Big spenders

Ladies & gents, it was a big day in the LSM household -- we bought a new (for us) car! It wasn't entirely unplanned, although as with most of our big decisions, it felt last-minute. The day was lovely, blue skies & no clouds to be seen, but WINDY and chilly, and I needed to be warm enough to walk through giant lots of vehicular options, all without sacrificing style. I am nothing if not practical.

Layering, once again, came to my rescue -- what you can't see in the pic are the tank top & short-sleeved lacy shirt under the green shirt, or the shorts under the skirt, or the socks. The smile makes up for all that, I think. (It's a combination of utter joy at the novelty of having a car that works the way it's supposed to, plus the exhaustion that comes from spending FOUR hours buying a car, plus the headache that's a result of too much coffee and not enough water. The joy won.)

Black "leather" jacket (with cunning sleeve embellishment): Goodwill
Maroon hoodie: bequested, ML
Green three-quarter-length sleeve shirt: Goodwill
Brown lace short-sleeved blouse: bequested, LF
Skirt: bequested, CRG
Boots: bequested, Dad (who had them custom made in Korea in the 70s)

Rainy days & Mondays

Don't get your hopes up too high, kiddies, but I may have refound my groove. My only criteria for today's outfit was the boots: a mile walk to and from the train station in the rain calls for it. The dress was a stroke of genius -- I found this little baby during the same Goodwill trip as my Easter dress; the first & last time I wore it, I added a pair of tights, worrying that it was a bit too short. Today I was feeling like showing off my gams, baby (not to worry: what you can't see are the bike shorts underneath).

So I was comfy and flowy and felt cute and mostly professional all day. Success. (And, when I got cold, the dress stretched enough for me to cover my knees when sitting. Even better.)

Sweater: J.Crew, bequested, KLo
Orange tank: H&M, bequested, CRG
Dress: Goodwill
Socks: Raided, Hig
Boots: JCPenney

Can't help but find inspiration no matter where I go

After an evening spent in the car with Her Madness, Hig & I decided a trip to the neighborhood fun restaurant was in order. We got there just before the buckets of rain started, and found plenty of ways to amuse ourselves (and, no doubt, all those around us). One of my amusements was the exceedingly cute outfit of the exceedingly cute server Emily: the pic doesn't do the outfit justice, but I couldn't ask her to pose endlessly for me.

The skinny jeans rolled to just the right point above the floppy, partially unlaced boots were perfect. Hig decided it was a well-thought-out look, but exceedingly cute server Emily said it was the quickest thing she could throw on before work. Which makes her not just exceedingly cute but also clever, in our book.

The rest of the night was spent mentally discarding options in my closet for recreating the look. I haven't figured it out yet.

What I think sometimes

Lovelies, it's been one of those weeks where I don't have a moment to come up for air, and simultaneously don't have the energy to put together fun/funky/creative outfits every day. And on those days that I have come up with something stellar-ish, I haven't had a chance to rope someone into photographing it in optimal conditions.

So.

I present the always lovely, always on-pointe Sal's view on dressing to express your own style, and dressing to be seen or not-seen, as the case or mood may dictate.

(And because I don't want to leave y'all without a pic, these are my go-to silver ballerina flats, guaranteed to make any outfit at least a little fun.)

Not to beat a dead horse ...

... but THIS is awesome. From theswedishbed.wordpress.com, via buzzfeed.

Standing in the shadow of giants

Last night before bathtime, Her Madness & I were discussing this outfit, and she told me it needed a shirt underneath it, because the bra straps were visible. I told her that was okay, she insisted it was most definitely not and the conversation quickly devolved into a three-year-old's dream of IS NOT, IS TOO, NUH-UH, YUH-HUH.

I told her that while I very much trust her eye most of the time ("Trust me," she said), sometimes we're going to disagree, and that's okay -- the most important thing is to let people wear what they want to wear (for the most part, obv if the child wants to go out in a blizzard wearing a tutu and bare legs, I'll nix that) and appreciate them for their creativity and willingness to have fun with their wardrobe.

This outfit looks a little shapeless in the pic; I wore a royal purple three-quarter-length sleeve light wrap all day in the office but it was just too warm on the train home for that accessory. 'Twas comfy the entire day and decent enough to fulfill my "office professional" needs.

