Embellished and Olive

I'm sad to say that this outfit is not an original idea:

Sweatshirt: LOFT (similar)  Vest: Old Navy (similar)
Scarf: Gifted (similar)  Jeans: Old Navy
Boots: Born Crown "Sosie" (similar)

Nope.  Not original.  In fact, brazenly ripped off from this Pin:

Image via Pinterest

As you can see, my outfit is less seasonally confused (Tulips and layers?  And is that snow on the ground? What is going on here?!) than the original, but it's basically the same.


Well, almost.  My outfit is also considerably less blinged-out than the original, but I like the colored jewels on this sweatshirt.  Especially with the claret color of the scarf:

Now if only I can get that Louis Vuitton bag...


Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

Giant Find: Lou & Grey

Every once in awhile, I stumble across a clothing line for non-giants that magically works on my giant self.  Lou & Grey is my latest discovery.

If you've wondered into a LOFT store lately, or browsed their website, you've probably seen Lou & Grey.  And, if you're tall, you've probably checked to see see if they carry Tall sizes.  They do not, so you were probably disappointed and probably vowed never to shop Lou & Grey again.  Well, folks, I'm here to ask you to recant that vow, because Lou & Grey does work for tall women!  Or, at least it's worked for me.

The jacket in this outfit, for example, is Lou & Grey:

And the cuffing there is by choice, not necessity.


This skirt is also Lou & Grey:

Is it the world's longest maxi?  No, but it is definitely actually a maxi.

Because, for whatever reason, Lou & Grey tend to run a little big (a full size, I'd say) and a little long.  A little long for non-giants, that is.  For us taller women, Lou & Grey actually works!

Below are some of my current favorite Lou & Grey pieces (please to ignore the dejected faces of the models).

Boucle Sweatshirt

This sweatshirt makes me all kinds of happy.  Fuzzy?  Check.  Gray?  Check.  Probably long enough in the arms?  Probably check.


Shag Coat

I've been very, very big on coats since moving to the frozen steppes of Pennsylvania.  I love the shag texture of this one.  And I love the fact that it's clearly too long in the arms for the model which means it'll probably be perfect for me!


Quilt Popover

Lately I've been very into denim-colored pieces.  You know, pieces that are not denim but are the color of denim.  Pieces like this fabulous quilted top.


Panel Front Pencil Skirt

Although you can't see it very well, this skirt, like many Lou & Grey pieces is wonderfully textured.  I love that, especially for winter.


Grid Knit Sweater

This sweater reminds me of something from the 80s.  I mean that, of course, in the very best way.  It also has a nice borrowed-from-the-boys vibe that I like.


You'll notice I didn't include any pants in my picks; that's because I have no idea how Lou & Grey pants fit.  But, I can definitely vouch for their tops, sweaters & skirts. At least for those of us up to six foot; I don't think it would work as well for taller women.


What about you, Reader Friends?  Have you tried Lou & Grey?

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Literary Stylings #14: Russian Winter

I've decided to base today's look off of the book Russian Winter, by Daphne Kalotay:

As I said in Saturday's post, this book took me some time to get into.  And, today, as I was preparing this post, I realized why.  It's because I don't like the main character very much. The main character is Nina Revskaya, formerly a star of the Bolshoi Ballet in Stalinist Russia who later defected to the United States. And I think she's supposed to be the protagonist, but I didn't ever find myself rooting for her.  

Like everyone else living in Russia at that time, Nina and her friends had to watch everything they said and did.  Artists, especially, during this time were required to use their art to promote the beliefs of the State and if they didn't, or if they were Jewish, they were sent for "re-education."  And I thought the author did a wonderful job of taking the reader back in time.  But she didn't do a great job of making me care for Nina.

Seriously, you'd think someone who had to endure the rigors of post-World War II and fleeing her homeland would be more sympathetic, but not Nina.  She is easily one of the most selfish characters I've ever read about.  It's especially jarring given how unselfish the other characters in the book are.  The only person in the novel I found as terrible as Nina was her mother-in-law and, unlike Nina, she has reason to be terrible!

So, yes, the protagonist is more of an antagonist, but if you can get past that, the book really is interesting.  The descriptions of the lives of the artists in Communist Russia is absolutely fascinating.  And it's a pretty good mystery as well; Nina is keeping secrets she doesn't even realize she knows, making for a good read.

And the story makes for a pretty cozy outfit:

In Oregon I worked with a Russian woman who said that Oregon was nice, but it didn't get cold enough to wear her furs and she missed wearing them.  Remembering that and the fact that the artists in the book were able to earn more than the standard citizens, I figured a vintage fur coat was appropriate.

