Stripes and Spots

The other day I wandered into Target for laundry detergent, as one does.  And I walked out with a new skirt, as one does.  But, really, how could I resist this piece?

I love leopard and I love mustard and my joy in having them combined in one piece cannot be overstated, so there was absolutely no way I was going to pass this skirt up.

It is perfection:

I mean, it's short perfection but with some tights, I'm pretty sure I didn't flash anyone.  Probably.

In addition to the spotted skirt (Phillip Lim 3.1 for Target) and the tights (Target), I also wore a striped shirt (vintage, thrifted), black booties (Born Crown) and a vintage bracelet (Red Fox Vintage).

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Gracey

Pinspiration: Bright Jacket, Black Base

Today I wore a bright red jacket layered over a black base:

I love this look, but I can’t take any credit for it.  I copied it directly from a Pin of J’sEveryday Fashion.

Pinspiration:

Image via J's Everyday Fashion

Me:

See?  Practically twins. 

I knew I wanted to recreate this look as soon as I saw it.  Not because it’s particularly ground-breaking; black and red are very classic.  No, for me, this look had extra appeal in the form of the cap-toe shoes.  They’re a classic in their own right, but I wouldn’t have thought to pair the two.  The cap-toes make this feel fresh.  At least to my eye.  And made it something I wanted to try.

For my recreation of this look, I layered a red, vintage coat (Maurice via Goodwill), because somehow I don’t have a red blazer, over black ankle pants (Vince Camuto via Nordstrom) and a black turtleneck sweater (Hinge via Nordstrom).  My cap-toe shoes are Bandolino wedges (via DSW) and I also added a vintage necklace (Sarah Coventry via Red Fox Vintage) and vintage earrings.

Also, because it's Monday and there is nothing shy about this look, I'm linked up to Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style.

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Gracey

Green With Envy?

Nope.  I’m just green with poor photography skills.  Unfortunately, I had to take these photos inside and I had to take them myself (the horror!), so the end result is green Gracey in a cute outfit:

Now let’s talk about the cute outfit, shall we?  It looks like pants and a tunic, but it's actually a dress over pants.  See?

The dress is obviously too long to be worn over pants, but I didn’t want to wear it alone as the holiday party I was attending was in a bowling alley.  A nice bowling alley, but still, a bowling alley.  So, I belted the dress with a skinny belt and then pulled it up to hang over the belt, creating a sort of blouson effect.  Et voila, my dress is now a tunic:

In addition to the dress-as-tunic (vintage via Goodwill) and cropped pants (Vince Camuto via Nordstrom), I also wore leopard pumps (Merona “Maye” via Target): 

Merona "Maye" pumps - Image via target.com

I finished off the look with a vintage gold clutch (Goodwill), a couple of vintage bangles (Red Fox Vintage) and my black mini-bubble necklace: 

And there you have it, what I wore for my holiday party.  What about about you Reader Friends?  Are you attending any holiday parties this year?  If so, what are you wearing?!

Happy Friday, Everyone!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Gracey

Bonus Footage: Gracey Goes to the Opera

Last Saturday, I went to see Don Giovanni at the Portland Opera with my best group of girl friends, Alex, Jodi and Erica.  We went to dinner at Gracie's and dessert at The Driftwood Room, both in the Hotel DeLuxe, before the show, and it was delicious.  After we ate, we had to rush across town (I like to linger over my champagne cocktails) to the show, but we made it and saw a fabulously modern rendition of Don Giovanni.  It was my first opera and I'm hooked; I'll definitely be going back.

For my inaugural opera, I wore this:

I found this dress for under $10 at my now-defunct local Salvation Army.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I'd found my opera dress.  I paired my opera dress (vintage, tag says Styled by Linda Jane), with fishnets (Target), a vintage fur (also $10, at a garage sale), Franco Sarto pumps (via Nordstrom) and a vintage clutch and jewelry.

The earrings are vintage, via Ray's Ragtime, the bracelet is vintage, via Red Fox Vintage, I can't remember where the ring is from and the clutch is also vintage, also Salvation Army.

Alex also wore vintage:

She borrowed my vintage pleated dress, vintage clutch (thrifted) and belt (Target).  She is also wearing leopard heels (thrifted), opera-length bejeweled gloves (Lil' Gypsy vintage), her mother's prom fur (so cute!) and her grandmother's vintage jewelry.

This weekend, I'm (sadly) not doing anything so fancy.  I'm heading up to a football game at Portland State, looking for a button for my new vintage coat and going to the Chart House.  Even though I did go to school at PSU, I don't think I'm going to root for them.  Instead I'm going to root for myself to stay warm and dry.  Go Gracey!

Happy Saturday, All!

Gracey

Hip Buttons

I thrifted this blouse last month.  The tags are cut out, but I’m pretty sure it’s from the 80s:

How can I tell?  Well, there were shoulder pads, which I removed, the color scheme is questionable at best, and there are hip buttons.  Ridiculous, gold-accented, non-functional hip buttons.  I seem to have a vague recollection of the 80s being a time when they put buttons on everything (much like the early 2010s being a time when they put birds on everything).

I also think it might be from the 80s because I have no idea how to style it.  I’ve found that a lot of the clothes I’m viscerally drawn to but don’t know what to do with are from the 80s.  Basically, clothing love – styling ideas = 80s.  And today’s blouse definitely fits that equation; I adore it and have no idea what to do with it:

I knew I had to layer the top over something, in this case, a black tank (Target), otherwise we’d have an “oh, hey there, boobs” moment for real.  But, aside from that obvious piece, I had no idea what to do with it.  I thought at first that I needed to go with skinny bottoms to balance the blouson effect of the blouse.  That turned out to be a surprisingly horrible idea, so I did the opposite; instead of skinnies, I decided to go with a wide leg jean (Banana Republic).  I also added platform booties (Nine West via TJ Maxx), a vintage moss agate necklace (Lil’ Gypsy Vintage) and a vintage Monet bracelet (Red Fox Vintage).

And I think it worked.  Of course, I have no idea how I’ll wear it next time around, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Inspired By: Half-Naked Models and Hobbits

The majority of my outfit is inspired by this Guess ad:

Guess Fall 2012 - Image via Bloggers.com

And here is my version:

Luxury Rebel "Yuma" - Image via 6pm.com

 (Similar pleated skirt, similar houndstooth blouse, Luxury Rebel "Yuma" booties) 

As you can see, my brooding, half-naked male model failed to show and I went ahead and buttoned my shirt, but otherwise I think we can agree that I pretty much nailed this recreation.

For my version of the look, I paired a sheer, pleated skirt (Pleione via Nordstrom Rack) with a silk houndstooth blouse (Jones New York, thrifted).  I added my replacement black booties (Luxury Rebel “Yuma” via Piperlime), a vintage Monet bracelet (via Red Fox Vintage) and what I refer to as my “Eye of Sauron” belt (vintage, thrifted).

The name for the belt is inspired by this image from Lord of the Rings:

Eye of Sauron - Image via LOTR Wiki

And yes, it does make my pelvis all-seeing; thank you for asking.

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

Gracey

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