Talkin’ Bout Hey Boo, How You Do?

Tags

blue beaded necklace, brown belt, brown knot kitten heels, brown pin dot dress, Heavy D & The Boyz

Happy Wednesday!

Well now. I hope everyone is having a good week and also tolerating the slow-goings around here at Closet365. I started my new job yesterday and hope that things will settle into a better routine for life and blogging and all of the things, shortly. Thus far, there is no real rhyme or reason to the posting schedule. Much to my own irritation. We’ll get this though. We will, guys.

Until then, I have managed to put together the first straight up outfit post, to tide you over. Here is one of the dresses that made the first cut. I had fond memories of it from previous runs with it and today proved no different.

You will also have to forgive the fact that I’m repeating items you’ve already seen. I’m hoping that in my year sans blogging, my loyal readers will have forgotten. But in case you’re me and are OCD about these things, my apologies. I promise I own lots more new things that I’ll be showing you as we go along. But if the point of the project is to make the best of the current wardrobe, then I for one, am going to enjoy doing just that.

I like this outfit because I feel it’s rather indicative of where I’ve been with fashion lately and the style I’m moving towards cultivating. In the past, my outfits were very much about bells and whistles. Influenced by the demands of creating something new and different every single day. When the fact is, some of the best outfits are the simple ones. I have become hugely addicted to statement necklaces in the last year, and often, I feel like the best way to wear these pieces is against a more subdued backdrop.

Obviously, there is still some pattern mixing here. And a big ol’ belt. And big sunglasses. So you see? Some things never really change!

Other than that, I got nuthin’. How be ye, readership? What are your thoughts? What would you like to see here at Closet365? What are you reading? Tell me things!

Title courtesy of Heavy D & The Boyz – “Nuttin’ But Love”

Such a Feeling of Complete and Utter Love

Tags

brown beaded necklace, brown belt, brown knot pumps, Chris De Burgh, red and white patterned dress

Welcome back to Wedding Week! I’m so glad to know that I’m not the only one who’s been soured on weddings at one time or another. But at least we can have fun with the things we wear to them, right?

Another thing that makes weddings so stressful is all of the etiquette involved. I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m a regular Emily Post nazi. And weddings are rife with potential breeches and outright offenses. Amidst all the Ps and Qs that hang in the balance, there are so many fashion disasters waiting to happen at weddings. Which is why one must always choose carefully. Nowadays, people would like to tell you that anything goes but I err on the side of caution. Nothing all-black or super dark and drab. And never, never, never nevernevernever anything with white as the primary color. I thought everyone knew this, but I had one blatant offender at my wedding.

This particular bitch had already invited herself to the wedding a couple of days prior and as if that weren’t bad enough, she then had the nerve to show up in an almost all white dress. The real kicker of it was that she got married shortly after and didn’t even invite us, so that I could return the sentiment. Not that I would have. Some of us have class. But I still resent being denied the opportunity. It’s these kinds of atrocities that make really make me bristle at weddings.

This, for me, is as rule-bendy as it gets:

This is a dress I bought, not with a wedding in mind. I then got invited to tag along at a wedding where I was of distant relation but didn’t really know the bride and groom very well. This dress was the best thing I had to wear. The dress is borderline for me, because it does have some white but I deem it okay because it’s part of a pattern. It doesn’t look white from a distance, nor would anyone mistake me for bridal in it. The other reason it was okay was because it wasn’t a typical wedding. The bride’s occupation was that of exotic dancer. Which is not to say that strippers don’t have scruples. It was just my estimation that capital-T Tradition wasn’t at the fulcrum of the festivities and that the dress wouldn’t really raise any eyebrows. In any event, it was a lovely wedding with a lovely eclectic crowd and my dress fit in just fine. All was well.

There wasn’t much to be done with this one either. My biggest beef with this dress is the length. This is as maxi as Jenny is willing to go. (Even my own wedding dress was tea-length.) And I suppose I could have maybe hemmed this one too, but I wouldn’t want to go mucking with that brilliant pattern.

Originally, I accessorized monochromatically, which I’m always compelled to do with red. But while trying to find a more flattering waist-adornment, I swapped in the brown belt and liked what I saw. Brown and red is an underdog color combo but I totally love it. I decided to run with the neutrals and that was that. Why mess too much with something you already like, yes?

