What I Wore All Weekend.

I walked away from the blogosphere for the weekend (deliberately Monday, unexpectedly Tuesday) and came back to mountains of updates. I've been adding a lot of badass bloggers to my follow list lately and still haven't had many posts to read every day. I guess everyone got motivated all at once, because it took me large chunks of my afternoon to catch back up.

This weekend was a blast. I spent almost every waking minute meeting Matt's family and old friends. This caused me to try and do a little bit of dressing up, with a lot of positive feedback. I ended up using a lot of the same pieces and mixing them up different ways. All of the photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Friday at work, feeling kind of lazy:

A borrowed, thrifted dress, my OTK boots and black tights. The belt is new from Target and I'm wearing it constantly.

Going out:

After work a good buddy, myself and the boyfriend went out. I wanted to wear something kind of sexy, but not my usual. I played around with this.

The wedding:

These photos are delightfully awkward because I made Matt step down the hall at the reception and take them. I love this outfit, but I think the skirt is awfully close in color to my skin.

Matt's Mom's place for an early Thanksgiving with his family:

I'm clearly adapting the same outfit from Friday night into Sunday daywear. I'm either lazy or a genius. Every time I wore this scarf I tried to do that elegant, casual thing where you drape it across the front and belt it. But this scarf is too long if you loop it once, too short if you loop it twice. I finally just gave up and threw it on.

Grabbing food on Monday, off work for the day:

I found out Monday that the hot water was shut off for a few hours due a mysterious disturbance in another apartment. Thus, I could not take a shower to step out to Panera and had to wear this hat. I never wear it normally because I feel like it makes me look like I want to be a painter or something. But it was kind of cute that day.

All-in-all, I think I've made some progress here. I feel like I'm not quite as clueless lately. My favorite outfit was the last one, of course, because it has so many of my favorite pieces going on. I'd be happy to share where I got any item that you're interested in.

Now, nap time- I just got off work and I'm beat. Hope you guys had a great weekend, and that this upcoming one is even better!

Why Clothes are Important.

I feel like I've spent a lot of time this week defending fashion. I've had debates with all manner of humans about this topic in the last seven days or so, and I'm always on fashion's side. I should have just sent them all this:

Why Clothes Are Important:

This is a bear with no fur. A bear. Can you even tell? Gross.
I rest my case.

This weekend I have:

• Girl night;
• Wedding (not mine, ha);
• The all-important K-State/Nebraska football game watching at my parent's house;
• Lunch with my dad;
• Matt's family's Thanksgiving; and
• Matt's big joint birthday.

I intend to wear a lot of clothes. With any luck, I will show you the cute ones.

Have a great weekend!

Damn You, ModCloth.

Where did people even shop before ModCloth? Did people shop? I imagine it was a far more gray, dreary world than our own.

Reasons I hate ModCloth today:

1. I just bought a dress yesterday, meaning I have to lay off buying anything for a bit. I'm trying to be good. But these little flats are perfect. They're sweet, neutral and simple. I don't own a single pair of ballet flats, because I rarely find a pair I really have to have. Also, the fact that ModCloth listed them a second time leads me to suspicions that they ran out of stock the first time around. Argh.

 2. Does ModCloth read my blog or something? I was just making come-hither eyes at that YSL Y-mail clutch a few weeks ago. How do they know?? This bag is a cute little wannabe and it's kinda killing me.

3. I have also been making eyes at this Betsey Johnson sweater since I spotted it online a week ago. Dinosaurs, really? Is there anything cooler?

None of these are out of my normal, semi-reasonable price range (except that sweater- ha), but I'm trying hard to be good and save a little money this month. But, let's face it- you should probably expect a guilty post within the week. After that, ModCloth and I may need to take a break and reevaluate our relationship...

Date Night.

So it's date night, and I ran home from work early to catch dinner and a movie with the boyfriend. Unfortunately, my blog perusing on my lunch break led me to this really quirky, fun American Apparel dress on Orchid Grey. I figured it would be perfect for date night, and of course, I had nothing to wear.

