Ugly Boots, Cute Scarf

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We've been having a rough. snowy winter in New York which means that I've been stuck wearing ugly shoes fairly often. I bought these hiking boots a decade ago when my family went on a cruise to Alaska and since then they've basically functioned as ugly, but sufficient winter boots. On the upside they keep my feet nice and dry so I try and focus on that and make the best out of a bad shoe situation. After all I'm wearing a purple scarf with elephants on it, how bad can the outfit be?

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Skirt - Torrid, seen before several times.
T-Shirt - Dorothy Perkins
Cardi - Banana Republic
Tights - Old Navy
Earrings - Mexico
Hiking boots -EMS
Socks - Dad
Scarf - In the pound bin at Spittlefields Market


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And finally I have to give you a close-up of my eyeliner, which is the first time in my life I saw a makeup product reviewed in a magazine and then actually went out and bought it. I don't normally wear eye makeup because I'm too blind to apply it unless I'm wearing contacts and I don't normally wear contacts. I do however wear contacts in snow or rain because those make my glasses fog up making it impossible to see. It was snowing, so I wore contacts and was able to wear my new liquid gold eyeliner from Bobbi Brown. How fun is it!

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Photo credit goes to Miss. A.

Day 10, Dress 100!!!

Oh my goodness, today is dress 100!!! (Well that may not technically be the most accurate statement I've ever made because I've missed a day or two over the years but that can be our little secret right?) I feel like there should be cake and champagne (or at least Prosecco), but instead I'm sitting on my couch with a beer and leftover Mexican. Let's close our eyes for a minute and imagine the cake and champagne. Ok, open them back up and feast your eyes on this crazy ass dress.

I've worn this dress before and I wanted to make it different from the last time you saw it. In that end I belted the dress (nothing new) and then "bloused" the dress so that it was above the knee and you couldn't see the belt. I added my pink cowboy boots and some tiny turquoise studs in my ears. There was so much going on with the dress that this was my attempt at understated. I mean my hair is in a ponytail - what's more understated than that?

The dress is vintage Chadwicks, purchased in Charleston, the earrings are from a long ago trip to Paris and the cowboy boots are from Dorothy Perkins. I think the dress may be a bit much for me and it may make its way over to Re/Dress. What say you?


The photo was taken by my sister-in-law outside my mother's house on Rosh Hashana. Shhh, don't tell her, she doesn't like us to use electricity on the holidays.

Striped Sundresses and Care Packages

I have passions outside of fatshion. Many in fact, but for this post we'll focus on just three of them. Baking, care packages and Jamie.

Jamie, like many of my beloved friends lives far away from Brooklyn in a land called Los Angeles. The distance is difficult, but we try and stay as close as if we lived down the street from one another. One of the ways is our baking tin. Basically Jamie and I bake and then pack it up in the same tin that we cover with stickers and then we ship it cross country. There's always little love notes and sometimes we pack in little presents and then, once in a blue moon I open my box to discover crazy surprises like this. Blondies, a dress and a gorgeous, metallic purple handbag - an early birthday present. Jamie (and Yoni and JuJu spoil me terribly). I do love them so.

As long time readers may remember, I have been the recipient of many wonderful Jamie hand-me-downs over the years, although this wasn't so much a hand-me-down. She said she bought it at Loehmann's, tried it on repeatedly and then finally decided that it really was just calling my name so off to New York she sent it.

I have to say I absolutely LOVE it! It's great and summery and it can stand alone without many accessories, however as you all know I have trouble saying no to accessories. Note the yellow sandals from Old Navy.

My office is so freezing that even though it's 100 degrees outside I always have to have a layer close by. My cute cropped cardi is from Banana Republic and it kills me that they haven't re-issued it as I have loved it to pieces.

My favorite part of the dress is the pockets! Dresses with pockets always make me smile.

And since I can't resist accessories, even though the dress doesn't need them, here you have a closeup of my headband from Dorothy Perkins and my necklace from Primark. Oh dear London (and your shops), I can't wait for my next trip, I've missed you so.

Jamie I hope the dress is just as you imagined it would be on me. I love you and miss you terribly.

