How It Works

My sister looked at today’s outfit and said “I don’t get it”:

I said, “What is there to get?  They’re both plaid.”

She responded with, “I don’t think that’s how it works.”

I responded by laughing really loudly and saying “That’s exactly how it works.”

The thing is, I honestly do think this outfit makes perfect sense.  I’ve had the skirt for a while but the sweater vest is a recent thrifted acquisition.  But, when I tried the vest on, my immediate* thought was that I would wear it with this skirt.  

For me, a plaid with a plaid is nothing but good, especially when the other rules of pattern mixing are followed; these pieces have a similar scale and they share a predominant color.

Vest: thrifted vintage   Skirt: thrifted vintage  Tights: Spanx  Belt: Gap, similar  Shoes: Naya "Jada", similar

Okay, so I guess both pieces being plaid isn’t what makes these pieces work together, but I still maintain that they do work.

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

*Okay, that’s not entirely true.  My actual immediate thought when trying this vest on was “holy side-boob!” as it’s open basically to the waist.  But, my second thought was to pair it with this skirt.  I swear.

Literary Stylings # 5: The Blind Assassin

Damn it, I just realized I completely missed the opportunity to dress like an assassin.  And, alternatively a peach woman, a lizard man or a mute slave girl; man, this was a great book.  Instead, I'm wearing an outfit based on what the narrator and her sister wore before the narrator married rich and was outfitted in silks and furs and silk-lined furs (and probably fur-lined silks):

This look is an amalgamation of an outfit that plays a pretty prevalent role and of a pond that also gets a lot of mention in the book.  The outfit in the book is a modestly cut velvet dress with a white collar. The pond has lily pads, statuary and, in my mind, swans.  So, of course, I layered my jeweled Peter Pan-collar sweater over my swan print dress:

Basically this outfit is meant to represent pre-wedded-Iris (the narrator), as the pond was at her ancestral home (she was given a rock garden at her new one) and she wore the dress prior to her marriage but never after.  Also, before she married money, she came from a family that used to be wealthy but had fallen on hard times; for me, the jeweled collar on this sweater represents a little money, but not much:

Again, if you haven't read The Blind Assassin, I strongly recommend it.

And now it's your turn; please to add your link below!

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!  And thanks, as always, for playing along!

Gracey

Sweater Weather

After a few weeks of unseasonably warm weather, sweater weather has finally arrived in Oregon.  So, I dressed accordingly:

Actually, I overdressed, as I do.  This sweater (thrifted) is alpaca and it's ridiculously warm.  Almost too warm actually.  But, I've been waiting for months to wear it and the weather finally dropped below sixty so I decided now was the time.

Also, it's the perfect excuse to wear orange and burgundy together:

Cashmere scarf: Nordstrom, similar  Skirt: thrifted, similar  Tights: Target  Boots: Born "Mabel"

Not that I need an excuse.  But, I do think it makes my friends and family feel better when I can point out that there is both orange and burgundy in the sweater so therefore the scarf and the tights totally make sense. Sometimes people need things to make sense.

Personally, I just like to wear orange.

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

Stripes, Tights & Blazers

This is a summer dress.  It's not terribly thick, it is sleeveless with a racer back and it is so short it's practically un escandalo:

However, I attempted to make it fall appropriate by layering the dress (LOFT, similar) over tights (Spanx via Nordstrom) with boots (Born "Mabel") and a blazer (J. Crew, swapped, similar).  I also added studded bracelets (Nordstrom, exact) and a neon necklace.

I'm trying to get better about transitioning summer clothes to fall and winter with layers.  I layer a lot but I tend to pack up items I consider "summery" once fall comes and I don't see them again until the following spring.  On one hand, it's kind of nice because I'm always surprised at what I have stored in the garage.  On the other hand, I think my two-seasons-and-two-seasons-only approach to my clothes has resulted in my over-purchasing.  And that's the outcome I'm trying to fight with better cross-seasonal layering.

What about you, Reader Friends?  Do you switch your clothes out for the season or do you have items that work across the seasons?

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Literary Stylings # 4 - Obvious Orange

Quick confession.  This dress:

... has nothing to do with this book:

The author and her fellow inmates didn't wear orange, they wore khaki.  Most prisoners nowadays don't wear orange.  They wear head-to-toe khaki or denim and only wear orange when they're being transported.  Because the bright color makes the inmates easier to locate if they try to escape.

But, obviously there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to wear orange.  Especially in a fruit print:

Fruit also has nothing to do with this book.  Except, wait... yes, the author ate as much fresh fruits and vegetables as was available to her in an attempt to counteract all the starch our penal system feeds prisoners.

