WIW: Nostalgic Tee and others

A few WIWs


#1 Trying out the nostalgic Tee formula by pairing my frog tee shirt (made out of an old jersey sheet) with dressy black slacks and a gray blazer.  I added my most refined shoes: black patent peep-toe wedges.  Does it work?

#2 Green sweater (too short) and rolled pants (that are too wide to roll this way, I suspect).  Green, non-matching shoes.  In spite of practically everything wrong with it, I liked it.

#3 Column of navy (tee shirt, wide-leg jeans) with my floral jacket.  Wet hair in pic.  Worn to a mother-daughter banquet on Saturday.  Wishing I had tried white shoes....

Feedback or Suggestions? 
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WIW: Denim on denim

Thanks to Angie this morning for helping me choose what to wear running errands!

Here's my denim shirt over gray jeans, with flair in lemon-lime :)

I think I like it - though I'm watching for a longer denim or chambray shirt, and I'm not sure that the shoes will pass the comfort-while-walking test.  (And the shoes look kinda frumpy too, don't they? - they may not be around long).  Forgive my wearing socks, I know bare feet would be better, but need them for warmth and comfort.

Suggestions for improvement?

Edit: From suggestions, unbuttoned another button on shirt and moved the necklace inside the shirt.  :)
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WIW: sunshine in the clouds

A couple of recent blog posts inspired my outfit today.

Second time trends: neon and geometric shapes.
Big necklaces/ accessories.

I've always thought that neons looked horrid on me - both the first time (in my memory, at least) ,and now.  And yet, neither last time nor this time could I resist them.

At least now they're in accessory format, so perhaps they're not quite so overwhelming?

I knew I wanted to pair this necklace with gray - it seemed the perfect clouds and sunshine effect.  And as this is my only gray top, I had to do it before it got really warm.  So here is my attempt.  Gray cashmere sweater with gray jeans.  Brown belt and sandals (it's not really that warm, but the space heater in my office keeps it toasty, and I wanted to try these out for comfort with my newly picky feet - yep, I need toe nail polish...).  And a super-bright yellow and citron triangles necklace.

What do you think?  Does it work?  Is the outfit too dull?  My sleeves are already scrunched - I'm just too lazy to take another pic



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WIW: blah

I woke up with the idea that I wanted to pair robin's egg blue with olive today.  

I failed.  

"Robin's egg blue" morphed into my teal snake-print slouchy skinnies, and the olive got hidden under a cream sweater in an attempt to look less wintry while adding warmth.  I feel comfortable enough to go out in this, but it feels just a tad boring.  I don't think it'll take me too long to be embracing color full-on in public :)

Suggestions?  How to punch this combo up?

ETA: version 2  - the olive field jacket and a white shirt underneath to bookend the shoes - better?
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Seasons Change naval gazing

The change of the seasons, and some wonderful threads here today are spurning my own naval gazing for a moment.  My style has changed a lot this past season, thanks to your encouragement and suggestions.  I've discovered color, I know how to tell whether my clothes fit, and I've experimented a lot.

However, all winter long, I've been enjoying this wonderful world of bright colors on this island of YLF. Any time I've ventured out in public, I've been well-hidden inside my below-knee-length puffer, which is brown.  Now that the time to ditch the coat is approaching, I feel really unsure of myself in bright colors.  Yes, I love them, but am I really ready to go into public with them?  Will people think I'm weird? (As if they don't already, I know.  It's hard not to be weird when you walk around with five kids).  Do I really have the personality to wear such attention-getting clothes?  I'm NOT dramatic in real life (or at least, I try not to act dramatic... I try to be very laid back).

That to say, I have no idea where my style is going.  I don't know who I am style-wise, nor who I want to be, nor where I'm going.  Somehow I'm okay with this not knowing when I can hide behind a brown coat.  But now my experimentation will be in front of the entire world.  It makes me want to retreat and hide in safe little frump-ville.

Okay.  Enough for tonight.  If you actually read this, you're a saint.  This is just me, musing at a keyboard.  