Poll Time

I consider myself lucky for a whole lot of reasons that I won't get into at the moment, save for one. Hand-me-downs. Oh, I love hand-me-downs and I'm lucky that so many of my friends like to dress me in their cast-offs. I'm even more lucky that I have friends who are my size or close enough to it that I can rock their hand-me-downs.

My friend T has recently changed clothing sizes. She has to sell most of her clothing in order to buy some new stuff that fits, but she has generously offered to give me one of her dresses, but I'm having trouble figuring out which one to take. Help me please.

Option 1

The first dress has a naughty secretary edge to it. It's from Torrid and it's a size 18. T thinks I should choose this dress because I don't have my pencil dresses, nor do I have many animal print articles of clothing.

Now with flash

It looks really good from behind. Highlights my assets dontchya think?

Option 2

The second dress is a little Dorothy Perkins number in a UK20. It's polka dots which I love and I think I may get some more use out of it, but as T points out, I have a lot of things like this already in my wardrobe.


Without flash

This dress however does not do much for me from the back. In fact I think it hurts in the back. No bootylicious tightness, in fact it's a bit bunchy up top.

Lord I am indecisive, which is why I always end up with 8 dresses every time I go to Ross. So help a girl out. Am I naughty secretary or am I sweet polka dots?

Photo credit goes to T.

Tight, Bright & Short. Plus Chub Rub Solution 3

On the list of "fat girl no no's", I think this outfit probably hits them all. It is short, it is tight and it is bright and that's just the way I like to rock my outfits.

When I first put this outfit on and accessorized it I thought i was being very original with my color choices and accessories. And then I thought back to this post and realized that I was basically wearing the spring version of that outfit. Seriously I'm just wearing a t-shirt instead of a sweater and different shoes, otherwise it is exactly the same. Originally I had on all of the same accessories until I realized what I was doing and decided I had to be more inventive. So off came the necklace and earrings and on went some different earrings and a scarf.

Skirt - Torrid

Top - Dorothy Perkins

P.S. I am well aware of and embarrassed by the hanger hooks hanging out of my top. Please forgive me.

Scarf - Old Navy

Earrings - Top Shop

Shoes - Office

What will likely be of more interest to all of you however is what is beneath my skirt. Or rather....

What isn't.

Yup, this was the day that I tried out a much discussed but new to me chub-rub-solution. What pray tell? The answer my dear readers is Body Glide.

Body Glide was originally created to help runners with chafing. As I understand it (because I am currently the slowest of the slow in my running class) when you run really long distances chafing becomes an issue for even the thinnest of runners and so Body Glide, which looks and is applied much like stick deodorant, was conceived.

I tried Body Glide a few times before reviewing it and I have to say so far so good, but it has its limitations.

On the positive side, I particularly like that you're not wearing any sort of added layer which is lovely. This is particularly useful if you favor short skirts or dresses (as I tend to do). Some of the other solutions I've already reviewed would just be far too long and would peak out from under a skirt this length and that is not a look I embrace.

On the negative side, this stuff definitely wears off by the end of the day and I haven't even road tested it in any really hot or sticky weather yet. On a humid day in New York in August I would not trust the sanctity of my inner thighs with just a layer of Body Glide.

Do any of you have any other chub rub solutions I should try out?

Photo credit goes to friend, colleague and blog fan T-Pops.

Can you Wear Lace Leggings to Work?

I got these lace leggings recently at Lane Bryant when I was having my random night at a suburban mall. I was shocked that they carried lace leggings, it's pretty fashion forward for LB. I hemmed and hawed a bit about whether or not they were a practical purchase and then realized that half my wardrobe isn't practical and that's what makes it fun so I bit the bullet and added them to my pile.

Once I bought them though I couldn't figure out how to wear them. Monday through Friday I kept trying them on but something about lace leggings at the office (even mine) just seemed a bit wrong. My general feeling is if I think something is office inappropriate it probably really is. What's your feeling on the matter? Do you think I could wear this outfit to the office? How long does a dress have to be in order to rock it with lace leggings at work or is the simple answer it's never quite right?

Since I wasn't so clear on where I could and could not wear lace leggings I wore them on a Sunday morning after birthday brunch with Josh, my dearest and oldest friend in the world. When I say we've been friends forever, I mean we've known each other since we were in-utero. It's kinda amazing. So happy birthday Josh and thanks for taking my photo!