Grey dress w silvery neckline: H&M (?), freecycled
Green pants (pegged, LOVE IT): bequested forever ago, CMB
** Silver ballerina flats: Payless
Stripey dress on HM: Target, courtesy Grandma
Blue ink blotch on stripey dress: courtesy some kid at school (note to self: put stain remover on that bad boy!)

** Note that we're both wearing our silver magic shoes.

And now for something completely different

I worked with a Muslim woman a few years ago, and it was my first real exposure to the challenges faced in dressing stylishly and creatively within strict parameters. She had a vast array for scarves and dresses that she'd drape artfully over long pants and sleeves, and she always looked gorgeous.

Right around the same time I came across this article in The Washington Post, talking about the challenges Muslim women have in finding stylish clothing that worked for them. Much like when I decided I needed a leather bomber jacket in the 7^th grade and promptly began seeing them everywhere, now I can’t help but notice stylishly attired women of all creeds, and love the personal expression evident.

I found Sami, above, on weardrobe.com.

* image courtesy http://samichami.blogspot.com/

Groovin' like a vintage sprite

Apologies for the bad pic -- it was raining buckets yesterday, along with chillier temperatures and grey yuckiness all day. My kitchen is a lovely warm place full of natural light in the evenings ... when the weather cooperates. The boots were a compromise -- able to walk to and from the office through the rain without the need to change my shoes upon arrival.

The dress is a dark green, not the black it looks in the picture, and is insanely comfortable and flowy and an excellent option for puffy-feeling days. I felt a little frumpy all day, but the front view shows that the outfit worked, over all. The sweater looks vintage, and I had two people ask if it was within five minutes of each other -- but then I hunted down a razor blade and depilled the front, which made a difference in its vintage-looking-ness.

Sweater: J.Crew, bequested, KLo
Dress: Gap, long-term loan, Neighbor V
Knee socks: pillaged from Hig's drawer (perk of having freakishly large feet)
Boots: Sears

Not just an Andrew McCarthy movie

Good article talking about how mannequins are serving a much greater purpose than simply holding clothes for sale. The VP of store development & visual planning for Neiman Marcus points out mannequins' need to project the store brand and help shoppers feel comfortable in the space. NM also uses different styles of mannequins in different environments -- realistic, human bodies in the windows and more abstract versions on the shopping floor.

And at Saks Fifth Avenue, they look at mannequins as teaching aids -- shoppers can take cues on pairing accessories with staples, get ideas for color combinations or even purchase an entire outfit right from the hapless figure's body.

I've always been a little creeped out by mannequins -- the vacant staring eyes, the artificially poised tip-toed foot, the smooth lines of an artfully placed arm -- and still wish for Andrew McCarthy to pose me just so.

Or, How I am Like an Onion

I had a vision for Monday’s outfit, but upon putting everything together the reality didn’t match the picture in my head, so some fast tweaking was in order. Layering is one of my favorite ways to add a pop of color to an outfit, and was my saving grace all the long cold winter – adding warmth AND color? Bonus!

The skirt has a few pleats in the front, which give it a nice fullness and helps forgive its slightly-too-big status.

The blue elastic securing my braid was chosen by Her Madness -- I was going to go for basic black, but sometimes the kid just knows better.

White short-sleeved sweater: bequested, LF
Green tank top: bequested, CRG
Yellow tank top: Old Navy
Brown skirt: bequested, LF
Black spiky "ChaCha" heels: The Shoe Dept.

Hiking to the Round Falls

Sunday was warm and sunny, and after a weekend doing things Her Madness couldn't really enjoy (three hours in the car, anyone?), we packed a picnic lunch (thanks, Hig!) and headed out for a little hike down to Round Falls. It's one of the joys of Baltimore living -- random woodsy/back to nature options within walking distance of our house. As long as you ignore the tiny ziploc bags, half-eaten birthday cake & broken bottles, it's a little bit of heaven.

I wasn't terribly fond of this ensemble, but was going for function above all else; these sneaks hold up well for switching back and forth between the concrete jungle and making our own shortcuts on the trail.

Tan newsboy hat: freecycled
Converse tank: Target
Brown skirt (originally knee-length, cut with loose ends hanging): bequested, ML
Brown & pink sneaks: bequested, SIL

No jeans on jeans day

Every Friday is jeans day at my office, but I've been feeling decidedly UN-jeans-like for work these days. Instead I finally figured out how to rock the layered-skirt/dress look I've been obsessing over for a couple of months.