By the time I stopped off, bought it, got home and styled it, we were running late. Matt had generously offered to see Coco Before Chanel because he knew I was dying to, but we later decided to skip the movie and just take our time at the restaurant. We're going to the movie tomorrow- I can't wait. I loved the Chanel biopic that was on tv a few months ago.

This is the dress, hastily styled. I think the tights don't really work here, and I wanted more color altogether. I was already slowing us down, however, and tried to compromise by only trying the outfit three or four ways before settling on this. Hah. You can see my red rain boots in the picture... I've definitely grown to love them.

Ah well, lots of time to work on it. The dress itself is just a shirt-dress- the lace underneath is me layering that black F21 skirt I got a few weeks ago for modesty. Matt gets a patience medal for not having a brain aneurysm when I finally came home with the dress, put something together, headed for the door and said, "Wait- can you take some pictures? I always forget to take pictures for my blog."

Double points for not freaking out when I rejected 90% because they were too blurry. He patiently took more until I called 'good enough' and we went out.

The end.

Slush.

So, I lucked out in that my area didn't get the 6-7 inches of snow hitting the good folks just a few hours down the road. We did, however, get a fluffy kind of rain that turned into slush on the street and a light dusting of snow on our cars.

Through some magical turn of events, I hit the window lever on my car at some point and opened my back window ever so slightly. I woke up this morning to find rain had gotten in my car. I have no earthly idea how it happened, but somehow 80% of the rain fell on one small spot- a spot the exact size and shape of my new Glamour magazine. Michelle Obama is still grinning up at me from the sad, soaked, rumpled cover.

I am so not a snow girl. Pictures of snow are charming. Snow in your socks, not so.

In honor of my fallen, half-read Glamour, I intend to think of nothing today except bright, flowery dresses.

Items in this set (clockwise from top left):

Modcloth dress,

Bubble Hem dress

Flower on Flower dress

Flower Bloom Hip Dress

Uttam White Flower Kimono dress

Brilliant Blossom Dress

Flower Print Stretch Satin dress

Tarina Tarantino necklace

China Cool.

Ugh, lots of weirdness with my postings today. Not sure if the messiness showed up at all, but if so, it should be all good now. Moving on!

A few months ago, some friends threw a large, joint birthday party that was prom themed. It was just about the coolest birthday party of all time. Not having been to a formal in about four years, I was a little more excited than a fake, drunk prom in someone's huge basement truly merited. I started looking for my dress- which had to be sexy, colorful, short and unique- months in advance. It was a long, complicated, weird, Murphy's Law kind of adventure, but it did lead me to find China Cool.

I don't really get this website. It's oddly put together and seems slightly shady. But it has the most interesting, pretty little dresses ever. I drooled over a few of them before worries about quality (and shipping dates, as the event was coming up fast) eventually led me to skip the site altogether in favor of a safer choice. Whenever a cocktail dress event comes up now, though, I always seem to drift back over there. I think I may eventually bite the bullet and just give it a try. Until then, here are a few of my favorites.

They have a few gowns that are interesting too, but I remember them being more bold when I last looked at them. I guess they've gotten some more toned-down stock. I do like these:

Between the site's odd vibe and the relatively low prices, I'm still hesitant to buy a dress just yet. But I doubt it will be too long before I do just to find out.

Lapel Necklace.

Two questions:

1. Do we like the idea of this as a necklace? I guess you'd wear it over a simple t-shirt or romantic, floaty dress?

2. If you were smitten, why would you pay $62.99 at Modcloth when you could very easily buy a blazer for under $15 at goodwill and just cut off the lapel? Would a small chain be that hard to find from some broken jewelry you have sitting around? Even a trip to a craft store or buying an old necklace or bracelet wouldn't get you anywhere near 60 bucks. It doesn't seem like it would be a tricky project.

A pretty cool idea, Modcloth, but I'm surprised even you tried to get away with a price like that.

DIY Silver Strappy Sandals

A little while back an old friend of mine called to to ask if I would be a bridesmaid in her wedding. Of course I said yes. I was pretty excited, as I've never been one before.

