Day 8, Dress 98: Remixing a Dress Is Hard

When I decided to continue this blog after September 2009 I said that I wasn't sure what I would do come next September. Could I blog a dress in September 2010 if I had already blogged about it earlier that year? I realized that I would never be able to do 30 Dresses again if I didn't use some dresses I had previously worn and blogged (albeit not in September 07, 08 or 09).

Some dresses are easier to remix than others. I had worn and blogged today's dress a few months ago so I wanted to do wear it in a different way than I had before. I discovered that today's dress, a Target dress via Ross is not a dress that is very easy to remix.

With a busy pattern I figured all I could do was change up the accessories. I went with a silver palette. I'm wearing a mirrored necklace and a flower in my hair that both came from Forever 21.

Paired with some silver shoes from Office.

If you have other remixing suggestions for this dress I would love to hear them.

Photo credit goes to JoJo.

Day 7, Dress 97: My Blue Phase

I never realized it until folks kept making comments yesterday, but I don't wear that much blue. Perhaps I should rectify this because it turns out I like the way I look in blue.

I picked up this dress at Ross and I was super excited to find it because lately I've really been into chambray. Figuring out how to wear chambray without looking like an 80's castoff can be a bit tricky but the stitching under the bust of this dress took away any of my concerns. I've paired it with a light cotton sweater from Old Navy that is an absolute necessity in my icebox office, but not so much outside in the sunshine.

I'm wearing some accessories you've never seen before on the blog. The blue necklace I picked up in Iguazu Falls in Argentina, the long silver necklace I just discovered in my closet (I literally don't remember ever seeing it before) and the earrings I picked up in Mexico.

The shoes are on their virgin outing. They're Minnetonka moccasins and they are incredibly comfortable. It's also exciting to me because these were popular when I was a kid and I wanted them so badly. I never got them as an 8 year old, but I have them now!

But I came back from lunch with much more exciting shoe news. Look what was awaiting me in my office upon my return.

DUO BOOTS!!!!

Since last fall/winter I have been obsessing over getting another pair of Duo Boots (just about the only boots that fit my calves). I wanted an everyday, flat, black boot. I hemmed and I hawwed and I obsessed over price and the thought of having to return boots to London and finally I bullied my Dad into buying them for me as a birthday present for the last 2 years.

I picked the Oristano (stock image below).

And here they are on me. Front view.

Back view

I think I'm going to keep them. They fit, they're purty, there's room in the toes and they're wide enough that I should be able to wear them over jeans. My one concern is that the sole of the shoe is very hard but I'm hoping some inserts will be able to solve that problem. The boots aren't uncomfortable, but I'm not so sure that they're comfortable if that makes sense. I promise to give a much more thorough review when I've walked more than 25 feet in them.

Photographer of the day is Nicole.

Long Labor Day Weekend: Days 5+6, Dresses 95+96

I had lovely long weekend, but I spent most of my time frolicking outdoors and stayed far away from my computer. Thus I'm a backlogged blogger so this is going to be a double post.

I spent my Sunday in Prospect Park with some of my very good friends who have just moved to Brooklyn from Paris. Yay! Everyone I love should move to Brooklyn! I spent the afternoon showing them my beloved park and soaking up the beautiful weather. My dress is from Ross and I've paired it with some earrings that were a birthday present years ago from my friend Mirka.

Sadly beaches close after Labor Day so I headed out Monday for the last beach day with lifeguards of the summer. To advance my personal goal of fattie bathing suit visibility here's me in my cute bathing suit that I got at Accessorize several years ago. I think this bathing suit may be on its last legs - the under wire began poking out of the suit on Monday.


And I couldn't not wear a dress, so here's what I wore over my cute bathing suit. This dress you have seen before and it is a hand-me-down from Jamie and she got it at Loehmann's. The hat was picked up on a trip to Israel several years ago. It took me all the way to the final beach day of the summer to finally remember to pack a hat when I head to the beach.

