So hard for it, honey

I got my hair cut last weekend. It'd been months since I'd had it cut, and while I was thoroughly enjoying having long long hair (still a novelty, after 30 years of mostly short hair), a few things were making it more and more hateful:
1. Baltimore/DC in the summer. Muggy, hot, no central AC in my house ... I was pulling it back, out of my face and off my neck, most days.
2. I had layers cut in, back in January, but they'd grown out and so it was all just hanging there. Very healthy, lots of movement, but still. Just there. And when I wore it down, it felt and looked like a shawl of hair. Attractive on some women, maybe, but for long-faced me? Not so much.
3. Have I mentioned the mid-Atlantic summertime weather? 'Nuff said.

So now I am rocking a shorter, more layered cut, that when properly styled is edgy and razored and almost the exact same cut 18yo ES#2 just got rid of (in favor of the Katie Holmes pixie cut, which looks marvelous on ES#2, it must be said).

However. The new cut is a bit more demanding when it comes to dressing for my day. I feel I must live up to the Rocking Edgy Razor look, and have been ransacking my closet to find those "professional" outfits that still fit my RER criteria. So I have been tapping into my Fake It Till You Make It mode a little more -- more specifically, I've been imagining what ES#2 would wear.

This seems like something she'd approve of.

Shirt: thrifted on a trip to an amazing thrift store that I could never find on my own, via LF
Pants: Nearly New Sale
Bracelet: thrifted as a birthday gift from MIL
Shoes: Payless

Lust-worthy

Let's be frank: who's not looking for the perfect summer sandal? Comfortable enough to wear on the walk to and from work, or around a street fair, or to the plethora of bbqs, birthday parties and other excuses to throw a party -- yet "nice" enough for work, for church, for whatever makes you put your spit-shine on and look presentable.

This may be it.

I was walking to work last week and saw a woman wearing these, waiting to cross the street. "I love your sandals," I raved, and she told me that everyone tells her that (what a bummer, I hate to follow the crowd) and, AND, the most amazing thing: they're MERRELLS.

Yes, Merrell. Everyone's favorite comfortable footwear maker, loved by sensible-shoe wearers everywhere, makes CUTE shoes. And now I want them.

Size 11, if anyone's so inclined.

That lovely waning light

Worked a little late last night, Hig picked me up without HM (Evil Stepdaughter #1 being at home with her) and we stopped for a quick snap on the bridge where the car was parked. It's been spring-like in the mid-Atlantic this week, not a hint of humidity and as such, I've been able to wear my hair down without feeling like it's attacking my neck and sticking to my skin.

This ensemble was entirely designed to highlight the black & silver earrings I'm rocking. They came, in a bit of serendipity (of course) from the receptionist at my office -- I saw them, along with another pair, on her desk and asked about them. Her mother had given them to her, she said, and she just never wore them. Would I like them?

Would I like them? Of course I would like them!

The design is stamped, feels like, and they have a vaguely Indian ("dots not feathers," thanks Good Will Hunting) feel to them. All day I played with them, rubbing my thumbs on the backs and swinging my head intentionally to feel their weight under my ears.

And oh! The shoes! They will have to wait for another post: I bought them specifically to go with the dress I wore to ES#2's graduation last weekend (YAY, congrats ES#2!), and are silver and almost not-there, and are like nothing I would imagine I would wear or purchase, and I kind of loves them. Only kind of, right now, because they are still being a bit mean and rubbed my heel a little raw yesterday.

Shirt: bequested, LF
Pants: thrifted
Earrings: bequested, MS
Shoes: Payless

What's your signature?

The summer I turned 13 I wore an armful of bracelets creeping up my left wrist. It started with two black jelly bracelets; above that were seven thin string bracelets, in neon green, pink, yellow and blue; and the whole thing was capped off by a watch that sported a wide black band, in a pliable faux-leather-ribbon look.

I took off the watch when it’d get wet in the shower or the pool, but the bracelets stayed on all summer long, and I’d get a little surge of happiness whenever I caught sight of my colorful funky arm.

Summer ended and the bracelets came off – with a touch of sadness and regret.

The year I went away to college a friend gifted me a necklace, a simple black nylon thread holding a polymer clay disc, decorated with a yin-yang and other swirly hippy happy icons. I wore that necklace all year, seeing it as a totem of the new life I was finally living.