So, there we go.  My fruit dress represents the author's attempt to stay healthy during her prison stay!  Yay, me!

And now it's your turn; you can link up below:

Happy Tuesday, All! Gracey

Stripes and Spots

The other day I wandered into Target for laundry detergent, as one does.  And I walked out with a new skirt, as one does.  But, really, how could I resist this piece?

I love leopard and I love mustard and my joy in having them combined in one piece cannot be overstated, so there was absolutely no way I was going to pass this skirt up.

It is perfection:

I mean, it's short perfection but with some tights, I'm pretty sure I didn't flash anyone.  Probably.

In addition to the spotted skirt (Phillip Lim 3.1 for Target) and the tights (Target), I also wore a striped shirt (vintage, thrifted), black booties (Born Crown) and a vintage bracelet (Red Fox Vintage).

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Gracey

Indigo Girl

I’m not sure today’s photos are really doing this dress justice.  They’re skewing a little cobalt when, in truth, this dress is a lovely, deep indigo:

Not that there is anything wrong with cobalt.  I love cobalt.  But this dress is not cobalt, it’s indigo.  I think these photos show it a little bit better: 

Hmmph.  Maybe not.

But this photo definitely shows me doing The Duck Face Robot, which is a dance I made up this morning:

Ducks and robots aside, my dress is indigo, not cobalt.  And it’s vintage and warm (wool/acrylic blend) and has pockets, so it’s basically awesome.  In addition to my awesome dress of awesome indigo-ness, I also wore a turtleneck (Gap), tights (Hue via Macys) over which I wore OTK socks (Nordstrom), and suede boots (Naughty Monkey via Nordstrom).  I also added a studded belt (JC Penney) and neon pink studs (Kate Spade New York via Nordstrom). 

Also, if you don’t know who the Indigo Girls are, we may need to have a talk.  At the very least you should watch this video (to which you could dance The Duck Face Robot if you wanted):

You're welcome.

Happy Wednesday, All! 

Gracey

Lord Jeff’s Cousin, Chet

In November, I wore a vintage cardigan made by “Lord Jeff” (you can see it here).  Well, I’m pretty sure this cardigan was made by Lord Jeff’s cousin, Chet:

Excuse me, I mean LordChet.  My understanding is that Lord Jeff and Lord Chet were minor royals/playboy cousins during the 70s.  They spent a lot of time in Ibiza, of course, but also in Switzerland.  It was their time in Switzerland that encouraged them to create their own lines of après ski wear.  Like this sweater:

In the spirit of the 70s, when they wore the heck out of some turtlenecks (and also because I love turtlenecks,) I layered the sweater (vintage via Vintage by the Pound) over a black turtleneck (Hinge via Nordstrom).  I also wore a pleated skirt (Goodwill), tights (Spanx via Nordstrom) and my new rain boots (Merona “Zajac” via Target).  I feel like Lord Chet would totally approve of this look.

You know who else would approve?  Starsky.  Little known fact: Starsky, of Starsky and Hutch, was dressed almost exclusively in sweaters by Lord Jeff and Lord Chet.  From what I’ve heard, their cousin Penny was the costume designer for the show so they had an in.

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

Gracey

Shop the Look:

I couldn't find my exact cardigan anywhere, but there are a lot on eBay and Etsy vendor hellhoundvintage, has a great selection.

Spanx Tight End tights

Similar skirt

Similar turtleneck

Merona Zajac Rain Boots (I think you can find them in the store for 1/2 off)

** 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.

Olive Leopard

It’s true, I do.  Leopard is probably my favorite neutral other than black.  Andit’s a neutral that looks good with black:

I borrowed the idea for this outfit from this look of Cambria’s at Jupe.  She wore forest green tights, but for some reason I don’t have forest green tights (I know, it’s weird to me too) so I went with olive.  Which ended up working in my favor because the spots on my leopard scarf are olive-hued as well.

In addition to my olive tights (Hue via Macys) and olive leopard scarf (???), I wore a black dress (vintage via Goodwill) layered over a black turtleneck (Gap) and black ankle boots (Nine West ‘Darsy’).  I also added a studded belt because I was worried the scarf-as-bow was too twee.  I like to think the belt reaffirms my status as a Billy Bad Bottom.

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

Gracey

Shop the look:

Similar olive tights

Similar leopard scarf

Similar black dress

Nine West 'Darsy' ankle boots

Similar studded 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.

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: