Mid-Week Musts: Violet and Blue and The Amazon Too

Every week (or, you know, when I remember), I'll be posting a weekly list of my musts; must have, must read, must listen, must watch.  This week's must-haves feature a heavy dose of violet and blue:

Old Navy Fit and Flare Dress (tall available)

LOFT coat (tall available & currently an extra 60% off )
Kate Spade New York studs 

Jeffrey Campbell ankle boots

Halogen scarf

And today's must-read features a heavy dose of the Amazon:

The Mapmaker's Wife is one of the books I read during my blogging break and I loved it.  LOVED.  It.  I don't read a lot (or any, really) non-fiction, but this book is fantastic.  I loved all of it, even the science-y parts that I'm not sure I fully comprehended; the story is just that good.

If you haven't yet read this book, do.  It's great.

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Tomato Violet

This has to be one of my favorite color combinations:

I think it makes sense because the two pieces have similar tones.  But, let’s be honest, I totally could have made that up. 

I paired my tomato-red polka-dot blouse (vintage, thrifted) with a violet skirt (thrifted and hemmed) and added black accents by way of a skinny belt (Steve Madden via Ross) and mini-wedges (Seychelles).  And then I added a yellow accent in the form of a bracelet (Mississippi Street Fair vendor) because that also makes sense to me.

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

Gracey

Violet, Mustard and Polka Dots

It’s still raining and I’m still wearing bright colors.  Today it’s violet and mustard.  Because those two colors totally go together.  See?:

 

I wore a violet skirt (thrifted) and a mustard cashmere sweater (thrifted).  And, because polka dots go with everything, I added some of those too with my blouse (Old Navy) and my umbrella (Target).  Okay, I actually added the polka dot blouse to tie in my black tights (Spanx) and wedge booties (Nine West “Peekaboo” via Piperlime), but they really do go with everything.

Also, did you all know that it’s finally Thursday?  Well, it is, and that means I’m linking up to the Thursday is for Thrifters Link Party over at Brass in Pocket. 

Happy Thursday, All!  Stay dry!

Gracey

It’s the Boots

Something is off about this outfit, which, yes, once again, I didn’t realize until I saw the pictures.  And I never thought I’d say this, but it’s the boots:

They’re wrong for this.  Yes, they’re right for 90% of my outfits, but they’re wrong for this outfit.

At least I think it’s the boots.  I mean, I like everything else about this outfit.  I like the butterscotch sweater (thrifted) combined with the mauve skirt (vintage, thrifted) and the grey tights (Hue via Macy’s).  And of course I love the polka dot (!) bow tie (silk, thrifted).  But, I’m not sure the boots are right.

I think I’ll wear this outfit again next week, provided our not-too-cold-and-surprisingly-not-rainy weather holds, with different shoes and we’ll see if it is, indeed, the boots.  Or, if I'm just being hard on myself because this cold is kicking my heinie and I've lost all perspective.

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!  Maintain perspective!

Gracey

Muted Florals and Violet Tights

Every time I wear these tights I want to describe them as violent tights.  But, these are violet tights, not violent tights.  Trust me, if these tights, or any others, tried to get violent, my thighs would squash that insurrection posthaste.  My thighs do NOT mess around.

So, yes, I’m wearing muted florals and violet tights today:

I love this dress.  I wore it once this spring but I think the muted colors lend themselves a bit better to fall.  Or I just like this outfit better.  Today I paired the dress (vintage) with my civilly obedient violet tights (DKNY via Nordstrom), a thin brown belt (Gap), taupe cardigan (Gap) and my riding boots (Born Crown “Sosie” via Nordstrom).

To sum up, love the dress, love the tights and love that my thighs strong-arm unruly undergarments.

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

P.S. Today is Thursday and Thursdays are for thrifters but because I’m not wearing any thrifted items today I’ve linked up to Spunky Chateau with yesterday’s thrifted dress.  And if you have a thrifted item you’d like to showcase, you should link up too!

Saturation Point

I love saturated colors (which may be pointing out the obvious, but it’s better to be obvious than oblivious):

I especially like to wear them during the summer.  They just feel like summer to me and have a tendency to look better than pastels against my summer-skin.  I often pair my saturated pieces with more neutral pieces, but today I decided to go all out.  In part because I was inspired by Ana at Better in Sepia’s look here, and in part by the fact that I just found this tank top in my dresser (what?  It’s a big dresser).

I wore a coral (which photographed as neon salmon) skirt (Banana Republic) with a violet tank (Old Navy) and turquoise-beaded necklace (rummaged).  All three of these pieces are pretty highly saturated so I wore my neutral platform sandals (Target) to give the eyes a rest.  And I added a belt (thrifted) to help wrangle some of the drape of the pieces.

Today’s Takeaway?  If you usually pair saturated items with neutrals, try them with other saturated colors; it can be a fun change.

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

Gracey

Welcome Back, Color

Daily Outfit, 3/7/11

Even though my week of neutrals was strangely successful, I was missing color so I decided to add some back to my life.  I have actually had this outfit in my head for a couple weeks now, but needed the weather to cooperate.  And it finally did.  It’s sunny today and not terribly cold.

So, I wore this:

 

 

The skirt was thrifted and is handmade from a houndstooth-printed fabric, with a high-waist, wide waistband and full lining; basically, it’s perfect for me.  I paired it with my violet tights, a violet turtleneck (Old Navy) layered under a notch-collar cardigan (Jones New York via Ross) and accessorized with a croc embossed faux-patent belt (Macy's) and my black booties (BC Shoes “Swear” via Piperlime).

I have to say, that this Monday was much, much better than last Monday.  The ride in was wonderful; it was sunny, there was no wind, the lining on my skirt didn’t tear and no raccoon eyes.  It was definitely a much better Monday, all around. 

How about you all?  How was your Monday?

Gracey