Black on Black on Black

The lovely Fashionista Next Door has challenged us to wear all black as part of Style Me Friday.  And y'all?  This was crazy hard for me.

That's right, I had trouble putting together leggings and a tunic.

The thing is, I don't wear black from head-to-toe.  I pretty much have to have a pop of color; scarf, earrings, something.  Or something shiny.  I had to force myself to back away from my Foxxy Anubis brooch this morning.

However, I (sometimes) like a good challenge so I bit the bullet and resisted the urge to add color or shine, depending instead on different textures to (hopefully) add interest to my monochromatic look.

I, apparently, also wanted to show how it was possible to wear head-to-toe black and not look sleek and cool.

But, enough about my enduring fluffiness.  Let's get back to the texture:

Yes, my sweater is texturally interesting.  And yes, I do have to make that face when providing a close-up of this tunic. Rules is rules, folks.


Happy Friday, All!

Gracey

Fully On Board

I love pleats and I love peach and coral together so obviously I'm fully on board with this look:

I also love pairing my lace necklace with more lace.  So, once again, 100% on board:

And finally, I love remembering to link to up Visible Monday's over at Not Dead Yet Style.  Done and done.

Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

For the Birds: Inspiration Monday

For those of you who don't know, the lovely ladies of Two Birds have a link-up every Monday of looks inspired by celebrity outfits.  This is January Jones and she is today's inspiration:

january jones

I don't usually participate in Inspiration Monday because I forget and/or don't have the right pieces and am not creative enough to make it work with the pieces I do have.  Today though, I had everything I needed; leather, denim and lace.  Oh, and bitchface:

Okay, it's not the epic bitchface of January Jones, it's more like the suggestion of bitchface or like I'm thinking really hard, but it's the best I could do on the face.

And this was the best I could do on the clothes:

Instead of being all sad-faced that I didn't have similar pieces, I used the pieces I had in similar fabrics.  My lace (sans the black bra (next time though, next time)) is my lace sweatshirt (Macy's).  My denim is jeans (Old Navy Mid-Waist Rockstar Skinnies) instead of a jacket.  And my leather is just the boots (Luxury Rebel via Piperlime) instead of pants and boots.

And, frankly, I think I nailed it:

I'm the one on the right.  I know, it's confusing.

Happy Monday, All!  And thank you to Two Birds for hosting and January Jones for inspiring!

Gracey

Maybe Peach & Navy

I think this top is peach. Maybe:

It may be blush though. 

Either way, it could probably stand to be paired with a bolder color than navy.  I did add a bit of color with the jewelry.  But then I went with the pale gold shoes; again, I think a colored shoe might have been more interesting.  

I think I just don’t believe it’s spring yet so I’m sticking to my dark, winter neutrals.  Yes, it has been in the 70s here the past couple of days, but I know as soon as I pull out my spring/summer clothes, the temps will drop and it’ll start hailing.  Oregon weather loves to play mind games.

What about you, Reader Friends?  Is it spring in your wardrobe yet?

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Shop the Look:
Similar lace blouse
Similar cropped pants
Similar cropped cardigan
Exact FRANKIE necklace
Similar gold flats

** Disclosure: Actions taken from the hyperlinks in this blog post may yield commission/compensation for the writer. Please see the Disclosure tab for more details.

Pompoms and Lace

I have been eyeballing the FRANKIE necklaces from Etsy vendor, NestoftheBluebirds, for a couple of months now and finally pulled the trigger on this one:

And I love it.  Really, the only reason it took me so long to order is because it comes in quite a few color combinations and I didn’t know which one to choose.  I’m very happy with my choice though; the two neon poms  at the ends clenched it for me. 

I especially like the scale of it.  I like that it has pompoms, not POMPOMS.  It’s a good way for me to incorporate a little of the “global chic” trend into my wardrobe in a manner that compliments my style as opposed to overpowering it. 

Today I paired the necklace with a simple, cream lace sweatshirt (Macys) and burgundy cords (Banana Republic).  This lets the necklace be the star.  I also added blue leopard flats (Nine West “Naughty”) because 1) I love burgundy and blue and 2) it picks up the blue from the necklace tying the whole look together.   

That’s right, not all of my outfits are happy accidents; sometimes I actually think things through!

Happy Friday, Everyone!

