Amiable's Blog

My four year old son was just looking at the picture perfect challenge with me.  So I told him I needed to decide what to wear tomorrow.  He had a few suggestions:

• I should wear my head.
• I should wear clothes that are mine.
• I should wear a cool shirt, that is mine, and cool pants, that are mine.
• I should also wear cool teeth and cool eyes.
• I asked him what color I should wear.  Yellow pants and a yellow shirt (yellow may be the only color that I own none of).

Maybe I should note that it's a common battle with him that he "borrows" his older brother's clothes that fall off, and gets sent back to his room to put on his own clothes.

Today I told my kids that they could each pick a type of cookie and we'd bake them after their naps.  I'm not sure what I'm in for, and I'm thinking I was more than a little rash in my offer.  

I'm sporting my new haircut, which is looking and feeling better after a wash (but is still chilly, so I'm wearing a hat.  It's maroon, and doesn't match at all).  I'm also wearing a new-to-me plum sweater, and skinny jeans.  I decided to do the black-with-bold color thing in accessories.  Mostly because I didn't have any better ideas.

What do you think?  

(I'm thinking that the haircut is just fine, by the way.  Look - with just a blow dry and no styling, it looks somewhat polished!  Too bad that the salon was such a tensing - rather than relaxing - experience.  I might be tempted to return).

This sweater is, I think, the last of my Goodwill purchases to show you.  Which means that I now have the pics to do a Fall/Winter purchase rundown and get honest with myself about what this habit is costing me.  Yikes.

... you see 3 inch segments falling to the floor while they're working on a part that you said you just wanted trimmed a bit.  (I figure once you see it fall, it's too late to bother saying anything - what are they gonna do - leave a hole?).

... the stylist's asks her supervisor to come check her cut, and that supervisor redoes almost the entire cut.

... the stylist asks you if your hair grows quickly, so that it'll grow out this cut soon.  

... the stylist runs away crying as you're walking out the door.

... you figure, "well - at least it was only $8 - you get what you pay for, I guess".  (To be honest, I probably could have done just as well at home,  but that's beside the point...)

Yes, I tipped her anyway.  No, I won't be returning to her.  Though quite honestly, it makes me chuckle.  It's only hair, and I suspect that in about two months, maybe less, I'll like it.  As it is, my neck is cold, but it's not anything worse than I've done to myself once or twice, and I can live with it.

I asked for the back trimmed up a little, so that it'll grow into a bob with some gentle a-line type layering in the back.  I took in several pictures, one of which was an a-line (they were all bobs).   The stylist's supervisor really zoned in on "a-line" (she herself had a rather severe one) and whacked away, after the stylist had done what she thought she should do with the back (which I have no idea what it looked like - because neither of them ever showed me the back of my head?!)

Anyway - here, for your chuckle as well, are before and after pics.  I don't hate it,  - it's probably better than the "before".  Besides, there's nothing that I can do at this point anyway.  I think I'll get a hat that covers my ears and neck to make it through the winter :)

#1-4 are before
#5-8 are after

Ever had a bad haircut?  What did you do and how did you know?

I was just writing this post, about what I wore Sunday and Today, and realized that today isn't Monday.  It's Tuesday.  This week has been packed, and is going way too quickly.

Sunday was my final birthday party, combined with Thanksgiving at my in-laws (we celebrated all three November birthdays together).  I wanted to look sophisticated and comfy enough to overeat, as well as warm enough for their house, which is often rather chilly (they heat with wood, so places in it are really warm, but the house on a whole is kinda chilly most of the time).

Anyway, I felt like this outfit fit the bill.  It wasn't super exciting, but it was functional.  You can't see my shoes - they're my pointy-toed suede oxford booties.

Today I started off copying a madewell look - red buffalo check over white. It was okay, but I don't think I nailed it or anything.  Then my kids went to their cousins for the day leaving me with unscheduled time.  So I made a hair appointment.  More on that in another thread.  I changed for the hair appointment because that vest is really puffy and I thought it might be in the way of the cape and haircut.  So I ended up in gray jeans, white sweater and a navy suede jacket.

How should I change any of these to improve?

After my maximal mess the other day, I decided that I'd give the combo a try every once in a while until I get it...

