Hellooooooo! Have you guys missed me yet? I missed you! I swear I am trying to get back into the swing of things. So here’s the tentative plan. I will be finishing up project recap this week and resuming outfit blogging early next week. I have myself on a deadline to get the new blog ready to launch at that time as well. I just got back from a vacation (More about that later!) and I have some organizational things to work on. BUT. Excitement is coming! Please bear with me as I finish out this week. I am still very much enjoying the hiatus, as 365 days of daily outfitting and posting kinda wore me out. But I am missing the daily grind somewhat. You won’t be rid of me for long!
For today I thought we’d take our recapping to another end. Do you guys ever watch those top ten shows or read the Best and Worst Dressed magazines that come out every year? I freakin’ love those things! I used to have a massive collection of People Magazines that I stored under my bed for years. Best and Worst Oscar Looks, Top Ten Best Dressed. If there is a list and clothing and celebrities involved I am SO there. What’s better than an arbitrary list of who sucks at dressing and who doesn’t? Anyway. I’m no celebrity (sad day) but I do have quite the plethora of outfits to play Joan Rivers with today. I thought I’d do a little list of my own. Starting with:
THE WORST JENNY LOOKS of 2010
In daily life there are bound to be some fashion faux pas. If I’m being kind, I will say that my style has “evolved” quite a bit from my younger years. While I’ve always loved clothes and fashion, the risks I took in my younger years did not always pan out and sometimes even got me teased by my peers. (In particular, my short-lived beret phase earned me the nickname ”Fievel” So cruel, the kids.) But I prefer to not to dwell on my fashion mishaps and instead I learn from them. The same goes for this year. Out of 365 outfits, and on such a short deadline every day, I am aware that not every outfit was a winner. I’ve done some combing through my archives and chosen a few of my least favorite outfits.
#1
Whoa there, turbo! Let’s talk about hella busyness going on here. In hindsight, I remember that I was just excited to wear this purple wrap shrug but from there, things got a little crazy. I mean, why wear just one oversized statement necklace WHEN YOU CAN WEAR TWO? And a brightly colored ethnic print top…and a couple of layers…and and and and…
This was known as my Fat Monday look, as I wore it the day before Mardi Gras without even realizing it. I guess it might have made more sense if I’d wore it a day later. Okay no… it still wouldn’t have made any sense.
#2
Um. Yawn. I think the only thing keeping me awake while looking at this outfit is the puzzling effect that happens when you wear umpteen ill-matching shades of brown. I recall that I was so anxious to wear this pretty pink top but this was a pretty major styling fail, in my opinion. I looked like one of the Lost Boys from “Hook” meets Zelda. Now, I’m all for boots and leggings at the risk of looking impish, but this was one time when it didn’t work out so well.
Also a big WTF? on those sunglasses. Granted, I have an entire sunglass drawer in which to keep my shades and have been known to grab any pair in a pinch but these ones are just ugly. I think I later tossed them in the midst of an accessories purge. Now let us never speak of them again.
#3
Oh hai there clown college. You know, I’ve been known to dress with entertainment as an objective, but this is one whimsical ballad, I think we all could have lived without. This was the day my tripod was mysteriously missing (it ended up being in our other car) and I had to prop my camera up on a stool using a piece of tape. But maybe that should have been a sign from the universe not to wear jeggings and a skirt as a top, along with a badly-placed cheap belt and too many bright-colored necklaces.
I even hate my hair in this picture. I think this outfit/picture makes the case for your standard style blogger schedule wherein not all outfits are meant to be posted. Live and learn, right?
#4
I remember this outfit pretty clearly, because it was during blackout week. As part of a style movement, bloggers were asked to challenge themselves not to wear any black for a week and instead opt for colorful ensembles. This is colorful all right. And “colorful” is the nicest adjective I can attribute to my look. What’s even sadder is that I wore this to the movies that day to see the new “Sex and The City” movie. It was a day off, so granted, I did throw it together mid-afternoon before heading out the door. Otherwise I might have noticed the fact that the proportions are terrible and the color palette leaves something to be desired.
My only solace is that it puts me right on par with some of Carrie Bradshaw’s awesomely awful ensembles. I mean, it still beats this any day of the week, no?
