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.

Sequins Aren't Just for Saturday

I'm trying not to reserve sparkly clothes just for special occasions so yesterday I wore both sequins and feathers to the office and (at least in my mind) felt like I was still understated, restrained and office appropriate. I think it's because the vast majority of my outfit was black and though the urge to add more color was huge, I managed to resist. What do you think?

A lot of what I'm wearing was brand new. I love when I'm getting dressed and I cut off a clothing tag. Yesterday I got to do that twice.

Top - Evans

Skirt - Forever 21

Tights - Old Navy

Booties - Marks and Spencer

Earrings - Primark

Necklace - Spittlefields Market

Even though I hadn't thought I had a reason to dress up, turns out that I did. Illinois' state Senate voted to repeal the death penalty! It was a big day of celebration in my office and it turns out we had a reason for sparkles after all!

Photo credit goes to the delightful Miss A.

Goodbye 2010, Don Draper is Here to Kick You Out the Door

I hate New Year's. Actually I think despise is a more accurate term. A fact I find fairly ironic since I'm always happy to dress up, and yet New Years Eve - a night made for sequins and dancing and drunken kissing (three of my favorite things) has never been my cup of tea.

But 2010 was a terrible year for me. I mean it was really, really not good, perhaps the worst year of my adult life and I was ready to say goodbye, slam the door on 2010 and start 2011 surrounded by people I love. So I sucked it up, put on an outfit and headed to Manhattan for a party. And in the end I'm really glad I did.

My friends threw a Mad Men party and we were instructed to dress the part. I have never seen a single episode, but I live in the United States so I'm well aware of the characters and the fashion and the clothes. I had a million things to choose from, but in the end I decided to channel Peggy (in full disclosure I kept forgetting her name and calling her the dowdy one). This was a wise move since everyone else used Joan or Betty as inspiration. I was the lone Peggy inspired lady.

I think I did a pretty good job channeling Peggy.

I'm wearing a polka dot dress that I got at Fat Fancy on my recent trip to Portland, with a red DKNY pencil skirt over it. The skirt was a hand-me-down from JLR and I think when I don't have a dress underneath it fits better. The scarf around my neck and my fur shrug are courtesy of my Grandmother. My tights are from Old Navy, my shoes are Sam Edelman and my glasses are an old pair from college which are of course way hipper now than they were when I wore them a decade ago. Candy cigarettes are courtesy of Economy Candy, a store definitely worth checking out the next time you are on the Lower East Side.

Our hosts for the evening went all out with amazing details and almost everyone in attendance was dressed in some amazing outfit. Here is A working the bar. Funnily enough his normal hair worked out just fine for a Mad Men themed party.

Others worked very hard to get their Mad Men hair just right.

I hope 2011 is a wonderful, magical, happy year for all of us. Also I hope all of you had as lovely a night as I did and that you also didn't suffer a 2 day hangover as a result. This is the last shot of the night as I stumbled my way home.

All the amazing, higher quality photos are courtesy of Dr. B and Miss. A. Thank you!

The Best Black Skirt

As is very apparent to even the most casual of readers, I am dress lady. Sometimes I stray and cheat and wear leggings, skirts and even {gasp} pants but I am most loyal to dresses. There is however a huge exception to that rule and it is the American Apparel Interlock Pencil Skirt. Its' versatility is huge - you can dress it up, dress it down, tuck your top in, pull it out, wear it high-waisted or down low, miniskirt or to the knee. Plus it is SO COMFORTABLE! Can you tell that I'm a woman obsessed?

Here is one version of my beloved black skirt. I'm wearing my skirt (in an xl) with a Torrid cherry boob tube tucked in and my favoritest red belt from Ross and wedges from Office. Sorry for the lack of close-ups but my friend Raren was a blog photo taking virgin and didn't quite take all the close-up shots I like to have. I think part of that may have to do with the fact that we were in Bloomingdales (attempting to find me the perfect new pair of sunglasses to make prescription - I think we failed) so we didn't want to be taking too many photos and get kicked out by security.

I really liked this combination. To me it looks like a retro, slightly special dress, when in reality it's all a bunch of very simple, cotton separates.

My second version of my beloved skirt is a much simpler version of the outfit. Here I've paired it with the best ACLU t-shirt ever which reads "Safe, Free and LGBT" which is also American Apparel (women 2xl). I'm wearing a green belt that I got in a Friday fats sale and slip on plimsoles from Dorothy Perkins that I loved to death. I really need another pair of slip-on sneakers. Anyone have any suggestions?

I paired my low key look with a vintage green and white check jacket that I got in San Francisco. Photo credit here goes to Selene.

Looking at these pictures I'm realizing that at least in the first outfit my skirt really looks like a dress. Is maybe that why I love it so much, because it can pass as a dress? God, I may need to reevaluate my love.

Rainy Day Simplicity

Rain can present a bit of a problem if you have curls or wear glasses or have an inability to walk in the rain without kicking it up all over yourself. I have the great honor of having all three of these traits. The first two are fairly easy to fix - wear contacts and pull back your hair, but the third one presents a bit of a problem. I lack the ability to walk around in the rain without kicking water all over myself. It's really kind of amazing. Rain boots help, but they don't completely solve the problem. Why? Because I'm three.

