Stripes Wrap-up

I finished out last week in stripes. Just trying to fulfill the completist who lives deep in my heart!



Lots of black and grey in this, so it's hard to see. The sweater is new from the new LOFT Outlet up in the outlet mall; I use a random black ribbon to close it since underneath was a cheap Target graphic tee I picked up in desperation on the clearance rack one surprisingly hot Saturday last month. It's a cute top though -- and striped graphic tees always remind me of Sheila at Ephemera. :)



Whee, crooked tripods! :) I paired it with my dark grey Gap modern bootcuts, and black patent peeptoe heels. I go back and forth about whether it is warm enough for peeptoes, but a closed shoe is just too wintery-looking to my eye.

Friday was pretty chilly out, so I bundled up my black-and-white striped cascading cardigan from WHBM (a Christmas gift from my mom).



This time I pulled out a LOFT top I hadn't worn in a long while, a knit sleeveless top with a cotton hankie bow-like in front. It's an odd shirt, but I like it (sometimes. Sometimes it just irritates the heck out of me). My Gap black modern bootcuts and my brown-red-purple Nicole Blessed booties finished it off.

In unrelated news, Emily is finally getting bold enough to start finding places on the furniture where she will lay down (previously she stuck to the floor, or under the bed or in the basement when she was scared), and she's getting more willing to be near George without running away. It's so, so satisfying to watch her come out of her shell and blossom into a silly, sweet, cuddly cat who actually *demands* affection when she wants it. We've had her about 6 months now and I think she finally feels like this is her home. I love her for that.



(George is just pretending he doesn't know she is there. He knows. He likes her. I think.)

Next week: polka-dots and florals!

SUPER Stripes Friday and Roundup

Friday:



The one great thing about doing SUPER Stripes Week at this time of year is that it allowed me to wear striped outfits for every kind of temperature! This week was crazy, up and down, but I had it covered. Friday was my long-lost Hamburglar turtleneck from Sears/Lands End, a heather grey cotton sweater vest from Old Navy, Kohls black woven belt, my beloved pocketwatch pendant necklace from Urban Outfitters, black Gap skinny pants, and black Naturalizer Bates booties.

Hmm, I guess I have a lot more black/grey striped items than I realized. I feel like that is most of what I wore this week!

Let's recap:

Monday


Tuesday


Wednesday:


Thursday:


Friday:


No contest, Thursday was my favorite, and I am guessing it would sweep in a poll so I won't even bother. I think if I had worn Tuesday's top under a cardigan it might have been a contender, but who knew?

This was a fun challenge, thank you, Megan Mae! I just wish I had more stripes in my closet to really mix it up. Maybe next time!

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!

Stripes Tuesday and Wednesday

Well, it looks like the Lucky hobo was the big winner of the red bag poll! Which is good, because that was the one I have been leaning toward; I like a nice slouchy hobo, and as Helen rightfully teased me, I have to be absolutely sure I like the red tone or I will be a giant baby about it. You should hear me grumble about my nails STILL! LOL. The Lucky hobo was a nice dark red, so hopefully that should work. If not, it's from Zappos so back it will go!

Meanwhile, the Kate Spade bag search continues. One will be mine, someday. Just not in that fire engine red hue that is all wrong for me.

Appreciate the help deciding!

++++++

Back to the Super Stripes Challenge! Unfortunately, I didn't really like either outfits of the last couple of days; the pictures and the concepts themselves were just "blah". But to be a good sport and good challenge participant, I will still post the photos here. Tiny photos. ;-D



Tuesday was a totally failed concept in every way. I love that top and wanted to try it as an over layer instead of an under, but apparently the yellow color choice was wrong as 3 people told me I looked like a bumblebee. Also it looks a lot more strained and stretch than it was, and the optical illusion of the stripes makes me look bigger, not smaller (unlike the other sweater on Monday). Fail!

Wednesday is just boring and too much grey. My only defense was it was cold and rainy and I wasn't feeling the spring mood. Also I did not realize the camera would pick up the outline of my nude bra so much; good thing I wasn't on the red carpet with paparazzi! I would be a Fashion Don't in every tabloid around the globe.

Let's never speak of these again, okay?

Stripes Monday

First day of Stripes Week, and I went pure black-and-white.



White Halogen tunic top, black-and-white White House Black Market cardigan, black NYDJ pants, black Dillards clogs. A severe look needed severe jewelry, so I added my lariat necklace and mesh woven bracelet, both Banana Republic (boy, I haven't shopped there in a while.)



I dunno, I felt a little punk in this. I think it was the skinny pants silhouette.