WIW: wildcard goes to work

With your help in styling this wildcard dress, I am off to work in it today!

I was a little doubtful whether I'd get to wear the dress this season, because we don't often get enough warm days for something light and breezy. But lo and behold, the weather promises us an 80 degree day today.

The outfit:
Floral print linen dress (made by me); white cardigan (Nic & Zoe); metallic cut-out peep-toe booties (Paul Green, Tacey).

Thanks for helping me with my original post on this dress, and thanks for looking today! Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

18 comments

Team repeat: pajamaesque again

Today's outfit for work is a semi-repeat of one I wore earlier this week, which Angie called "pajamaesque." Here's the top again, worn with harem pants rather than skinnies--going for an even more pajamaesque look!

The outfit (worn for work): small floral print lace knit top with twisted seam detail and asymmetric hem, in reds, ivory, and sage on black background (made by me); layered over a black tank (Shimera); black knit harem pants (Eileen Fisher); ruby 3/4-sleeved cardigan (Halogen) is just in case I need it in the A/C at work.

I auditioned several shoe choices: black sling-back Mary Janes (Think!); gray leather sneakers (Josef Seibel, Caspian); metallic ballet flats (AGL); gray platform sandals (DV by Dolce Vita); metallic cut-out peep-toe booties (Paul Green, Tacey). I decided to go with the Paul Greens for work today, though I could totally see wearing the sneakers if I were going to be doing a lot of walking (fun sightseeing outfit, don't you think?).

Thanks for looking! I appreciate any thoughts and suggestions you'd like to share.

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WIW: Ink, Black, Gray, & Brown

Angie's ensemble today gave me something to wear. I was thinking of wearing the top, and her suggestion gave me the rest of the outfit.

The outfit (worn to work):

Ink and black checked cowl-neck pullover blouse with v-inset at front (made by me); charcoal skinny pants with stitched front crease (Classiques Entier, City-Weave skinny ankle pants); navy linen knit vest (made by me); caramel brown oxfords (Born, Arletta); black leather cross-body bag with brown reptile print panel (Aimee Kestenberg); silver and brass earrings (Marjorie Baer); silver and brass beaded bracelet (Lucky).

Kind of a dark look, but I like it. Thanks for the inspiration, Angie!
Thanks for looking, and I appreciate your thoughts and suggestions!

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Team wear: new top and bag

Today I debuted a top that I finished a few days ago, and since I was walking to the hair salon, I broke out my new cross-body bag.

The outfit (worn for a day off): black skinny jeans (Eileen Fisher); floral lace knit top in reds, black, light olive, and ivory, with twisted seams and asymmetric hem (made by me), worn over black layering tee (Tees by Tina); black oxfords (Josef Seibel, Tina); olive jacket (Laundry by Shelli Segal); black cross-body bag with brown reptile print (Aimee Kestenberg).

When I finished the top, I wasn't sure I would wear it, but I kind of like it this way. I think it requires skinny pants, so that I can wear it tucked out. Or maybe a pencil skirt, though I rarely wear those.

Also, I'm continuing to experiment with showing a little ankle with these oxfords. I like them with these black jeans. What do you think?

Thoughts and suggestions welcome. Thanks for looking!

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WIW: a few outfits & a couple of NAS bags

Today I was thinking of wearing my new linen dress, making use of your great feedback on styling. But it was pouring buckets this morning, so that outfit was shelved for another day.

Here are a few of my outfits this week, starting with today and working backwards. Also some bonus shots of a couple of bags I got at NAS. One I'm keeping, and one I've already returned.

1-2 (worn for teaching class): gray linen slouchy pants (made by me); gray modal short-sleeved tee (Caslon); coral 3/4-sleeved cardigan (Halogen); stone and cream belt (Annette Goertz); gray leather sneakers (Josef Seibel, Caspian).

3-6 (worn for a day off): white boyfriend jeans (Kut from the Kloth, Catherine); gray hatchy-print tee (made by me); black-gray-silver narrow belt; black loafers (Munro). 

Photo 5: cross-body bag in black and snakeskin print (Amy Kestenberg)--I'm keeping this one. I think it will be great for travel, and it will go with black, dark brown, and caramel shoes and short boots that I have.

Photo 6: convertible tote in black and snakeskin print (Amy Kestenberg)--I've returned this one. I didn't like the scale of the bag for me--a little too big for what I wanted. It's a fun bag, though, and the leather feels really nice.

