Silk Orphans and That Skirt. Again.

Daily Outfit for Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

Yes, it's the poppy pleated skirt.  Again.

 

 

I know I wear this skirt a lot, but look how versatile it is.  It helped me save two more of my closet orphans today.  The orphans in question are the cream silk blouse (Banana Republic) and the cream and black striped s/s silk jacket (thrifted).  I paired them with my vintage pleated skirt (thrifted), a black belt (Nine West via Ross) and platform sandals (Target).

I have never worn the jacket because I think it's cooler than I am (pretty sure it mocks me from the closet) and I've only worn the blouse once because it's better in theory than in practice.  The chevrons are a nice design detail but it lays funny and sits weird on the hips.  Trust me.  Back to the skirt though - I think it's one of my favorites.  I love the length, the pleats, the color and it's orphan-saving skills.  I mean, two at a time?  Impressive, no?  It turns out that poppy looks fabulous with black and white striped silk.  And that this skirt and only this skirt (with it's sidekick, The Belt) is able to tame the wonkiness of the chevron blouse.  You are welcome, Dear Orphans.

And you are welcome, Dear Readers, for yet another visit from The Orphan Saving Poppy Skirt.

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Running Through the Jungle

Daily Outfit for Tuesday, June 07, 2011

I think I got too much sleep last night because I was squirrelly as heck while taking today’s photos.  Case in point, this photo here:

I’m pretending I was trying to show the cut of the tunic (it’s quite low both back and front) but sometimes a girl just feels like fake running in her photos.

These next two are some of the few that I wasn’t talking, laughing or distracted in:

Seriously, it was a rough shoot.  There is good news though – I rather like today’s outfit.  I bought this tunic this weekend from Ross Dress for Less where I’m pretty sure they were selling it as a dress.* Anyway, I layered my new tunic over a lace-trim camisole (Old Navy) and paired it with my “regular” length Flirt Skinnies (Old Navy), leopard peep-toe mini-wedges (v. old via Ross), orange earrings (via Last Thursday vendor) and a few bracelets (Banana Republic, Nordstrom, thrifted). 

Yes, it’s another tropical/jungle-themed outfit.  And no, I’ve never met an animal print I didn’t like.  It’s funny though because before I started blogging, I would not have said I had this much of an affinity for jungle and tropical prints.  But, now that I’m cataloguing everything I’m wearing I realize that I really do love them.  I think it’s because they have a tendency to be more bold (or crazy) than other prints and sometimes I like crazy (or bold).

I hope everyone had an equally bold, crazy, and squirrelly Tuesday (which really are the best kind of Tuesday to have).

Gracey

* Let me just say that this is NOT a dress.  Seriously folks, just because something clears your crotch by a whole four inches does not make it a dress.  At least not at my height.

You Want Accessories? Oh, I’ll Show You Accessories

Unlike Thursday’s unadorned dress, I wore the heck out of some accessories the past couple of days.  I didn’t wear much of anything on Friday – I had the day off and it was sunny so most of the afternoon was spend sunbathing with the dog.  For some reason, our dog loves himself a good lawn chair so we laid out both Friday and Saturday afternoons.  Otherwise I ran some errands but mostly did nothing.  Let’s just say I got A LOT of reading done.

On Sunday, however, I had reason to get out of the house.  I went shopping and bought some shoes, went to lunch and then on a date with my current favorite person to date.  We went out to Multnomah Falls along the Columbia River and it was absolutely gorgeous:

View of the Falls from near the bottom

View from the Falls from just above the bridge

And yes, I was accessorized:

I wore these maybe-slightly-too-big khaki shorts (Target) with a new yellow blouse (also Target) and accessorized with my favorite vintage turquoise-beaded cuff, a turquoise ring, vintage blue glass bead necklace, multi-colored medallion earrings, a vintage Anne Klein clutch and pewter sandals (Lovely People via Ideeli).

After the falls we went to a graduation party, for which I traded out my sandals for these fabulous leopard print wedges (Tahari via DSW):

Today I kept the accessorizing bonanza alive:

I paired a jersey dress (Target) with a thin leather belt (Gap), one of my new scarves (Nordstrom), a wood bangle (Alberta Street vendor), unkempt hair (it was just so very kempt the day before) and my new favorite shoes: blue platform sandals (MRKT via DSW). 

Seriously, folks, these are easily the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn.  They feel like they have at least a half-inch of padding in the soles and the straps don’t pinch or cut into my dear piggies.  And the color!  I’ve already decided this lovely periwinkle will go with everything.  Like this dress!  And this scarf! 

I know, I know; that’s a lot of enthusiasm for a Monday, but it was sunny this weekend.  In Oregon!  And I bought shoes.  And scarves.  Really, you’re just going to have to cut a girl some slack.  I will end it here though. 

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend too.  And Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

Pretty for Pretty’s Sake

Daily Outfit for Thursday, June 02, 2011

I think this dress is so pretty:

I paired the dress (vintage Karin Stevens – thrifted) with black ankle-tie espadrilles (Very Volatile via Nordstrom).  I wanted to keep it simple given the fairly busy pattern of the dress (an abstract floral).  And I also wanted to highlight the cut of the dress, which I think is brilliant for my shape.  I love the fact that the waistband hits me at the smallest part of my waist and that the top is fitted without being too tight.  And, it has pockets!  Two of them!!

Sometimes I feel like there is pressure on bloggers to be “edgy” or “experimental” in how we dress.  Outfits with deep juxtapositions between the pieces (cowboy boots and ball gowns, tutus and Converse, etc) are applauded as being unique and so very interesting.  And while I would like my readers to find me interesting, sometimes I’m drawn to pieces just because they are pretty.  And I think this dress is very pretty.

How about you, Friend Reader?  Are you drawn to edgier pieces or are you a fan of pretty for pretty’s sake?

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

Practicing Impracticality

Daily Outfit for Wednesday, June 1, 2011

In spite of the fact that I bike to work in platform heels, wedges and other ill-advised footwear, I like to think I maintain a pretty practical wardrobe.  Which I think is one of the reasons that, before this year, I’ve never been a fan of sweaters with short sleeves.  They seem a bit pointless, really.  I mean, if it’s cold enough for a sweater, you’d think it’d be cold enough for sleeves, right?  And yet, they’re something I find myself specifically looking for when I go thrifting as of late. 

Even though I have a strange desire to thrift short-sleeve sweaters, I’m still unsure on when they’re practical to wear.  In the past I’ve layered them over long-sleeve tees in the winter (yes, I know, if I am going through all that trouble I could just buy a long-sleeve sweater) but it’s (finally) no longer winter so that trick is out.  But, today.  Today we had thunderstorms so it was raining off and on but it was also crazy muggy.  Turns out that particular mix is the perfect weather for a short-sleeved sweater. 

I went with this one:

This sweater is thrifted and I wore it over a tiered chiffon blouse (Madison Lilly via Nordstrom) with some pin-tucked wide-legged jeans (Gap), Jeffrey Campbell sandals (Nordstrom) and cuff bracelet (thrifted).  It’s less color than I generally like to wear but I was hoping the different textures of the blouse and sweater along with the cuff added enough interest not to bore me to death and it worked well enough for me.

The message here?  If you try hard enough you can justify any addition to your wardrobe, no matter how impractical.  Trust me, I have a blog.

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

Gracey