I'm not sure exactly when Nina defected, but I figured wide-leg jeans and turtleneck were probably okay:

Coat: vintage, thrifted (similar)  Jeans: Gap (similar)
Sweater: Old Navy   Gloves: Target (similar)

I mean, we can pretend she defected in the 70s, right?  Sure, why not?!


Now, a big part of this book is the jewelry that Nina is auctioning off.  And a big part of the mystery surrounds the Baltic amber jewelry she brought out of Russia.  Unfortunately, I don't have any amber, Baltic or otherwise, so I made do with the largest "jewels" I have:

Earrings: Macy's (similar)

Since we're doing a bit of pretending with the post, we're just going to say these are jet, m'kay?  Great!  You all are the best!


And now it's your turn.  Are you wearing a book-inspired outfit?  If so, you can link up here:

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Fuzzy and Plaid

My vintage coat is both fuzzy and plaid:

Coat: thrifted, vintage (similar splurge) (similar save)
Dress: Land's End   Boots: Piperlime (similar)

That's right.  Fuzzy and plaid.


It's basically the best of both worlds:

Earrings: Moorea Seal

I found it on one of my trips to Goodwill in Oregon and knew I had to have it.  I mean, honestly, who can resist fuzzy and plaid?

Not this gal, that's for sure.


Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

What I Read: December

Hello All!  Happy New Year!  As promised, I'd like to restart my Literary Stylings Link Party this month.  So, next Tuesday, feel free to link up with an outfit inspired by a book you read in December.

For my part, I read a LOT of books in December.  Of course, I have no idea which one will inspire an outfit for me by Tuesday, but in the meantime, here they are.


Not That Kind of Girl, by Lena Dunham

Unfortunately, this was not my kind of book (see what I did there?).  I really enjoy Girls and think Dunham is extraordinarily talented.  Unfortunately, after reading this book, I also think that she's extraordinarily spoiled and self-absorbed.  I find it hard to believe that Dunham believes readers would be interested in her diet, in her spoiled childhood or her overwhelming self-obsession.  Sadly, I like Lena Dunham quite a bit less now that I've read her book.  Not that she cares.


Tell the Wolves I'm Home, by Carol Rifka Brunt

I loved this book.  It was sad and lovely and beautifully written.  It was strange and different and wonderful.  The story centers around a young girl who's beloved uncle passes away and that's really all of the plot I want to give away because I highly recommend that you read this book for yourselves.


Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn

I'm not Flynn's biggest fan.  Gone Girl was only okay to me (I read it twice just to be sure) but I thought I'd give her other books a try.  I read Dark Places in November and Sharp Objects in December.  I think I preferred Dark Places because the twist was pretty good.  Sharp Objects was less successful to me because a lot of times I felt like Flynn was just going for shock value over good story telling.


Ashes of the Earth: A Mystery of Post-Apocalyptic America, by Eliot Pattison

Given my love of novels about the post-apocalyptic world, it's no mystery (man, I'm on fire today) I'd choose to read this book.  Unfortunately, it was only okay to me.  It was very well written, but the story felt a little disjointed to me.  There were a lot of characters to keep track of and they weren't all developed very well so I got a bit confused at times.  The mystery itself was sort of odd to me.  It wasn't what I expected, but instead of feeling like it was a good twist, I sort of felt like it was a cop-out.


Russian Winter, by Daphne Kalotay

This book took me some time to get into, but it ended up being a pretty good mystery and a pretty good book.  It's not, perhaps the most well-written book, but it's interesting.  And I enjoyed the peeks into Soviet Russia and the ballet culture there.  If you're interested in jewels belonging to a defected Soviet prima ballerina, I recommend this book.


The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith

This was a great book.  But, fair warning, it was nothing like the movie.  I really liked the movie, but they based it extremely loosely on this book.  Basically, the movie got only Tom Ripley's and Dickie's characters mostly right.  The Gwyneth Paltrow character was almost completely wrong and there was no Cate Blanchette character at all.  Except maybe sort of at the end if you're taking a whole heck of a lot of artistic license.  But, again, this was a great read.  Highsmith is an extremely talent writer and I am looking forward to reading the rest of her Ripley books (there are several).


Again, I'm not sure what book I'll be basing an outfit on next Tuesday, but I certainly have a lot to choose from.

I do hope you'll join me on Tuesday.

Happy Saturday, All!

Gracey