Let’s Go To The Movies, I Will Hum You a Song About Nothing at All

Tags

black heeled boots, fleece-lined black leggings, Regina Spektor, tan and black embroidered tunic dress

Hello today! How are you my friends? I am off today and I have some fun plans, so I am quite well. Headed to Denver to see the Big Air show as well as One Republic playing. Exciting! But that’s not all that’s exciting! Nope not even a little.

Today we bring you Day Four of Dress Theme Week Spectacular here at the Closet365. All this week I’m rocking out in some of my favorite dresses. Why? Because a) Dresses are the best thing ever and b) We’re getting to know my new blogging project aka ALLTHEPRETTYDRESSES.COM. Yesterday I introduced you to my uber reading list for the next two years. But the fun doesn’t end there. If you visit ATPD today, you’ll find yet another component to my adventures before turning 30. What could it be?

Why it’s a movie list! My 100 series continues in multimedia fashion. In addition to 100 great books, I plan to watch 100 great films before my 30th birthday. My list comes from the American Film Institute and I have to say I am really looking forward to getting my watch on. I love movies, but there are so many classics that I haven’t seen. Movies I’ve always wanted to take in but saved for a rainy day. But save no more! For the next two years I’ll be watching about one movie per week off the list. (And of course writing about it for the blog.) I’ll finally be getting to know some of the most acclaimed flicks of our time. Check out the list today and stay tuned for YET MORE LISTS O’ FUN this week. Really? Yes, really.

So this is another one of my favorite little dresses. Er…techinically I think it may actually be a tunic top. But being all of 5’1″ on a good day, I find that these types of sartorial guidelines don’t really apply to me. So by my honorary decree, (which is all that really matters anyway) I call this a dress. Pair it with some leggings and voila! Dress!

But seriously. I adore the stitching on this and the simple shape. Since the project’s end, I’ve worn this dress about three or four times. Which tells you something about how much I like it. I didn’t change much of anything about the original styling of this dress other than I’m wearing different boots and I added a long-sleeve layer for warmth. Pretty basic, but really, what more does it need? That’s one of the things I love about all dresses, really. They speak for themselves. They’re statement pieces without having to do much.

Do you love dresses as much as I do? Then maybe you should enter my giveaway if you haven’t already! Enter to win the Shabby Apple “Cortez” dress now through January 31st! And I’ll see you guys tomorrow with even more fun stuff being added to AllThePrettyDresses.com

Title courtesy of Regina Spektor – “Loveology”

Remix All The Christmas Carols, Then I Play ‘Em For You

Tags

antique black sash belt, black lace-up heels, black scoop neck sweater, cream dot lace dress, fleece-lined black leggings, gold chain flower necklace, Ludacris

Hi everybody! Welcome to Tuesday. I know you’re probably less surprised about the natural progression of things, that I am. But at this point, I am grateful for every day that I survive and wake up so see another one. Just kidding. There I go complaining again. But actually, life is good. I had a productive day working, going to the gym and having dinner with my employees. They spoiled me with food and a present, so I guess that means they really like me! Plus, there are only three more days of work to survive until Christmas. PLUS, there are only 10 days left in the entire year and of this project. Yep. Life is good!

All that aside, I am still pretty darn tired. My busyness, doesn’t really end until January 4th. I work every day before and after Christmas Day, including part of New Year’s Eve. Off New Year’s Day and then hard at work for inventory on the 3rd. Which is just as hectic, if not moreso than the holidays. In the meantime, I decided that I’m pretty much in Power Save mode, human version. I get up, go to work, go to the gym, do the blog, go to bed and that’s about it. Conserving and recharging wherever possible. No extra energy getting expended on say going out and doing things, Facebooking, talking to people, running errands, doing chores, thinking, brushing my teeth… Just kidding. Maybe. Which is why I should probably end the typing here. I gotta get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to do it all over again. Wheeeee!

So lacking for time, have I been, that I’ve kind of lost track of anything resembling a plan for outfits. I’m not gonna lie, I pretty much just threw this together this morning. I didn’t feel like I could go the rest of the year without one more turn for the cute lacy dress that I scored earlier this fall. But since it’s now later in the year, I thought it might be more timely to try this new-fangled sweater-over-a-dress thing that I’ve been seeing out and about. Okay really just on other blogs. I don’t actually get out much, remember? I just pretend like the internet is the real world. The people are cooler and my social awkwardness is far less apparent. So everybody wins. And! Everyone is so well-dressed!