7-8 (worn to work): black slouchy skinnies with zipper pockets and front slask pockets with embellished flaps (tucked in)(Mos Mosh); silk snakeskin print tee in blues, greens, gray and black on ivory (made by me); fancy-buckle belt (BedStu); black satchel (Elliott Lucca); black oxfords (Josef Seibel). I tried rolling the pants above the oxfords again, after getting feedback here on an attempt at this look with green chinos. I think I like it.

Any thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Thanks for looking!

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Wildcard styling attempts

I just discovered my wildcard for summer. It's a dress I finished a couple of weeks ago. I bought the fabric and pattern more than a year ago, but didn't make it up till now because I had reservations about the fabric. Still, I wanted to try the dress pattern, and so I forged ahead with this fabric figuring it would be a good test of the pattern anyway.
The dress has buttons up the front, cap sleeves, a collar with a drawstring that pulls on the inside if the collar is worn up, side pockets, princess seams that flare out to a billowy skirt that is reined back in slightly by a bottom panel, sort of lantern-style. The dress had a big pleat down the back, which I had to remove after I got finished, because it just created way too much fabric in the back; I would not have worn it that way.
It's kind of a precious design to begin with, and add to that the linen fabric I chose, with a big, bold floral design in blues, greens, and gray on a white background, and well, you have a dress that is not exactly what you'd normally catch me wearing. Why, you might ask, did I pick this fabric? I do like the print and the colors; it just has more white in it than I would typically wear, so it's not as muted as my usual choices.

Anyway, here are some attempts to style it. I bought some white leggings on sale to try with it; and I also tried it with some blue suede booties that are SE Petty lookalikes from DSW, which I bought on impulse today. They are such a great shade of blue for my wardrobe, I couldn't resist. Not until I got home with them did I think to try them with this linen dress. I would say the leggings and the blue suede booties are wildcards along with the dress. Very out of my comfort zone.

1-3: metallic cut-out peep-toe booties (Paul Green); collar is cinched in 2.
4-5: same, with white 3/4-sleeved cardigan (Nic & Zoe)
6-7: with denim ballet flats (AGL) and jean jacket (AG, Robyn)
8: with jean jacket and metallic ballet flats (AGL)
9-10: with cobalt 3/4-sleeved cardi (Halogen) and denim or metallic ballet flats
11: with cobalt cardi and gray leather sneakers (Josef Seibel, Caspian)
12-13: with cobalt cardi and gray wedge sandals (DV by Dolce Vita)
14: same outfit with white denim-knit leggings (Hue)
15-16: same, with blue suede Petty look-alike booties (DSW's Crown Vintage, Tabitha)
17-18: jean jacket, white leggings, blue suede booties
19-20: jean jacket, white leggings, gray wedge sandals
21-22: same but with olive 3/4-sleeved cardi (Halogen)
23-24: same but with gray sneakers

I would love your opinions and suggestions on these attempts or other ideas you may have. I
have tried different toppers with it, because until we get another heat
wave or I go on a tropical vacation, I won't be able to wear it
bare-armed. To use Angie's expression, I definitely run cold. I am not
inclined to buy new things (beyond the leggings--and the tags are still
on those!--to make this dress work; it's just such an oddity for me.

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WIW: a few cooler summer outfits

The heat wave broke here, and we're back to more normal life--and more typical dressing for Seattle summer. Here's what I've been wearing the last few days.

The outfits:
1-3 (worn to work): knit A-line skirt in black with red dot print and mesh knit trim at hem (made by me); cranberry sleeveless blouse (Nordstrom Collection, NAS a couple of years ago); cropped black 3/4-sleeved jacket with zip front, lower zip pockets and upper patch pockets (Halogen); black sling-back Mary Janes (Think!); black satchel (Elliott Lucca).

4-6 (worn for a day off and some shopping): white bootcut jeans (Lucky, Lolita); sea-blue ballet-neck tee (Caslon); hemp hooded zip-front jacket in stone color (Layers Squared); stone and cream belt (Annette Goertz); wedge bootie style sandals (DV by Dolce Vita); taupe hobo bag (Aunts & Uncles).

7-8 (worn to work): blue boyfriend chinos (Eddie Bauer); knit print surplice top in blues, olive, and red on ivory background (made by me); sage linen knit drape-front cardigan (made by me); olive quilted jacket with knit sleeves (Blue Willie); denim ballet flats (AGL); tan belt (Trafalgar); navy and tan bag (Dooney & Bourke). I decided to go with the cardigan rather than the jacket.

