the gray:

Literally.  I hugged each and every one of these pieces before I put them on.  The pieces being a gray sweater skirt (Macy's) with a gray sweater (JC Penney) and dark gray boots (Gap).  Yep, just gray on gray on gray.  But, I think the print on the skirt keeps it from being too dull.

Also, this sweater looks like a crop top on me.  It think it's a combination of my giant size and the fact that I shrunk it in the wash:

Thank goodness this skirt can be hiked up to make up for the possibly disastrous lack of sweater.

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Zigzag Goodness

I adore this sweater.  It is full of zigzag goodness:

It is vintage Nan Dorsey and is in amazing condition; one of my better Goodwill finds, for sure. 

I wore the sweater with a black turtleneck (Gap), black knit pencil skirt (vintage via Goodwill) and boots (Gap) to pick up the black zigs.  And I added cobalt blue tights (Nordstrom) to pick up the blue zags.

Yep, zigzag goodness.

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

Gracey

Shop the Look:

Vintage Nan Dorsey sweaters (here and here)

Similar knit pencil skirt

Similar mid-calf boots

** 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.

Gracey Wins Again

I don’t wear this sweater dress/tunic/thingy very often because it’s quite difficult for me to style.  But, this morning, I thought if a shar pei can look cute covered in loose folds, so can I:

Okay, so maybe that's not the best logic I’ve ever applied to an outfit, but I kind of feel like this works.  Probably because I also wore a turtleneck and they make everything better.  In addition to the sweater thing (???) and the turtleneck (Gap), I also wore a knit pencil skirt (Elementz via Macy’s) and herringbone tights (Hue).  I finished the look with a belt (thrifted), cuffed boots (Gap) and a fringe necklace (Jessica Simpson via Macys).

In all honesty, I think it’s probably the belt that saved this look, not the turtleneck; although I think we can all agree that the turtleneck played a strong supporting role.  The problem is that no matter how carefully I arrange the folds of this sweater, it has a tendency to accentuate my tummy.  By belting it with a contrasting belt at the smallest part of my waist (also known as my ribs), I fool the eye into thinking my waist is smaller than it is.  Yeah, take that, foolish eyes; Gracey wins again! Muah ha ha ha ha.

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

Shop The Look

Similar sweaterdress

Similar pencil skirt (I looked for my actual skirt, which I got just last weekend on clearance at Macy's, but couldn't find it online.  They had a lot left in the store though.)

Similar herringbone tights

Similar cuffed boots

Similar necklace

Similar turtleneck

 

 

** 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.

Ambitious

I think today’s outfit was a little ambitious:

It hurts to smile...

...but I fought through the pain to provide you all with this goofy look.

I don’t mean sartorially ambitious (obviously), I mean it’s too ambitious for my current physical capabilities.

It took me at least 10 minutes to struggle into these tights (DKNY via Nordstrom) today.  And my sister not only had to hook my bra for me, she had to tuck my shirt (Halogen via Nordstrom) into my houndstooth pencil skirt (thrifted) for me.  I was able to put on my sweater vest (vintage, thrifted) and studded belt (Michael Michael Kors via Nordstrom) all by myself but needed her help to pad the bruise on my ankle before I could put on my boots (Born Crown “Sosie” via Nordstrom).

I think I’m going to have to go a bit simpler for the rest of the week, if only for my sister’s sake.

Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

My Skirt is Not Neon

It just looks like it is.  Because nothing is EVER the same color on my blog as it is in my house.  At home, this skirt is a lovely, bright kelly.  In pictures, it really is practically neon:

 

I paired my non-neon skirt (vintage, via Vintage by the Pound) with a blue-and-white striped bow blouse (also vintage, also via Vintage by the Pound).  I added a leopard belt (???), yellow platform sandals (Franco Sarto via Nordstrom Rack), a vintage Monet cuff (Red Fox Vintage) and a single earring (no idea).

I feel very 80s in this outfit.  Which, for me, is a good thing.  I adore the 80s but admit that it sometimes colors my judgment.  Surely only someone enamored of the 80s would think pairing this practically-neon skirt with this blouse and adding random animal print, side-swept hair and a single earring makes sense.  Does it really make sense?  I have no idea; I’m probably the last person you should ask.

I do like it though and am happy to link this outfit to Jill and Adrienne’s How I Wear My: Secondhand Treasures Link Party.  To see more secondhand treasures, please pop on over to Adrienne’s blog, The Rich Life (on a budget) for a visit. 

And have a happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Black Skirt # 3 – The Pencil

This is one of two black pencil skirts that I own:

Today I wore the skirt (vintage, thrifted) with a scarf-print blouse (thrifted), a chain belt (via Mabel & Zora), lion earrings (vintage) and leopard print peep-toe mini-wedges (v. old via Ross).   I actually really liked this outfit considering it’s made of pieces I don’t wear very often.  For example, the blouse has only been worn once before.  But that’s not because I don’t like it; it’s just such a distinctive piece and it's also not the easiest to style.  Styling difficulty is something I’m taking into consideration during this Nosh Opping Expedition, but I think in this case I’ll keep this piece.

This isn’t about the blouse though.  It’s about the skirt(s). 

Truthfully, I don’t know why I own more than one black pencil skirt.  I rarely wear pencil skirts of any color because they are not great for riding a bike in.  However, this one is knit and therefore is better than most for riding.  That fact, and the fact that I do actually like it, makes it pretty much the only black pencil skirt that I wear. 

In fact, I’ve only worn my other black pencil skirt once.  Probably because it doesn’t have the bike-riding advantage of being knit and because it doesn’t fit me nearly as well as this one.  I only bought it because I worry a bit about how body-con this skirt is, and for the same reason I bought those brown pants; I figured I might need a basic black pencil skirt someday.  Now, though, I realize I don’t and I certainly don’t need one that doesn’t fit right. 

So, today’s pencil skirt stays and so does the admittedly wacky blouse.  However, the non-knit pencil skirt will be donated back to the thrift store.

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey