Today I tried a duster outfit with 3 high volume pieces...wide crops, peasant style top untucked and denim duster. Accessories are a vintage summer bag, Merrell athletic flats in a blue and white stripe, blue stone beads on a leather strap necklace, red and blue bead dangly earrings, and purple leather bracelet. What do you think? Suggestions for improvement?
Sorry about the poor quality photos.
Archive: April, 2018
High volume duster outfit
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Everything Closet vs Seasonal: pros and cons
I moved from a house with a small non-walkin closet to a house with a medium walk in closet. I intend and have tried to keep all my clothes in the new closet at once, not knowing how I would feel about that.
After nearly 2 years, I find pros and cons. Pros: I mix clothing more and cross seasons, There is less temptation to repeat buy as I see it all, all the time. There is less confusion and work at changing out seasons. Less stuffed closet.
Cons: I miss the excitement of bringing back old favorites for a new season. I think I may be tiring of my clothes faster since I see them all the time. I use clothing out of the season I bought it for, so tire of it early.
Anyone else had experience with this? What do you prefer? Packing away or one big closet?
Kimono duster
Inspired by Angie’s blog post and nice weather, I decided to wear my real kimono as a duster. Usually I feel it has too much volume for me. What do you think? Other styling ideas?
Somewhere I have a self belt for it but that looks more bathrobe-like.
I hope tomorrow to try my denim duster, which you have seen before.
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Another oldie floral cardigan, white jeans
Lots of oldies here. Cardigan is the oldest. Originally thrifted. Kept because the lively rose print makes me happy, has blush in the print, fun for pattern mixing with black and white gingham or stripe tops. It has some metalc silver threads and silver rhinestone buttons.
Problems: not my best red, too bluish. I keep a bit of this darker red but am thinking of getting rid of it.
The Kut Diana Skinny jeans. Old but in great condition. Kept because I love white jeans and need several pairs to prevent laundry bottlenecks. Problem; is the rise too low? Tighter on me than they once were ( thanks insulin) so some muffin top.
Pointy silver flat loafers. Very comfortable and in great condition, but do they look dated?
Top is Target but I have the same color 3/4 sleeve EF cotton tee. Belt is Fossil and a favorite.
I welcome your thoughts and ideas.
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Another oldie: floral cardie with maximal mixing
Continuing Katerina’s oldie-but-goodie challenge, today’s outfit used an old silk floral cardie and bold stripe shirt. These pieces are at least 6 years old. I am trying to modernize with navy jeans, semi tuck, pattern mixing ( cardigan, scarf and shirt) and compliment of white bag and white loafers. I could have used a white belt too, but liked a navy one better. It is cold, so the jeans are not rolled.
#1/2: semi tuck
#3-5: shirt out
The cardigan is a favorite print for spring but a petite and feeling a little small. The shirt is a button-down that is not worn as much as it once was.
I welcome your thoughts and ideas.
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Oldies: jackets with Black trousers for Angie
Angie asked if I wear black pants. I think these photos show my only black trousers. They are not as old as many things and kept because the seamstress was able to eliminate baggy bottom. EF light, all season wool. They are not as skinny as the photos suggest. Is the fit ok?
The black knit top is old, a thrift store find cashmere tee. It works well under lots of things. Some off brand (red) but I value it highly for being an essential.
1/2: trousers and tee. Shoes are my silver metallic loafer mules.
3/4: yellow! Cropped plaid jacket. An oldie that works with my ancient Halogen yellow raisin pencil skirt for a cold spring Easter. Keep or toss?
5/6: old striped cotton jacket. Kept because two lovely friends talked me into it. It is very “me” .
7/8: another oldie jacket, silky burgundy plaid with grey and black. I wear it both as an outdoor and an indoor topper, depending on the weather.
I welcome your wisdom concerning these oldies and the trousers. I like them all but love is blind sometimes.
What do you think?
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Oldies: the twin sets ETA a third
Another group of oldies, over 6 years in my closet...some twin sets. This one surprised me, but they are handy for fickle temperatures and help me feel pulled together, although I usually do not wear the twins together. Mine are a sleeveless shell and a long sleeved cardigan. None contain wool. The ones pictured are silk and a blend of rayon and nylon. Are these too dated to keep?
1/2: stylized leopard print in grey, black and blue on white. Good with black, white, grey or denim bottoms. A nice weight and can be used for pattern mixing with striped. Shown with oldie black Chico pants. Ignore flats. I was using them as slippers.