Day 2, Dress 92: Sun Kissed

I am doing my very best attempt at a sun kissed look today. Can you sense my California girl vibe through the computer? The Beach Boys California Girl vibe that is, not Katy Perry's California Gurl.

After my day in the sun yesterday I was a bit darker and wanted to highlight my hard won tan and there is no better way to highlight a tan than by wearing white. I picked up this white dress at Ross and it's Speed Control in a 1x. {Shh, can you tell that I'm bra less in the office?}

I've paired my dress with 2 necklaces. The silver one is from Primark and the pink/yellow one is from Peacocks.

My fun hoop, within a hoop, within a hoop earrings were purchased at a Brooklyn street fair.

And finally the shoes. I warned you about them yesterday. I am indeed wearing tevas. I know they're ugly and ruin the look of the outfit but my tendinitis was acting up after my day at the beach and I was in too much pain to wear anything else.

Photo credit goes to Farrin.

And here's a bonus photo of me from work today at a big exhibit some of my friends have been working on. The right to vote is totally my favorite right. What's yours?

It's Getting Hot in Here

...so take off all your clothes.

Honestly it has been so damn hot and sticky in NY this past week that if I could come to the office in a bikini I would. But we're a non-profit, not the beach so sometimes you have to wear clothing even when you don't want to. I know my life is so difficult isn't it.

So instead I turned to my new favorite thing - shorts. I can't begin to tell you how shocking it is for me to type those words as I spent YEARS of my life running and screaming in the opposite direction of shorts. But you know what, when it's 90+ degrees outside they're really comfortable. My name is bloomie, I am wearing shorts and I love them. It's official. Hell has frozen, pigs are flying and they're purple.

You've seen these shorts before in the outfit where I was trying to look like someone else, but I wanted to show you what they look like on bloomie when I'm not not trying to look like anyone but myself. Not bad right? I told you, Ross is a magical place.

I've paired my shorts with a hand me down top for my beloved Mirka. Who says sequins should be relegated to the weekend? Not I.

I wanted to wear some gorgeous necklace that dipped into my cleavage in just the right spot, but it was too hot for something on my neck so instead I threw on some earrings that I got in India.


And topped the outfit off with some sandals I got in India as well.


Limited clothing while still work appropriate. Not bad at all I say.

Photo credit goes to Pamie.

Ross Love!

I know I owe all of you a post and I can't wait to show you my mermaid parade costume but I've been sick for over a week now and haven't had the energy to post.

However, a friend sent me this video and since I am regularly teased about my love for Ross I had to share it with all of you. Hope it makes you laugh as much as it makes me laugh.

And on a completely unrelated note, GO TEAM USA!!!

Garden Party

I feel like I should be heading off to a garden party. Instead I wore this outfit to the office for a 14 hour work day on one of the ridonkulously hot and humid days we had last week. Some days summer in NY is wonderful and other days the weather makes you want to slit your wrists. This was a wrist slitting day.

I fell in love with this dress as soon as I saw it hanging on a very crowded rack at Ross in North Carolina last month. I mean how can you not smile when you see this dress? It's about as close to summer in a dress as you can get.
With a dress as busy as this you have to be restrained with accessories. So even though there was this beautiful neckline and exposed chest just begging for a necklace, I held back for once and just threw on some earrings that were a perfect match to the green in my dress. I got them in a random store in Mexico, so there's no link.

I did save a teensy bit of bling for my feet though. I honestly cannot believe these sandals are still in one piece. I got them a few summers ago from Payless and I'm shocked they haven't disintegrated into nothingness. Of course now that I've said that they'll probably break the next time I wear them.

Photo credit goes to Nicole.

A Whole New bloomie

Don't worry, you didn't accidentally end up on the wrong blog. I promise it's me, bloomie, just with a different look today.

