Aida ~

It's another rare warm spring day here in the PNW (around 85F where I work, no AC), so today I went for easy-breezy and pulled out a favorite summer dress. I realized this past winter that I like to wear short skirts in winter and long in the summer, and this dress is a great example of my favorite type of summer skirting.

I still wanted a topper of some sort, but today a jacket just felt too heavy. Instead, I popped my cropped denim vest over the top and kept up the boho vibe with nude boots (my hair, as always, also helps a lot with that!). I liked the natural feel the outfit had going so I chose to accessorize with gold/stone droplet earrings, a slim gold spiked bracelet, and  nude-for-me sheer coral lipstick. Still loving the look of the gold sequins with the faded-bordering-acid-washed vest, and out it came again; I've a feeling they'll be making a regular pairing. Retro sunnies finish the look off; something soft felt in order. Not much else to say about this simple breezy outfit except that I feel very happy in it ^^

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

Ok so I am not actually wearing any of the bottoms Angie listed in her great ensemble post, but as the weather forecast got warmer and warmer I did progress through each variation in mind ;)

Today it is beautiful and warm so neither long pants nor a fitted pencil felt right. Instead, I pulled out my slim black culottes. Normally I wear these with heels, and while my 3" black pointy pumps were far more conventionally flattering (and that's what I put on first), I was able to accommodate my quirkier mood and wear my black patent loafers instead because my silk-front sweater is cropped which netted me some extra optical leg length to play with. The loafers also better suite my current inclination towards slightly nerdy proportions. And while we here know that navy+black is a fab pairing, I feel like that also plays into the nerdiness aspect today. To combat the slightly tomboyish feel I chose long earrings (though they're spikes, so perhaps not THAT combative) and light pink lipstick.

This almost-cropped top length is my way of participating in the bared midriff trend this season; it sits right on or just below the waistband of my pants. These don't look show skin until I stretch, and behave nicely while sitting down without needing a camisole for coverage. Though I usually do wear a camisole underneath this length of top, today I did not. It is as close to showing some skin here as I'm going to get!

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

Today I had a bunch of errands to run, including dropping off the JBrand flares for hemming, making comfy and easy-walking the order of the day.

This outfit started with the shoes. In addition to being great for out-and-about walking, these little pumps are the heel height I want for the flares and I didn't want to bring a second pair of shoes to the tailor. I count my days off as part of weekend wear style, so BF jeans were the default (and extra comfortable for the several hours I'd be in the car) choice. Grabbed the wildcard duster cardigan to echo the white from the pumps (plus it's fun!), but then struggled for what to put underneath; I generally don't like to layer knits under cardigans whereas I do layer them under other jackets and, with the bulk of my tops being knits and since I don't often wear cardigans, I don't have a lot of good layering options for them. I ended up layering this heathered charcoal tee underneath, which turned out to feel OK because this tee is long sleeved, thin, and just a touch silky. It did feel a bit weird to be wearing a dark top, though!

I was feeling the ALGO vibe, so added the white necklace to pick up further on the white. White stud earrings and white clutch finish the accessorizing. Lastly, a swipe of cherry-pink lip gloss, big pomp-pony, and as I always do with my hair this way, an extra coat of mascara. Perfect for a day of errands!

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

#1 - Last Sunday's outfit, worn for hubby's birthday dinner at his folks'. Full on crazy print mix, but then not too crazy because all of the prints are squares of sorts and the colors are repeated. I don't usually wear flats with these pants but casual was on order. Slightly nerdy proportions, and a bit baggy overall.

#2 - Today I spent most of the day gardening, but needed a quick run to the garden center for cat-safe flowers (he just insists on eating everything). I didn't want to fully change so I just popped over my cream trench and a red hat, swiped on some lip gloss, then swapped gardening shoes with a pair of low heels. The white clutch was still loaded from yesterday, but I ended up putting my wallet in my pocket and leaving the purse in the car so I'd have both hands free for pretty flowers. Of course, shortly after planting was finished it poured. And then hailed. *sigh* This is pretty much my formula for any quick grocery or errand run when I'm too lazy to fully change and then change back again (I normally don't take photos of it, though!). Anyone else do this?

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.
(Fresh bark is magical!)

After a long, full day of weeding and rebarking I wore this out for dinner and a quick stop to the garden center for flowers, so I got one more outfit with the highlighter nails (detail photo up on an earlier outfit post) before switching to something more "reasonable" ;)

I liked how yesterday's white looked with the neon, so repeated that idea and went even more matchy with the color. Started with this appley-green triangle print tee and decided flares were in order; I really like how flares look with a high-low hemline, especially with a fun wide belt. I haven't worn these straight leg jeans, which behave somewhat like baby boots, in a very long time but I reaaaalllyyy wanted to wear my white pumps and all my flares are too long for these lower heels. Surprised to say I'm quite happy with how they look! Popped on a matching bright white belt (and a loose white tank underneath as well) and gold/white dangly earrings. Retro sunnies, matching white clutch, and a quick swipe of cherry-pink gloss finish things off. An easy, quick, happy little weekend look ^^

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome. Hope you're all having a great weekend!

