Olive Leopard

It’s true, I do.  Leopard is probably my favorite neutral other than black.  And it’s a neutral that looks good with black:

I borrowed the idea for this outfit from this look of Cambria’s at Jupe.  She wore forest green tights, but for some reason I don’t have forest green tights (I know, it’s weird to me too) so I went with olive.  Which ended up working in my favor because the spots on my leopard scarf are olive-hued as well.

In addition to my olive tights (Hue via Macys) and olive leopard scarf (???), I wore a black dress (vintage via Goodwill) layered over a black turtleneck (Gap) and black ankle boots (Nine West ‘Darsy’).  I also added a studded belt because I was worried the scarf-as-bow was too twee.  I like to think the belt reaffirms my status as a Billy Bad Bottom.

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

Gracey

Shop the look:

Similar olive tights

Similar leopard scarf

Similar black dress

Nine West 'Darsy' ankle boots

Similar studded belt

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Black and White and Blush All Over

Oh, and a little bit of oxblood:

 

I have had this thrifted sweater forever, but I never wore it because the length was weird.  It wasn’t duster-length; it was 80s-oversized-cardigan-length.  And that makes sense, because this is an oversized cardigan from the 80s.  Seriously oversized; this bad boy is a medium. 

In spite of the awkward length, I loved how graphic this sweater is, so I held onto it for years.  And then, finally, this fall I had the brilliant idea to shorten it.  I cut about 8 inches off and ran a zigzag stitch across the bottom to (hopefully) keep it from unraveling. It took another couple of months to get cold enough to wear this and for me to decide what to wear it with.  But, today, the stars have aligned and I'm finally wearing the sweater I've named "The Big Lebowski":

For the inaugural wearing, I paired The Big Lebowski* (vintage I.  B. Diffusion for Neiman Marcus via Goodwill) with an oxblood turtleneck (Gap) and a blush chiffon skirt (Pleione via Nordstrom Rack).  I added black tights (Spanx via Nordstrom), black ankle boots (Nine West “Darsy”) and a black cashmere scarf (Nordstrom).

Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

P.S. I know The Big Lebowski is from the 90s, not the 80s, but that's the name the sweater whispered to me.

P. P.S. Here is an awesome I.B. Diffusion promotional video from the 80s:

Kind of a Big Deal

I have something to tell you, Dearest Reader Friends.  And it's kind of a big deal.

Many of you have already seen this post of Sal's where she introduces the Already Pretty Team.  But, if you haven't, I'm happy to be the first to tell you that I am a member of that team!

As you can imagine, I am beyond excited about this opportunity.  I am a huge fan of Sally's and it's an honor to be working along side her and the other fabulous contributors.  I think she's put together a team that really does offer something for everyone.

The other contributors are:

Nadine from Adorkable Undies

Une femme d’un certain âge

Luanne from Weesha’s World

Ashe from Ash in Fashion

Sonja from Hello Beauty!

I have a great deal of respect for all of these women; as Sal says, they're all "smart, talented and stylish." I can't wait to read their posts and I hope you'll visit all of us over at Already Pretty to read them too.


Happy Friday, All!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Gracey

Year Two: A Retrospective

So, 2012 was my second year of blogging and I’ll always remember it as the year I practically almost became a real blogger.  

For one thing, I actually finally grasped the concept of, and joined, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.  I think I’ve used Pinterest the most successfully, having used it for inspiration for quite a few outfits.  The other two though…  On Twitter I mostly just talk about Project Runway, The Walking Dead and my bike rides.  Oh, and the weather during my bike rides.  Real exciting stuff, that.  And my Instagram?  It’s mostly food and kittens, with a few shoes thrown in.

In addition to becoming (slightly) more social media savvy, I also played with proportion like a real blogger, went to my first official blogger meet-up and wrote about real blogger topics like how to belt your skirts, the rise of merkins and the dangers of face-eating wallets.

Yep, this year was full of almost-real-blogger-ness.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t, maybe this year was full of nonsense and LOTR references, but real blogger or not, I’m so happy you were all there with me.  So far the absolute best part of blogging has been my Reader Friends and Blogger Friends – you all are the best!

Gracey

A Different Kind of Pinspiration

This outfit was inspired not by Pinterest, but by the pins on this outfit of the, well, fabulous, April, over at Knocked Up Fabulous:

Instead of a bright blue skirt (I think I packed mine for winter) I paired my cream sweater (thrifted, Goodwill) with my mocha-colored skirt (thrifted, Goodwill).  I also added black tights (Spanx via Nordstrom), belt (thrifted, Goodwill) and boots (thrifted, Goodwill) and an infinity scarf (Steve Madden via Macys).

And, of course, I added a vintage brooch cluster (all via Lil' Gypsy Vintage):

I like how the scarf ties in the black boots and tights and love the little pop of red from the floral brooch.  This is definitely something I'd wear again; perhaps next time with my blue skirt if I can remember where I put it.

Happy Wednesday, All!  And Happy New Year!

Gracey