Last Friday was my friend A's last day at the office and in her honor a bunch of us decided to dress like her. I've written about A before and her love of the color black, so this was indeed going to be a difficult undertaking. But I love nothing more than a themed outfit and I have a strong (some might say unattractive) competitive streak and I was determined to be crowned "dressed most like A."

It was an unusual day, people just did not know what to do with me. My co-workers were freaked out by my new look. Amongst the many comments I received I was told, "I don't recognize you" that I looked "sexy" and "Middle Eastern." Since I am Middle Eastern, that was one of the weirdest comments of the day. I think it had to do with the eye makeup, which A handily sent us a tutorial on.

It wasn't just the black and the eye makeup that had folks in a tizzy, it was the fact that there were so many different things going on all at once. My hair was back, my eye makeup was very different, I was wearing heels and black and my first pair of shorts not intended solely for travel/working out/doing something involving dirt, in about 10 years. It was a crazy day, but a fun one.

The experience reminded me why it's a good idea to step out of our fashion comfort zones every once in awhile. Turns out I liked how I looked with cat eye makeup and I learned that shorts are really comfortable when it's hot out. Sadly, it continues to be true that if I wear heels I still want to cry from pain at the end of the day, no matter how cute they are.

The lesson of today's post? Go outside of your comfort zone, dress out of the norm every once in awhile You could end up having a great time and have a new look that you might even like. Have any of you had an experience like that?

Shorts - Ross

Tank top - Banana Republic

Vest - Target

Shoes - Aerosoles

Oh and it should go without saying, but I won the contest.

What a Wonderful Night

After a few days of rain and cold and May dreariness, we had a beautiful day today. The 80 degree weather was an excuse to break out one of my new Ross purchases - yay, yay, yay!

When people ask about me why I'm so obsessed with Ross, today's dress is a great example. I find it terribly adorable - I love the pattern, the pockets, the shape of the cap sleeves and all for the bargain price of $8.99. How can you not love that?

Of course with me, I'm also obsessed with accessories and today I finally get to showcase the sandals that I purchased in India. Ooh, I'm in love. In a funny twist of fate they cost more than twice as much as the dress. And I bought them in INDIA. The dress was purchased in North Carolina. Crazy people.

I kept the other accessories very simple. A little headband that I purchased at a different Ross visit and the earrings are a hand-me-down, but I'm not sure which of my lovely friends gave them to me. Speak up if it's you. Can you see the pattern on my nails? Each week I'm getting a little bit better at nail art.

But wait bloomie, this photos look like they were taken in the daytime and your title is about having a wonderful night. Well that's because tonight I attended the wonderful panel Fat Politics and Sexuality in the Face of Hate at the McNally Jackson bookstore and ohmygoodness was it wonderful!

The panel was hosted by Marilyn Wann, the author of Fat?So! which was the first fat acceptance...anything I ever picked up and it changed my life. Next up on the panel was Substansia Jones from the Adipositivity Project and she recognized me!!! I was going up to talk to her to tell her how much I love her work and would she please photograph me naked when she told me she recognized me as the 30 Dresses Girl and was a fan. You could have knocked me over with a feather, I don't get recognized from my blog and we had a bit of a mutual love fest for a minute. She told me she loved my smile and wanted to set me up with someone. We're best friends already.

The most exciting panelist for me to hear and meet was Lesley Kinzel, of Fatshionista fame. I've "known" Lesley online for awhile and tonight I finally got to meet her. I can't begin to describe how much Lesley's activism (not to mention fatshion sense) has meant to me and how much she has helped me come to truly love myself just as I am. To say I was excited to meet her was a bit of an understatement. Honestly if I was allowed to have a dinner and invite anyone in the world Lesley would be high on my list. Here she is talking about two whole cakes.

Overall it was just lovely to be in a room with so many happy, satisfied, gorgeous fat women and men. Look at that crowd. Who wouldn't have a wonderful night hanging out with all of them?

