SUPER Stripes Thursday

Oh, what a difference a change in pose makes!

Cute:


SUPER cute:


Now I know why this week's challenge is SUPER Stripes Week; I've been looking at it from the wrong angle all week!

The sweater is great, right? I saw it on a blog (sorry, I've forgotten which one) that it was from Lane Bryant, and what caught my eye was the sale price: a $44 sweater marked down to $7. Plus there was a 30% off coupon. I've been trying not to have to go to Lane Bryant, but it was so cute in a bright blue on that mystery blog I could not resist. So I ordered it in black and in a bright turquoise ("opal"), but the black is the keeper. Love it!

What's interesting is that at first I put a bright teal camisole underneath, and intended to pair it with a bold, saturated black-and-teal floral scarf. But...the colors were all wrong, which didn't make sense for a black-and-white striped top.

Then I looked closer: the white is actually a softer cream. That needs softer colors, not saturated ones. I swapped camisoles to a matching cream, and added a long beach-glass necklace (from Eddie Bauer of all places, can you believe it?). I've had this necklace for a couple of years but because it is more muted it doesn't get a lot of wear. But it worked perfectly here!



Couple of extra notes:
1. Angie at YLF raved about a similar item from Talbots the other day; her find was a t-shirt of excellent quality, and I did consider getting it. This sweater is the alternate for bigger gals; it's a very thin quality, perfect for spring, and the size and placement of the stripes work better for our size than the Talbots one does. Plus the price cannot be beat. (For now. In a month or so, the Talbots one will probably be just as low. They have great sales too.)

2. It must be spring, as all kinds of long-unworn items were coming out of hiding! The flats are ones I picked up at Ann Taylor Factory several years ago and hardly ever wear; the wool-like fabric of them means they only work for a very short period of time each year, when it's still cool enough to wear wool but warm enough to wear flats. I have considered getting rid of them during several purges, but couldn't quite do it. But they, like the beach-glass necklace, worked perfectly with this outfit. It's like both pieces were waiting for this sweater to let them shine!