Lingerie Act

I love these lingerie-type tops and I own a few, but lately I've been struggling with how to wear them. Then I saw Claire from Faboo wearing a bustier and I loved how she styled it. She put a similar colored top underneath the bustier and wore it with high-waisted pleated pants and a jacket.

So I did something similar with my red lingerie camisole with the black lace trim. I put a black tank under it to raise the neckline a bit and tucked the bottom into loose-fitting pleated pants. I wore the sweater partly buttoned at work to cover the lace detailing on the trim and cups while still allowing the red color and fabric to show. After work, I wore the sweater unbuttoned while out for drinks.

Where:
work, drinks

What:
Red Camisole: (thrifted)
Black Tank: Victoria's Secret (free)
Cardigan: Old Navy (thrifted)
Pants: Young Kings by Steve Harvey
Boots: Nine West
Belt: Forever XXI (came with a skirt)
Earrings: mine from the 1990's

Not the greatest photo quality, but it's the only full-body shot that turned out okay:

Green and Green

I'm wearing this green H&M sweater with green H&M tights that are an exact match. I put green legwarmers on top of the tights for my commute, and ended up leaving them on for the whole day. The green legwarmers are not an exact match with the sweater.

Minor color discrepancies aside, I think this sweater looks much better in this outfit than it did the last time I wore it. I like the darker sweater over the black blouse, and I like the huge poofy sleeves combined with a slim pencil skirt and tights.

Where:
work

What:
Sweater: H&M
Black Blouse: Express
Skirt: Old Navy
Green Tights (not visible in these pictures): H&M
Green Leg Warmers: from a dance catalog (probably Discount Dance Supply)
Earrings: mine from the 1990's
Boots: Nine West

You Invited Me to Your Dinner

I dressed a bit more casually today since I had no court, no meetings, and almost none of my co-workers were in the office.

Where:
work

What:
Jacket: vintage
Long-sleeved T-shirt: gift
Jeans: Delia*s
Boots: Wet Seal
Peace Sign Earrings: World Market
Scarf: handmade by my mother

Title:
"Don Giovanni! a cenar teco m'invitasti" (translation: "Don Giovanni! You invited me to your dinner") is my favorite song from Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozert was born in Salzburg on January 27, 1756.

Billy and Haiti

Have you read my post about Billy and Haiti? If not go check it out!

For every comment left on that post through Jan 31st, I will donate $1 to Doctors without Borders, earmarked for the Emergency Relief Fund for Haiti. Go comment now!

Repeat

I had court early this morning and I didn't have a lot of time to get ready, so I went with an outfit that I wore back in November. Only change was that today I wore a different black belt. And my fingernails are pale pink.

Rather than do another outfit photo shoot today, I am using the pictures I took in November. The details of the shoes and earrings were taken today though. These shoes are my best deal on thrifted shoes ever. $2 at Threads, etc. in Wicker Park. Nice leather, classy style, perfect height heels, made in Italy, very solid and a beautiful color. To repeat: Two. Dollars.


Where:
work (court and office), rehearsal

What:
Suit Jacket & Pants: Body by Victoria for Victoria's Secret
Silk Blouse: Moda Int'l for Victoria's Secret
Belt (pictured): Forever XXI (came with a pencil skirt)
Belt (not pictured but actually worn today): ???
Shoes: Joan & David (thrifted, $2)
Earrings: gift

Thrifted Suit

This is my first thrifted suit! $7.50 last Monday at the 1/2 price day at Unique. I always keep an eye out for suits when thrifting, but it's sooooo hard to find a suit in good enough shape in a current style that fits and that I like. So, I've never had the good luck to thrift a suit before.

After I bought this, I did a bit of research and determined that the suit must be from 1997-1999 because that was only period of time when the brand was produced under the exact label of "Kasper for A.S.L." It's the same brand that now owns and produces Anne Klein suits, which I **wish** fit me, because Anne Klein suites are an awesome combo of stylish and affordable. Unfortunately they're cut for a different body type. This Kasper for A.S.L. though, fits me wonderfully. I thought that it might be from the 1990's because of the shoulder pads and also because the tag is about 3 sizes bigger than what I currently wear. Ugh! to crazy variable vanity sizing.

This Cynthia Steffe sweater is also from last Monday's thrifting trip.

Where:
work (court and office, but mostly court)

What:
Suit Jacket and Skirt: Kasper for A.S.L. (thrifted, $7.50)
Sweater: Cynthia Steffe (thrifted, $1.75)
Tights: from Filene's Basement
Socks: ??
Boots: Nine West
Bag: Levenger (gift)

Billy Wants YOU to Help Haiti

Billy just celebrated his birthday. In honor of that, he wants you to donate to Haiti. So, he's asking, "What can Billy do to get you to donate to benefit Haiti?"