#5
There are some outfits which just seem so good in theory but then lose something in the execution. This was one such outfit. In this look, I’m wearing a lot of pieces that I like, but the combination just isn’t working. If I remember correctly, a few of you said you liked this one and it was one of the few times I was not swayed by compliments. Thanks though, for humoring me! Haha.
Maybe it’s the too short skirt or the top heaviness caused by massive amounts of neck ruffle and the obi belt. Or maybe it was just a bad hair day. Either way, I’m not feeling this one.
#6
Another seriously boring ensemble. I thought I could save this one with pops of red in the shoes and necklace but really it was just one big snooze. The photography may have failed me, because you can’t really tell that this is a pink shirt. And I thought the combo of teal, pink and red was rather sassy but in photos it just looks like of ill.
This was one of the days shortly after my hip injury took place, so I can blame pain and distraction for my lack of styling savvy on this one. I must have hallucinated that it was cute. Yeah that’s it!
#7
Oh this was bad. I think I was having just a plain old bad day when I put this on. I felt like a prairie marm in this and I couldn’t bring myself to resuscitate it. I gave it a half-hearted accessorizing and then hurried out to take pictures. Not only is it frumpy but just outdated and icky. This was my second attempt at styling this little dress and it just didn’t want to come together for me. I have since parted ways with the dress. We just weren’t meant to be.
#8
Another bad prairie look here. The day I posted it, we discussed the possibility that the dress just needed hemmed up, but I’m not sure that would have saved it. This is a case of accessorizing gone wrong perhaps. I thought I was being vaguely hipster-ironicish. And I do love me some fun belts and textured tights and what-not, but so many wrongs do not make a right. I remember I had a terrible time even photographing this one without it looking awkward. I guess that should have been my first clue. For better or for worse, I did not do a lot of outfit editing this year based purely on a lack of time. Often, I would take my photos on the way to work and there simply wasn’t an option to go back and revise. Like I said, for better or for worse.
#9
Or maybe October was just a bad month for me. Ill-fitting and full of muted colors that didn’t really serve me well in the end. This is another dreary look. Both the skirt and the sweater were a larger size than I require so I tried to pull it together with a belt. Unfortunately, the belt did not save this look and I spent the majority of my day trying to pull up my skirt and adjust the layers to some sort of passable position.
The lesson learned is that you can’t force something that just ain’t happening. I know that now.
#10
I have mixed feelings about this outfit. It’s another that seemed really great in my head but didn’t come out quite so stellar. Or maybe I’m still just reeling from the customer who insulted the look. Another person complimented me on it, so I guess the mixed feelings are mutual. Either way, I find the green kind of overwhelming and at odds with the palette of the skirt.
My feeling is that there might be some way to salvage this look, either with different shoes or different proportions but right now it just looks kind of silly to me. The jury is still out.
#11
I should really pay attention the pattern here. Some of my least favorite looks incorporate similar elements – the webbed shoes, red necklace, ethnic print tops, these black pants and flyaway cardigans. It’s not that I don’t love them stand alone but mayhaps they’re carrying a bit of bad luck or just overdone. Either way. This outfit has a lot of those elements and I’m just not digging it. It felt frumpy and strange. Like, strange even for me.
This look was very hippy dippy for me and while I’m all about experimenting with other looks and transforming my persona through clothing, I think this is an instance where I just felt out of my element and awkward. Oh well.
#12
Oh Theme Week! As most of you know, throughout the year, I engaged in monthly challenges known as theme weeks. For these challenges I would provide myself with a set of inspirations or concepts around which to base that week’s outfits. And for the most part, some of my best outfits happened during these fits of creative dressing. Well…expect when this happened. Overly inspired or overzealous? I’m not sure. But I can’t even blame this one on inexperience as it happened near the end of the year.
My sugar plum fairy look came at the tail end of an intensely busy time and I wish I could have saved it. Alas, if I ever need a Candyland costume or just want to look like Rainbow Brite, I know just which pieces to turn to. Oy.
…
So there you have it! My bottom 12 looks for 2010. Have I missed any that you found particularly snark-worthy? It’s okay you can tell me. The joy in mistakes is being able to laugh at them and I’d love to hear your feedback.
Tomorrow, I will bring you my favorites, but I couldn’t resist poking a little fun at the great mishaps. Consider this a cautionary tale against taking daily outfit pictures every day for a year. But I’ll say this: I still had fun trying.
Title courtesy of The Offspring - “(Can’t Get My) Head Around You”