Before HM came on the scene, another friend gifted me another necklace, this one a sterling silver ball chain with a simple silver pendant reading Quirky. I was instantly charmed by the necklace, putting it on and leaving it on for the next couple of years. It was the kind of piece I’d lust after but never purchase for myself, and I loved that my friend had captured a bit of me so perfectly.

After HM arrived, the necklace turned into a grabby toy for her, and I regretfully took it off.

Now I have these bracelets. The charm bracelet was a gift from KLo, and was something I’d admired for months, plotting of ways to ensure Hig would remember it for a birthday or anniversary. The other was a gift from the artist; both bring together two of my favorite things: words & silver, and when I move my arm, the two bracelets jingle-jangle together in the most delicate and pleasing way.

I imagine there will come a time when I’ll take off the bracelets; for now, they’ll remain my signature pieces, always incorporated into my outfits and always bringing me a bit of joy when I look at my left wrist.

Charm bracelet: handcrafted by Silver Pie, gifted by KLo, with family members’ names, my wedding date and the word “charmed,” to remind me that my life is just that
Link bracelet: handcrafted & gifted by Toby & Max, reading as follows: Be Happy, Live Simply, Love, Appreciate, Balance and Laugh

The Sartorialist: Beat Style

I made another escape to the National Gallery today, a special trip to see "Beat Memories," an exhibition of photography by Allen Ginsberg. Beat poetry was the first poetry movement I ever identified with -- my first creative writing teacher, a slightly crazy-eyed fiction and poetry writer who included his actual detention slips in his coming-of-age novel, turned me on to the Beats -- and seeing Ginsberg's photographs of Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Gary Snyder, Ferlinghetti and their hangers-on was like getting a voyeur's view into the banality of their lives. Here is the apartment Ginsberg kept in San Francisco, here is Burroughs on the roof of their building in New York, here is the view from the kitchen window Ginsberg sat and stared from for years, in winter, spring and summer.

He rediscovered photography as a medium in his later years, and began adding extensive captions to his photos, sometimes rambling bits of poetic thoughts, sometimes details about the subjects and what they were doing.

This self-portrait, taken on Ginsberg's 70th birthday, included details about what he was wearing. Who would have thought that all of our indulgent sartorialist posts had such a noble beginning?

Note: his ensemble includes high-end (Oleg Cassini) and thrift (Goodwill). Truly, a man after my own heart.

The importance of serendipity

I almost never go shopping with a certain item in mind. Almost never. (See: BONE PUMPS.)

When I do go shopping, looking for a certain thing, I almost never find it. (See: 10 bathing suits tried on last weekend; 0 bathing suits purchased.)

Part of that is because I usually shop at thrift stores, and while I know I'm looking for "work pants," if I went in there looking for a specific pair, I'd make myself crazy. So instead, I know I'm looking for "work pants" and just pull everything I find in my size off the rack. Along with shirts, skirts, dresses and anything else that catches my eye along the way to the dressing room. Then I wheel my over-stuffed cart into the tiny room and start peeling layers off and shrugging layers on, standing on my tippy-toes and asking HM what she thinks.

And I've found some absolutely amazing pieces that way, simply by keeping an open eye and mind -- case in point, this dress that Her Madness is wearing. On our way home from the fruitless bathing suit shopping trip this weekend, we drove past a yard sale and this dress, hanging from a tree along with some other vintage-y looking pieces, just leapt out at me.

The best part?

It was a dollar.

ONE FREAKING DOLLAR for the absolute cuteness of it all.

And also? It's reversible. There's an almost-as-cute bear flying a kite on the other side, but this panda takes the cake. (Erm. The bamboo, I suppose.)

PS: Hig says this panda looks like a South Park panda. Sure, why not?

Dress: handmade by a nameless, faceless kind soul

Making it a great day

I have a crush on Kai Ryssdal. I've never even seen his picture, but for a few years his was the voice giving the 10-minute Marketplace Morning Report on NPR. He kept me on schedule in the pre-insane commute days, when I knew if I hadn't gotten in the shower by the time his cheerful, frank commentary began, my morning was shot. God help me if I had a fashion crisis.

So Kai would talk about the stock market, the highs & lows, whose selling what & why I should care, and at the end of every segment, he'd sign off with "Make it a great day."