The last week has been hot-hot-hot, temps in the 80s every day; today Spring came back and I had a minor fashion crisis as I tried to remember what it's like to dress for the season. Layering is always the correct answer.

Grey cardigan (with a fetching little tying-detail, hidden under the drapey neckline of the dress): H&M, thrifted
Blue&white stripey short-sleeved dress: H&M, thrifted
Skirt (cream/polka-dots, hidden by dress): H&M, bequested, CRG
Yellow "seed" necklace: gifted (ostensibly for Her Madness, but we all knew who'd be wearing it), CRG
Grey leggings: UnderArmour running tights
Boots: Frye

What someone else wore

I try to not be disgusted by her inventiveness and ability to pull together a stunning look from what she's got, not to mention the cool factor she gets in my book for doing all of this at the tender age of 12.

As a 12-year-old in upstate NY, the height of my style was matched only by the height of my bangs.

Monday Monday

Today was a running-late-no-time-to-think day, or as I like to call it: First dress that catches my eye. I was considering using a pink scarf for the belt, but Her Madness nixed that, calling for the silver belt instead. I think it was a good choice.

Dress: bequested, LF
Jacket: Armani (no, seriously, Hig brought this home & it promptly became The Best Deal in My Closet: 98% off msrp)
Silver belt: thrifted
Silver ballerina flats: Payless

Celebrating the rise

We have KLo to thank for this year's Easter Dress. I saw her fancy purple dress last week and decided that by gum I was getting an Easter dress this year. The trip to Goodwill happened the same day: I left the store with the afore-mentioned dress, plus another dress, light wrap, purse, tea kettle & a sombrero for Her Madness.

The dress has a soft ruffle, about three inches wide, at the belt-line, and ties under the yellow flower. It's ridiculously comfortable -- I could've easily worn it all day.

Earrings: bequested, KLo
Orange tank top: bequested, CRG
Dress: thrifted
Yellow flower brooch: thrifted from a sidewalk sale on the Avenue, hon; I have a matching bright blue one too
Bone pumps: Nine West

Going to Dinner on South Robinson Street

There are times that I fall prey to a specific sartorial craving, and must satisfy the fix at ONCE. Such was the case with my new shoes. I decided last week that what my wardrobe desperately needed was a pair of bone pumps. They go with everything, and I had visions of Angelina Jolie walking out of a meeting at the UN, looking chic and philanthropic and big-lipped, and the bone-freaking-pumps she always wears.

Well. It was our first mother-daughter shoe shopping expedition, and suffice to say, it was a roaring success. Her Madness tried on shoes of every hue (and so neatly put each box back IN THE RIGHT PLACE before moving on the next pair) and I found my new love.

Say hi to my bone pumps. We were having dinner with some friends; nothing fancy but my new pretties demanded to be worn.

Earrings: bequested, KLo
Black sleeveless shell: bequested, LF
Red poodle skirt: homemade & insanely comfortable, thrifted
Bone pumps: Nine West

Working from home

Found out on Thursday that Her Madness didn't have school on Friday. One quick conversation with Not-John later and I was working at the dining room table Friday morning. We broke for a picnic lunch at the Hi Horses, followed by a short meander through the dog park to the playground.

White short-sleeved sweater: bequested, LF
Green tank: H&M, bequested, CRG
Cream polka-dotted skirt (with fetching ruffly bottom): bequested, CRG
Glaringly white legs: all natural, baby
Brown flats that always hurt my ankles but they go with so many things: thrifted
Wind-swept little girl: Three years old and very good at it

Jury Duty

Aiming for comfort & cuteness, needing layers to handle freezing rain outside & unknown temperatures inside Baltimore City Circuit Court's jury holding areas.

scarf: vestige, purchased at Heathrow airport in 1999
jacket: thrifted, thrifted
hoodie: bequested, ML
grey short-sleeved striped tee: Banana Republic, bequested, AK
blue long-sleeved striped thermal: Old Navy, thrifted
skirt: vestige, 8 years ago?
tights: vestige, 17 years ago (no, seriously, I got these the summer after I graduated from high school)
boots: Frye