Botanical Shadows & Painterly Splotches

I do not know how better to describe the print on this blouse than botanical shadows and painterly splotches:

I mean, really.  What is that?  Yeah, I don't know either.

But, whatever the print on the blouse is, it pairs well with my dark skinny jeans and that's enough for me:

In addition to the blouse (Nordstrom) and the jeans (Banana Republic) I wore my neon link necklace (Target) and my cap toe wedges (bandolino via DSW). I wear these shoes and this necklace a lot with these jeans.  I think that's okay; some days it's nice not to have to think too hard.

Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

Spots, Dots & Par-rots

I'm wearing spots, dots and par-rots today:

I've often yammered on about how I love animal and green together because something something jungle.  I continued that "jungle theme" with my new (to me) parrot brooch:

So green.  And parrot-y.  (Not parody, parrot-y; if it were a parody of a parrot, it'd be Conan O'Brien in a parrot mask or something).

I found the brooch in my favorite local vintage shop, Lil' Gypsy Vintage, and thought it would be perfect with my animal spotted cardigan (Anne Taylor via Goodwill) and green dotted pants (LOFT).  I also added a vintage Monet bracelet (via Red Fox Vintage) and my cap toe wedges (Bandolino via DSW).

Yay!  Jungle!  Sort of!


Happy Thursday, Everyone!


Gracey

P.S. if you haven't entered my Shabby Apple giveaway, today is the last day to do so; don't forget!

Shop the Look:
Similar green dotted pants (Tall available)
Similar spotted cardigan
Similar cap toe shoes
Similar vintage parrot brooch

** 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.

Spring Remix

I wore this outfit earlier this year:

Today I remixed the look for spring:

I kept most of the pieces of the look intact, including the cropped pants (Vince Camuto via Nordstrom), the cap toe wedges (Bandolino via DSW) and the vintage coat (Maurice of Lansing via Goodwill).  But, instead of the turtleneck, I wore my new red, black and white graphic floral dress (Penelope in Red Rosie c/o Karina Dresses).

I love this dress.  Like my other Karina Dress, it's cut beautifully and the print makes me giddy:

I can't wait to remix it again for summer.

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Shop the Look:

Karina Sleeveless Penelope dress
Similar black cropped pants
Similar peep-toe wedge heels
Similar red vintage jackets (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.

Birdie Awesomeness

As an Oregonian, I am, of course, unable to resist anything that has a bird on it.  So this shirt?

Yeah, this shirt was destined to be mine.  Not only does it have birds on it, but it fits my long arms even though it’s not offered in “Tall”.  Those two qualities alone are reason enough to love this shirt.  But then you add the fact that it looks adorable layered under my apricot sweater and it is birdie awesomeness at its best.

In addition to the awesome bird button-down (Caslon via Nordstrom) and the apricot sweater (Worthington via Goodwill), I also wore flared jeans (Gap), camel wedges (Corso Como via Piperlime) and neon studs (Kate Spade NY via Nordstrom).  

 

Friend Ferge thinks the neon studs don’t make sense with this look.  She is wrong.

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

Shop the look:

Exact Caslon button-down (other prints also available)

Similar neon studs (save, spend)

Similar Gap flares (Tall available)

Similar apricot sweater (here, here and here)

Similar camel wedges

** 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.

Pinspiration: Bright Jacket, Black Base

Today I wore a bright red jacket layered over a black base:

I love this look, but I can’t take any credit for it.  I copied it directly from a Pin of J’sEveryday Fashion.

Pinspiration:

Image via J's Everyday Fashion

Me:

See?  Practically twins. 

I knew I wanted to recreate this look as soon as I saw it.  Not because it’s particularly ground-breaking; black and red are very classic.  No, for me, this look had extra appeal in the form of the cap-toe shoes.  They’re a classic in their own right, but I wouldn’t have thought to pair the two.  The cap-toes make this feel fresh.  At least to my eye.  And made it something I wanted to try.

For my recreation of this look, I layered a red, vintage coat (Maurice via Goodwill), because somehow I don’t have a red blazer, over black ankle pants (Vince Camuto via Nordstrom) and a black turtleneck sweater (Hinge via Nordstrom).  My cap-toe shoes are Bandolino wedges (via DSW) and I also added a vintage necklace (Sarah Coventry via Red Fox Vintage) and vintage earrings.

Also, because it's Monday and there is nothing shy about this look, I'm linked up to Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style.

