Sunday, October 31, 2010

Check it out - Alexis @ Big Mama Style AND Debbie at Pixie & Murphy!

Hello lovelies,

Alexis over at Big Mama Style just featured me as one of her favorite bloggers! I wanted to return the favor - I always enjoy her style (especially her layered looks with boots)!



Seriously, what a cutie.

ETA: I must be very popular today! I can't believe this, but Debbie at Pixie & Murphy also featured me today!



Debbie's newer to the fashion blogging scene - go check out her site, I guarantee you'll love her thoughtful posts and great style.

Proof that I wear yoga pants sometimes

Actually, let this stand as proof that I wear pants of any kind every once and awhile. (not "pants" in the British sense; I wear underpants with alacrity). AKA - I don't always wear dresses.

For example, here is unshowered me in fetching combo of black yoga pants from Old Navy, and a black zip-up workout jacket thingy from Land's End. This is from a few weekends ago - I was going out to meet friends for brunch.




Today I'm blogging somewhat wounded - I'm having back spasms today and am hopped up on medication and pretty much immobile. My husband is being wonderful and brought me flowers, cookies, and a hot cheese sandwich. I love him very much. Good thing I can still type and work a touchpad, so the splendor of the internet can be my nursemaid.

ETA: Also, I received and tried on all three swimsuits from my earlier post and, sadly, none of them fit the way I wanted.

The Modcloth/Esther Williams one was just cut weirdly - it was too short for my torso, and the top was way too big while the bottom was a little tight. The bra cups were sewn in too low to fit me as well. For $90, I definitely am not settling for it. I don't think ordering a larger size would help, because then the top would be even bigger! However, if I was going to reorder, Ceruleanbeksa turned me on to Esther Williams direct site, which sells the suit in many more colors for a bit less in cost!

I ordered a few more athletic/basic looking suits from Lands End that have underwire support built in. fingers crossed and updates when I get them!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

An update on bathing costumes

I think, deep down, I wish I could find one of those victorian bathing dresses. Except I think they were made of wool, which is, yeesh, not great for swimming in.

Anyways, the Asos and Old Navy suits came in, and.... both were a tad too small. The ON one was on clearance and no more sizes were available, but honestly, even if there were, the suit doesn't have the elaborate system of levers and pulleys necessary to make me feel supported.

The Asos one is much more promising, I'm just going to return the one I have and reorder it in a UK 24.

Modcloth hasn't come in yet. More news on that one when it comes in :)

This weekend, the husband and I went to Portland to visit with my dad and brother, who were in town. It was so much fun! And, I got to visit that west-coast-fats-mecca, Fat Fancy, which was A-MAE-ZING. I found a few things, one of which is:

A GREEN WOOL CAPE WITH FAUX FUR COLLAR!!!! Pics to come. It was only $27. I couldn't believe it. It's amazing and super warm and hefty and in nearly perfect shape. I have been looking for a new winter coat, and at the same time ogling the capes on Asos, and this is like those twin desires having a baby and that baby being sent to Fat Fancy for me to find and purchase at an extremely reasonable price.

And now I'm off for a luxurious work trip to San Francisco, because I am very, very important*.

*actual importance may vary

Friday, October 22, 2010

In the market for an LBD. A LBD? What's the proper article here?

A little black dress. I have a few black dresses, but I kind of want one that has a sheathier silhouette. I decided to do some online window-shopping, aided by polyvore. I pretty much only looked at Nordstrom, because Macy's site didn't cooperate with polyvore.


Which do you like best? I like the one with the faux-leather cutouts around the neck, but a close second is the sleeveless one with the metal studs around the neck. (bedazzler, anyone?)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Bathing suits (I know, I know, it's winter)

More on why later, but I'm in the market for a new bathing suit for the first time in years. I don't love tankinis because the waistband always digs into me, unless I order the bottoms so large that they fall off, which, umm, presents its own kind of problem that some may say is worse than an uncomfortable waistband.

Ahem.

So, I want a one-piece, and I want it to be cute. I'd also like it to be cheap, but I'm realizing that may not be possible.

Especially given how awesome these very expensive suits from Monif C are! How can you not love the way Fluvia Lacerda looks in all of them? Goodness, she is attractive. I'm not really built that way though. I have rolls, and let's face it, my boobs don't resemble an epic prow in quite the same way. I'm more barge-like than schooner-like.

Anyways. Here's what I ordered:

- this Old navy one, which now carries the helpful message to size up, since they run small. It didn't have that message the other day when I placed my order, so I'm thinking it probably won't fit.


- this awesome polka dotted number from Asos curve


- and this vintagey one from Modcloth


What do you think? Do you have a favorite? I may be brave enough to post pics of me wearing each when they come in, unless things are wardrobe-malfunction-scandalous. We'll see :)

ETA: Or I could just go with this option, if I thought the xl would fit:


That's right. R2D2 baby!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The quest for better pictures

I'm really trying to up the quality of my pictures on here, because I would like to do better! Believe it or not (you probably do believe it), most of the pictures thus far have been cell-phone camera pictures. Granted, it's a great cell phone with many megapixel whatchamacallits, but still.

