What I wore today: 11/04/2012 (Black and Tan)

Truth time: Approximately 30 seconds after taking these photos, I tripped on my flatforms and, in my (thankfully successful) efforts to save my camera, ended up skinning the ever-loving-beJESUS out of both my knees and completely ruining these tights. They are now both shredded and bloodstained. They have been put to rest with highest honors.

So, the truth is that, for most of the day, I wore different, much less cute, tights. But I still had to share my intentioned outfit for the day. I like the idea of taking a simple black-and-tan color palette and executing it throughout my outfit (belt, shoes, tights). The tights, a favorite, will be replaced, mark my words. I can't live in a world without punctuation tights!

"They look like your legs are cursing," was Ryan's reaction when he first saw them. Ohhhhhhhh, how I want them back!

For now, though, my legs are cursing out loud and uncensored. I seriously wrecked my knees. Ouch. 

 

Patent leather flatforms - Jeffrey Campbell, Free People
Punctuation tights - American Apparel 
1990s black velvet mini dress - thrifted
Leopard print horsehair belt - Anthropologie
"Sparked Agate Collar" Peter-Pan-collar necklace - Anthrpologie
Studded-bottom bag - eBay

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What I wore today: 10/19/2012 (Pajama Game)

My tips for making the pajama-top-as-daywear trend look chic, not sloppy:

01. Pick a solid color or a simple pattern like stripes rather that a kooky pattern that's obviously designed for sleepwear.

02. Roll up the sleeves and tie the front or tuck it in. These little touches give the top a new shape and make you look pulled together, and not as if you just rolled out of bed.

03. Add jewelry. Like rolling your sleeves, or tying the front of your top, adding jewelry gives your look an air of thoughtfulness, which helps your outfit read "intentionally trying out a fun trend" rather than "slept through my alarm this morning."

04. Have fun with it. I paired my pajama top with velvet loafers that hint at the idea of smoking slippers. I don't want to look like I rolled out of bed, but I do want to take advantage of the glamourous, loungey feeling that my satin pajama top is bringing to the outfit party. After all, if I just wanted to look like I was wearing a plain top, I could just wear a plain top. But, as I'm wearing PJs, why not wink a bit and let my outfit have a sense of humor.  

Full disclosure: trying out new trends can be scary. I offer these tips in the hope that they can assuage some of your fears if you've been drawn to this trend but haven't had the confidence to take the plunge yet because you worried you might not be able to "pull it off." However, don't think that my giving advice means that I am in any way immune to the same insecurities as you. I wore this outfit to work and I was really nervous about it. Once I got to work, however, I got three compliments: two from people who realized it was a pajama top and one from someone who didn't. Their kind words reassured me.

Sometimes fashion is fun, and sometimes it's scary . . . and sometimes, like the best things in life (roller coasters, falling in love), it's a little of both. 

Satin pajama top - Victoria's secret

Polka-dot jeans - AG, Anthropologie

Velvet loafers - Urban Outfitters

Studded-bottom bag - eBay

Necklace - J.Crew Factory

Bracelets - Anthropologie, Asos, J.Crew

Diamond watch - Citizen

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What I wore today 09/13/2012 (Windy City)

Ryan and I just got back from an incredible trip to Chicago. I'll post soon with lots of photos, but for now, here's one of the outfits I wore while we were there.

I do love a subtle pop of leopard print against a bright, saturated color like kelly green. Don't you? 

I definitely need to order some replacement tights. I love this magenta color so much that I can't stop wearing them, even though the holes look really bad at this point. 

This teal velvet blazer is definitely a favorite piece for me. See this post for better photos of it and the amazing story behind how it came into my life.

Quilted leather boots - Corso Como

Magenta tights - We Love Colors

Kelly green jersey dress - clothing swap

Calf-hair leopard belt - Anthropologie

Teal velvet blazer - thrifted

Studded-bottom bag - eBay

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Fictional Fashion Icon: Sylvia Weiss from In Time

I always love checking out the fashion in futuristic movies. It's such a fun notion to play around with ideas about where fashion could go. I think the best costume designers manage to reference current fashion while elevating it a bit. This creates a realistic world that seems utterly believable.

In the recent film, In Time (which you can still catch it at the cinema), there was an obvious choice to make the costumes the best they could be. So they got Colleen Atwood who is, in my opinion, one of the greatest costume designers for the screen EVER.

At the center of things is Sylvia Weiss, kidnapped heiress turned criminal. She's somewhere between Patty Hearst and Bonnie Parker of Bonnie and Clyde, but you root for her. You also are quite taken in by her look.

The hair definitely looks futuristic because it's a cut and color combination that hasn't really been seen much before. It's strange at first, but it starts to grow on you quickly.

And then there are the dresses. The first time you see Sylvia, she's in this incredible nude dress with black sheer ruched overlay. I die for that dress.

I also die for this short party dress she wears with it's crinoline skirt and button detailing.

And I adore this multicolor plaid velvet number with its Peter Pan collar. It almost looks like something out of the '90s, but it's unique enough to look futuristic as well.

It should be said that Sylvia spends a good portion of the film wearing someone else's clothes, but she rocks them in her own unique way with her blunt hair, one arm warmer, and killer shoes.

The best thing about her style though -- the way you know she's really serious about looking kickass -- is that all the time she's running all over the place, shooting guns, knocking over banks, surviving car crashes, jumping out of windows, and leaping rooftops, she's doing it in 6-inch heels. Icon? I think yes.

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What I wore today 11/01/2011 ($#&@!)

After wearing so many browns and mustards and oranges as Halloween approached, today felt like a good day to go back to black.

Aren't these tights amazing? They always make people do double takes, and I love it. A few years ago I never would have worn something so eye-catching and weird, but I'm a lot more comfortable with myself now and I love that feeling.

Happy All Souls Day, everyone!

Vintage black velvet mini dress - Goodwill

Punctuation and symbol tights - American Apparel

Vintage Chanel bag - Ebay

Quilted and studded flats - Modcloth

* * *

This is an outfit of comfortable favorites. You've seen the shoes about a zillion times, and the dress is an old favorite that I once even wrote a poem about for a school assignment.

It's not one of my best poems, but, as it's relevant here, I'll share . . .

Dresses

This Goodwill smells like dust
and cement. Horrible music is
playing. The metal hangers,
digging into my arm, leave black,
oily marks on my wrists.

Inside the dressing room—floor covered
with rejected clothes—I try on my findings.
A navy United Airlines stewardess dress
squeezes my ribs too tight
and spreads across my angry hips
in pull-lines, like sand-ridges across a vast desert.

But the short, black, velvet dress hugs me right,
caresses my waist and grazes my hips,
like a lover, leading a ballroom dance.

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