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.

Coral, Coral, Coral

I really love myself some coral.  Obviously:

Coral yesterday, coral today.  Coral, coral, coral.

I also, apparently, really love the combination of those pants with those shoes.  Heh.  Well, what can I say, I can’t be creative all the time.  Or, even most of the time, if I’m honest.

But, I digress.  I was talking about my apparent obsession with coral.  In spite of what it looks like, I'm not actually obsessed with coral.  But it is one of my favorite colors and I do wear it quite a bit.  I especially like this particular coral (blouse via Old Navy) and peach (vintage blazer via Goodwill) color combination.  Worn today with dark skinny jeans (Banana Republic), a barely seen leopard belt (v. old) and cap toe wedges (bandolino via DSW).  Oh, and a long necklace (thrifted via Goodwill).

And, because at least two items in this look are thrifted, I’m linking up to Thrifter Thursday over at Coffee and Cardigans.  I’m pretty proud of myself for remembering to do this as I’ve forgotten for weeks.

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

Shop the Look:
Similar single-pocket blouse
Similar peach blazer (up to size 16)
Exact Banana Republic skinnies (tall up to size 16)
Similar long necklace
Similar leopard belt

** 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.

Classic

I apologize for my unexpected absence yesterday.  Like a Hollywood starlet, I was suffering from exhaustion.  Although, in my case, “exhaustion” is not a euphemism for an eating disorder (obviously).  I was just really, really tired.  I had a long weekend full of high school basketball state championship games, birthday parties and pre-dawn trips to the airport.  And on top of the week I had last week, it was a bit much and I needed rest.  

So, rest I did, but I’m back now.  And I’m wearing clothes.  And those clothes are pretty classic:

Even though I don’t have the most classic aesthetic, I still really like this look.  I think probably because it contains neon (necklace via Target) and cap toe shoes (Bandolino via DSW).  I’m pretty convinced that neon goes with everything and cap toe shoes are the best shoes since riding boots.  I also love these jeans (Banana Republic Skinny) and this blouse (thrifted via Value Village). 

  

I have to say, I think it’s hard to go wrong with stripes.  They are classic, but they’re also fun.  Win-win.

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Shop the Look:

Exact BR Skinnies (they’re on backorder right now, but they’re totally worth the wait)

Similar blouse

Cap toe pumps

Neon yellow link 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.

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

Camp Counselor

I borrowed the idea for this color combination from Delayed Missives:

 

But, the decision to dress like a camp counselor at an aggressively feminist all-girls summer camp is all me.  You're welcome.   

To achieve this look, I paired a vintage Levi’s work skirt with a vintage neon pink camp shirt (thrifted).  I added sturdy navy platform sandals (MRKT via DSW) and a couple of bracelets.  I left my whistle at home though.  Oh, well, next time. 

Even though I already own a neon pink blouse, I think I want to keep this one as well; if only because the other neon blouse doesn’t have pockets or jaunty rolled sleeves.  And I think I’m going to keep this skirt also; it’ll be great for wearing with sweaters for the fall and winter.

Happy Monday, Everyone!  Don't forget to enter my Shabby Apple Giveaway!

Gracey

The Hunchback of Santa Fe

I love the colors on this jacket, and I adore the print, but it makes me feel like the Hunchback of Santa Fe:

And that, I imagine, is why I’ve never worn it, even though it’s been in my closet for at least a year.  I’ve attempted to wear it several times, but it’s never been quite right.  And today is no exception.  It’s just not quite right.  I like the colors of the jacket (thrifted) with the color of the blouse (Nordstrom).  And I like the skinny jeans (Gap) with the platform sandals (MRKT via DSW).  And I like the red-orange necklace with the blouse and the jacket.  But, I don’t like the jacket.  The fit really just isn’t right; it gives me hunchy, bunchy shoulders and my shoulders don’t like that at all.

So, it’s gone.  I’m actually going to give it to a co-worker who saw me in it today and liked it (yes, even on me).

I think we can consider this progress.  Sure, I still have too many black skirts, but I no longer have an ill-fitting, multicolored jacket or a bunch of drop-waist skirts.  So, sure, yes, let’s call it progress.*

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

* I will be doing a post on my progress (or whatever) fairly soon (hopefully), so stay tuned (please).

Lavender, Lemon and a Bee Attack

Y’all, I was totally attacked by a bee today.  Okay, he was probably just flying by, but I reacted like it was an attack by ducking and squealing and then laughing.  You know; as one does:

Not to worry though, I got it together enough to take pictures.  Sort of:

Like yesterday’s color combination of tomato and violet, today’s combination is one I’ve wanted to try for sometime.  Specifically, since the EBEW Pastels Challenge in which my lovely friend, Ana of She’s Addicted to Clothes, paired lavender and yellow.

My lavender and lemon pairing involves a thrifted lavender eyelet dress and a lemon-yellow cardigan (Target).  I added a multi-colored belt (thrifted) which allowed me to sneak in navy platform sandals (MRKT via DSW) and rust red earrings because I like to ground my pastels with non-pastels.

Is there a word for non-pastels?  I'm sure there is.  Does anyone know what it is?

Happy Wednesday, All!  Watch out for bees!

Gracey

Floranimal and Pleats

I’m pretty much obsessed with this floranimal (floral & animal = floranimal) blouse:

I know it’s kitschy as all heck; but I’m pretty sure that’s why I like it.  That and because it lends itself to made up words, like floranimal.  Anybody who knows me knows two things I like are kitschy prints and made up words.

Today I paired my floranimal blouse (vintage, thrifted) with a pleated skirt (thrifted) and animal print wedges (Tahari via DSW) because two other things I like are pleated skirts and mixing floranimal with animal.  I also added some gold bangles (Nordstrom), a patent belt (Steve Madden via Ross) and earrings (Nikki Jacoby “Labyrinth”):

And that’s it for me.  I’m off early today because I’m going to the Black Keys concert tonight.  And I’m off tomorrow because I’m going to the Black Keys concert tonight.

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Gracey

Easter Egg Dressing

I’m dressed like an Easter egg today.  Just in case you all didn’t get enough of it on Sunday:

Actually, I didn’t intentionally dress like an Easter egg, but EBEW and Target conspired against me.   I knew I was going to wear this blazer for the Everybody, Everywear Pastels Challenge, but I didn’t know what I was going to wear with it.  Enter Target.  What started out as a harmless trip to buy Q-tips and a birthday present resulted in my seeing this dress, squealing with joy, pondering the hi-lo hem, deciding to get it anyway and wearing it with this blazer.

So, you see, it’s not my fault I’m dressed like an Easter egg.  I just love this dress (Target) and this blazer (vintage, thrifted) and I happen to love them together, so I wore them together.  I also wore platform sandals (MRKT via DSW), a thin belt (Gap) and a tassel pendant (Old Navy).

Allergic to eggs?  You can (probably) see less egg-like pastel-wearing at Everybody, Everywear.  Probably.  I mean, it’s doubtful anyone else dressed like an egg, but you should go check it out just to be sure.

And have a Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

Gracey