This outfit had been brewing for awhile. I read lookbook.nu pretty regularly for fashion inspiration, and had saved this look as something I wanted to copy using my favorite Asos curve dress.

So, here's my humble effort.



Outfit details:
Dress: Asos Curve (no longer on the site)
Cardigan: macy's plus size section super clearance silk! cardigan ($17)
Belt: Target 2xl
Necklace: Pretty Penny Mae on Etsy
Patterned brown tights: Avenue clearance ($3, but just like the last pair I posted about, they developed holes as soon as I put them on. Boo.)
Oxfords: Pikolinos size 42



The dress has pockets!


What do you think? Did I capture the spirit of the lookbook outfit?

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Things I've been up to lately

This past week I had the sniffles and a half-blown cold (not full-blown, and multiple nights with my humidifier and bottle of Nyquil really helped!). So, I wore clothing but didn't really document my outfits.

I did drink a lot of tea.


And enjoyed our sugar bowl/creamer pitcher that I just love. Teal + gold + daintiness? Yes.


I spotted this lace card set and had to take a picture:


I've been drying my hair with a diffuser lately to get a more wavy and body-ful look:

(I also stretched my ears another size. 7/16" baby!)

Monday, October 11, 2010

White enamel brooches and adult* weekend activities

*No, not that kind of adult.

This kind of adult:



That's right, hanging a gallery wall of pictures in our hallway. I laid them all our on our bed before hanging them to try to get the layout right, but ended up just kind of extemporaneously hanging them without referring to my layout pictures.

The large castle poster is actually a puzzle that me and my mom (mostly my mom, who is more patient than me) put together. Mom got it framed and gave it to me as a housewarming gift when I first moved out on my own, and it's remained close to my heart ever since. The tiny blue picture in the larger frame on the right? That was given to us by my Aunt Nell, who got it from the local Art-o-mat when they visited us.

Oh, and that awesome drawing you see in the middle that says "Bunches & Sweets"?

That is my first ever commissioned art piece, done by Natalie, who is a constant style and otherwise inspiration to me.

So, you see, I had to revamp the picture-hanging-sitch in our hallway to provide an adequate environment to showcase that awesome piece of work. No pictures of the hallway yet as it's dark and impossible to get a good shot of it with the weather we've been having.

Anyways, on to the outfit:



Isn't the white and gold leaf-shaped enamel brooch just fabulous?


Outfit details:
Brooch: Free! from the recent clothing swap. From Ingra, the giver of all my good clothing swap things.
Dress: Asos Curve (like this one, but navy blue)
Cardigan: Target merona xxl, 2009
belt: target 2xl, recent
Leggings: dorothy perkins, 22, from a fats lj sales post
shoes: my fave lately, BC Helicopter, size 11
Leather patchwork purse: garage sale, $3!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

The Beth Ditto Polka Dotted Dress

Folks, I had been waiting for my order from Evans, which included the polka dotted dress of awesomeness to come in for 2 weeks. It was torture! Not really, that's melodramatic and completely inaccurate. Well, the 2 weeks part is accurate.

Anyways.

It came last week, along with a few other pieces that all fit and look great! You'll be seeing them over the next few weeks I'm sure.

But the item I was most excited about was the dress. I'd seen it on so many other bloggers at this point (Natalie rocks it here and so does the lovely Cuppy), it was just making me more excited and impatient for mine to arrive.

So impatient that I didn't even wait to get proper photos to show you!






Outfit details:
Dress: Evans, Beth Ditto collection
leggings: old navy
shoes: BC Shoes "helicopter" flat

I love it! I love how whimsical it is (there's a peter pan collar that's hard to see from the pictures), I love the length (kind of short!), and I love how it is loose and comfortable. I think I probably should have sized down when I ordered it (I ordered a UK 22, which is a US 18), but I am not sending it back. I'm going to wear it and love it. You'll see it often.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

My hair, through the ages (well, since 2008)

This post? Is hopelessly narcissistic.

There was a great post over at the Fatshionista LJ last week about hairstyles, and how we change our hair over the years. It inspired me to look through my photos - I only have reliable pictures since 2008, but there have been quite a few changes since then!

I give you: my hair decisions, some good, some bad.

1/08:
Past shoulder length hair, always worn pulled back:


5/08:
side swoopy bang:


11/08:
my first heavy bang:



7/09:
cut to shoulder length:



10/09:
cut short!


12/09:
assymetrical heavy bang, overall a little more body:


2/10:
"You look like a romulan". I hated this haircut and I'm still recovering. Too severe, too bowl-like.