Her wedding is coming up awfully fast, and details like her gown and the dresses of the bridesmaids are still being hammered out. I know that our dresses will be dark blue, and at this point I believe we're going to be able to pick our own shoes, as long as they are strappy and silver.

This presented a bit of a pickle for me, as I'm not much of a strappy silver sandal girl (say that 10 times fast), and as a result own not one pair. I spent some time searching online to get a feel for styles and prices, and it was there that I stumbled on this blog called Love Maegan. Maegan found herself crushing on some YSL cage heels and saved some serious bank by made a pair for herself. She posted the DIY here.

I actually like her interpretation better than the original. Maybe it's just because the heels of the YSL shoe look like chicken wire, and it makes me fear for my feet. Her version is just a basic silver heel with this cool grid piece attached to your ankle and the toe of the shoe with ribbon.

I bought a cheap old leather skirt yesterday and want to start playing with making the grid. I don't have the pair of silver shoes yet to attach this to, but I'd rather wait and see how this turns out. I'm pretty excited. I realize these veer away from the traditional strappy sandal a bit, but they're fun and I'll actually wear them again. I don't think this particular bride will care much- she's shown far more interest in bridesmaid happiness than in making stringent rules. I think she's about two questions away from just letting us all pick our own dresses.

If you like the idea of a DIY shoe, Jessica over at Style Obsession did a DIY of Louboutin petal heels that I thought was really clever. It's definitely on my list of things to try. Love Maegan also seems to have a ton more DIYs if you have some free time. I've seen a piece on fringe shoes and a decent facsimile of an over the knee boot.

Today I...

... am wearing:

Apologies for the quality, the boyfriend is at work and taking photos with the 10-second timer was not working. Had to resort to Myspace tactics. This mirror was magically found in the giveaway area of my apartment building. It makes you look skinny, but no amount of wiping will remove that dusty look.

Here it is without the coat...

The dress is from Urban Outfitters and it is awesome (zipper! pockets!). I wore it almost every day when I visited Phoenix this summer. The scarf is GAP and the coat is the Miss Sixty one I blogged about many moons ago. Someday I will find somewhere cooler to shoot photos than my apartment, as my cute cute place always seems to come out sketchy in these photos.

... decided to keep my boots.

If they seem different than my ALDO Cassettys, it's because they are. I returned those because I just wasn't in love with them in person. I bought these as an alternative, and I adore them. Also, they fold down! So now when thigh highs become uncool (so 2009) I'll have a backup plan. It's extremely hard to photograph thigh high boots on yourself. Bear with me. These new boots are pretty damn comfy (still breaking them in) and were cheaper than the last pair. They're called the Harper boot, and they're made by Report. The main difference between these and the ones I returned is the toe. These are significantly more rounded, which removes that odd, flat Grinch look my feet had.

... realized I hate Anthropologie, just a little.

Only because I don't have $20 to spend on each of these ornaments. Visions of the world's cutest under the sea Christmas tree are making me sad faces. It's quirky and weird and ohmygod octopus. Expect an entire entry about octopus jewelry from me in the future.

I'm going out for drinks as soon as the boyfriend gets off work. He got fired and rehired this week, which was some epic drama, and a few Boulevard Wheats will be quite welcome. Until then, I'm going to go watch my recording of the most boring season of Project Runway ever. Any of you still hanging on to this show with me? I mourn the loss of Ra'mon daily.

Bewbs.

I've heard a few bloggers mention that they have issues with backless dresses because of the bra situation. I feel ya. I actually found a solution that works really well for me, and I’m wondering if anyone else has tried it?

I found this stick-on bra at Walmart and it’s totally changed what I can and can’t wear. It wasn’t expensive (I think around $25?), it’s reusable, and it’s never once fallen off. Peeling it off can sometimes be slightly wince-worthy, but it's not bad. It doesn’t give me a ton of lift, but it helps shape the girls and hold them together to make a more pleasing look.

Now, I have pretty modestly-sized ladies. I just barely scrape a 36C, so this might not be an option for a woman more blessed than I. I’d be really interested to know if you’ve tried them, and what your experience was. Since I’ve had them, backless and weird straps are just non-issues for me. I don’t even worry about them when I make purchases. Quite freeing, actually.

