Outfit catchup

As the last few blasts of winter have been rolling through, I've been bundling up and having fun with my blogger bubble necklaces.



Cozy and casual on a random Saturday. ON ivory waffleknit sweater, white ON collared knit shirt, ON Dreamer jeans, Me To two-tone flats, and the teal bubble necklace.



The teal necklace got worn again for work, over a new grey pullover sweater from Nordstrom (part of my birthday purchases), a fantastic purple Lands End button-down knit shirt from Gwynnie Bee, black pants and Clark boots.

I am really digging the collared-shirt-under-pullover-sweater look lately. Spoiler alert: expect to see it a few more times in this post!





Another killer Gwynnie Bee selection, a drape-neck brown and blue patterned top from Karen Kane. Worn under a brown ON heathered brown cardigan, black pants, and um I guess I was barefoot, LOL. Who cares, the top was just so, so lovely.



The purple Lands End top from Gwynnie Bee got another wearing, this time to herald spring in my beloved Lands End striped knit jacket, black Gap bootcut pants and Clark booties.



Quick upper-body shot that I sent to Jessie one morning, to show her how much better the blue Gap jacket looked on my compared to a red one I had to return to Gwynnie Bee (the red was just waaaaaay too cool and made my skin look all splotchy and weird).

I mentioned birthday purchases earlier, and I wanted to show for the record that I did buy both the purple/blue anorak and the small Longchamp bag as (a couple of) my gifts. It's not quite warm enough yet for the unlined coat, but the purse is already getting tons of use. LOVE it.






For instance, with this weekend outfit. Yet another new sweater (I swear, this was the end of the birthday shopping!) this time from Eddie Bauer, and the purple Lands End top in its third and final wearing. I was not sure if the red and purple would go together, but they really did. As I said to Jessie in our email exchange about it, it was like the way hot pink and orange work together: complementary but also clashing.




*cough* I lied. I got this bubble necklace too. (Same outfit and day as above, I just switched necklaces.) But now I have something in "blush" aka pale pink.

Whee, I'm trendy!




Wore it to work yesterday too, this time with neutrals. Mushroom knit Ann Taylor Outlet cardigan, the perfect white tee from Project Color: White, straight leg Gap pants, and the Me Too flats. I liked this, it felt pretty and soft.




The last two outfits are not soft, but they're fun to wear.





Hunh, I've been wearing a lot of casual lately. Or that's the only time I have time to take photos. Could be both reasons!

I'll try to get more work outfits next time. It's funny to me how few blogs there are that actually show clothes you can wear to work; this whole casual pants thing has me so flummoxed and irritated. What am I supposed to wear to the Nun House? Silky track pants ain't gonna cut it.

Anyway, colored dress pants remain my elusive shopping goal. If I find them, any impulse shopping habits will quickly return.

As always, if you are interested in Gwynnie Bee, follow this link to sign up for a 30-day free trial, and consider using it beyond then too. (I do get some compensation for pimping GB, but I think I prove in every outfit post how much I love the service, and how much variety it gives my closet. This is a reminder of all the reasons why I love it.)

The Color Project: White

One of the OCD things about my closet is that I have each item category (sweaters, tops, jackets, pants) sorted by color. When I am looking for a black top, for instance, they are all together so I can see my options. Now that my closet is so lean, I even hung all the t-shirts so they can be included in that grouping.

One day as I was grabbing a favorite white top, I started to wonder if I really wore ALL of the tops that were in each of the color categories. Or was it just a favorite 1-2 that got cycled through and the rest were there as filler?

So I embarked on what I am calling the Color Project. I pulled all the white tops to the front of my closet and purposefully worked as many as I could into my outfit rotation. I did not put a time limit on it -- i.e., wear them all in a week -- because this wasn't some fashion challenge I was forcing on myself; the idea was to see if I really did NEED to have all the ones I had, or if a few could be edited.

Turns out, I wore them all. I didn't love them all, but I did wear them. Since none were obvious edits, I've had to look a little deeper to see which are worth keeping.

1. V-neck ruched Sejour long-sleeve, Nordstrom. Worn with a navy polka-dot scarf from Old Navy, navy Gap modern bootcuts, grey long-sleeved Target Merona cardigan, and grey Franco Sarto Deers. My co-worker told me I looked like the definition of Connecticut preppy, which I consider a compliment. :)
I took these particular Deers to the cobbler and had him replace the heel tips, which just extended the life of these shoes by another 2-3 years for sure.  You know how I love all my versions of these shoes, so I am thrilled.