3/10:
Growing out again. I still didn't like it, but I did like how it was distinctive!


5/10:
put a blonde streak in the bangs


9/10:
Almost ponytail length:


10/10:
Dyed over the blonde streak, now I can pull it back!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Sweater Guards, yay!

Last weekend at the clothing swap, one of the swappers specifically brought, for me, this awesome sweater guard (thanks Ingra!)! It has pins rather than clips, so it can be worn on more than just sweaters. I put it on my favorite structured black dress and I think it looks great:



The whole look (pardon dumbface):


I love boot season, because I can start wearing my favorite boots:


Outfit details:
Dress: thrift store
Sweater guards: Free (thanks Ingra!)
Cardigan: Old Navy, 1X, 2008
Knee Socks/trouser socks: gift from Mom
Boots: Miz Mooz, size 10 (they run big!), bought on clearance last year. I feel like their winter 2008 boots ran large in the calves, because I ordered some Miz Mooz boots last month, thinking they would fit because these fit, and they were WAY too small in the calves. I couldn't zip them at all. I'll just have to treat these extra nice so they last a long time.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

The chocolate milk cardigan, and a review of avenue patterned tights

On Thursday I wore my DIYed silk dress again - I am still totally loving it! This time I paired it with some patterned tights I picked up at Avenue on deep discount ($2.97, anyone? Them's walmart prices).



First off, I don't love tights. Really, any kind of tights. They just bind and chafe and roll down and ride up and make my lower half sweaty. Which is TMI. But anyways, that's how I feel about tights.

However, I really do like the look of patterned tights, and I want to love them, I really do. So, I went to Avenue and they had some on super sale, and I bought them. I actually bought a size larger than was specifically recommended for my height/weight, thinking that looser tights would be more comfortable - and I was right about that. They were more comfortable! They also ripped in the ass as soon as I put them on, not from being too small because they were really gigantic-er than my gigantic ass. I'm honestly not sure why they ripped. Maybe the hole was already there and that's why they were on clearance?

Anyways, I chose to be unfazed about the hole, but once I got them on I realized another thing about tights - it's hard to get them on straight. And when there's a vertical ribbed pattern, the straightness of the tights is even more crucial. It didn't matter what I did, one of the legs just wouldn't straighten. So I wore them anyways, with the crazy twisted leg design on one leg. Not a great look.

See? not straight:


Overall, I was pleased with the outfit, and I'll probably try to wear these tights again despite the huge hole.





Outfit details:
Dress: DIY
Cardigan: Old Navy 1X, 2008
Oxfords: Pikolinos, size 42
Tights: Avenue, size E
Necklace: Pretty Penny Mae

Also, my cardigan was the exact color of the chocolate milk we have at work:

Monday, October 4, 2010

Dusty Rose

Right before my 8th birthday, we moved into a new house. The carpeting throughout this house was the same, and it was all a color called "Dusty Rose". My mom picked it out, and when she told me the color I was super excited, because I was a 7 year old girl and loved pink. A house full of pink carpet? Amazing, no?

Then we arrived and I saw that "Dusty Rose", as reimagined by interior decorators, really means light poop brown.

The 7 year old me is still sad about that.

Anyways, this cardigan is what I imagine dusty rose should look like. I scored this at the recent clothing swap that we had in Seattle. Thanks Ingra!



Mittens because it was cold outside!


Trying out this whole "belt over cardigan" look:

Fake smile means I like it!

Outfit details:
Dress: Asos Curve
Lace inset leggings: Asos Curve
Cardigan: Free! Silk!
Belt: Target 2xl
Boots: Target Kaden boot, size 11

I didn't think I'd be into this much pink but I think it works! This is quickly becoming my favorite cardigan of the season, and I can always dye it another color if I want a change, since it's 100% natural fibers. I've heard good things about Procion dyes - do any of you have experience dyeing garments?

Friday, October 1, 2010

Feeling blah...

I've been feeling blah lately about my appearance. We all go through this, I know!

Anyways, I decided to dye my bangs to cover up the sad little blonde streak that has almost completely grown out. I was hoping for something that looked cool and paneled, so I chose a very dark brown. After washing it out and restyling my hair, I realize that it kind of matches my hair color exactly. Oh well! It still looks better than it did! I also trimmed my bangs again - since I'm trying to grow out my hair, I've been saving money by just trimming them myself. They look pretty good, I think!



See that super cute necklace? It was handmade by my friend Brooke over at Pretty Penny Mae. You should check out her etsy shop too - she has lots of whimsical necklaces and other goodies. Also, her blog is super fun, follow her immediately. Do it. do it now.

Another thing I did was buy a cute matching bra/panty set from Avenue, if you must know :). Cute underthings always make me feel more confident. But only if they are comfy too.

Ok, retail + self-hair-styling therapy have made me feel better. Commence non-blah-feeling in 3...2...1...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...