So I thought this was an interesting pairing of the black and cream. I was exchanging some things today at my store and one of my staff noticed that I’ve started to gravitate towards a bunch of black for my wardrobe once again. It’s true. Prior to this project I held a very deep and meaningful relationship with the color black. It’s an odd signal of slippage back into normal life that I’m picking it back up again. But I also think that dark neutrals are just nice in the winter, no? I promise not to shun color too terribly much once this is all said and done. However, for today, I liked the classic pairing. A very vintage-y look overall, I thought. And I like it.

Dress – Thrifted (H&M)
Leggings – Work
Shoes – Thrifted
Sweater – Target
Belt – Thrifted
Necklace – Charlotte Russe

Title courtesy of Ludacris – “Ludachristmas (Fred Claus)”

We Cling Each Noel to That Snowflake’s Hope in Hell

Tags

black and pearl necklace, black boots, black rouched sleeve tee, fleece-lined black leggings, grey mini skirt, red plaid scarf, The Darkness

Hello and happy Saturday. Did you know there is only one shopping week left until Christmas? Oh I did. I worked all day until 10:30 at night at the store. I can’t even tell you how ready I am for the actual holiday. Please Christmas don’t be late! Mostly because I am sick to death of you already.

In the interim, I am still just holding it down, as best as can be expected. I felt fortunate to get away to the ballet, though, last night. It was fabulous. I may have to check out more performances in the future, because I’d forgotten how much I enjoy it. I am also going to try and squeeze in a solo date for myself to go see “The Black Swan.” It looks so freaky awesome. And a trip to the movies? Sitting in a dark theatre alone? Seems like the next best thing to a Zen Buddhist retreat, which is what I could really use after the past few weeks. Still. I love ballet movies! Unlike cheerleading movies they, always live up to their potential.  After coming home last night I had the sudden urge to watch the awesomely bad ”Center Stage” or maybe even some “Save the Last Dance” if we’re getting really smarmy.

I’m at the point in the project where I’m just making up random ways to decompress. I can’t wait to make the least of my free time, once I’m no longer obligated to my daily posting duties. I love you Closet365 Project. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t counting down the days. Fourteen more to go…

Wheee! Lookee! It’s an outfit I like. Today’s outfit is actually all about the scarf. It’s one of the few items that was due for a wear. And admittedly, I was really tempted to go the lazy route with it. As in, long sleeve layered shirts, slacks and maybe a necklace. Totally my default outfit when I’m feeling lazy. But at the last minute I decided to give it a bit more of college try and I’m really glad I did. I finally got a handful of compliments for my efforts.

But actually, part of the reason was that I had to go out and pass out Christmas cookies. After our massive cookie-making efforts, The Mom enlisted my help to hand them out around the neighborhood. And since I haven’t really been a resident of said neighborhood for many years, I thought I might want to look presentable. As in Capable Adult rather than Strange Girl Who Wears Coats of Many Colors and Takes Pictures of Herself. Which is my given Indian name, but not really apropos to be out playing Cookie Ambassador. I thought this was a nice mature, holiday-esque combo, while still cute for work and playing homage to the scarf du jour.

Lastly, I just have to say that there is something I really love about this time of year and that is – Scarf Appreciation. I can’t tell you how many people have come out of the woodwork this Christmas season and purchased scarves as Christmas gifts this year. Even better, they come into my store and solicit my help in selecting these scarves and it is like my favorite thing ever. As soon as a gentleman (or sometimes a lady) comes into my store and requests help picking out a scarf to give to another person, I get the widest smile. And then we go forth and change the world together. One scarf at a time.

Black rouched top – Work
Scarf – Work
Skirt – Max Rave
Leggings – Work
Boots – Target

Title courtesy of The Darkness – “Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)”

The Sun to Shine by Day and All the Stars at Night

Tags

Bing Crosby, black maryjanes, fleece-lined black leggings, orange embroidered dress, rose necklace

Note to self: when closing the store at 10:00 at night, finish the blog before work as late nights and blogging are not conducive to one another. Yeah. Today rather sucked. There’s not much I can say about it, as much of it isn’t blog- appropriate. But. I will say that prior to today, I had no idea just how many people could fail to grasp the basic tenants of a buy one, get one 1/2 off sale. How do people not know how this works? Have they never shopped before? Equal or lesser value, people. Higher price prevails. Learn it. Live it. Love it.