Thanks for looking! Thoughts and suggestions are welcome!

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WIW: speaking of brown

Angie's post on brown might have influenced what I wore today. I had on the brown and white print tank top with my new white boyfriend jeans (Kut from the Kloth, Catherine), but changed into brown pants for work this evening. I didn't get a shot of the jeans outfit, but I took the other one this evening after work.

The outfit:
Dark brown wide-leg ponte knit pants with long cargo pockets on the sides (you can't really see them--sorry!--but you can kind of see the poof of the cargo pocket outline on the outer leg)(made by me); brown and white paisley print high-low tank with brown mesh knit trim at the bottom, neck, and armholes (made by me); taupe linen blend sweater (Nic & Zoe); metallic cut-out peep-toe booties (Paul Green); brown metal teardrop hoop dangle earrings.

I had been wearing a tan cotton Halogen jacket with my jeans outfit, but I wasn't too crazy about the tank and jacket with the pants. I tried a white v-neck cardigan with long pointed fronts, then an oatmeal 3/4 sleeve round-neck cardigan, both of which let the tank hang out below. Then thought of my long taupe cardi, which covers the tank. I was happy with how it looked; what do you think?

Thanks for looking! Thoughts and suggestions welcome!

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AGL tall moto boots from NAS

Me again, with another Nordstrom Anniversary Sale purchase. In my NAS report, I mentioned that I had ordered the AGL tall moto boots in brown. They came today, and I thought I'd show them here before returning them.

First, what I like about them: I love the color of brown--a deep espresso. The leather feels divine--so soft inside and out. The buckles are really nice--a subdued, burnished brass. The style, with a rounded toe, crossed straps at the ankle and a strap at top, is moto-inspired like a lot of current boots. But it can be worn like the classic equestrian style boots, too. That is, if they fit your legs.

What I'm on the fence about: I really like the round toe, but I'm trying to gather some more tapered toes in my wardrobe. And yet, this toe seems a little fashion forward, as the tapered toe has been strong for a while now.

Why I'm returning them: They are too tight on my 15" calves. Plain and simple. I could barely get the right one zipped up, over a knee-high stocking. There is a small elastic gore at the top, but it doesn't extend low enough on the boot to ease the fit over the largest part of my calf. The leather might stretch, but not enough to make them comfortable to wear over skinny jeans--the way I'd most want to wear these. Another slight concern (but not enough on its own to return them, probably): the leather is so luxurious, I'd feel very self-conscious wearing these on sloppy rainy days.

Just thought you'd like to see them.

I'm also showing photos of my current tall brown boots, for comparison. If the perfect replacement comes along, I'll upgrade them. For now, they are just fine! (And they cost half what the AGLs do, on sale.)

1-3: AGL Italia tall boot in espresso
4: AGL boots with their bag. Included this shot because I thought it was kind of funny--it looks like the boots would be a really tight fit in here!
5-6: Born Sosie, in tobacco (my current brown boots, from a couple of years ago). This style seems to be the same as the Roxie.

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my other NAS jeans: Hudson Beth baby bootcut

Really, how many pairs of jeans do I need? Well, I do wear them a lot. Let's see, I can't wear them to work (three days a week), but otherwise, they are pretty much in rotation 9 months of the year or more.
Though I will say, I've begun to realize there are only so many days in a year.

Anyway, I picked up these Hudson jeans to try on, simply because I like the pockets. I've always liked the Hudson flap pocket look, but whenever I saw them on sale and tried them in the past, they didn't fit. These came home with me, and today I put them on again to check the fit and the rear view, which is important to me. I thought I'd better take photos, because I can sometimes deceive myself with the mirror.

So, here they are for your consideration. As with my other post on straight-leg jeans I got at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, I am comparing these to a pair of Luckys I already had. Just to show I really don't need another pair of bootcuts. I will admit, I actually don't wear bootcuts as often as I wear straight/skinny legs. But the two pair of bootcuts are quite different: sometimes you need a flap on your pocket and sometimes you don't. And the colors are different, so I will wear them with different things.

photos 1-2: Hudson Beth Baby Bootcut jeans (new, tags still on). I've turned under the hem, because they are too long & will need hemming.
photos 3-4: Lucky Sweet Jean bootcut jeans (the ones I already owned), for comparison.

I'm not really inclined to return, unless you think the fit is off and/or I need to consider a different size. This purchase is just for fun!

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