Prep School

I love these socks! Aren't the shoes great too? I don't know if I'm that keen on the rest of the outfit, but I was in a hurry this morning and didn't have time to change. That's one of the great things about experimenting with fashion. If you don't like something you put together, you just take it all off and start over again. It's fun!

Where:
work

What:
Shirt: vintage, used to be my mother's
Skirt: Trina Turk (thrifted, $3)
Argyle Socks: Xhilaration for Target, $3
Shoes: Joan & David (thrifted, $2)
Drama Masks Necklace: gift from parents
Earrings: gift from parents

Total cost of outfit:
$8

Checkmate

I was feeling a bit dramatic when I took pictures this evening. And when I picked out my clothes this morning.

This turquoise shirt is ancient. I've had it since 7th or 8th grade. I've only had the tights for a year or two, and every time I wear them, I say it's going to be the last because they're getting a bit worn. But, I just keep wearing them again. Next time I might actually try pairing them with something that doesn't match their bright turquoise color!

I like tights. I like brightly colored tights. I like crazy patterned tights. I like tights that match my clothes. I like tights that don't match my clothes. I like them in the rain. I like them on a train. I like them in a box. I like them on a fox.

Where:

farmer's market, work, errands and shopping downtown

What:

Jacket: Express

Striped button-down: Express

Turquoise T-shirt: Hanes Her Way

Skirt: Moda International

Tights: from Pink Frog in Lakeview

Celtic Cross: from St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Peace Sign Earrings: World Market

Blue Stone Earrings: gift

Headband with Big Bow: H&M

Boots: Moda Italia (thrifted, $4)

It's a Jungle

I've often worn this jacket and leopard print top together, but today I threw in the orange cami to change it up a bit. Those long necklaces are getting to be a bit of a thing with me. I never wore long necklaces until a year or two ago. I have about 4 or 5 right now, and I wear them often.

Where:
work

What:
Jacket: Express
Leopard Print Top: from L.S.Ayers
Orange Cami: from Presence in Andersonville
Pants: Delia's
Necklace: World Market
Snake Earrings: from a little boutique in Lincoln Park
Bag: The Sak (free!)
Shoes: Aldo

My cat Amaretto jumped into the picture of my shoes, just as the flash went off. She really has a thing for shoes. The smellier they are, the more she loves them.

The Blues

My grandmother gave me this shirt. The story is that her youngest brother got it somewhere in Asia when he was in the military and brought it back as a gift for her. I've had the shirt in my closet since grade school. When I was a kid, it was really loose on me. I wore it as part of two Halloween costumes - a gypsy and a Mexican señorita.

As I got older I never wore the top, as a costume or for real, but I couldn't bear to part with it. Then, just a few years ago in my late 20's, I started wearing the top as a regular day-to-day shirt, and I'm really glad that I kept it around. During, you know, those 20 years or so that it just hung unworn in my closet.

These navy hose ran today, which is unfortunate because navy is hard to find. It's not the trendiest neutral color at the moment. The heels on the shoes are pointier than I would usually wear, but again, navy is hard to find. And I love the look of navy tights and heels with this navy suit.

Where:

work, errands downtown

What:

Top: vintage, gift

Jacket: My Michelle

Skirt: My Michelle

Navy Tights: ??

Navy Heels: Newport News

Navy Hoop Earrings: ??

Volume

I don't generally wear clothes with a lot of volume, but I'm trying to work more volume into my wardrobe. This outfit is particularly unusual in that it includes volume on both the top and the bottom. And my hair is poofy too! I think the banded low waist on the top helps, and the amount of legs and arms showing. Plus, adding the jacket slims it down a bit.

Where:

Dinner at Bistro Zinc to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday

What:

Sheer Top: Wet Seal

Lavander cami: H&M

Skirt: Ann Taylor LOFT

Tights: ??

Jacket: H&M

Shoes: Etienne Aigner (thrifted)

Necklace: World Market

Earrings: ??

Surprise!

Monday is my boyfriend's birthday. Sunday was his surprise birthday party. Except that he already knew there was going to be a party. And he knew where. And he knew when. And he knew which out-of-town family members were coming in for the party. So, not much left to be surprised about. :-)

It was a nice party, outside with a tent for shade. The weather was beautiful. It got cooler in the evening, so I ended up adding another sweater and some thigh high socks and closed shoes by the end of the night.

Where:

Boyfriend's "surprise" birthday party at Chicago Mex Grill

What:

Sweater: Moda International

Lacy cami: Wet Seal

Skirt: ?? (thrifted)

Shoes: Etienne Aigner

Peace Sign Earrings: World Market

No Place Like Home

I love these shoes! Because they're so bright and shiny, I try to pair them with more reserved clothing.

Where:

work; dinner with my boyfriend and a friend

What:

Jacket: Express Design Studio

Sweater: Wet Seal

T-shirt: Wet Seal

Pants: Gap

Silver Sequined Shoes: xhilaration (thrifted, $4)

Necklace: Target

Earrings: ??