Leggings - Lane Bryant

Dress - Anthropologie

Sneakers - Dorothy Perkins

Necklaces - Primark

Jacket Seen Below - Torrid

It's Electric

Who doesn't just love the electric slide? But that's a discussion for another time.

This is my third outfit in a row featuring an item from my recent Dorothy Perkins order. Had I tried on this shirt in the store I wouldn't have ended up purchasing it because I don't love the fit, but it would have cost more to send back than it did to order so I just kept it and tried to see how I could make it work.

I didn't know what I was going to wear when I woke up the morning I put together this outfit, but I felt like a skirt so I grabbed a grey corduroy skirt from Old Navy that I've had for ages. Right next to it I saw this cropped jacket from Target that I got in a Friday fat sales that I never wear and thought "ooh now I've got an outfit idea."

The accessories really help make this outfit pop. The tights are also from Dorothy Perkins, which I have gleefully discovered a bit late in the tights wearing season, makes affordable tights that fit my hips and ass in a variety of colors. The earrings and necklace are from the Gabi D showroom in NYC, the shoes are from Nine West and the headband is from Primark.

Photo credit goes to Nicole, even though it was my co-worker Ateqah who inspired the color palette of the outfit.

Romper Time

I've discovered that people tend to have very visceral reactions to rompers. You either love them or you really, and I mean really hate them. I'm prepared for the backlash dear readers. Personally I've never been much for shorts - to me they're reserved for tourists and travel in the non-continental US, but I've been seduced of late by all the rompers I've been seeing folks rocking. So while I was placing my Dorothy Perkins order last month I threw this romper into my cart.

Rompers provide a bit of a sizing conundrum so I ended up ordering a bigger size to fit my ass and I just accepted that it'd be a bit big up top, but I don't think it was too bad.

Last Saturday night I had 3 parties to attend in 3 different neighborhoods and in honor of the occasion I decided to whip out my new romper. I figured at least one person out of the many that I would see that evening would like it. I was very prepared for a lot of snarky remarks, but I was happily surprised by my friends reaction - a bunch of them liked it, even if they did think I was totally nutso.

It was a bit chilly so I added some green tights from Old Navy and a cropped green jacket that is from the Luella for Target collection, my polka dot pumps from Office and a necklace from Primark. I recently wore the black version of this jacket with these same shoes which makes me fear ever so slightly that I'm getting into a fashion rut.

Here's a peek-a-boo photo of what the romper looks like underneath the jacket.

It was a long night but my romper held up well and in a surprise to everyone I not only made it to all 3 parties, I also made it to my 9am running class the next morning. Sometimes I impress myself dear readers.

Bright photo credit goes to my lovely roommate who I am currently looking to replace if anyone knows anyone looking for a room in Brooklyn. Darker photos were taken by my friend Mitra at the first party of the night.

Additionally I apologize for the radio silence and lack of response to comments and questions. Work and the hunt for a roommate are subsuming most of my waking hours these days. So sorry.

I Love Dorothy Perkins

In case I haven't already told y'all, I love Dorothy Perkins. It's a British high street retailer with great, affordable, stylish pieces that carries clothing up to a UK 22 which is the equivalent of a US 18. A godsend for fatshionable inbetweenies, I am a big fan of their clothes. One of the things I love about their pieces is that there are always surprises like puffed sleeves or a bow in the back that aren't always visible upon first glance.

Since I haven't been to London since last June and won't be back till November 2010 - a tragedy of epic proportions - I've been relegated to ordering online from my beloved Dotty P. Shipping is an affordable 1o pounds and you can usually find a code for some amount off if you spend a minute or two searching online. Sometimes an order is a huge success and sometimes it is a huge failure and by the time you've paid for return shipping you've lost half your money. I'm getting better at learning what my sizes are with them - 20UK up top, 22UK on the bottom - and thankfully ordering more successfully.

I recently received a big order so in the coming weeks you'll see a bunch of new pieces from my most recent, generally successful order.


Save for the necklace, this entire outfit is from British stores. I am an unabashed anglophile in every way.

My tunic is from Dorothy Perkins and while fairly simple from the front, the back has an adorable bow.

