Firecracker's Blog

During my recent closet edit, I ended up holding on to a couple of pairs of pants that I was on the verge of passing on. Both have languished in the closet for more than a year, for different reasons.

One pair of pants (the black ones below) was too long, even though I had shortened them once already. I didn't know what length to make them, because I couldn't figure out how I wanted to wear them. Aida suggested wearing them with flats, because they are very casual (made of fleece!). That option hadn't occurred to me at all; since they are very wide-legged, I thought I would need to wear heels to avoid looking short and wide in them. I was considering chopping them to make culottes, but I liked Aida's idea of trying them first with flat shoes, like my street sneakers, perhaps. I chopped off the amount needed for flat shoes, and voila!--they are a fun jeans alternative for days off (maybe even for work days, who knows?).

The second pair of pants (charcoal ones below) were awaiting alterations also. I bought them with the idea that I would turn the bootcut trousers into straight legs, for a slouchy menswear vibe. They would also need a little alteration at the hip line to take out some excess fabric under the seat. Since I practically loathe alterations, these pants were a project waiting, and waiting. . . to happen. I figured I might as well pass them on. Aida liked the idea of turning them into straight legs, and we thought perhaps once the legs were straightened, the hip alteration might not be necessary if slouch was the goal. Her enthusiasm propelled me forward, and I did the alternation. (I ended up doing the extra hip adjustment, too.)

I'm happy I saved both of these pants. I wore them last week and really liked them! 

The outfits:
1-3 (worn for a day off): black fleece raw-edged wide-legged pants with faux back pocket flaps (Raw Earth Wild Sky); light blue long sleeved tee (Caslon) under black, brown, blue, and sage boucle cropped raw-edge sweater (Two Dog Island); pewter high top sneakers (Paul Green).

4-7 (worn to work): charcoal straight-legged trousers (Halogen, Taylor); ruby red, blue, gray and ivory floral print chiffon peasant blouse (made by me); ruby red 3/4 sleeved cardigan (Halogen); silver belt; gray shimmer oxfords (Naot, Kedma); navy trench (London Fog); light gray backpack (Rebecca Minkoff).

Thanks for looking! I welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

I wore a version of Angie's Burgundy, Navy, and Blush ensemble to the YLF meetup today, for outlet shopping. I was planning to wear the burgundy (or eggplant?) jeans and sort-of blush blouse, and then Angie's ensemble gave me the idea of adding navy shoes, coat, and bag.

The outfit: Eggplant slim boyfriend jeans (Rag and Bone); bisque, eggplant, lavender, and cream floral silk georgette blouse with ruffled neck and sleeves (made by me), worn over ivory layering tee (Tees by Tina); tan belt (Trafalgar); denim ballet flats with navy patent cap toe (AGL); navy trench (London Fog); navy and tan satchel (Dooney & Bourke).

What a fun day we had at the meetup! And funny, true story:
At the Burberry store, where we started our shopping, a sales associate came up to me and complimented me on my coat, adding, "That's one of ours, isn't it?" And I thanked her and admitted it was not. Several minutes later, another Burberry sales associate came up to me and said, "Nice coat! That's one of ours, right?" And I said, "Thank you. No it's not." So we can just call this coat my Fauxberry now, right?

Thanks for looking!

I thought I might try to to review some recent work outfits in light of Angie's discussion of figure flattering priorities.

Here are four outfits, which I have shown in order of my own preference for them--i.e., the one I liked wearing best is shown first. All were very comfortable and felt good, though.

In terms of figure flattery, I think they might rank differently, though; perhaps 4, 2, 1, 3? What do you think?

Outfit 1. (photos 1-4): espresso ponte skinnies (NYDJ); plum sweater tunic with woven flounce (Tempo Paris); mauve, gray, espresso patchwork print jacquard vest (made by me); espresso moto boots (Miu Miu); espresso and black satchel (Joy Gryson); mauve packable coat (Mycra-Pac). In photo 4, I tried the outfit with my gray croc-look moto boots.

Outfit 2. (photos 5-7): espresso ponte asymmetrical midi skirt (made by me); gray, brown, purple, teal abstract print cropped tissue-weight sweater with twisted cowl neck (made by me); espresso tights (Spanx); gray croc moto boots (Donald J. Pliner); mauve coat, gray backpack (Rebecca Minkoff).

Outfit 3. (photos 8-10): burgundy skinny ankle pants (Loft); gray and plum texty-print tee (made by me); light gray cropped hooded sweater (old, from Anthropologie); long silver and pave circle pendant (Lucky); black flat booties (Munro, Lexie); black packable raincoat (Cole Haan); gray backpack.

Outfit 4. (photos 11-13): charcoal skinny ankle pants (Classiques Entier, City Weave Ankle Pants); red and charcoal plaid tee (made by me); stone heather handkerchief hem cardi (Bobeau); gray moto boots (Frye, Lynn); navy trench coat (London Fog); black satchel (Elliott Lucca, Olvera).

Thanks for looking! I appreciate your thoughts.