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Gracey

Proof of Life

I just want you all to know that I am still alive.  I know there were rumors that my sinuses had kidnapped me and were holding me for ransom until they were free and clear and I’m here to tell you that those rumors are true.  But, we’re making progress on the negotiations and my captors have offered up this proof of life photo to show I haven’t suffered too horribly at their hands:

You can almost see today's date...

That’s right; I actually made it in to work today after being out for nearly a week.  I am feeling slightly better, but I still can’t breathe through my nose and I’m still exhausted, so I basically wore pajamas to work:

 (Similar maxi dress, similar boots, similar cardigan)

I know everyone says that wearing a maxi dress feels like wearing pajamas, and it’s true.  They’re kind of great like that.  They’re also kind of great because they’re an item that can work well into fall, as long as it’s not raining.  Trust me, you don’t want to ride your bike in the rain in a maxi dress or skirt; they’re another item that takes forever to dry.  

Happily it’s still not raining here in Oregon, so I was able to wear my super-comfy maxi (Gap) which I made a little more autumn-appropriate with a bright yellow cardigan (gifted) and faux lace-up wedge boots (Kenneth Cole Reaction, v. old).  I also added a belt (thrifted) in an attempt to give myself some sort of waist being as I haven’t worked out in over a week now and have a midsection that appears to be made of pudding.  I have pudding abs, people; it’s not cute.

Pudding abs and mouth-breathing aside, I’m very happy to be back to work and back to posting nonsense.

Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

** 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.

Easy, Colorful and Pants-y

It’s still Pants Weather here in Oregon, so I’m still wearing pants:

(Shop the Look**: Polka dot pants, I couldn't find a similar blouse, but I love the idea of using this striped scarf to create a similar look with a plain blouse, mustard cardigan and blue wedge sandals)

I wear these pants a lot.  I think they are, outside of a couple of pairs of shoes, the single item that I wore the most this summer.  Which is good.  I am trying to be more conscientious about buying clothes I willwear instead of clothes I could wear.  And I don’t just mean something I’ll wear once either; I want to have clothes that I can and will wear multiple times.

In addition to the oft-worn pants (LOFT), I also wore what’s rapidly become an oft-worn blouse (vintage via Vintage by the Pound).  I can’t seem to resist this blouse, because well, stripes and a bow, people, stripes and a bow.  I added a yellow cardigan (via my Mom), blue wedges (Franco Sarto, thrifted) and a few bracelets to complete the look.

And I liked it quite a bit; it was easy, colorful and pants-y; which is perfect for a Monday.  Especially this Monday.  I did master the Peter Pan in pole dancing class yesterday, but I am very sore and physically tired today.  Luckily I’m not back to working out until Jazzercise tomorrow.

How about you, Reader Friends?  How was your weekend?

Gracey

P.S. Sorry for the photo quality, we took them at a later time than usual and I was too tired (lazy) to figure out the lighting.


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

Make No Mistake

The other day, I gently mocked what could be considered the overuse of statement necklaces in the blogosphere, but make no mistake, I am not anti-statement necklace.  In fact, I am wearing one today:

And I like it. I actually have a couple of statement necklaces and I like all of them.  I just don’t wear them very often because they sort of scare me.  They just feel so fancy.  I’m not that fancy.  And I know the idea is to juxtapose them against less-fancy pieces, but that isn’t something I do often (or particularly well).

I gave it a shot today though, pairing a sheer, girly skirt (Pleione via Nordstrom Rack) with wedge booties (Nine West).  I think it’s somewhat unexpected.  I mean, as much as anything is anymore.   I also wore a vintage top (thrifted), belted, and, of course, the statement necklace (mini-bubble via GroopDealz).

I put this outfit together for a few reasons.  One, to link up to Marionberry Style’s Trend of the Month; said trend being statement necklaces.  Two, because I’ve been trying to figure out how to wear this skirt for the past month and was going to return it if I hadn’t successfully styled it by this weekend.  And three, because one of the reasons I started blogging (other than to get the Smiliest Blogger Award, of course.  Wait?  What?  There’s no such award?  Well that seems ridiculous) was to push myself to try new things.  Like statement necklaces and pattern mixing and awkward hemlines.

To see how other bloggers wore their statement necklaces, without all the boring introspection, pop on over to Marionberry Style.

And have a lovely Labor Day Weekend, All!

Gracey