Kai's doing the evening report these days, which I almost never catch, and I miss his voice helping my morning run smoothly. But he's still helping me -- like I said, I listened to him for years and never thought about his sign-off until one morning I actually listened to the words and picked up on the ridiculously simple concept. Holy crap -- I can make it a great day!

So now I try hard to remember that I do have the ability to craft great days for myself, and to remember to enjoy the ride. This was Her Madness & I making our Friday a great day.

PS: in the second picture we're yelling REGINA PHALANGE.

Shirt: thrifted, Nearly New Sale
Jeans: thrifted
Silver ballerina flats: Payless
Assorted silver necklaces: flower from BH, "quirky" pendant from Sassy, glass teardrop pendant gifted from David Leight
Silver bangles: 3 of the 4 bequested from Lala, the other I found at an estate-sale warehouse we used to frequent

I'll drag spring out kicking and screaming if I have to

Okay, see, now I'm getting tired of this chilly rainy late-spring weather. Sure, for a while it was a novelty, wearing sweaters and boots and tights to work again. But now? I'm done.

This was one of those organic outfits that developed as I pulled things off hangers and from the backs of shelves. I count it a success because of HM's reaction: when I came downstairs, she got up from eating breakfast, walked over to me and very sweetly, very deliberately, touched my sweater, my skirt, my belt and my jacket, in that order and with her index finger, and then smiled and nodded.

Also because it was totally comfy and the skirt swoops around me when I move.

Jacket: found at the "Walmart" shed in my parents' tiny town
Green sweater: thrifted by MIL as a bday gift
Silver belt: thrifted
Skirt: actually a dress, one of my faves, purchased BHM
Leggings: self-made, Target tights that I cut
Silver ballerina flats: Payless

Why yes, I do belong in a museum

Sunday was just a ridiculously gorgeous day (especially when compared to the rain we're having as the week following it progresses), and after walking home from church I couldn't bear the thought of going back inside our dark and chilly-ish house. So it was a walk to the museum for the family, spending much of our time milling about the sculpture garden, taking advantage of the free jazz performance taking place, courtesy Baltimore City school kids. The free brownies were just a bonus.

I offered my entire outfit up to Her Madness, but she couldn't decide if she wanted me to wear a dress, skirt or pants, so I started with the pants and she built the outfit around them. These, by the way, are one of my favorite pair of pants -- comfy, soft, flowy cotton, with a flattering waistline and the perfect length for flats.

Teal sleeveless shirt: bequested, LF
Black pants: thrifted
Black ballerina flats: Payless
Bracelet: found (!) by Hig across the street from our house
Necklace: gifted, CRG
Ring: purchased in NYC a few years back, on a fabulous trip with ES#2

The streets of where I'm from are paved with hearts

Black and white pic today, babies, just because it's so lovely and everything looks better in black and white. Took a field trip at lunch over to the Hirshhorn sculpture garden and a bit of time inside -- I have to keep reminding myself to take advantage of everything available in the immediate vicinity of my office. Once it gets colder/muggier-hotter I'll force myself to go inside some of the museums, but for now I'm doing as much outside as I can.

There were the to-be-expected gaggles of schoolkids all over the place -- we walked past a group of about six girls, lined up for a photo-op in their matching green shirts -- but also a few families with babes in strollers, enjoying the garden and getting some good shots for the scrapbook.

You're not missing much with the picture in black and white -- the only bits of color were the jacket and scarf: the jacket is the same from Mother's Day, that lovely deep velvety dark pinkish red, and the scarf is a gorgeous blue that's extra long and used to be impossible for me to wear without choking myself. Luckily I found these smart girls and have since learned all kinds of clever scarf tricks.

Scarf: vestige, purchased at a Lord & Taylor (I think) going-out-of-business sale
Jacket: thrifted
Grey dress: Forever 21, bequested, Neighbor J
Black tights: Target
Boots: Frye Harness

Picture courtesy CJT, photographer extraordinaire.

My country 'tis of thee

This dress is navy blue, so dark it's almost black, and combined with the bright red sweater, it all felt very patriotic. I thought it appropriate, though, for the first official day of my company's new CEO. What better way to express my company devotion than through my national pride?

When I put the belt over the sweater, Her Madness gasped with delight: Oh, mommy, it matches! Yes, baby, I'm just that good.