Gracey

Shop the Look:

NestoftheBluebird FRANKIE necklaces

Lace front sweatshirt

Similar burgundy cords

Blue leopard flats (here, here, here)

** Disclosure: Actions taken from the hyperlinks in this blog post may yield commission/compensation for the writer. Please see the Disclosure tab for more details.

The Buffallamagator

I apologize for my absence yesterday.  I was out with a nasty head cold and was too exhausted to come to work.

I am still exhausted, but I went ahead and got dressed and came to work anyway.  

That may have been a mistake:

As you can see, my sartorial woes continue.  The concept was rust, leopard & cream, but I’m not sure the pieces are right.  To me, it almost looks like I’m in one of those children’s books where you line up the different animal parts, making things like a buffallamagator (buffalo-llama-alligator) or an elebratamus (elephant-cobra-hippopotamus).  

I mean, the rust cords (Christopher Blue “Angel Skinny” via Nordstrom Rack) make sense with the animal print flats (Nine West “Kicheya).  And they make sense with the cream sweater (MINKPINK "Golden Rule Jumper" via Piperlime).  But, I’m not sure the sweater makes sense with the shoes, even with the addition of the black metal lace necklace (Old Navy) to tie the two together.  

So, the top of the outfit works.  The middle of the outfit works.  And the bottom of the outfit works.  But, all together?  Buffallamagator.

Oh, well, what can I say, I’m sick.

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Shop the Look:

Christopher Blue “Angel Skinny” Cords

Nine West "Kicheya" Flats

MINKPINK Sweater

Similar metal lace necklace

** Disclosure: Actions taken from the hyperlinks in this blog post may yield commission/compensation for the writer. Please see the Disclosure tab for more details.

Lacy Gracey

True story, I was almost named Lacey.  My mom wanted to name me Lacey but my dad wanted to name me Grace after his Aunt Grace.  So, they compromised and called me Gracey.

Today though, I am also lacy (this one’s for you, Mom):

Last time I wore this necklace (Old Navy), I wore it with oxblood and there wasn’t enough contrast between the two so the necklace sort of got hidden.  Today though, I wore it with a lace sweatshirt (Macy’s) and you can finally see the detail.

In addition to the lace-on-lace, I also wore flame cords (Target), houndstooth shoes (Old Navy, thrifted via Goodwill) and added a little turquoise with earrings, bracelets and a belt (Target).

I love this belt:

And I love that today is Friday. 

Also, did you all know the Super Bowl is Sunday?  Somehow I missed that.  I don’t really watch NFL though (I tend to watch more college football (mostly for the helmets)) so, I don’t think I’ll be watching the game.  How about you, Reader Friends?  Any big plans for Super Bowl Sunday?

Happy Friday, All!

Gracey

Shop the Look:

Exact Target cords

Similar houndstooth shoes

Similar lace sweatshirt

Lace necklace

Exact Mossimo belt (Note: the belt is on clearance in stores for less than $4.00)

** Disclosure: Actions taken from the hyperlinks in this blog post may yield commission/compensation for the writer. Please see the Disclosure tab for more details.

Limp and Wrinkled

I swear this outfit was cute until I rode to work in the rain:

By the time I got here, it was all limp and wrinkled:

Which makes me sad because I otherwise really liked this outfit.  I like the combination of the lace sweatshirt (Style & Co via Macys) with the red skirt (vintage via Goodwill).  And I like the addition of the Swiss dot tights (Hue via Macys), the riding boots (Born Crown “Sosie” via Nordstrom) and the plaid infinity scarf (DIY).  It’s just too bad that in addition to having buttons, my skirt also has wrinkles and in addition to being plaid, my scarf is also limp.

I will say, though, that the limp scarf and the wrinkled skirt are totally worth being able to ride my bike again.  I couldn’t ride for seven weeks and it was horrible, but as I said on Twitter yesterday, I’m now back to menacing school children and slow-moving squirrels.  And I couldn’t be happier, rain or no.

Oh, in case you’re curious, I followed this tutorial for making my scarf (it’s the same tutorial I used for this scarf). 

Also, if plaid is your thing, Adrienne and Jill have a plaid post up at Adrienne’s blog, The Rich Life (on a Budget).  My plaid skirt from last week is there along with several other lovely bloggers showing off their plaid, so go take a peek.

And have a happy Tuesday!

Gracey