No Repeats W & W: Day Sixteen & Bonus Look

In the 'No Repeats' spirit, i incorporated a neglected coat and pair of boots into this workaday combo. The waffle weave crew neck is Mr. Es' - i've been on the lookout for 2-3 warmer henleys since September, but haven't found any worth buying yet. I just don't have enough warmer long-sleeved tops to make it through, so my husband granted me use of his waffle-weaves as long as i don't 'stretch them out in the bust'.  I also realized that i've neglected my perching poses, and thought the toyon berries in the background would look particularly festive with the red boots.

With the parka, the fluffy over the knee socks (new from Sock Dreams), the petticoat and touch of red this whole look made me feel quite 'holiday in the snow'. At least what i imagine 'holiday in the snow' would feel like - i've never experienced one.

Below you see my look from last Sunday.  I spent quite a while putting together this look. Not that it was difficult or ground-breaking (hello), it was just fun to have all my closet at my disposal, in addition to a bunch of new leg-wear choices.  So i dragged it out for fun.

This is how i looked as we walked the neighborhoods in Berkeley. It was quite the rainy weekend, with plenty of mud moving down the hillsides, but we only ran into a few sprinkles during our hours 'on the streets'.

 Earlier in the day i looked like this. With one exception - i wore my new brown fishnets in the house, then switched them out for brown wool-blend tights when we ventured into the weather.

This seems like my best photo showing the detail on this blouse so far.  I finished it this last fall, and figured i'd be waiting until April or May to get much use of it - the fabric is voile-weight cotton. I'm happy to report i've found it quite wearable in the winter.

My new Sock Dreams lace anklets cuffed over the top of my boots.  Aaaahh..........

New Year's Eve 2010

 We begin our Dashing Eccentric year with a couple of bonus pictures of Mr. E. Frankly, ever since i started this blog i've been dying to do at least a week of posts featuring his outfits.  He has crazily good taste and style, and there's not a lot out there in 'outfit blogging' for guys, especially guys out of their twenties. If any of you would like to see more of Mr. E (in his clothes, that is), please leave a comment and i will use them to pressure him to step up to the tripod.

He's a helluva fun guy, to boot. It's just Mr. E hates getting his picture taken, and is not too thrilled with anyone else getting their picture taken, either.  Unless it's something he's really passionate about.

Okay, ladies and gentlemen, leave those comments! Now, on to my outfit. I wanted to wear the skunk skirt with a fitted top. Mom was rooting for the embroidered belt, so a black top seemed the best choice.  This Peruvian Connection cardigan (alpaca - so soft!) has a traditional boxy-cardigan shape, not that exciting with a skirt as full as this one (kinda blobby). Thus, i took a few minutes and basted the sides to take in some of the fullness and create a more form-fitting shape.

New Year's Eve had even more excitement in store for me - my Sock Dreams order arrived!  Their free shipping option only took four days (order placed Monday, arrived on Friday). These Vertically Inclined Stockings in black/charcoal provided the perfect balance of subtle detail for the legs of this look. The black stripes are opaque while the 'grey' stripes are a wonderful, open-crochet texture. More looks featuring my recent acquisitions coming soon! (And, Yes, i'm already fantasizing about my next order......terrible! To quote myself, "What is enough?!??!")

Here's a couple of pictures of my hairdo.  For festive occasions i like to put it up and make it big. If any of you also have a lot of strong hair, i find that roller pins work better than regular bobby pins for keeping my hair in place. Roller pins tend to be around 2 3/4" long and the metal is much thicker than that of bobby pins. They come on cards of 15-20 pins, found next to the bobby pins. I used about six for this 'do, and it didn't fall down until the next morning after i slept on it.  With bobby pins, it can take 25-30 pins (or more), and pieces will start falling down in fifteen minutes. If you have similar troubles, check out the roller pins!

That's it for now.  Leave a comment if you want to see more focus on Mr. E's style, and have a great first Monday of 2011!

Earrings, Necklace: gifts
Cardigan: Peruvian Connections
Belt: private sale
Skirt: own design
Stockings: Sock Dreams
Shoes: Clark's Passion

No Repeats W & W: Days Fourteen & Fifteen

 So i bucked up and dealt with my clothing capsule boredom by making a species of suit (see above) and using accessories to bring color into a neutral look (see below).

For me, combining any type of blue with greys always brings out the blue in the grey, instead of toning down the blue.  So my outfit yesterday felt very 'blue' to me, even though only the legwarmers and scarf are blue. (And of course, the blues looked more blue in real life.....) Does it seem that way to any of you? Maybe it's because there's a blue briolette in the earrings, and i did wear a blue stone ring.