Well, Billy is willing to do anything (within reason) to get you to donate money to benefit Haitian relief efforts.

So, who's Billy? He's the brother of Tiffany from I am Style-ish. Unsure of what Billy can do for you? He has some suggestions, but I'll tell you my personal favorite. He's offering photos. Prints of beautiful, beautiful photos. Billy's sister Tiffany, has joined the effort and is offering her photos as well. Check out all the details on Billy's website Billy's Birthday Mission. He prefers a donation to Doctors without Borders, but a donation to any Haitian relief effort is good.

Billy says he'll do anything to get you to donate. I don't know if "anything" has parameters. Tiffany, on the other hand, has said that if you donate at least $20 to the Haitian relief effort, she'll send you any print of hers in any size up to 8x10.

Check out Tiffany's flickr photo sets and her favorites of all her photos. Check out Billy's flickr photo sets and his favorites. A sampling of Billy's photos is below.

So was that cheesy ad speak, or what? In all seriousness, donating to Haiti is a good thing to do. Unfortunately (of fortunately, in many ways), I tend to be moderately aware of things that go on in the news without paying too much mind to the specifics of most bad things. It took Billy's campaign to get me to snap to attention and really notice the extreme nature of what's going on in Haiti. I've never met Billy, I only heard of him through his sister's blog, but his passion and personal dedication caught my attention. Thank you, Billy, for being an "agitator" in the best sense of the word! Don't forget to check out his blog.

There is something else you can do to help. Comment on this post. For every comment left on this post before 11:59 p.m. Central Time on January 31st, 2010, I personally will donate an additional $1* to Doctors Without Borders.


*Up to a max of $150.

Let's Dance

This t-shirt is from a production of Footloose that I did a few years ago. The t-shirt itself and the memories that go with it make me want to dance. Plus, with the top cut (by me) like a dance tee, I really really just want to dance. Hence, today's dance poses.

Where:
breakfast and shopping in Andersonville, Borders in Lincoln Park, errands, dancing around my apartment

What:
T-shirt: from a production of Footloose
Jeans: ?? (they're a few years old)
Shoes: Converse All Stars
Peace Sign Earrings: World Market

Here's my crazy (evil?) cat Drusilla who has recently taken to peeing on many thing in my apartment, including my bed.

Appreciate a Mod Squirrel

When I wear this dress, I usually pair it with green tights. While I like it with the green, today's blue tights are bright and fun, and a change of pace from my usual way of accessorizing this dress.

Where:
work, drinks

What:
Dress: vintage, thrifted
Tights: H&M
Leg Warmers: from a dance catalog
Boots: Nine West
Peace Sign Earrings: World Market
Clutch: vintage from my mother

Title:
January 22nd is Squirrel Appreciation Day, created by a wildlife rehabilitator in 2001

Hug Someone

I love the library! I just found out earlier this week that the Chicago Public Library has piano music available to be checked out. I went today and looked around. I picked up a couple books of musical scores to practice for a show in February, and I picked up another few books just for fun. Conveniently, my dad gave me his old keyboard a few months ago, so after 3 years of being pianoless, I now have working keys.

I'm still somewhat amazed (that would be my small-town roots showing). You can check piano music out of the library! Who knew?

Where:
work, errands downtown

What:
Cardigan Sweater: Old Navy (thrifted)
Blouse: Express
Skirt: H&M
Cable Sweater Tights: from Filene's Basement
Boots: Nine West
Faux Pearl Earrings: mine since the 1990's

Title:
January 21st is National Hugging Day (TM)

Insert Title Here

I know I'm certainly not the only one to feel this way, but coming up with a title every day is hard! Sometimes I base it on the colors of my clothes, and sometimes on what happened during the day, but I'm running out of ideas. And colors. Maybe I'll start using obscure holidays as my titles.

Where:
work

What:
Cable Cardigan Sweater: Ann Taylor LOFT
Blouse: Lapis
Skirt: Carole Little (thrifted)
Cable Sweater Tights: from Filene's Basement
Boots: Nine West
Belt: thrifted
Earrings: gift from my second cousins years ago

Pink and Black

I had my second planning meeting/rehearsal tonight for a show I'm doing at the end of February. I also went to the library again. I've been going to the library a lot lately!

Where:
work, library, meeting/rehearsal

What:
Jacket: vintage from my mother
Black Ribbed Turtleneck: Moda Int'l for Victoria's Secret
Skirt: H&M
Leggings: Newport News
Boots: Nine West
Earrings: World Market (new!), my 2009 Christmas gift to myself
Necklace: Anne Klein