No Repeats W & W: Days Seventeen & Eighteen

Not much to say about this outfit other than sometimes the pictures look a lot cuter than you felt when you were wearing the clothes.  I'm pretty sure i'm still stuck on 'too comfy = sloppy looking'. But that equation is false.

Here you can get a glimpse of some aquamarine beads i bought on Telegraph for six bucks. Everytime i string beads, the string stretches out after i wear them a few times and it looks bad. So i'm trying wearing these ones before i finish the necklace with findings, clasp, etc. to see if i can avoid the problem. Any input/feedback on this issue is avidly anticipated!

I wouldn't consider this outfit completely successful as an outfit - but it has some elements i'm very glad i stumbled upon. Angie at fashion me blog, Serene at The Elegant Bohemian, Katie of Interrobangs Anonymous, and others i can't recall at the moment have all been really rockin' the 'scarf as blouse' trick.  I've been attempting it myself a few times recently, and this time i finally got the hang of it!

I also really like lacey anklets with these boots.  With skirts, with skinny cargoes, or with fishnets in nude or brown......it really expands the range of these booties.  And using just a couple of lacey touches (scarf and socks) on a neutral base to lend a romantic air to the whole outfit is a nice strategy. But those black leggings under the skirt got under my skin as well.  It's too blunt. But i was too busy, too cold  and too tender to change them out for, say, nude fishnets or my gray lace Betsey Johnson tights. 

That's the beauty of a daily outfit blog - you can stash these elements away for future use.  In real life, i'd remember how much i liked these details but most likely forget precisely how i pulled them off....

I've had this rutilated quartz bead for three or four years now. I tried wearing it a number of ways, but none really felt right. Terri has featured acorns in a number of her DIY projects, and it finally occurred to me to go see if i could find one for this bead. I found one and burnt a hole in it for the wire. I also bought a couple of strings of iolite beads on Telegraph from the same vendor as the aquamarine ones. That's an iolite bead at the base of the 'acorn', and i've strung iolite beads to make a necklace for this 'acorn' pendant. Here i used a black ribbon, as the iolite string is in 'the stretching process'.

I can see the end of the workaday capsule challenge!  I'm doing my best to 'go out with a bang', but the weather and random evil stains conspire against me.  Wish me luck!

No Repeats W & W: Day Twelve

talking to mom's dog

 I wore this look last Sunday, the day after Christmas. We went up to Napa to spend the day with my mother and take her out to dinner. Mr. E came up with the idea of going out for the holiday dinner on the day AFTER the holiday.  It worked out pretty brilliantly, too - no crowds, no need for reservations, no weird 'holiday fare'. We went to Grace's Table in downtown Napa (a few doors down from Pleasures Unlimited, the adult supplies store). A wee bit pricey, but not outrageous. Delicious food. My only regret is that mom and i shared a piece of Devil's Food cake, instead of getting two pieces.

here's Jack!

The belt is an amazing hand-embroidered Central American piece. I found it about a year ago at a private sale up in Mendocino which we stumbled upon while staying in town for our tenth anniversary. I'd been on the lookout for a similar belt for years. This one is almost 1/4" thick, it's got that much work on it, and was $35.00. I've never seen anything remotely similar for under $100.00. The sale is run by an older lady who's been living/traveling in Mayan country since the 1960's, and importing various handwoven articles.

The only trouble with this belt, as far as wearing it goes, is the pink dye. It's not fast at all and wears off on whatever comes into prolonged contact with it (jeans, purse, etc.). So i've been wearing it with black. It really looks stunning with jeans. I haven't worn it with jeans that much because of the dye trouble - but frankly it washes out very easily.  Looks like i've just shot down that reason - prepare to see more of this belt in future!

In this close up you can get a better look at the jewelry. The beautiful garnet and marcasite necklace is from my mother, who i think bought it at an antique shop. The garnets have a really nice color, and are set high to catch plenty of light. The earring is the Thomas Mann piece my mom and i discussed a couple of days ago, in the post and the comments. Both the arrow and the striped piece are moveable.