Photography conditions have been very trying recently. I actually woke up this morning, got into my clohtes from the day before, and re-shot this 'blue' outfit, because the shots from yesterday afternoon were so atrocious. Even so, dappled sunshine isn't the greatest for detailed depiction of costume.  But it's the best i could come up with!

This look was fun because it felt like i used the bare minimum of accessories in order to get the look across and make it interesting, without crossing the 'boring barrier'. I've had a good time skating towards the minimalistic end of my style spectrum, and i've been getting a lot of compliments, too. I think it makes my style more understandable without people needing to study it in depth beforehand.

So i finally get a decent pic of these earrings and my ear is blazing red. Just think of it as a festive holiday tribute to our favorite little reindeer. From top down that's a sterling acorn, a sterling and marcasite salamander, and my regular bird filigree and pearl (half of a pair - the others have become single over the years).

The past several years, Mr. E and i have made a tradition of going out to a swanky eatery around 5 or 6pm on New Year's Eve. That way we don't need to worry about reservations or getting a great seat, and if you keep ordering they don't kick you out. We tend to go to Cesar's on Shattuck in Berkeley, but tonite the hubby has scoped out a new tapas place in the Temescal neighborhood in Oakland. Yum!  I hope you all have a great, safe, non-hangover-inducing evening!  Best wishes to you and yours for the coming year!


Species of Suit:
Jacket, Skirt: own design
Black Sweater: Target
Leggings: Carushka
Shoes: Ariat
Belt: vintage Coach
Tiger-Stripe Socks, Lace Scarf, Jewelry: gifts


Blue or Grey?:
Grey Sweater: Tweeds
Ivory Sweater: Royal Robbins
Lace-trimmed Cami: Old Navy
Jeggings: Target
Legwarmers: gift from mom
Scarf, Earrings: own design
Boots: Bass Lamont

No Repeats W & W: Day Thirteen

This week is turning into 'Mr. Eccentric's Greatest Hits'.  He bought me this jacket as well. I wore it Tuesday (day before yesterday) on my walk. It's great - not too warm, big enough to wear a sweater underneath, fun faux fur trim, easily worn with skirts or pants, classic aviator style-feel.  So much for the stereotypical 'men have no taste' meme!

This outfit was when i 'hit the wall' with this workaday capsule. I got bored. I'll stick with it - that's the point of a challenge, right? I did realize that i could live with this small of a wardrobe IF i had a larger, more varied accessory wardrobe. After all, when you're dressing in neutral-colored basics most of the visual interest comes from the accessories.

These thoughts tie in with what Cynthia at Be Fabulous Daily has been writing about recently. She wrote a post on her closet clean up which ended with the question, 'Do i have too many clothes or a normal amount?' (paraphrased). She also did a well-thought out post defining her personal style preferences. To my way of thinking, a person's style strategy will influence what is the optimal amount of clothing for them. Cynthia said it well herself - she relies on a lot of color and pattern combos in her outfits, and thus usually only needs one accessory - scarf, necklace, earrings - to pull the look together.  Right there you can see the contrast between what would be optimal for Cynthia and what would work best for me in terms of clothes to accessories ratio.

I've always felt that the 'perfect number of clothes' will vary from person to person and across a person's life.  There are many factors to take into consideration - budget, tolerance for laundry, how 'hard' you are on clothes (how long they typically last), climate, lifestyle, special interests (workout clothes, clothes for hobbies such as horseback riding or dancing, fencing, etc.), type of social life (clubbing, charity balls), professional requirements, and so on.

I can think of a few question to ask yourself in order to determine how close you are to your optimal wardrobe (# & appropriateness of items).  How often do you find yourself with nothing to wear? Do your laundry duties seem reasonable?  Can you put together outfits appropriate to your daily, weekly, monthly, and annual activities out of your current wardrobe? Can you bundle up and cool off? Do you feel comfortable with the image you project? Are you aware of any 'holes' in your closet, and do you have a plan in place to fill it? Do you feel you are spending the appropriate amount of money and time (shopping, planning) on your wardrobe? Are you bored with your clothes? If you got an unexpected opportunity to do something spectacular that you've always wanted to do (trip to Antartica, ball at the White House, invitation to Carnivale in Venice), would you have a pretty good idea of how to go about clothing yourself for this experience?

Now, everybody go read Cynthia's posts. Then, tell us how do you/would you go about determining how close you are to your optimal wardrobe? (If you've got it figured out, you can start a church!)