Fun lining!

Giant Flowers

This is another one of my recently thrifted skirts. I don't wear a lot of flower prints, and definitely not prints this big. So this is a variation from my usual. What better way to try out a new style than with a $3 skirt? Plus, I love the colors in the skirt!

While I like the look of this outfit, it wasn't great on wearability. I needed to be vigilant in ensuring that the belt remained in place. Plus, the skirt kept bunching up when I was walking. I had planned to wear it with sandals and no hose, but it was raining when I left home this morning. I don't like to wear sandals in the rain, so I switched them out for these heels. I don't like to wear closed shoes with bare feet, so I put on pantyhose. The skirt bunched when I walked with the hose, so I put on a half slip. The elastic was shot on the half slip (which I hadn't worn for years) and the slip fell down around my knees as I walked down the street. Yikes! I stopped into Macy's and picked up a new half slip. The skirt doesn't ride up as much with the new slip, but it still bunches a bit. I'll give this skirt one more try with bare legs, but if that doesn't fix the problem, back to the thrift store it goes.

Where:

work

What:

Shirt: Moda International

Skirt: Espresso (thrifted)

Belt: ?? (found it in my closet; I have no memory of how I acquired it)

Faux Pearl Earrings: ?? (I've had them since middle school)

Headband: ?? (I've had it since grade school)

Seashell Necklace: gift
Shoes: Etienne Aigner (thrifted)

Greenery

This is one of my recently thrifted skirts. In fact, the entire outfit cost less than $25. I bought this skirt and 4 others on Monday and I don't remember which skirt cost what amount, but the range was $1.75 to $3.50 per skirt. The tee-shirt was $6 from target, the shoes were around $12-$15 on sale, and the accessories are all gifts or hand-me-downs. I've gotten a lot of clothes and jewelry from my mom that were hers in the 60's and 70's (and a little from the 80's), and I've gotten jewelry and other random items from my grandmother, aunts, great-aunts, second cousins, dad and other family. I like cheap. I like free even better.

Where:
work

What:
T-shirt: Mossimo for Target
Skirt: American Eagle Outfitters (thrifted)
Scarf: hand-me-down
Seashell Necklace: gift
Other Necklace: it's actually a belt that came with a white skirt I rarely wear
Faux Pearl Earrings: ?? (I've had them since middle school)
Shoes: Nine West

Stop

When I'm taking pictures, I need to remember that while natural light is good, blinding sun is not. It tends to change the colors of my clothes and wash out details.

This was the best photo I got of this outfit, and unfortunately, the details of the cute necklace from my grandmother are not really visible.

Where:
work

What:
Shirt: Express
Cami: Express
Skirt: Old Navy
Shoes: Lifestride
Necklace: made by my grandmother
Earrings: vintage

Thrifting

Monday evening, I went to a thrift store that has everything 50% off all day Monday. I found 5 skirts, at least four of which are work appropriate, and a denim jacket - all for less than $20!

Most of the skirts are pretty summery, so I'm going to have to scramble to wear them this year. Of course, if I don't get around to wearing some of them, that means I have unworn summer items in my closet waiting for me next summer. Yay! I'm used to buying things at the tail end of one season and then not wearing them till the following year, as I've been a clearance shopper all my life. It's always fun to look in my closet at the beginning of the season and find items I've never worn before, just waiting to be put to good use. 

T-shirt: that's my stop

Skirt: H&M

Scarf: Forever XXI

Shoes: Lifestride

Earrings: World Market

Almost 90 Degrees

It was hot here on Saturday. Almost 90 degrees. I wore this to run some errands and then over to my boyfriend's house in the evening.

I stopped at the library and picked up Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult for next month's book club. I stopped at a little cafe and had a portobello sandwich and an iced chai, and started reading. The book was so good that I had finished it by Sunday afternoon.

Shirt: Wet Seal
Shorts: Express
Flips: Old Navy
Bracelet: vintage
Earrings: ?? (I've had them since high school)

Spinning!

Spinning shots are hard! I've admired photos on other blogs that show skirts flaring out as the blogger spins in front of the camera, but it's hard to time them well! Which is what I'm trying to do, btw. I'm not actually dancing in the first shot, despite appearances to the contrary.


Dress: H&M
Vest: H&M
Jacket (pictured below): Express
Shoes: American Eagle
Earrings: ??
Socks: ??


The matching tie around my neck is actually the belt that came with the dress. I tied it around my neck in a bow, like a skinny skinny little scarf.

Two Flowers

I don't know why I'm posing like a superhero in that first picture, but it shows off the oufit well, so here it is.

This is one of my favorite outfits, despite the fact that not a single article of clothing in it actually fits me right. The pants are a size too big, but you can really only tell at the waist, which is covered by the cami and jacket. The cami is a size too small and skintight, but it's covered by the jacket so you can't tell. The sleeves on the jacket are too long, but I haven't bothered changing them because the buttons at the edge would make it difficult. Besides, I got this jacket for $7, and I have a mental block against investing too much time and/or money into alterations or repairs to items I acquired so cheaply. In fact, the entire outfit was purchased on clearance.

