Day 3: White Heat

So, here’s the deal.  Last week Oregon’s weather was sort of crummy.  I complained and now it’s mid-90s.  I’m not saying that Mother Nature’s trying to punish me, but 95 in September feels a little vindictive.  Anywho, it’s hot.  Stupid hot.  Too hot for clothes, but public nudity is frowned upon (What’s that?  It’s illegal?  Good to know.), so I wore this:

I just couldn’t possibly manage anything more than a simple white dress (Bar III via Macys) and sandals (Enzo Angolini, similar) in this heat.  Heck, I couldn’t even manage a necklace!  But, that doesn’t mean I didn’t accessorize.  No, I used some brooches (similar fruit, similar blue, exact bee) in a cluster at my waist and some studs on my wrist (Nordstrom) to add some interest and a little color.

Hopefully it will cool off some tomorrow because I only have one simple white dress in my Perfect 10 and public nudity will most likely still be illegal.

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

Day 2: Black & Blue & Neon Too

For Day One of the Perfect 10 Remix Challenge, I wore stripes.  For Day Two, I wore solids:

And for Day Three, I’m planning on mixing stripes and a solid.  Just kidding, I have no plans for Day Three.  I prefer to go where the morning takes me.

And, on Day Two, the morning took me to this look:

This look being a navy blue sleeveless tee (Gap, similar) paired with a black, pleated skirt (thrifted, similar).  Yep, that’s right, black and blue.  But, with neon too, in the form of my neon yellow necklace (Target) and some neon blue studs that you can’t see because of my hair.  I finished the look with a multicolored belt (Target), some studded cuffs (Nordstrom) and my trusty Rieker shoes (thrifted, exact).

I have to say that I actually picked the rather staid, non-psychedelic items I chose for this challenge on purpose.  I like color.  A lot.  All over my body.  All the time.  Oddly enough, not everyone feels the same way, and, as a result, there is a school of thought that says you can have a small, neutral capsule wardrobe with maybe a couple of accent pieces but that otherwise depends on accessories to add color and interest.  I, of course, think this is a bunch of hooey.  

But, still, it’s an interesting concept, isn’t it?  So, I figured I’d use this 10 x 10 challenge to try a toned down palette, like black and white and navy, but with strong accent pieces, like neon.  So far, it hasn’t been terrible, but, it’s only Day Two.  By this weekend I may be sleeping in my printed dresses because I miss them so much.

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Day 1: Sexy Beetlejuice

So, yesterday was the first day of the Perfect 10 Remix Challenge and this is what I wore:

I liked it, actually a lot, but it did feel a little "sexy Beetlejuice" to me.  I hesitate to call myself sexy, but this was definitely a lot more va-va-voom-y than I usually go.

Happily, the striped skirt is one of the most comfortable pieces of clothing I've ever worn.  It felt like I was wearing lounge wear all day and it was great for bike riding.  I think if I weren't so physically comfortable in this, being dressed like sexy Beetlejuice might have been mentally uncomfortable for me.  But, as it was, I kind of loved this:

In addition to my awesome striped skirt (Vince Camuto via Nordstrom, exact) I also wore my striped tee (Old Navy, similar), my latest thrifted espadrilles (Rieker, exact) and a braided belt (thrifted, similar).  By the way, these shoes are awesome.  I have never heard of this brand before I thrifted them, but they're crazy comfortable too, just like the skirt.

Oh my Gawd, y'all; I've figured out the key to comfort! Dress like sexy Beetlejuice!

Trust me, it totally works.


Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Perfect 10

The wonderful, fabulous Callie, of Coffee and Cardigans, is hosting a blogging challenge, called The Perfect 10.  As part of this challenge, I and various other bloggers are going to cornrow our hair and run along the beach a la Bo Derek; and we’ll be video-taping the whole thing!

Okay, not really.  No, in actuality, the Perfect 10 Remix is far more sensible and far more safe for work that that.  Instead, for the next 10 days, we’re limiting our wardrobe to 10 items, remixing the heck out of those 10 items and sharing the results with our readers.

I don’t usually do challenges like this because a) I tend to get bored easily,  b) I don’t like anyone telling me what to wear, including me and c) I never know what to choose!!  Still, I will (reluctantly) admit that I need to challenge myself more, so I’m in.  Yay, me!

Here are my 10 items:

My perfect ten includes two skirts; one black and one striped: 

Three shirts; a striped tee, a navy tee and a sleeveless chambray:

One dress, in white, because that Labor Day thing is no longer a thing, right? 

Two pairs of shoes; brown huaraches and yellow platforms:

And one wildcard piece; a floral printed cropped jacket:

I’m actually kind of surprised by the pieces I chose – I figured I’d have more color or more prints or more colorful prints but I think this mix will work.  At least I hope it will.  I also hope that two pairs of shoes are enough; I’m kind of skeptical on that point, but shall do my best. 

For more on the Perfect 10 Remix, please see Callie’s post here.  

And stay tuned!

Gracey 

Olive, Orange and Leopard

The weather has taken a turn for the worst here in Oregon.  Thunder and lightning, torrential rains and, gasp, layers.  Today's layers are olive, orange and leopard:

I'm not super excited about being forced into wearing layers, but I liked the mix of olive (thrifted jacket), orange (Old Navy top and Nine West flats) with leopard in this look.  I also added Gap Real Straight Skimmers and a Nordstrom studded bracelet. 

I think maybe my jacket is a bit boxy for my shape, but otherwise I liked this look.  I may try to thrift a more fitted one, but it's hard to find something that is both fitted and casual and I bought this jacket specifically to fill a casual niche.  Also, I'm kind of lazy so unless a more-fitted-but-still-casual olive jacket throws itself into my Goodwill cart, this one will just have to do.

So, to sum up, it rained, I wore layers and those layers included a somewhat ill-fitting but still mostly acceptable jacket.  And that makes me wonder, how important is fit to you, Dearest Reader Fans?  Do you purchase not-quite-right items to fill a gap or is fit paramount in your wardrobe?

Happy Friday, All!

Gracey