The Awful Truth

 It all started when i saw a fantastic dress Sheila posted on her blog......i left a comment to that effect, and Sheila let me know it was not an LBD but actually separates.  Hmmmm.  I was completely taken with the idea and figured i should be able to create my own 'separates based Little Black Dress' from stuff around the house.  Specifically, from clothes.

That led to this getup.    

 Which i was not too thrilled with at the time (can you tell?)  Looking back i don't know what my problem was - i hope to revisit this look soon using a crewneck black tee.

So when i was fiddling with that pic in preparation for blog posting, i became re-interested in the 'all one color dress from separates' idea.  It was hot then - it's still hot now.  Today we are supposed to get darn close to one hundred degrees F.  I've lived in the SF Bay Area all my life, and while we have the most reliable hot temperatures of the year during September, by mid-October crispness is in the air. Leaves turn, we get a few showers, there are clouds and fog and the crickets stop singing (i don't like to think about WHY they stop singing......poor crickets!). 

The last four weeks my refrain while dressing has been, 'well i should really wear this (cami-top, petticoat as skirt) now, since i won't have another chance until spring....'  Pfft! I wish. I wore knee socks on Saturday and that was reallllly pushing it. (Sweaty ankles? i had no idea ankles could sweat!) What i wouldn't give to wear a pair of wool-blend tights!  As i write, i'm wearing a cami-top and a petticoat as skirt......again. 

My landlord really liked this outfit. He's about eighty years old, and still in great shape - golf, skiing, lots of maintenance around his house and coastal property. I was sweeping out front after the sun got a little lower - but it was still hot enough that i switched the bandanna from belt to headband (to keep the sweat out of my eyes!). J. came out to see how i was doing and complimented me on my looks - he's probably my biggest fan around here, clothes-wise. My general look is more old-fashioned, and a lot of older gentlemen compliment me.  I think i remind them of the girls when they were growing up, how their wives looked when they were married.

That's me with no makeup, if anyone's interested.  About 20% of the pics here are no-makeup. I like makeup and wear it most days.  For a particularly 'done' or dramatic getup i'll feel like makeup makes a difference in the photo, but mostly i don't care one way or the other. The really alarming confession for me is the number of times i don't take my outfit photo the day i'm wearing it, go to bed wearing my 'face', get up and swipe the smeared mascara off from beneath my eyes, then go out back and take the outfit pics wearing the same clothes and makeup i did the day before. I know, i know - Y * U * C * K * !

Now you know the awful truth!

Top: own design
Necklaces, Bracelet: own design
Skirt: own design, inspired by Alisa Burke