The box looks something like the one pictured, but I think they've updated their look since then. I've never tried another adhesive bra, so I can only recommend that line-drawn chick with the Jessica Rabbit look pictured here. I think the brand is Lingerie Solutions? I've seen it in every Walmart I've been in for the last few years, so it shouldn't be hard to track down if you're interested.

Crushes.

If these objects were boys, and I were in high school, I would be stuffing love notes in all their lockers. I would be baking them cupcakes and hanging around their homerooms. I would be writing offhand, totally casual comments on their Facebooks and penning their names over and over in Composition notebooks.

British Invasion Jacket - Modcloth

Marc Jacobs Blue 'Love Story' Clutch - Overstock

Miso 2 Tone Sequin Dress - Republic

Masquerade Ball Gown in Teal - DarkPonyDesigns on Etsy

Alexander McQeen Leather Ruched Shoe

Calypso Skirt- Modcloth

Can you guys think of any way to wear this last skirt so that it's not so costumey? Some way to fit it into a regular wardrobe? Yeah. Me neither. Sigh.

In other news, I discovered something awesome today. Remember that blue dress that was in the inspiration for my rabid sequin search? (How could you forget, right? I mention it every other post).

Well, guess what I accidentally stumbled on today, still in stock, half the price of this one, and missing the sleeves that I wasn't as sure about? The same website (Asos) has an almost identical dress for half the price, and no sleeves. I'm not great at the measurement game- wish me luck!

I promise, no more mention of my OTK boots or my sequin dress fixation from now on, until decisions are made. And then silence on the subject!

One other thing I'd like to ask- do you guys troll the net for discount codes the way I do? For years I've paid little to no attention to those little discount coupon boxes at the end of my online purchases, but got a tipoff recently. This week alone a simple Google search for discount codes has saved me $40. I feel like I've been missing out bigtime!

Occasions.

I’m happiest when I have an event to plan an outfit for. It’s fun to experiment day-to-day, but there’s something very appealing about planning a look, especially for an occasion that requires something kind of special. I’ve obviously been thinking about New Years as a way to psych myself up about my boyfriend’s concert (blue sequins, I haven’t given up on you), but I have a few other things coming up a bit sooner. In making these sets, I tried to stick to items that I have, or things that look like pieces in my closet.

1. A wedding. Going as the Plus 1 of my boyfriend and meeting a ton of his childhood friends for the first time. I’m leaning on him to fill me in on the details so I can decide how formal this is. He mentioned that the simple day dress I wore to the last wedding we attended would be okay, but I’m not in a simple mood lately. Two ideas:

2. The Nutcracker. Every year my mother takes my sister and me to see the Nutcracker Ballet. The venue is gorgeous and grand. People arrive in everything from dresses and heels to jeans. My denim will not be attending.

Of this outfit I only own the dress (a knit splurge at Anthropologie- fits like a dream) and the boots. I suppose I have a similar white shirt and my hard-working brown faux leather belt, though. The white shirt would layer under, of course:

3. The boyfriend’s birthday party. A joint party with another friend. I’m not actually super sure what it will be like, only that it starts around 6pm at that friend’s house. Seems like a casual, daytime affair- but it could end up in going out. I’m going to split the formal/informal difference. Could always ditch the sweater if things get fancy. My own LBD is mega-cute, but I couldn't find a thing like it on the internet. Ah well.

Weekend Shopping.

I ended up spending most of my Sunday lazing around with the boyfriend until he went to work. Then I picked up and headed off to the nicer mall in the area. I scoped some alternatives to my flat, over the knee boots because I'm still not in love with them, but didn't find much. Of course, I hit up Charlotte Russe (although I never seem to find much there I like that much) and the huge F21. They didn't have the booties I mentioned before, and after some advice confirming my belief that F21 shoes are the devil, I've sadly let that idea go for now.

I did score some cute new skirts. They're basic enough to use over and over, and were very cheap, so they fit my shopping rules for the moment. I was too lazy to redo hair and makeup, so here are some cropped photos...