I love the pink stitching on the jacket, and the pinks of both flowers. The flower pin came with the jacket, and the flower in my hair was free! I was at the Maxwell Street market with my boyfriend last year. I purchased a red leather jacket ($10) and my boyfriend purchased some tools, both of us from the same vender. The vender gave us too little change, and gave us a hard time at first when we pointed it out to him. Then, he said he felt bad for hassling us, so he offered me something free from his accessories bin ("somthing lovely for the lovely lady"). I picked the flower that I'm wearing in my hair today.

Jacket: Audrey Lane

Cami: Express

Pin-striped Pants: Express

Flower pin: came with jacket

Flower in hair: thrifted (free!)

Pink Hoop Earrings: Aldo

Shoes: Lifestride

Summer Scarf

This outfit ended up looking more casual than I imagined it would. Lesson: jackets do not make everything dressier, especially bright pink skinny pants.

This is the first day in a long time that I haven't worn earrings to work. It wasn't deliberate. I spent so much time fussing with the scarf that I just completely forgot to put on a pair of earrings.

Jacket: Toy Box

Pink Cami: Old Navy

Pants: Wet Seal

Scarf: Wet Seal (free!)

Necklace: World Market

Clutch: vintage

Shoes: Nine West

Sprout

This has been my favorite court suit this summer. This is the first time, though, that I've worn it with all green.

As I was putting on the suit today, it reminded me of a substitute teacher that I used to have in high school. She was short with a blond bob and a shrill voice, and she always wore a suit this color. The same suit. Every time. She also ALWAYS yelled at people, sent more than one student to the principal's office per class and threatened to expel lots of students, usually for no reason. My class took to calling her a military-inspired nickname. My brother is a few years younger than me, and when his class started having this same substitute teacher regularly, they started calling her "Sprout," after the Jolly Green Giant's sidekick. I don't know if the Jolly Green Giant actually had a sidekick, or if my brother's class made that up. At any rate, wearing this suit as part of a monochrome outfit reminded me of her.

The only reason I wore the Celtic Cross necklace today is because I always used to wear it with this cami and a pair of jeans when I was in law school, so nostalgia prompted me to put it on with the cami again this morning. I must say, I think it fits well with the green color scheme.

Suit Jacket: H&M

Pants: H&M

Sheer Blouse: Worthington (thrifted)

Cami: Victoria's Secret

Hoop Earrings: gift

Celtic Cross necklace: from St.-Martin-in-the-Fields in London

Shoes: Lifestride

Apricot

Blouse: Moda International

Skirt: Express

Vest: vintage

Shoes: Lifestride

Silver Hoop Earrings: gift

Headband with Big Bow: H&M

Vests and Lace

This shirt is getting retired after today. I love the lace in front and the sleeve shape, but it's starting to get a bit yellow. The elastic in the sleeves is so worn and stretched that I had to use "hollywood magic" tape to keep it from falling off my shoulders. The tape is left over from a play where I never left the stage once from the beginning to the end. I started out in a leotard (which served as a bathing suit in the opening scene) and then I went through several outfit changes on stage, often stripping down to the leotard between outfits. The tape was a lifesaver to keep the leotard properly adjusted.

I'm not sure why I keep wearing this suit. There's a jacket too (not pictured). I like the jacket and I love the vest, but the pants always look a little crinkly to me and they're a very wide cut, which isn't too flattering on me. And yet I keep wearing them. I think I just really like the vest, and I enjoy the fact that the whole vest-jacket-pants combo matches like a proper suit ('cause it is a proper suit).

I've had the faux pearls since I was a kid. I haven't worn them in years. They're from the early 80's, so I think they can properly be termed "vintage," but I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that something I got new in my lifetime can be considered vintage.

Vest: H&M

Pants: H&M

White Sheer Top: Wet Seal

Pink Cami: ??

Pink Faux Pearls: vintage

Earrings: vintage

Shoes: Ann Taylor LOFT (thrifted)

Black and White and Grey

I wore this to work yesterday. In the evening, I went to a small dinner party. Or, I thought it was going to be a small dinner party. Turned out, there were over 20 people. There was even entertainment - a classical guitarist!





Jacket: Bebe
Ribbed Tank: Victoria's Secret
White Jeans: Delia's
Shoes: Etienne Aigner
Necklace: vintage
Black Hoop Earrings: Aldo
Bracelet: ???

May I Approach the Bench?

I attended court this morning, for the first time since I've starting posting pictures here. Thus, the more conservative attire.

The sweater used to have a cute little black bow (teeny, teeny tiny) right in the front of it, but after a couple of wears (and a wash) the bow started to fray, so I cut it off.

Suit Jacket: Express
Skirt: Express
Sweater: Behnaz Sarafpour for Target
Necklace: vintage
Silver Hoop Earrings: gift
Shoes: Ann Taylor LOFT (thrifted)