Dress – Ross
Belt – Work
Shoes – Thrifted (Candie’s)
Necklace – The Icing

Title courtesy of Chris De Burgh - “Lady In Red”

You Probably Think This Song Is About You

Tags

brown belt, brown floral skirt, brown knot kitten heels, Carly Simon, white button-down blouse

Hello and welcome to Wednesday. Is it really only Wednesday. Oh Lord, help me.

No. Okay. I am off tomorrow, finally. Just still trying to unwind this large knot of stress and distraction that seems to have built up over the past few weeks. With the weight of inventory off my shoulders the process can, at last, begin. Today, having put in umpteen hours at work already, I left a tad early. I was able to lay out by the pool and read my trashy book and all is starting to feel right in the world.

Traditionally, after summer inventory I schedule a massage. It’s my annual treat and I look forward to it muchly. I have yet to schedule the thing, but it is definitely forthcoming. I think, for tomorrow we are actually going to finally hit the lake. I am very excited about this, since June is half gone and I still have yet to climb aboard our boat. That’s just wrong. 

Today’s outfit is like a big happy band-aid for all that ails me. An easy fix? Totally. But did it get the job done? Absolutely.

What’s not to love about a fantastic skirt and a big old belt? I say nothing. Which is why, in spite of how Godawful tired I was this morning, regardless of my mile-long to-do list, inventory anxiety be damned, (without heed for this run-on sentence from hell) I left the house with a spring in my step and a smile on my face.

There’s something about dressing up mid-week. Especially around here and in the summer, when everyone is super casual. So few people go for putting on the ritz, but those of us that do are like a secret society. This morning, while gassing up my car at a quarter to nine, I stood next to a woman in the most lovely printed wrap dress. We smiled at each other like co-conspirators, in on the joke. It was a vanity party and we were both invited!  Still, I’ll be the first person to admit it. After a rough week, feeling pretty feels pretty good to me.

Blouse - Can’t Remember
Skirt – Thrifted
Shoes – Work
Belt – Work

Title courtesy of Carly Simon – “You’re So Vain”

Anticipation For Precipitation

Tags

black and white flannel, black disc earrings, black fitted dress, brown belt, brown knot pumps, Jay-Z, Rihanna, white polo

Greetings! I’ll be quick because I’m not at home. We booked it out of town last minute and headed to Denver. I have no idea what we’re even doing here other than we just needed to hit the city. I packed in about five minutes once the hotel was booked. I threw a dress in a bag a long with my running shoes and a small makeup bag. And four belts, two necklaces and some scarves. What? I need options.

One of the reasons we had to ditch out was the weather. More rainy gloriousness today. I took one look out the window this morning and promptly declared it an umbrella day. One of the other managers at the mall laughed at me for toting my umbrella on the brief walk over to the bank. But seriously, we don’t get a lot of umbrella days where I live. I was going to take advantage of it. Besides, about five minutes after she cajoled me for it, it started to rain hard. And who stayed dry and cute, while the rest of the mall made a mad dash in their soaked hoodies? Yeah. That’s right.

Today’s outfit was primarily inspired by this posted over at Fashion Therapist. Tabitha’s cute black and white look totally sparked a brainstorm on my part. I knew pretty much instantly how I wanted to re-create it, but for the most part our weather has been too nice for black and white flannel. Then today, amidst Seattle-esque conditions, I knew it was time to strike.

I am used to dressing up a little black dress, instead of dressing it down. Still, after a week of feeling so-so about my outfits, this is finally an outfit I really love. Probably one of my favorites this year. It came out way more chic than I initially envisioned. And more of a head-turner. I got a lot of attention from older dudes today, which was…weird. The gentleman just appreciate a nice feminine/masculine dichotomy, I’m sure. All that was missing was some folksy French jazz rendition of “Whatever Lola Wants.” Echoing faintly as I sauntered down the mall halls. I hate it when life fails to cooperate with the movie version in my head. Otherwise, it was a good day.

Polo – Work
Flannel – Work
Dress – F21
Belt – Work
Shoes – Thrifted (Candies)
Earrings – Wet Seal

Title courtesy of Rihanna (Featuring Jay-Z) – “Umbrella”