I've paired my outfit with some Beth Ditto for Evans leggings (amazing!) and my polka dot shoes from Office. I'm wearing a Betsy Johnson necklace that you can see much more clearly in this post and the headband is from Dorothy Perkins as well. As you all know I love hair accessories, but cute as it may be, this headband seems to be too small for my head. Sadness.


Photo credit is a blur. Sorry JLR.

Anatomy of an Outfit

I was getting dressed yesterday the other day and at one point had to stop and laugh at all the different things I tried on before I was satisfied enough to leave the house. So I thought I'd take you on a walk-through of what it's like when I get dressed in the morning and all the different things that run through my head when I'm putting together an outfit.

The basics of the outfit stayed the same. I put on the pants, no excuse me "treggings" which I was wearing for the first time that I just got from Dorothy Perkins. Treggings is a terrible word and one I'd never heard before I was on their site. They're interesting, closer to pants than leggings and kinda remind me of something I once bought at Rampage for "post-prom clubbing." That however is a story for a very different time.

The top I got at Loehmann's and is one of those uber-soft, fancy cotton shirts. I cleaned out my long-sleeved t-shirt drawer the other day, throwing out anything that had a rip. I was pretty good, but I just could not bear to give this one away, even though there was a small rip on the seam. I made a deal that with myself that if I wore the top in the next month I was allowed to keep it, tear or no tear. Yay, I guess I win!

So I'm sitting in my room with treggings and t-shirt on, when I grab my black, cropped vest out of my closet and throw on a long black and gold necklace. I looked in the mirror and thought "no, not quite right, plus I might get cold" so I grabbed my long, black, cashmere hoodie. I put that on and didn't like the length. So then I tried a regular black cardigan and I didn't like that either. So I removed the vest and cardigan and stood there with just the necklace on as my only accessory.

I went to the blazer/jacket section of my closet and looked around and saw today's Torrid blazer which I don't wear that often, but I grabbed it and thought "aaah this will be perfect." I liked the blazer but I wasn't completely content with the look so I opened up my drawer of hair accessories and tried on a few different headbands, settling on the one I'm wearing which is from H&M.

Then while I had my drawer of hair accessories open I spotted this silver, sequined, skinny scarf that I got from some random store in London while we had been searching for hijab scarves for a friend. In the past I've only worn it as a belt or as a headband, but I had a blast of inspiration and thought "this might look good with the blazer." I tried it on, liked the look and then removed the necklace.

Amazingly and unusually so, I only tried on one pair of shoes and was happy with the first ones I put on. This is pretty rare. These boots I've had for many years and are from the shoe department at Evans.

Finally, my darling photographer of the day Ms. Ateqah decided we should snap me in front of my office wall since I matched it that day. I thought it was a funny idea, hence the mid-laugh photo, but I included it cause I love Ateqah and she liked it. Plus after everything I've told you, y'all probably think I'm crazy anyways so what's one more photo.

Am I alone in my crazy getting dressed in the morning saga or do other people go through similar things? On the upside, now I have a slightly logical reason as to why my bedroom always looks as if my closet has thrown up all over it.

I finally wear something blog worthy

As promised earlier today, I present you with a non-question blog post.

With all the cold weather I've been in a bit of a fashion funk. You would never know from the way I've been acting this winter that I was once a cold weather fanatic. Seriously, I'm the girl who used to dream of living in Alaska and still dream of living in New Zealand - it's the prettiest place I've ever been. Don't believe me yet? After reading this book, I applied for a job at the South Pole. I will also add that the job was to wash dishes, cause at that time in my life it was the only thing I was even remotely qualified to do there. Everything else had an ologist at the end of the job description, so truth be told if I applied again it would likely still be to wash dishes.

All of this is a preface to say that it has surprised me how much I've been hiding away from short dresses and skirts due to the cold this winter. But no more. My legs are out and about and now that I have a new, warm down coat to wear I'm not hiding them anymore.


The dress I picked up on a Friday fats sale and is vintage. The belt from Accessorize and the cropped velour jacket from Dorothy Perkins help to give the dress definition.


The headband is from Primark, the tights are from Target and the worn, scuffed, but still loved boots are from Evans. There's a whole lot of London purchases going on in this post.


Photo credit goes to Ateqah who is so very kind in indulging my need to document my outfits.