I spent my day thinking a lot about how Ghandi might handle the situations I find myself in. How would Mother Theresa behave in such circumstances? Or an exalted saint? A jedi for that matter? So far I haven’t come up with anything that soothes my nerves but I’m not giving up yet. So far the only thing that’s working for me is thinking about kiosk workers. Yeah. As a mall employee, I observe my fair share of these, manning their carts day in day out. And I figure it must take an enormous amount of patience to be confined to a stool all day hawking cell-phone covers and knock-off sunglasses. If only I could be more like those guys.

But  I think it takes a special breed of person for that job. Every year, I watch with interest as we receive our newest installment of seasonal kiosk carnies. The past few years have brought me some rather entertaining new faces. From the Eurotrash handcream people to the customized sign guy. He seemed benign at first, with his jolly beer belly and his penchant for Hawaiian shirts. But later he commenced to be a total creeper who would not stop coming in to my store to chit chat. Alas this year, we are stuck with a rather lackluster crew peddling those microwavable neck packs. So far all they seem to do is get fired. Kind of makes me miss the Dead Sea folk. As annoying as they were with their incessant sales pitches, they also provided endless intrigue after two of them struck up a tryst and had some very public lover’s quarrels. Yeah. That was a good Christmas.

Remember this dress from Orange Day ala monochromatic week? Yeah. I never really felt like it got it’s moment in the sun. In fact I more or less forgot about it until some reason closet cleaning. There’s only so much you can do with a tube dress, but I figured there had to be another remix in there somewhere. I don’t think I’ve ever worn black and orange together so blatantly, but it seemed the most appropriate for winter. My thought was that the black might help the embroidery stand out better. I even swapped out the original orange sash for this black ribbon. But really, I think it merely emphasizes the awkwardness of how this dress fits. Oops. It’s cute in theory, but I think this lil lady is headed for consignment in the near future. I’m just not digging it.

But hooray for winterizing spring dresses. I felt warm and cozy all day with my long sleeves and fleece tights. It almost makes me feel bad for all the times I chided kids in school who would wear long sleeves under a t-shirt. My thought was that, if it’s cold? Just wear a long sleeve shirt? Stop trying to make t-shirts happen when it clearly isn’t t-shirt weather! But with dresses? I totally get it. That said, it hasn’t been very cold here at all. It’s nearly Christmas and the snow has been basically AWOL. It’s…odd. Not that I’m complaining.

Anyway. I should probably hit the hay, since I have to turn around open the store early. I wish there was more I could say, but that’s all I got. Better luck tomorrow, I guess.

Title courtesy of Bing Crosby – “Mele Kalikimaka”

Caught a Guy Givin’ Me The Awkward Eye

Tags

black button down shirt, black crochet 3/4 sleeve top, black pinstripe capris, dark grey long sleeve basic tee, Dr. Dre feat. Eminem, fleece-lined black leggings, military jacket

G’day kiddies! Did everyone get to yesterday’s post okay? There seems to have been some issues with it, and with the comments. If you had any trouble, just go back one. It should be fine now. And besides, I wouldn’t want you to miss any of THEME WEEK!  How about another tune to get us enthused?

Indeed! Nutcracker Theme week has entered day two of the challenge. All week I’m putting together outfits based on inspiration from the popular holiday ballet. I gotta admit, I’m already getting excited. To further immerse myself in this theme, I even dug out my old copy of the Tchaikovsky soundtrack. I wasn’t sure if I still had it, as it is the very first CD I every purchased as a wee Jenny. Many moons ago for Christmas, I received my first boom box, and I chose “The Nutcracker Suite” as my inaugural playlist. Yeah, I was that kid. But I like to think I just had an early appreciation for the arts. So imagine my delight when I found my copy still very much intact, housed in my case of old CDs. It was in the classical section sandwiched between “Les Mis”, “Andrew Lloyd Webber Naturally”, and “The Three Tenors: Greatest Hits”. Yeah. I was that kid, too.

But enough about me. Let’s see who is our character du jour.

Oooh. You were expecting someone a bit more sugary right? Well, there are plenty of days left in the week for that. But you can’t have “The Nutcracker” without creepy Herr Drosselmeyer, now can you? I mean, he is the purveyor of the Nutcracker doll and catalyst for all of the action. Plus he wears a sweet, sweet eye patch. Très dramatique!

This was harder than I thought it would be. The actual elements that compose Drosselmeyer’s costume are pretty straighfoward. Lots of black, with dramatic details. I knew my coat would be a great match, but the rest kind of had to be thrown together. I have plenty of dark tones in my wardrobe, so I played around for a few. Tried a striped shirt, but it made me look more like Hamburglar. And while I have much love for the Happy Meal, that’s not really apropos for this theme week. So finally, I settled on this combo.