I Cannot be Trusted at a Sample Sale

For realzy. I walk into a sample sale and it's as if I've forgotten how to say no to shopping. Well, I'm not so good at saying no when shopping in general, but I am really bad at sample sales. I think it's the combination of discounted designer goods, compounded by the frenzied feeling of "if you don't buy this right now you someone else will snatch it up and it will be lost forever" and the fat girl feeling of excitement when something fits.

What's that last one you ask? It's something I think we've all fallen victim to over the years - if it fits, we must buy it. We've all been there right? We go shopping with a friend and they drag us into a store where nothing even comes close to fitting us and then there's some stretchy dress or top which fits and you're so excited that it fits that you buy it. You like it because it fits, not really considering whether or not it's something you actually want. I can shop here too you think as the cashier rings up your purchase, I also belong. And then you go home and hang up the dress and it sits in your closet.

I've gotten over that "if it fits you must buy it" mentality. ..for the most part. Sometimes at sample sales I slip. Today's outfit is a perfect example of that.


I was walking in the West Village and saw a sample sign in the window and I unwittingly walked into the Rag & Bone sample sale, a line that I have only even heard of because my very fabulous co-worker dated someone who worked there. I walked in, did a brief loop around the store and picked up this gorgeous, cashmere capelet. Only $100, down from $595. And it fit. And it was gorgeous. And the material felt like heaven. And the buttons were burnished. But...it wasn't very practical. You can't wear a coat over it, meaning there's a very brief weather period where you can wear it. Not to mention it's hard to carry a bag while wearing it, all of which makes it not so useful in New York. But it's puuuurty.

So I bought it and in my closet it sat for months untill last week when we hit that perfect temperature where I could wear it without a coat, but wouldn't be too hot in it. I will say that once I finally wore it I got an awful lot of compliments and I think it's going to just live at the office so I don't have to worry about a coat...or carrying a bag. Isn't it gorgeous, if not at all practical?


I paired my capelet with some Z. Cavarichi jeans which you've seen before and a brown top that I got at Ross which you've also seen before. I kept the accessories simple, just some purple flats from Old Navy and gold, dangly earrings from Primark.


Photo credit goes to my co-worker Lena.

I'm Not Afraid of Color or Patterns

I know there's a lot going on in this dress and I didn't help the situation that much with my hair band and earrings, but when I have accessories that work so well with a dress I can't resist, even when I know that I should. When I get dressed I always think of the famous Coco Chanel quote "always remove the last accessory you put on" and I try and take something off, but I'm not always so good at actually doing so. I'm trying dear readers, I promise but I just love accessories.

This dress, like many others is from Ross and while I wasn't so sure about it when I purchased it and really went for it because it had long sleeves, I've come to really appreciate it. You really don't have to do anything other than throw it on and you've got a complete outfit. I of course never do just that, but one could.

The boots I'm wearing are from Evans and the tights are from Target. I've added a headband from Dorothy Perkins and some hand-me-down earrings from the darling Ateqah.

This is a pre-haircut photo and it was taken long enough ago that I can't recall who gets photo credit. Sorry JLR.

This is My Life

Did any of you ever see the early 90's movie This is My Life? It wasn't all that popular so it's quite likely you never saw it, but the main character is a stand-up comedian and her schtick is that she wears polka dots all the time. I kinda felt like her character today and I embraced the polka dots and incorporated them throughout the outfit.

Save for the shoes, this is a particularly budget outfit. The dress I purchased at Ross a few years ago and amazingly it's still in good shape. The tights and cropped jacket are both from Target, however the jacket is from the Luella Bartley Go line. Sigh, one day I will have a pretty Luella bag. I don't know if you can see, but the buttons on the jacket are pale pink. I love this jacket and have another one in green. Because of my shape, cropped jackets look so much better on me than jackets that go to my waist or {gulp} mid-hip.

The shoes are from my beloved Office, aren't they cute? Polka dots may not be my schtick but I sure do love em.