When I followed Angie's steps to copying an outfit, I realized that what I liked was the juxtaposition of plaid and stripes without looking like a hot mess.  In all the combinations that I found of this idea, a solid was covering the plaids and stripes so that really, not much of either showed.  I figured that's probably the key to making this work.

Then I ignored it, because it felt like too many layers.  So I doubt this works, but that's never stopped me from showing it to you and asking for suggestions before.  So here we go.

Here's today's version of plaid/stripes maximal:  
My "Saturday" jeans,
navy/gray striped tee (goodwill - new to me)
blue and white plaid.

I thought that perhaps keeping everything in the same color family would tone it down some.  (A somewhat more minimal maximal - hence the title)

What do you think? 

After trying a not-quite-right combo (now #4), and getting lots of advice to improve it, I decided to try a different shirt under the burgundy sweatshirt.  However, nothing worked.  So I went for invisible layers instead, and I'm much happier.  I think I must have just had too much going on.

So what do you think - better?

(#3 is with the coat I'm wearing - a cobalt puffer, from Good Will, of course).

Today started off crazy and COLD.  

So I went for the coziest thing I could think of: my fisherman sweater.  It's one of those that is too warm for any but the coldest days.  Today's not super cold by winter standards, but I was freezing so I chose it, and layered a winter silk turtleneck under it.  It seemed to me to be asking for patterned pants, so the new-to-me camos came out again.  Brown belt and boots to finish it off.

I feel wonderfully warm and soft (the sweater is insanely soft cashmere).   I may overheat here in a few hours, who knows.  I think it's worth the risk :)

When I see the pics, I'm surprised at how well this outfit works considering the very little thought and planning it got.  Am I missing something, or does it actually work?  What suggestions do you have?

(Either way, I'm warmer, which makes me happy). 

Angie's post this morning made me want to wear a big scarf.  Do you think this fits the bill?

Unfortunately, I'll be changing out of this as soon as I get a chance to take a (second) shower after cutting my son's hair (he started the process yesterday with scissors), and cleaning up a mouse that had died under a cabinet in my room (stinky!) - because I feel dirty, even though I've only been wearing it a little while.

*sigh*  Oh well, I liked it while it lasted, and suspect this will be a really common winter silhouette for me.  I really love a warm neck!

What do you think?  What should I change for the next iteration of this outfit?

MaryK's outfit the other day reminded me that I have this look pinned (#2 below), and now have all the pieces to try it. 

So I did.

And it's a mess.  I think the biggest problem is that three lengths of sleeves don't work.  I think this would have a chance if my utility jacket was full length sleeves, and hid the other two.  But it's cold and I want the length.

I'm guessing that I'll change before I go anywhere, but since I took the pic, I figure you can all chuckle at my attempt with me :)

Are there other problems with this look that I'm not noticing?  Is there a way to make this idea work on not-so-maximal me?  Please do enjoy the chuckle...

(ETA look after taking a few of the suggestions.  I'll be trying again sometime soon to make this look work, and make it mine.  I love a good challenge, you know.  And this seems like a good one :) )

I liked Suz's Flared Trousers and Fluid Knitwear combo so much that I had to copy it.  Unfortunately, my copy didn't approach the original.  My trousers were too long for the red suede boots I wanted to wear (which are flat), so I impromptu hemmed them, and got them too short.  I didn't notice, however, that they were too short until evening.  So I wore them all day long at this length.  *sigh*.  I'm letting the hem back out today, and will just reserve them for heels (which is what Angie recommends with flares either - I don't know what I was thinking!)

Today I wanted to break out my new-to-me camo pants (more Goodwill).  I found them kinda hard to style - They're so tough on their own that I thought the rest of my outfit should be more lady like.  So I paired them with a white lace shell over a white 3/4 sleeve tee, and added my red suede boots.  The jeans come over the boot tops comfortably, but look a little weird - should I tuck them in?   Also, they're huge in the waist, and it shows - should I reserve these for longer tops?  (The tee is long, but tucked in - the lace shell is short.)
I'd love some additional styling suggestions for these - I think some had suggested red, and I didn't feel like i had the right shape in red.  Would purple work, do you think?..

I like all feedback, especially suggestions!  :)