Jacket: Victoria's Secret
Hat: gift, trimmed by me
Cardi:  Charter Club by Macy's (turtleneck, cut up the center)
Earrings: gifts
Tee: Target
Lace Cami: Old Navy
Belt: Thrift Town (?)
Skirt: own design
Wool Blend Tights: Hanna Andersson
Shoes: Bass Lacey

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 Eleven

 Whew! Not exactly a whilrlwind of a weekend, but pretty active nonetheless.  Movies, shopping, eating out, making salads, visiting, catching up......I hope all of you had a great time with your friends and families as well!

Lotta pictures in this post, and two outfits.  This first outfit is what i wore on Saturday, Christmas Day. (My No Repeats Workaday outfit is further on down the post.) I tend to dress for a special function at the beginning of the day, especially on holidays. It makes the whole day feel more festive. It's also one less thing to do (get 'dressed up').

This wonderful coat is April Cornell from a few years back. It was a Christmas present from my husband, with no input from me. Husbands have a reputation for being the last person you'd want to involve in fashion decisions. Completely not the case in this household! And i would never have bought this coat for myself, as the black jacquard tends to catch and pull threads out. I'm very glad that Mr. E isn't practical that way! At some point in future i'll use the black fabric as a pattern for a new outer layer, when i find the right fabric. I plan to extend the life of this piece for as long as i can.

I love the shape of this coat, and the faux fur is warm and soft and lends it a wonderful weight. It's one of those pieces that makes you long for cold, frosty weather. Not every woman can say so, but my husband has better taste than i do! Lucky me.

Click on the above picture for a better look at the detailing on the alpaca blend sweater and the swiss dot blouse with pintucks.

This Christmas Eve outfit was a lot of fun and worked well for running around doing last minute shopping, walking around generally, and taking in a movie. Our landlord and next-door neighbor has a huge, fun family and he invites all of them on Christmas Eve for a spectacular party and feast. There's plenty of kids having the time of their life as well, so our Christmas Eve tradition has been to make ourselves scarce on that night. Usually we've spent the night at bed and breakfasts' or at my Dad and his wife's traditional 'eve soup' dinner. But this year we took in a movie instead. We saw The Social Network, and it was very well done and enjoyable. I liked it more than i expected and would recommend it.

This look was comfy and warm and didn't have fussy parts to get in my way. And with a snazzy hat, no worries about your hairdo!

I love the way the back of this sweater looks like a sailor top's collar. It gives it an old fashioned, romantic vibe.   I made the little heart pin on this hat to showcase a piece of embroidery that i saved off of a worn-out cami top.

It's funny how sometimes i get an idea for accessorizing or putting together a couple of pieces just 'from the gut', and then later it turns out there is a very sound aesthetic principle behind the choice. Afterwards i can see how it could be put together by 'thinking it through' using established rules, but at the time it just came to me.

In this outfit i wanted a necklace, and my hand just went for this naja and pearls. I had no idea why, but it looked great. Later i realized that the naja and the 'leggers' both feature a stirrup or upside down horseshoe shape.


First Look:
Hat: Ren Faire vendor, own trim
Coat: April Cornell
Sweater: Peruvian Connection
Blouse: own design, inspired by The Style Underdog
Skirt: own design
Belt, Tights: Betsey Johnson
Shoes: Clark's Passion

Second Look:
Hat: gift, own trim
Sweater: Charter Club by Macy's
Tee: Target
Skirt, Pearl Bracelet: own design, inspired by The Hidden Seed
'Leggers': own design, the term 'leggers' is courtesy Misfit Vintage
Belt: vintage Coach
Naja: Gathering Tribes
(pearl necklace is own design)
Shoes: Bass Lacey

No Repeats W & W: Day Ten

This is what i wore yesterday.

Today it's Christmas Eve - i'm off to the races, hopefully i'll start posting again on Monday.

Thank you so much to ALL of you for reading, commenting, and following - and of course a huge Thank You! to all of you who maintain your own fascinating and inspirating blogs! I enjoy taking the photos, putting together the outfits and writing just for the doing of them, but the conversation that develops online is a HUGE bonus, always thought-provoking and lots of fun!

focus on sock layering - warm!

Best wishes to you and yours for a happy and safe holiday weekend!

Steph

Gorgeous Red Berries in the Background: Toyon bushes, a California Native plant
Jacket, Sweater, Capris: Royal Robbins
Lace-edged cami: Old Navy
Lace Scarf: gift
Necklace, Leopard scarf: own design
Belt: Betsey Johnson
Boots: Bass Lamont
Pink OTK Socks: Target
Black Wool Socks: Smartwool