Verdict: The shirt itself is okay; the v-neck sits a little crooked on me, and I keep thinking that is more versatile than it is. There's a bit of a flare to it at the waist that I don't love. I'm not ready to let it go quite yet, but it was tougher to rotate in than some of my others. 

2. Old Navy collared knit button-down shirt, first under a new cream Old Navy waffle-knit pullover. It was a snowy day, so bundling up was key. The Gap straight-legs were the only option as pants because I had to tuck them into my Dansko snow boots. I thought the blue bubble necklace added the right amount of dressiness to tip the outfit into the business casual/office appropriate look. Not what I would wear if I had been at one of the hospitals, but for just my office it worked.



I wore it again this weekend under my new striped cotton pullover from Gap, Dreamer Old Navy jeans, pewter Privos and the clear acrylic ice cube pendant from Banana Republic. Even Hubby thought this was a cute look.



Verdict: This one is a total keeper. I was avoiding wearing it because it was too wrinkled and I was too lazy to iron it, but I found that it can either go under my new pullover sweaters or a few hard shakes will eliminate the worst of the wrinkles.

3. Lauren Conrad embellished tee, Kohls. I have had this for at least 3 years, but it still works with so many looks. I posted the first outfit below back in January; my plan was to wear all the white shirts over the month and see if anyone noticed, then do a round-up post. Those plans got waylaid when I stopped posting. ;-D



I wore it again this weekend with the mushroom knit cardigan, faded Dreamer jeans, and a color-blocked infinity scarf I got last spring from Old Navy; it is navy, olive green and mint/paleblue, which I am seeing around as a pretty trendy color these days. So I dug my only version of it out. :)






Verdict: this veteran still has plenty of life in her. She's going nowhere.

4. Basic long-sleeved LOFT tee, worn under a Forth & Towne faux-wrap cardigan. I posted about this outfit before too.



Verdict: I completely forgot I wore or even owned this until I found the picture on Flickr. That does not speak well for its longevity or necessity in my closet. I think I only need one long-sleeved white top, so I will probably keep either this or the v-neck.

5. This slub tee from Lane Bryant I actually pulled out of my loungewear drawer and rotated back into regular wear. It has two tiny stain dots on the front that had relegated it to loungewear, but I managed to cover those up and finally understood the power of a great plain white t-shirt.
I wish I had gotten a good front-on shot of this outfit, which was all my co-worker's idea. This was a gorgeous tux-like jacket from Gwynnie Bee with sequined sleeves, and I went for a rocker look with an assortment of long silver necklaces. Really fun look that I will probably repeat with some other dressy jackets I have.



A-ha! I did wear the slub tee again, this time with a fabulous snakeskin print cardigan from Gwynnie Bee. I loved that sweater so much I wore it four times before I sadly returned it. This time I added my Bestey Johnson camera pendant necklace, faded Gap Dreamer jeans, and patent tan-black colorblocked flats from Me Too.





Verdict: the perfect white t-shirt. Will try to find a replacement at Lane Bryant, or will figure out how to get those two stain dots out. (Thanks for the tips in the last post, gals; I will try those with this!)

6. LOFT ruched neck sleeveless tee. Probably my least-favorite of all my white tops, especially now that I have found the perfect one above. This is with my new-ish mushroom Ann Taylor Outlet knit cardigan, new black Gap long-and-lean jeans, and my trusty pewter lasso necklace from Banana Republic (which I bought with Shopping Friend a million years ago). 

I forgot how awful mirror shots were; so glad I got my office corner back for my tripod!



Verdict: it's okay, but the Lane Bryant one is better. Might be hitting the road soon.

7. This LOFT tee has angled distressed stripes, which offer interesting texture to a basic ivory tee. Paired with the Betsey Johnson camera pendant again, my fuschia Gap piped shrunken blazer, grey pinstriped Gap modern bootcuts, and black Clark Artisan boots.



I wore this top again the following weekend, this time pairing with a couple of familiar items, the mushroom knit cardigan from above, and the same faded Dreamer jeans. The jewelry this time was an assortment of long gold necklaces (boy I liked that look with the sparkly jacket), and a pair of faux-suede tan boots from Target.





Verdict: like the cream embellished one in #3, this is going nowhere for a long time.

8. The last top of the White Color Project was a regular button-down, a no-iron three-quarter sleeve Foxcroft version from Nordstrom. I've had this in my closet for at least a year, and I think I wore it one time. It is the reason I actually embarked on this experiment at all -- I didn't think I would like it when I tried to incorporate it into outfits, and then I could finally edit it out without guilt. 