And here's my outfit from Monday. I realized sometime over the weekend that i've been keeping track of my No Repeats Workdays and Weekends outfits in a misleading manner - i've only been 'numbering' the workday outfits. So this last outfit in this post is 'Day Twelve', while the first outfit is kind of a 'bonus' look. Well, folks, i suppose it would be possible to go back and re-count, re-number, and re-name all this to make it make sense. But with this brain, it would take a ridiculous amount of blood, sweat and tears. Those posts are going to stand as they are - i'll be numbering outfits #1-20 in my 'workaday capsule' as part of the No Repeats challenge, and i'll be showing the weekend outfits without numbers.

 Just goes to show what happens when you try to organize the human brain.

Boxing Day Outfit:
Hat: The Berkeley Hat Co.
Tunic: Converse One for Target
Skirt: gift
Over The Knees: Target
Boots: Bass Lamont

Day Twelve Outfit:
Black Wrap Cardi: Nine West
Henley: Aeropostale
Skirt: own design
Belt: Betsey Johnson
Wool Blend Tights: Hanna Andersson
Shoes: Maine Woods

No Repeats W & W: Day Three

 Well, not too much to say today.....busy, holidays coming up, days shorter and shorter.....you can take pictures outside but the sky drools on you, inside during broad daylight you need a flash....

On my legs i'm wearing.......i don't know what you would call them.  They have stirrups, i made them out of one of my mom's old turtlenecks, they go up to mid-thigh and i put little loops on them so i can wear them with a garter belt - otherwise they don't stay up (no spandex, no elastic in the tops).  They keep my legs warm, and i love the way they look. I had to do some piecing to eek the length out of the available fabric, and it gives an edgier look to them.

The detail photos are from another outfit - Terri should appreciate the peek at the grey ruffle skirt ; )  I did wear the same half-slip yesterday.

It was one of those days where you keep throwing the sweater on, then working up a sweat vacuuming and having to rip it off.  No happy medium.

Any ideas on what the leg coverings should be called?

Cardigan: Tweeds

Henley: Aeropostale

Skirt, Half-slip: own design

Mystery Leg Coverings: own creation

Shoes: Maine Woods

Can Clothes Be Too Comfortable?

Everyone loves comfortable clothes. But can clothes be TOO comfortable?  In fact, most of my readers (except mom : ) will agree that today's emphasis on comfort above all else isn't doing much for the looks of the public at large.  But i'm not talking about dressing for comfort alone in bagged out, stained and faded sweats and cracked Crocs. I'm talking about clothes that look stylish, flattering and appropriate. They just feel much more soft, unconfining, and unconstricting than those we are used to wearing.

I wore this outfit without the jacket (with the belt) for most of the day.  I liked the look - a long column of grey with textural details at hem and neckline, waist defined in the middle - but it just felt like i was wearing pajamas or a floppy nightgown all day. It never felt like i actually 'got dressed', though i was demonstrably not naked. It was all just too floppy and 'comfy'. There's no way i would have worn this outfit without the jacket out of the house. I just couldn't convince myself i was actually 'dressed', no matter what i saw in the mirror.

I tried to figure it out.  I know that i tend towards a degree of structure in my clothes - woven materials, leather belts, waist and shoulder definition, stiff-brimmed hats and skirts with bulk.  I was born in 1962 and graduated high school in 1980, and i've seen many purely technological changes in clothing materials since then. I cast back to what clothes were like growing up - the only knits were bulky polyester double knits (which i think i never wore, i found them that hideous from the beginning) or stiff, scratchy men's underwear (tee shirts and waffleweave long johns).  No fabrics approached the sheer buttery deliciousness of today's rayon/lycra blends, for example, until i was in my late twenties.  The only fabrics which had that wonderful soft, smooth feel were my flannel nightgowns that i wore until the shoulders busted through.

the fairy thorn bush along the walking trail by our house

Well, i never thought my outfit blog would take such a Freudian turn!  But what do you think? Can clothes be TOO comfortable, just on feel alone? Or is this another of my personal eccentricities?

Top: Aeropostale (from the Petaluma Outlet store)
Skirt: own design
Jacket: Issey Miyake for Vogue Patterns
Shoes: Dansko Marcelle

sapsucker holes on the fairy thorn bush. sapsucker drill holes in this characteristic pattern of lines, which is a good thing - sapsuckers are notoriously shy birds and otherwise i'd never know they are around! this tree is covered in sapsucker holes, with fresh ones all the time. but i've only seen the sapsucker once.