Tuesday: Farewell to a Purple Dress

Dress: Kenar purple knit with grecian sleeves, Marshalls summer 2009
Top: white collar woven, Martin + Osa, summer 2010
belt: woven brown, so old I don't remember
necklace: green and red multi-media necklace, from a jeweler long out of business
shoes: Clarks Laugna Reef sandals, summer 2010

This is the final wearing of this purple knit dress. It's served me well for the last year, but has finally stretched out and started to fuzz up, so it's time to be retired. Funny, I think this is the first piece of clothing in a long while that I have had to throw out because of it has been worn out; most of my stuff gets donated or retired because of fit!

It was a great dress, able to be dressed up or down, and worked in every season. I think it's only fitting I do a retrospective!



Hmmm, that was all I could find but I know I have worn it more than that. Oh well, it served me well!

Thursday: Grover is the best.

I'm pretty sure you guys might remember this dress. I've found a new way to remix it yet again! Today's version was driven by my need to wear these waterproof patent La Canadienne boots; I had a meeting at another facility in the morning, and we got another 3 inches of fluffy white stuff overnight. I hate changing my shoes before/after meetings, so boots it had to be!

I added a white Lands End turtleneck, brown corduroy blazer from Kohls, gold-stone necklace from J. Crew Outlet, layered off-black and bughundy patterned tights, and a mustard belt from Target finished it off. I'm not actually sure the mustard was right up close, but I liked it with the outfit overall.

Near (said in a Grover voice):



Faaaaaaar:



Not that is matters, since once I got back to the office I ditched the blazer and the belt and wore the dress and turtleneck by themselves. More comfy that way.

I am going to be so sad when these tights shred.



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I tell you, it is SO EASY for an exercise routine to vanish from your day if you're not careful. One day turns into two, two becomes a week, a week is a month, POOF. Even when you're enjoying it! At least, that's what it's like for me. I just can't get it to become a habit. But I will keep trying!

Weekend wear, new haircut, and one more Dress Remix

From last weekend, jeans and a pretty purple sweater:



Closeup:


I have a bunch of lace-trimmed camis from Old Navy, but whenever I try to wear them they look like lingerie peeking out, which is not a good look at The Nunnery. I keep them for weekend wear, and then forget to wear them. This time, I remembered!

Sadly, that was the last time my hair looked good all week, so I made an appointment and got it trimmed up today. I'm still growing out the bob, but I like it much better when it's shorter and sleeker.

Today I am wearing one more of my favorite dresses, a Michael Kors jersey dress in brown, mustard and purple print.



Brown grandpa cardigan from Eddie Bauer Outlet, purple soft jersey scarf from Gap, brown gold-swirled Hue tights and brown Franco Sarto boots finished it off. Hubby met me after my hair appointment and took me out for Valentine's lunch. We're both too tired and too pre-stressed on Sunday nights to want to go out to dinner, so lunch it was! :)



George loved my tights. I do too!

I've worn this dress a lot.


Interesting. I use the same color scheme almost every time I wear it. I should try something new next time...

Friday: Dress Remix Challenge

Hey George, did you want to come in? What do you think of my aubergine sheath remix?



George? Hello?

Well, *I* liked it. This aubergine sheath from AT has been a staple in my closet since I got in the early fall. I liked it so much I bought its twin in black, both of which I picked up at AT's awesome 60% off one full-price item sales. (Those are great for dress shopping; stop in an Ann Taylor the next weekend they are having one. You will not regret it.)

Everything I paired it with today are also staples in my closet: the purple AT boyfriend sweater, the mustard paisley silk Target scarf, grey striped Spanx tights, and my black Vince Camuto boots.



I almost did a monochromatic purple outfit with a purple-and-cream scarf instead, but then I remembered doing something similar in a previous outfit. Let's see if I remembered correctly!



Clearly I like it with the purple boyfriend cardigan. I didn't do the monochromatic, but I did wear the scarf in those last two outfits. Sheaths are fantastic with long scarves.

Hey! I forgot about this one; different sheath, same scarf and sweater.