Do you ever second-guess your style?  Does your public style and your ylf style differ?  Or your public and private style?
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WIW: Daffy Down Dilly

Technically it's spring.  I saw daffodils in bloom.  But it's cold.  And snowy.  And gray.  And you've heard enough of my whining (besides, we're not buried in snow like you all up north...  just tired of it).

So I decided to dress like the daffodils that I saw in bloom yesterday.  I paid no regard to matching or how things looked together because I knew I was staying in all day.  I intended to change before we had guests over tonight, and ran out of time.  So they probably think I'm strange now, dressed like a daffodil.  Oh well.

By the way my new shoes, the $150 ones that I whined about, with the $35 insoles too, are terrific.  Every day I wore them, my feet felt better at the end of the day than the beginning (Not that they weren't tired and somewhat swollen, but my joints felt better).  They make me want to throw away almost all my other shoes (which I'm going to do).  How could I not have noticed how bad my feet hurt when I wear some shoes?

Comments and suggestions are invited :)
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Console me: I spent money

I made the primary blunder of waiting until the last minute to decide that I really needed to consider actually comfortable shoes for the next few days of 16-hours-per-day on my feet.  So 20 minutes before the store closed, I showed up, obviously stressed and desperate and begged them to sell me something that was professional, went well with black pants, and that I could walk in for 16 hours.

Of course they complied, and charged me an appropriately insane amount (about $150, including special insoles and extra arch supports and toe lifting thinga-ma-bobbers).  They're Taos three-steps.

So.  Hold my hand and console me.

I could have gotten them quite a lot cheaper online.  But I need them tomorrow.  

Should I return them and let my feet kill me for the three days?  Will I live through spending this much on a single article of clothing?  

On the upside, it was one of my style goals for the year to spend real money on something.  I just thought it would come with more consideration.


26 comments

WIW: How to style slouchy "track" pants?

I have these new pants: They were 3-4 sizes up that I brought at a thrift store and altered to this shape.  They're my idea of what the Leith pants everyone's buying would be like.  Except they have a "real" waistband and are gray, not black.  They're woven and drapey and sooo comfy!

- Did I get the shape close?
- How do you style them?
- Are they just way too baggy?
- How long should they be?  Mine are about four inches beyond my heel, scrunched majorly at the ankle.  Is that much scrunch just silly?
- Do these deserve wear outside the house?  I'm pretty much staying in today, with a sick kid.  And to be honest, I stay home 80% or more of the time anyway.  So maybe that doesn't matter.  Should I wear them?

Earrings and scarf were chosen by the "sick" little boy.  

#1  the pants.
#2 showing the length and waist fit (I'm on my tippy toes).
#3 rear view.
#4 front view.
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LBD experiments

I think I'm falling in love with my LBD (first worn "for real" Wednesday of this challenge).  Here's the ways that I've tried it on - I ended up with #6 to go out Wednesday evening.

What do you think?  Which of these work the best?  Should it be in my regular rotation?  Is it too wintry with the sleeves and the tights?
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WTW: conference edition, part 2

Okay, this question is really about shapes and proportions.  On top is the required conference shirt.  I'm supposed to wear it with Chinos, but have permission to wear it with anything that's reasonably business-casual.  Even the white jeans.

#1 bootleg black
#2 Gray pleated baggy slouchy tapered pants (enough adjectives?) Tucked in.
#3 Gray pants from #2, untucked - is the shape or the pants too unconventional?
#4 Lighter gray wide-let pants
#5 Skinny black
#6 Skirt, tucked in (see? I look weird in skirts...)
#7 Skirt, untucked
#8 Navy chinos - the recommended wear
#9 White jeans - probably too casual, as much as I love them.

ETA: #10, a smaller size shirt, with an undershirt and the chinos. Would this combo be better than the larger-size shirt that's a bit longer?

Questions: Which ones look the best proportionally and shape-wise?  I can't do anything about the shirt or it's length, but I could add a topper, as long as said topper doesn't cover the logo.

I'd like to think that with long underwear, I'll be able to go without a topper, but I'll probably take a topper along just in case.  Something that "coordinates", since none of these have "matching" toppers.  

Thanks for your input and patience - I know it's boring.
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