2-5: lavender silk knit set with some sparkles on the cardigan. Shown with Kut white jeans that are getting old. Shown with the front done up ( small hidden hooks and eyes) and open. Handy for a casual Easter get together with white jeans or white jean skirt. A pastel shade that also gets worn with light wash jeans. Would be ok with black or grey trousers.
ETA 6/7: tomato red set. Hardly ever worn together. Kept because the color is my best red. Worn often with blue ( navy or turquoise)
I welcome your thoughts. Keep it donate?
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Oldie LBD
For Katerina’s oldie challenge, I pulled out an old favorite Calvin Klein LBD probably over 6 years in my closet. It is a sheath that has survived the edits because it has a side zipper rather than a back one, allowing me to get in and out of the dress more easily. I like the length and that it is an easy slim column of black. I wore it to church today with a floral bomber jacket, black sheer stockings and black ankle strap flats. Not shown, I also wore my JCrew blush stadium coat and dark blush scarf over everything. The dress now fits a bit tighter than it used to. Shall I retire it? Note: seeing the photos I did not like the bomber with it or the jewelry or black stockings with this outfit. The jacket photo shows the belt askew, which I did not notice at the time. Comments and suggestions welcome.
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Oldies X4
For the Oldies challenge I am trying to pull older pieces that made the cut when moving. Today’s outfit uses 4, probably a big mistake. I feel now that I should have paired each with more modern pieces. All are at least 6 years old.
1. 1-2 show an old grey: black snake print Sweet-Pea-esque knit top. I like it because it is perfect and has been worn for Thanksgiving. The fabric is quite washable; the 3/4 sleeves can be pushed up even more and stay up when cooking or washing dishes; and I can layer under it with a black silk underwear or even a sweater and layer over it with a cardigan or jacket. The ruffles on the front add volume to my bust line and look great in motion. The neckline can be buttoned high as in #1 or worn open to be s slash neckline that is not wide.
2. The pants in this outfit are also oldies... a heavy black Ponte jean style from Chico’s. They wash and dry in the machine and have pockets. The length is good for flats. Spills wash out. I can play on the floor with the kids. They are not baggy.
3. The silver ballet flats are also oldies, the newest of 4 pair of the exact same shoe from Dr. Scholl’s. So easy to wear and comfortable. I have liked how the round toe and buckle visually shorten my over-sized feet. They are padded with great support and have a grippy slip-proof sole.
4. Oldie #4 is shown in 4-5, my old cotton black moto jacket. Great for transitional weather or as an indoor topper in cold weather. It is lined, so is too warm for high summer. The length seems to be ok with pants and skirts. I had this jacket for months before I was brave enough to wear it. Now I think nothing of it.
I welcome your feedback and styling ideas for any you think I should keep a little longer. Also, replacement and ways to modernize ideas. They each have a place in my present wardrobe, but I could let any and all go if that is best.
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Scarf Challenge
Bijou invited those interested to join her in a 5-day scarf challenge. Here are my results. I wanted to play with my spring scarves to see what I had and find new ways to wear them.
1/2: it was a cold day. The scarf is a floral for spring, but a big wool square, worn with a red pullover and dark olive jeans.
3/4: chose to wear tonal olive. The scarf is a small cotton square, folded with corners inside, knotted in the middle and ends tied in back...a favorite way to wear a scarf so it will not be in the way
5-11: a pastel outfit with lilac blazer. 5-7 uses a heavy silk long rectangle with a watercolor design. Looped loosely to show the scarf.
8-10: long narrow silk floral scarf, tied in an overhand knot and allowed to hang.
11: striped infinity scarf, wrapped once.
12/13: Prana thrifted hoody in peach worn with black ponte pants and small silk floral scarf in a different floral pattern, just rolled opposite corners inside and tied in a square knot in front. Do these patterns clash?
14-16: more pattern mixing with plaid sweatshirt over checked shirt, Japanese cotton fabric of sheep as scarf, black jeans. The sheep fabric was folded into a rectangle and tied in a knot in front, ends tucked inside the knot.
17-19: a polyester long rectangle of black, cream and grey rectangles on a Mistook (consignment) tweed jacket, EF ponte black slim pants. Scarf is in a contrived messy knot and drape.
I learned a lot about making scarves work and enjoyed wearing all these although none had much wear before. It was good to help them find outfits.
Your thoughts and suggestions are much appreciated. Do you have any favorites? Any that bother you?
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