This also features my new basic blazer (it looks slightly odd here, but it's pretty damn classy). I got it for half off at TJ Maxx. It also features that blue v-neck tee that I gushed about before. I wear the thing an obscene amount.

This is what the skirt looks like when not swallowed by blazer.

This one is very satin-y and from the F21 Twisted line that I scored the gray and black dress from. I'm going to try it with a striped button-up style shirt tomorrow. Rawk.

The one thing that really sucks about my beloved, cheap, guilty pleasure F21 is that in their tops and some dresses, I'm a medium, sometimes a large. But I'm lucky if I fit into their size large skirts. The skirts usually only work if I can hike them up a bit to my very narrow natural waistline (see above). I'd be more comfortable in their non-existent extra large size. I don't think of myself as huge... I'm not sure why their sizing is so small and ridiculous. Anyway, the point of this rant is that my birthing hips cheated me out of this skirt:

I snapped some shots of it, but they're really blurry. I couldn't zip it up, but if I held it together I could see how adorably it peeked out from the bottom of my clothes. Very flapper. I was smitten, but it was not to be.

My current goals are to scale back on shopping (I've been going a bit nuts lately), to focus on basics when I do shop, and to make a decision about my boots. I also want to start getting more creative with the clothes I do have, and to ditch the clothes I never wear- my closets are bursting.

Bad.

Okay, I might need an intervention. I just found these shoes that are really cute, and really cheap, and that is bad. It's bad because they're from Forever 21, a place I swore I would never buy shoes. In fact, I never actually swore it, because I didn’t feel like one had to promise not to buy cheap, obviously painful shoes.

So why do I like these 4 inch sneaker heels? There is no way that for $22.80 these are anything but torture, right? Has anyone had a good, bad or indifferent experience with F21 shoes? I’ve tried on Charlotte Russe shoes that were foot hell at first, wobbly step, but I don’t know anyone who has purchased footwear from F21. I may need a good talking to. Sadly, I've already committed to the point of thinking that I might prefer them in brown. I love the velcro, the sneaker feel, the (fake) leather look and the name: The Touchdown Bootie. How cute is that? How awful is it that I'm thinking for that low price, I could get both colors?

The boyfriend is working all day tomorrow, leaving me with a free day. I'm planning on hitting up a local mall and checking these out in person. I'm a sucker for a brown leather sneaker. And heels? Ohmygawd.

Outfit Attempts.

These are a few pictures from days this week when I felt I looked slightly more together than usual. Slightly. You'll have to click the photos for bigger images.

This is me feeling, and therefore looking, awkward for the camera. I used to do some modeling (serious). You can totally tell. It's all in the fake smile (sarcastic). Here I wasn't wearing anything special, kind of an everyday outfit for me. But I felt good that whole day, so I figured it was as good a time as any to take a photo.

The next night I felt like trying something weird. I just found the coolest faux reptile skin leggings at F21. They fit kind of oddly (super tight on top, kind of baggy on my skinny ankles) and I wasn't sure what to do with them. I feel like I kind of overdid it here, but for walking down the street for a few drinks at a bar it was perfect and weird. Kind of a throwaway night because we went out so late, and I felt like I could get away with anything. I think I took an orange clutch, too, actually. I'm such a cartoon.

This next one is from yesterday, when I took the day off. The t-shirt is my favorite- it's organic, from a company called Thread for Thought. I got it at TJ Maxx for around $5. The skirt is from F21, a recent purchase. It was on sale for $6. At the movies, a short little usher dude came out of the bathroom, stopped, and told me he loved my outfit and that I looked great. This is currently my favorite outfit, bigtime. My hair was being funny- it's not usually so... lopsided? Is that the word?

Finally, a picture of the boots. I'm still trying to decide on them. All the pictures from the week ended up slightly blurry, but the boots got the worst of it. This is the least blurry photo. I'm slightly concerned that my boots look like Grinch feet. The long, narrow, pointy toe throws me off. Tell me I'm nuts?

Also, today I managed to get two more basics checked off my list. I now have a pair of thick, black sweater-ish tights and a pretty sweet blazer. Go me!