I've had this dress/jacket/boots combo in my head for a week or so, waiting for the right opportunity to wear it. I had a tough morning and really needed a little extra boost so I was happy not only to have planned this outfit yesterday while painting my nails highlighter yellow, but also because it's pretty, white, and full of elements I really love. Also, the dress has pockets which is always awesome. I wasn't able to get a photo with those pockets, though, because it was so windy out that I was having to hold everything down until the last second when the camera timer went off ;)

It's taken me a long time to adjust to how I look in a bomber jacket. I tried on so many last year and nothing looked right until this one. Eventually I realized that I never liked how those jackets were making my shoulders look; they didn't look as strong as they normally do. Part of why I love this particular jacket is that the sleeve seam doesn't curve down, but the bigger reason is that it has shoulder pads. Yes, my fellow ITs may balk, but apparently that's how it is. This must be the same reason I dislike raglan sleeve tops on myself!

Other little tidbits: * I wanted to add a belt to cover the waist seam, but didn't like the clutter of the buckle so I spun the buckle to my side and voila, clean belted look! * Still cool out, so textured nude tights were a must; I'd love to find another pair or two. * Rarely do I wear, or even purchase, matching jewelry sets, but with these over-the-top neon pieces it felt like a fun match (plus the necklace is only peeking out a little). * I debated going full-hog neon and wear bright orange lipstick and my black/neon lined clutch, but was fond of the simpler color palette so instead wore a better-than-nude cherry pink lip balm and my white clutch. * And lastly, since I always wear earrings I wore my pearl studs because A) I wanted to keep the neon jewelry front and center, and B) Fridays are date nights (going out for sushi later, yum!) and hubby likes these best.

Having a fun outfit planned and ready to go was a huge help today! I normally keep a little list of such outfits handy, but haven't yet done them up for the season. So ultimately I got a reminder to get working on that this weekend. And, whew! I made it through a week of daily outfit posting. Over the hump ^^ Happy Friday, everyone!

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

(OK my last post for the day and I'll quit being such a forum hog!!)

Hi ladies, if anyone has these red pants in a size 4 regular or tall length at their GAP and could possibly purchase for me please let me know :)

http://www.gap.com/browse/prod.....=349597012

After heavy rainfall last night and big wind today, I felt like something cheerful and energetic was in order. Can't say I'm shy about color ;)

I haven't been wearing my scarves much the past two years, probably due to really streamlining outfits overall (same reason my jackets weren't getting worn for that matter), but have been cautiously feeling both the scarves and jackets again. Last season I noticed that when I did feel like wearing a scarf, I kept reaching for a white-based print that I didn't have. So I recently picked up this gauzy zebra print scarf, which fits the bill nicely for now. The sour green is not a shade I can normally wear, so I am happy to enjoy it in little accents like this. This outfit formed around my desire to wear the scarf today!

Because it's cool and windy, I knew that I would need: at least one sweatery item, full length pants, and hair to be put up. Not sure where the red jeans idea came from, but it popped into my head just before I fell asleep last night and I rolled with it. This scarf tie covers a lot, so I thought something soft and drapey underneath would work best to keep from being too bulky. I layered a loose white tank and a drapey white tee, and popped my ivory BF cardigan over the top for additional softness. The nude boots pick up on the boho feel from the scarf fringe and print. Further accessorized with dainty gold jewelry and a rich red lip color, along with freshly painted very neon lemon-lime nails (I mean seriously, ridiculously highlighter-neon).

Today's outfit is even more layered than yesterday's, though like that one it doesn't show because of all the lightweight fabrications. At this time of year, layering with several lightweight breezy items helps me feel appropriately springy while keeping me warm!

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

Well I didn't know what else to call this, so feel free to fill me in on the actual issue name :) Another alteration question (I really need to learn more about what is and isn't commonplace alterable *sigh*). Please pardon the bed head ^^

Ok! I bought this pretty sheathe with a long exposed zipper, and at the end it puffs up and creates a very unbecoming pucker, all sticking out and whatnot. I tried to show it in #2-4, not sure how well you can see it though. Is the zipper too long? My bum sitting too high, or too much or the-far-less-likely not enough? I'm curious what causes it and if it's alterable because I see this all the time with dresses, honestly both with and without the long zippers; I always figured it was a darting issue due to swayback, but this dress is seamed very nicely and shouldn't otherwise need darts. I think, but hey what do I know! Would love to hear if anyone knows if this is an alterable issue or if I have to send the dress back. Thank you!

Unfortunately I will be sending the JBrand Love Story jeans back tomorrow :( I loved the way they fit me but if I get them hemmed the 1.5" I need I just lose too much of the flare. I'm pretty set on having a 20" leg opening. So so bummed, because the material and wash are perfect if only I could keep the leg line and wide opening! I'm thinking a long pair with a 22" flare would work so that when I hem them they drop down to 20". What other brands, premium or otherwise, have a similar fit model to JBrand? Besides my BF jeans and the white KUTs, I haven't bought new jeans in *ahem* several years and have no ideas whose cuts are like what. Or maybe you know another faded (distressed could be OK) pair with a bigger opening that I could try. Thank you!