Special thanks to my lovely eldest Evil Stepdaughter for taking the pic.

Dress: thrifted as a birthday gift from MIL
Sweater: vestige, could easily date to BH (Before Hig)
Bone pumps: Nine West
Earrings: thrifted, Nearly New Sale

My second favorite day of the year

Mother's Day dawned sunny and breezy and chilly, temps struggling to get into the 50s in the morning. This is not where my brain has been for the last two weeks; see: short skirts, short (or no) sleeves. Got my game face on, though, and thanks to Her Madness's inspired accessorizing, rocked my fourth official Mother's Day and got some compliments to boot.

(She was responsible for the blue necklace and bracelet. I was all ready to wear the yellow version of the necklace, but she was adamant about the blue. And who am I to criticize the three-year-old fashion consultant?)

What you can't see under the jacket is the royal purple cardigan -- another nice shot of color for the inside part of the morning.

Velvety dark red jacket: thrifted
Black sleeveless shell: beqested, LF
Purple light wrap: bequested, RA
Black & white skirt (that billows and moves most pleasantly around me when I go down stairs): bequested, anonymous, via TRG Freecycle
Silver ballerina flats: Payless
Blue necklace: birthday gift for Her Madness, CRG & TCR
Blue bracelet: thrifted, purchased at my request by MIL

More Nearly New love

This isn't as tight an image as I'd normally like to post -- the focus of the pics, ideally, being the clothing -- but I couldn't bring myself to crop the image at all. Hig's been scouting locations for my daily shots, and was so pleased with this one (bonus points if you know where it is), and when I saw this pic, I was blown away. It's got so many of my favorite things: the gorgeous iron fence/window grate, the old lamps, the wonderful "golden time" light, and, obv, ME. (Humbleness is one of my better qualities.)

Everything visible is from the Nearly New Sale, again, down to the shoes. These were infinitely more comfortable than the other ones -- they're Isaac Mizrahi for Target, with a teensy kitten heel, and not terribly difficult for hoofing the mile between work & the train station. I didn't even need the sensible shoes I carried.

Shirt: soft, lovely, comfortable, pretty cap sleeves; American Eagle, I think; GBMC
Pants: The Limited (?), GBMC
Shoes: IM for Target, GMBC

A love letter to the GBMC Nearly New Sale

I'm still nearly a neophyte when it comes to the GMBC Nearly New Sale -- last fall was my inaugural trip, and as I was unemployed at the time, I felt more guilt than joy at my finds. But this spring, with my fancy new job, I was good to go (yo).

It was a typical Baltimore August day (but it was the first Sunday in May) -- hot and sticky and almost overcast -- and the barn doesn't appear to have air conditioning. I felt woozy at times, reaching to high racks and shoving aside wrinkly dress shirts and unflattering skirts, sweat dripping down my back and into my mouth. The turnout was blissfully sparse, though, and the communal dressing room blissfully empty, and I felt almost heroic in my quest for bargains.

And bargains I found. I walked out some $60 poorer, with a bag full of skirts, shirts, earrings (including a clip-on pair for Her Madness), shoes (SHOES! TWO pair -- this is unheard of, in my gargantuan size!), pants and a dress, plus a funky little brass-looking box (made in India, the sticker on the bottom said) and a patinaed horse-head bottle opener for Hig.

These shoes deserve a better picture -- they're sweet, strappy, almost-sandal-looking, with a closed toe & heel and remarkably comfortable ... but not so much that my poor feet were blistered and majorly owee after walking to the train after work. Totally worth it, though.

Shirt: thrifted, from the boy's section
Skirt: GBMC, handmade, I think
Belt: from my grandpa's military dress uniform
Shoes: GBMC

Special thanks to LF, for introducing me to the Nearly New Sale last year, and making me an obsessive life-long fan.

Vogue, revisited

I saw this tucked among the other eye-catcher mags on the rack at the 7-11 when it came out -- standing in line during a Sunday morning-after supply run for Gatorade, if you must know -- and immediately loved the 80s styling of the cover. Gisele's outfit, the pose, the colors of the shirt, the bangles, the layout, the colors of the headlines, everything -- LOVED.

Yet another example of what a pushover I am for style -- if I'd seen this 80s styling a few years ago, I would've gagged and run away. Now look what I've become. I'll be rocking some shoulder pads in the next year, just you wait.

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