Plus, it gave me an excuse to try out my new boots! The lovely people at Wanted Shoes recently offered to send me a pair to try out and I was beyond stoked. A first outside contribution to the project! It took me several days of hemming and hawing to choose a pair from their site, but I finally selected these boots and I heart them! They are replacing my old pair of black buckle boots. I loved them, but they were getting kind of beat up and gross. So the offer could not have come at a better time. These new boots are way comfy and a brilliant replacement. Many many thanks to Wanted Shoes!

Lastly, I cannot take complete credit for my sunglass eyepatch rig. This is something we do at work when we get bored and are processing damaged items. One employee will don the busted pair, turn around dramatically and make pirate noises. Much amusement ensues. So if you have more pairs of sunglasses than you know what to do with (like me) and are way too easily entertained (like me) go ahead and try it sometime!

Jacket – Work
Black Crochet Top – F21
Grey Long Sleeve – Work
Capris – Ross
Fleece Lined Leggings – Work
Boots – c/o WantedShoes.com

Title courtesy of Dr. Dre feat. Eminem – “Forgot About Dre”

In Fact I Can’t Stop Falling Out

Tags

black and white plaid mini dress, black basic long sleeve, Fiona Apple, fleece-lined black leggings, grey scarf, red belt, red pumps

Hi Hi! How is everyone doing today?

Well, I’ve had a rather traumatic day. It was my day off and I spent a good part of my morning prepping all of my clothing for distribution to parts unknown. It was a massive sorting. Solid-looking jackets to Gryffindor, flouncy skirts to Hufflepuff, cardigans to Ravenclaw. Stained and torn items to Slytherin… Okay, I know that was a bad joke. Sorry. Actually my sorting was nothing like Harry Potter” and more like “Sophie’s Choice.” Aside from the items I’m debating ditching, here are many items I know I want to part with, but I had a hard time deciding what trajectory I’d like them to follow from here on out. This is serious business, okay?

Additionally, it was kind of emotional going through a year’s worth of clothing items. So many of these items come with memories interwoven into them. The good the bad and the ugly. I’m not sure if I’m talking about the clothes or the sentiments attached. But either way, it was like watching a year of my life flash before me. Ironing out the wrinkles. Sticking it in a box and then hauling it all over town for dissection at the local resale shops. Not to worry though! The majority of my goodies were rejected for consignment and thus, my memories now sit in the trunk of my car in the cold. I know there’s a metaphor in her somewhere. I’m just now sure what it is…

(Awkard transition goes here…)

Outfit!

You know it’s cold, when you cease to care about an abundance of layers making you look fat. In fact, I think I am trying going for the ten-pounds-heavier approach at this point, because I need all the extra padding I can get, to protect me from the blistering cold. This dress is a beloved favorite of mine for its cute print and shape. However, it contains some funky boning in the bodice (say that ten times fast!) which makes it sit oddly and look unflattering at times. No matter today though! I filled it all out with my mad layering skills. Long sleeve on top. Tights. Scarf. And then cinch it all in with one big ole belt. Phew. Are we all the way dressed yet? I think so. But I’m not sure. Maybe I should just throw a some snow pants under this sucker and then hobble around bowl-legged like the abominable snow man.

Remember those fleece-lined leggings I mentioned yesterday? Well, I kept my promise. These are them and I am pretty sure they are my new favorite thing in all of life. I know right? They totally just look like boring black tights. Um…EXACTLY. To the untrained eye, they may look just like run of the mill hosiery. I myself wasn’t thrilled about purchasing something that looks exactly like ten other things I have. BUT, I sprung for them and I could not be happier. These are the warmest, most comortable tights I  have ever worn. They are genius.

The bad news is that I got these at my store, so they probably aren’t readily available to some of you. However, I can tell you that they are not a store brand. The package says “Leg Expressions” and it looks as though you can find lots of them on eBay at reasonable prices. I cannot recommend them enough for anyone living in cold climate. I may have to snag another pair or two, because confession: I am even wearing these babies to bed. I am going to need additional pairs for working, sleeping, running, water polo, a pair to wear over the other pairs…and well…you get the picture.

Dress – Kohl’s (Candie’s)
Black Long Sleeve – Work
Belt – 5.7.9
Shoes – Thrifted
Scarf – Wal-Mart

Title courtesy of Fiona Apple – “Not About Love”