But here's the funny thing: turns out I LOVED IT. The fit is perfect, there is no gapping at the chest, it tucks in without too much extra fabric bulking up under my pants, and the no-iron claim really means no ironing needed. Best of all, I had forgotten how much I like a good collared neckline; one of the most annoying parts about being fat is the enormous scoop neckline that are on nearly every top. Easily 75% of all plus-sized tops are like this, especially the nicer ones from Nordstrom. (Skim this page to see what I mean.) I learned from this round of the Color Project that I really miss a variety of necklines, and having that variety among my current white tops made this rather enjoyable.

Verdict: not only keeping it, but probably buying another in a different color.

++++++

Final thoughts of this Color Project round:
1. A variety of necklines is important to me, which I will keep in mind as I shop in the future. (Note to self: add turtleneck to your list for next winter.)
2. I love the look of a plain tee, funky jacket and a bunch of necklaces for dressy going-out occasions.
3. I had forgotten how much I love a good button-down.
4. Keeping: cream embellished #3, ivory distressed stripes #7, knit collared button-down #2 and no-iron button-down #8, and the perfect plain white t-shirt #5.
5. On the fence: one of the two long-sleeved tees (#1 and #4), the ruched sleeveless tee #6. 
6. While I don't mind repeating outfits, it did get boring for a stretch, I think because I was just tired of white.  But since I usually rotate colors more often than I did here, this was likely a product of the Project itself than an issue with any of the tops.

Next round is red (pinks and purples are included in that section of my closet too). I've already started!




What do you guys think? Any tops I should reconsider keeping?

Saturday Switcheroo

I love that you guys are not total enablers. When you don't like something, you say so, and without sugar-coating it. I appreciate that! I confess, I did stop over at Nordstrom to check the fur coats in person anyway, and they were, as my sister noted, fugly. The obsession is over, alas. (Mostly. I am still going to see if I can work some fur some way into my winter coat.)

But I did find some great purchases this weekend:

These Clark Artisan Vermont Vistas, in a fabulous olive suede. I've liked the look of the Clarks Indigo Water Row bootie for the last couple of seasons, but the arch was too high, and the look just a little too desert-boot. This one works much better for me. Hubby is waterproofing them as we speak! Eeee!

I also got this Coach purse (without Shopping Friend's recommendation or discount, yikes!). I'm on the fence about it; I really want a structured medium-sized bag, and I am in love with the color. The shoulder strap does fit really well under my arm, even with my trench coat on, and I think it will look amazing with suits and dressier outfits. My only worry: is it too boring?

What's your verdict, internet?

I ended up not getting that Cole Haan blue bag, for two reasons.
1. When I cleaned out my bags last month, I discovered that every bag I had bought for a "pop of color" was blue. I had turquoise, sky blue, and cobalt...and the cobalt was the only one that got any use at all, and only in the summer. The rest of my bags are black, brown and grey, which makes sense for me; I use a lot of color in my outfits, so the bag actually tones it down in many cases.
2. I then looked through my fall/winter coat closet, and realized that the most-used "pop of color" there is red or purple.
Given what I already had, the blue bag made no sense at all, and the lovely grey one above makes more sense.


The last purchase can't be found online so you'll have to wait a bit. Ooooh, suspense!

+++++

After a week of no photos, I did make myself take one on Friday.





I liked all the pieces of this, but I'm not sure it gelled together as a cohesive outfit.





The shirt is a yellow gingham Old Navy one; I bought it three colors on impulse (and on mega-sale) but I rarely wear any of them. I had the grey gingham on first, and that might have worked better in the end. The jacket is a Loft gunmetal gray, the pants are black NYDJ ponte skinnies, and the shoes are my BOC suede clogs from last year. Maybe the problem was going with brown, black, and grey. Hmm.


Saturday was more inspired. This particular inspiration that I saw in Lucky Magazine on Friday.

Source: luckymag.com via LowFatDressing on Pinterest

I was completely enamored.

First I started with a base: dark jeans and a white button down shirt. This is a tuxedo-front one from Old Navy that still has some life to it.




Boring, but it's a good base. Then I added the killer elements.







I loved it. I will definitely be wearing variations on it again. It served me well most of the day, but after my haircut the weather started to warm up, and it was just too heavy. I came home and changed into my new jacket, so Hubby could take me and my new sleek haircut out to dinner. (I love when my stylist flat-irons it the first day.)




LOVE this new jacket. This was the mysterious third purchase of the day, on the sale rack at Nordstrom. It's a Tahari Woman, with a great ruffled neck, with a fitted ruching at the waist. It's animal print, but not gaudily so. Close up, it looks even better.






