No Repeats W & W: Day Nine

Yesterday i started feeling better and felt like wearing a little snazzier type of look.  So i paired the grey ruffle skirt with the crop pinstripe jacket and heels. Done!

So many of you commented on the helpful aspect of dressing up when you're feeling down, that i wanted to post this link to a New York Times interview with Tim Gunn (hat tip to mom!). The pertinent part:

"Q. Some people view fashion as frivolous. Do you see a connection between fashion and health?

A. I was part of Dr. Oz’s team last year. I was his fashion guy. My first assignment was a mother and daughter, each of whom had been diagnosed with breast cancer at the same time. They were in recovery, and my job was to take them shopping. I sat, and we talked for two hours. I heard about their journey, the cancer treatment, the resulting side effects. I was thinking how courageous these two individuals are, and what strength and tenacity they had. I told them, “I’m here to take you shopping. After everything you’ve been through, why would you care about this?” They said, “Are you kidding? When we look good, we feel better.’’ It was really an epiphany for me.

I’m always talking about the semiotics of clothes, how the clothes we wear send a message about who we are and how the world perceives us. When we look good, it shores up our confidence. We navigate the world with a sense of ownership. I don’t think of fashion as being something inconsequential or ephemeral, I think of it as being critically important."

New York Times, December 17, 2010 "Tim Gunn’s Advice for Making It Work" by Tara Parker-Pope

How you dress influences how other people see you - but it also influences how you see yourself.

I love this pendant - it's a working cuckoo clock which used to be my mother-in-law's. The detail is wonderful, with hanging pine cone weights and edelweiss flowers. Sometimes i have trouble getting this beret to stay in one place on my head, especially with 'small hair'. You can get a glimpse of my solution - i roll up a black bandanna and tie it on around my hairline. This adds enough bulk to my head (!) so the beret stays in place. This trick works with most hats - choose a bandanna that blends in with your hair or hat if you don't want to call attention to it.

Now, the last of the accessory sets!  I put these together using multiple strategies, which i've noted under the pictures. This post addresses how to 'match mismatching' earrings, but the principles apply to creating new combinations of accessories as well.

Bows with rounded danglers.  The roses on the chain belt are also a rounded shape, and the rhinestones echo the quartz of the hearts and the crystal of the watch.

This group is all about swirling lines - keeping the colors to gold tones, ivory, and soft pearl grey helps tie these items together.

The belt, metal bracelet, and pearl bracelet (worn as a necklace) all have a chunky, wide feel. The pearls in the necklace made simple pearl studs a good choice for the ears.

Here the pearl bracelet is worn on the wrist.  The earrings and necklace/pendant in this group put the focus on the chains.

Silver metal with pearl accent.  The earrings combine silver and pearl, thus helping to pull the whole group together. ( i put the earrings in the clothespins so they'd stay in place and you could see them - no, i'm not suggesting wooden clothespins as accessories, at least as part of this group!)

I've clasped two silver 16" chains end-to-end to make one chain that's closer to the length of the pearls. I felt that one or two silver chains so much shorter than the pearls wouldn't relate. As it happens, the pearl clasp makes it easy to shorten their length, so i could also wear this as two silver chains and one pearl strand at a 16" length, if that worked better with the neckline.

Pearls vs. silver/black metal. The heart and bow earrings snuck in there to emphasize the black tones.

I hope these posts have sparked some ideas for how you can get more use out of your own accessories through new combinations.

Anyone able to spot the x-rated item?

Beret: ???
Jacket: own design
Black Sweater: Royal Robbins (i'm still wearing it at this moment!)
Belt: vintage Coach
Skirt: own design
Over The Knee Socks: Target
Shoes: Clark's Passion