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Thoughts on the Dress Remix Challenge:

1. Looking back at all the photos of the outfit variations I've worn with these dresses was a blast. I discovered that I do try new things more than I thought, this set of sheath/purple cardi notwithstanding.

2. I also discovered I don't wear these dresses as much as I thought I did; I was expecting double the number of photos in my Flickr pool.

3. This also forced me to look at how my body and size has changed over the last half of last year, and not for the better. There are many pieces that I can't wear right now and that hurt. But that is a post for another day!

4. By about halfway through the week, I wanted to rebel from the challenge, either by wearing a new dress or pants or a skirt. So while I would like to do a remix challenge again -- I think it's a good way to utilize all the items in my closet -- I don't want to restrict it again to one clothing type.

4a. In fact, I think next week I will do a remix again, but this time alternating pieces. Maybe one day a scarf, the next a jacket, a necklace, shoes, etc. Anyone have a suggestion of something I have that you'd like to see remixed?

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the challenge! I sure did.

Thursday: Dress Remix Challenge

Today I remixed a remix, twice.

This is how it started:


This black lantern-sleeved Loft dress is the very first size 10 I ever bought. I got it in the early spring last year, right in the beginning when I was starting to realize dresses could really be a fabulous option for me. I anticipated using this dress for dressier occasions, like dinners out with my husband, etc. And I have worn it for those moments, but it also works well as a day dress. It's a great knit and I love the way the neck swoops down but still covers everything discreetly.

Today I paired it with a rhubarb-pink Lands End turtleneck, pewter lariat BR necklace, light grey tights under black patterned ones, and my beloved Franco Sarto patent heeled oxfords in grey. But that's not all! This version of the outfit was what I was planning to wear at my afternoon meeting. For the office, I added a new moto jacket. YES!



The moto is from Target. Target! It's been all the rage over on YLF, in the cream version especially, but I didn't think I needed one so I didn't pay much attention. Then I was wandering through Target last weekend and spotted both colors. The cream did nothing for me, as expected, but I fell HARD for the black. Wouldn't you? Check out the details!




Seriously great. I got a ton of compliments on it today, so much so I kept it on for my afternoon meeting.



Man, this made me so happy. I've been dying to work in an office where I could have fun with my outfits, and this is exactly the kind of thing I wanted to do.

But wait! There's more!

I ended up remixing again, for my coworker A. She's been battling breast cancer and recently lost her hair to chemotherapy. In solidarity for her, we all wore pink ribbon bandanas all day today. So really, this is what I looked like today:


We're with you, A!

And now what has become my favorite part of this challenge: looking back at all the ways I have worn this dress in the past.


It's such a pretty shape I hate to ruin the lines with sweaters or jackets over it. I have other black dresses I can wear those with. This one is best on its own or with layers under it.

Wednesday: Dress Remix Challenge

Today's entry in the Dress Remix Challenge is my favorite dress of all time. I bought it last spring at Kohls, and it's managed to fit and look good as I slid up and down the scale over the summer and fall. It hasn't gotten much use this winter because it's tricky to style with lots of layers, but I think using it as a skirt under a blazer and scarf worked with this remix. The blazer is a linen/cotton blend I got on the clearance rack at AT Factory Outlet, and has ended up being my go-to black blazer in a closet full of black blazers. I think it's the length and the shape that work best for my body shape, plus the fabric weight doesn't add bulkiness when I add a belt. The scarf is a soft cotton that I think I picked up at the Gap a while ago.

For the bottom half I wore my Naturalizer black heeled oxfords, and I had fun with a layered tights look: bright purple under black eyelet patterned tights, both from Target. I would have gone with the bare purple but I had a meeting outside the office and didn't want to look too outrageous.



Not a lot of photos today; I'm finding it hard to make time for a good photo session in the mornings, and my hair is driving me crazy right now so the shots I do take end up unacceptable. I've got an appointment for this weekend so my stylist can shape it some more while I continue to grow it out. Can't wait!

These are the other ways I have worn this dress:


Like I said, I've worn it a LOT. Looking at all the outfits together like this, I think the best accessories for it are my summer tan, and my husband. :)