Black and White and Blush All Over

Oh, and a little bit of oxblood:

 

I have had this thrifted sweater forever, but I never wore it because the length was weird.  It wasn’t duster-length; it was 80s-oversized-cardigan-length.  And that makes sense, because this is an oversized cardigan from the 80s.  Seriously oversized; this bad boy is a medium. 

In spite of the awkward length, I loved how graphic this sweater is, so I held onto it for years.  And then, finally, this fall I had the brilliant idea to shorten it.  I cut about 8 inches off and ran a zigzag stitch across the bottom to (hopefully) keep it from unraveling. It took another couple of months to get cold enough to wear this and for me to decide what to wear it with.  But, today, the stars have aligned and I'm finally wearing the sweater I've named "The Big Lebowski":

For the inaugural wearing, I paired The Big Lebowski* (vintage I.  B. Diffusion for Neiman Marcus via Goodwill) with an oxblood turtleneck (Gap) and a blush chiffon skirt (Pleione via Nordstrom Rack).  I added black tights (Spanx via Nordstrom), black ankle boots (Nine West “Darsy”) and a black cashmere scarf (Nordstrom).

Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

P.S. I know The Big Lebowski is from the 90s, not the 80s, but that's the name the sweater whispered to me.

P. P.S. Here is an awesome I.B. Diffusion promotional video from the 80s:

Sunny Afternoon - Les Tuileries - Paris

      Gabriella - Stylist - Les Tuileries - Paris
      J'ai rencontré Gabriella aux Tuileries, lors de la Fashion Week de Paris.
      Je me souviens que Gabriella est une styliste roumaine et qu'elle porte ses propres créations.
      Un look aux couleurs ensoleillées qui réchauffe nos longues journées d'hiver ...
      Photo by Fred - Easy Fashion Paris

The Fashion Auction Giveaway

       We are holding our first auction here at Fashion, Art and Other Fancies! This beautifully well-made 

          silk skirt is the prize. The highest bidder will be the proud owner of the Haute Couture skirt made from 

          dupioni silk by master tailor and couturier Manuela von Haldenwang. 

          Send in your bids now at englishvers@gmail.com!!Bidding ends 18th January 2013. Proceeds 

          of this Fashion Auction Giveaway goes to Help Jamaica Library Projects, which is a registered non-profit 

          organization - founded in Berlin, Germany in 2008. Read more about the Jamaica Library Projects and its 

          board of Directors HERE  The floor is open - the starting bid price is €300.

           Or go to "Fashion, Art and Other Fancies"

Kind of a Big Deal

I have something to tell you, Dearest Reader Friends.  And it's kind of a big deal.

Many of you have already seen this post of Sal's where she introduces the Already Pretty Team.  But, if you haven't, I'm happy to be the first to tell you that I am a member of that team!

As you can imagine, I am beyond excited about this opportunity.  I am a huge fan of Sally's and it's an honor to be working along side her and the other fabulous contributors.  I think she's put together a team that really does offer something for everyone.

The other contributors are:

Nadine from Adorkable Undies

Une femme d’un certain âge

Luanne from Weesha’s World

Ashe from Ash in Fashion

Sonja from Hello Beauty!

I have a great deal of respect for all of these women; as Sal says, they're all "smart, talented and stylish." I can't wait to read their posts and I hope you'll visit all of us over at Already Pretty to read them too.


Happy Friday, All!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Gracey

Year Two: A Retrospective

So, 2012 was my second year of blogging and I’ll always remember it as the year I practically almost became a real blogger.  

For one thing, I actually finally grasped the concept of, and joined, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.  I think I’ve used Pinterest the most successfully, having used it for inspiration for quite a few outfits.  The other two though…  On Twitter I mostly just talk about Project Runway, The Walking Dead and my bike rides.  Oh, and the weather during my bike rides.  Real exciting stuff, that.  And my Instagram?  It’s mostly food and kittens, with a few shoes thrown in.

In addition to becoming (slightly) more social media savvy, I also played with proportion like a real blogger, went to my first official blogger meet-up and wrote about real blogger topics like how to belt your skirts, the rise of merkins and the dangers of face-eating wallets.

Yep, this year was full of almost-real-blogger-ness.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t, maybe this year was full of nonsense and LOTR references, but real blogger or not, I’m so happy you were all there with me.  So far the absolute best part of blogging has been my Reader Friends and Blogger Friends – you all are the best!

Gracey

A Different Kind of Pinspiration

This outfit was inspired not by Pinterest, but by the pins on this outfit of the, well, fabulous, April, over at Knocked Up Fabulous:

Instead of a bright blue skirt (I think I packed mine for winter) I paired my cream sweater (thrifted, Goodwill) with my mocha-colored skirt (thrifted, Goodwill).  I also added black tights (Spanx via Nordstrom), belt (thrifted, Goodwill) and boots (thrifted, Goodwill) and an infinity scarf (Steve Madden via Macys).

And, of course, I added a vintage brooch cluster (all via Lil' Gypsy Vintage):

I like how the scarf ties in the black boots and tights and love the little pop of red from the floral brooch.  This is definitely something I'd wear again; perhaps next time with my blue skirt if I can remember where I put it.

Happy Wednesday, All!  And Happy New Year!

Gracey

2.0.1.3. ....

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Well guys, I`m wishing you a Happy New Year! Hope you had fun last night as much as I, it was more than interesting evening where I even lost my boyfriend in a big crowd at the concert! Fortunately, agony lasted only half an hour and we reunited again after midnight! Unbelievable, but true! :)
What about your celebration?

Wish you all the best, hope that our third year together will be even better!
Thank you for being my support, for leaving your lovely comments and critics, for being here, it means a lot!
Kisses