I paired it with an Old Navy layering tee, and the same dark wash Old Navy jeans and brown patent croc print Me Too flats. I will be bereft when these shoes bite the dust!




Sunday has been a lazy day. Forgot to take a photo, but I did some food prep for the week. Made a great smoky black bean soup recipe (an old one from Weight Watchers), roasted butternut squash, and a fabulous (nonhealthy) item called, as my friend J calls it, "Tater Tot and Blue Cheese Hot Dish". Holy smokes, was it good!

And that's what I have been up to. How was your weekend?

Ciocia Kristen

Hello, internet! Did you miss me while I was gone? We had a lovely weekend away in Detroit (not an oxymoron LOL); we went for a family reunion picnic but I affectionately called the trip our Casino Tour Across Michigan. I hit big on our first night in New Buffalo, and that paid for the rest of the pitstops along the way and our stay in the Greektown Casino and Hotel in the city itself. Yay!

But more importantly, what did I wear? The weather was crazy, the kind where you over-pack with shorts for heat, jackets for bundling up, and shirts and sweaters of every weight, just to cover your bases. And I ended up wearing all of them.

This was Friday; wore it to work and then on the car ride across Illinois and Indiana that night. Gap Outlet purple and grey striped sweater, grey Lauren Conrad for Kohls embellished tee, black Gap skinny pants, red Target cutout flats. Those flats got quite a workout all weekend!






Saturday we drove the rest of the way across the state then met up with my sister-in-law and niece for lunch at Slows BBQ in the city of Detroit. It's a funny restaurant, funky and upscale like many restaurants found in the funky urban neighborhoods of Chicago, but because it's in Detroit it's pretty much surrounded by abandoned buildings. The food was ridiculously good; I had a brisket and onion marmalade sandwich that was amazingly tender and flavorful. Plus, I got to spend time with my niece! She's only two so she's like an amnesiac still; she doesn't remember me between the times that I see her, so I have to win her over all over again at each visit. But Ciocia Kristen (Aunt in Polish) is persistent, and by the end of the reunion on Sunday she was running into my arms and kissing me. :)











I love how fearless my sister-in-law is in taking her daughter through the city. They live there, after all, and it's good to teach her to enjoy the good and not to ignore the bad.


This was one of 3 outfits on Saturday. The WHBM striped sweater kept coming off and on as it heated up, so I was glad I had just gotten this Old Navy long sleeved ruched v-neck tee this week on sale. It's so soft, and the optic white looks good against my skin tone. I ended up getting even hotter and changing into a fuschia sleeveless ruched tee from LOFT for a while, then that night I wore my batwing black top when we went out drinking and gambling with my brother-in-law. (Also when we went for Coney dogs at 10:30 at night. It's a Detroit tradition!)





Sunday was the reunion out at a gorgeous park up by my brother-in-law. The sun was out but the wind was cool, so my new Old Navy striped sweater kept coming off and on as the temps changed. Underneath was another Old Navy ruched v-neck tee, this time in deep teal. My gold circle Nasri necklace and Old Navy Dreamer jeans finished off the outfit. No full-lengths shots, but here are a couple of closeups. I bought those aviators last year, and they were expensive from Ralph Lauren. But they look awesome, and they've lasted well. No regrets about buying them at all!






Me and my nieces (ages two and sixteen). Love both of these girls so much! The reunion was perfect because the adults were busy talking to their cousins and aunts, but since I don't know any of them I got to spend time with my nieces one on one. Usually at family parties their moms and grandmas hog their attention. :)



 
My husband proudly wore his new Made in Detroit shirt. LOL!





He also did some fishing with our niece. She loved it, and didn't want to stop even though it was time to go. They kept catching the line on lily pads and other assorted greenery in the water, and my husband joked that they were catching "salads". When we got her back with her mom, she proudly said, "I caught salads!" We have been repeating it to each other ever since.

Good thing they didn't actually catch a live fish; she might have freaked out.




The kids played games at the picnic, and one of the prizes were bubbles. That turned out to be the most fun of all, as the little ones chased the bubbles all over the field. I could have watched them for hours. So adorable.





By Monday, my flats-length Old Navy Dreamer jeans had completed bagged out, but I did not want to wear heels for the drive home. So I rolled up my heel-length Old Navy Dreamer jeans (why do the other pair bag out, but not these? It's a mystery) and added the white long-sleeved tee again, my grey asymmetrical sweater from Marshalls, red Target flats and my new crossbody from Nordstrom. This was definitely a remixing weekend! (And an Old Navy one, apparently; they are my go-to store for casual this year!)



And now I am back at work. Alas!