For the rainy weather I decided to go simple. I'm wearing one of my favorite purchases of the past year - a simple denim skirt from Target that I've topped with a black t-shirt from H&M and a cropped jacket from Torrid. I needed something to spice up the outfit so I opted for some bright tights from Dorothy Perkins that perfectly matched my boots from Laila Rowe. I hate flash, but it does help you see the true color of the tights in the photo below.

For a little bit of personality I've added my pearl necklace with a bow that I got from Primark. I saw a ton of multi-strand necklaces with bows attached when I was last in London and I'm surprised that the look never crossed the pond to become as popular here as it did there. Last but not least, I have a black, sequined leaf in my hair that I got at the 2009 Bust Craftacular.

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.

If You Shop Spring it Will Come & Chub-Rub Solution Part 2

Last weekend I found myself at a suburban mall. I do not spend much time at suburban malls so this was an odd experience in many ways. What I quickly discovered (or remembered since it was the mall of my youth) is just how easy it is to spend large amounts of money in a small amount of time. Fun!

It was a cold day after a few days of warmth and I was enamoured with the possibility of spring. So I shopped for spring, with the thought in the back of my mind if shop it, it will come. Turns out I was right and I was able to showcase my favorite purchase the following week on a day when the weather topped out in the mid-70's. Note the drinking of beer outside. Sometimes global warming isn't half bad.

I absolutely love this skirt and I picked it up last week at NY & Company. I have to say my visit to this shop was much nicer than the last time I went there. The skirt is so busy that I went for pretty minimal look otherwise. The top is a hand-me-down from Banana Republic and the jean jacket is from the Fat Girl Flea. The necklace is from a sample sale, the earrings were purchased at a street fair and the shoes are from Office. I didn't have time to wash my hair and attempted my very first bouffant which was only semi-successful - tips are most welcome. The flower in my hair is from Forever 21, which is a great place to shop for inexpensive hair accessories.





Finally we arrive at chub-rub solution part 2. I want to thank everyone for all of their comments of support and suggestions the other day. It's funny the problems that so many women can have, that so few of us are willing to publicly discuss. Thighs rub people, there is nothing shameful about that. And guess what, even thin women suffer from chub-rub.

This all brings us to peek-a-boo photo of what is underneath bloomie's skirt #2. Are we enjoying these? My friend took this in a crowded beer garden with the statement that it'd probably be smarter to do so in a bar than outside my office building which is where I originally planned to take it. Pamie is smart like that.


So I know I said that I used to love Evan's comfort shorts and then last summer the new design didn't seem to work for me. Well I decided to give 'em another try and I dug a pair out of my drawer and suddenly they started to work well again. Last year they would always ride up when I wore them, which kinda makes a chub-rub solution a big, fat failure. This time they didn't do that. I don't know if it was because they seemed tighter so they didn't ride up or maybe it was a pair of the old design. Either way I think I'm going to order some new ones from Evans and give 'em a go again.

I had historically been a fan of these because they're very light and comfortable and are made for the express purpose of stopping chub-rub. Unlike Spanx they don't suck you in and unlike bike shorts they're not heavy and they don't add any bulk or lines to your outfit all which appeal to me. Not to mention that at 5 pounds a pop, it's a fairly inexpensive solution. I would say that if you're planning an order from Evans, throw a pair of these into your cart and see how they work out for you.

Photo credit goes to both Nicole and Pamie. Thanks my darlings!

Underneath the poncho

I know I promised to post a photo of what was underneath my poncho the very next day, but it would be generous to call this past week the week from hell at work and all I could even contemplate when I got home from the office was food, beer, some utterly mindless television to distract me from the "AAAAHHH" of work and sleep. Not much time for fatshion.

But I'm making up for it now cause I really like this outfit and it wasn't at all what I was planning on wearing when I woke up that morning. Sometimes I fixate on one article of clothing and everything is falls into place around that. Sometimes I'm lazy and there's a sweater sitting on a chair and I grab that. Today's outfit was a mix of those two things.

I had bought this skirt during Torrid's clearance sale for something like a whopping $9.74 or something equally ridiculous. Which is what convinced me to bite the bullet and purchase a purple denim, acid wash, mini skirt. When I told my best friend about it I thought she was almost going to disown me. It's ok, we have an agreement. She can think something like this is a nice bag and worth $100 and I can buy things like acid-wash, purple denim. At least most of my fashion risks are inexpensive...sometimes.

Anyways so I got the skirt and loved it, but wasn't sure what to pair it with. My friend Jamie had sent me this enormous box of sweaters in the hopes of urging me to do 30 sweaters in 30 days and I was slowly taking the sweaters from the office back to my apartment where they would inevitably sit on my armchair for a bit before being put away. That is where today's mustard sweater was sitting when I pulled out my new purple skirt and started planning my outfit. Once I had those two key pieces matched the rest of the outfit came together fairly easily.

The tights today are some random brand that I got at Pay/Half and the gorgeous brown boots that I don't wear nearly enough because I'm a total wuss when it comes to heels are from Evans. My necklace is Primark and the earrings are Topshop.

Photo credit goes to Mirka who took the picture in our local movie theater and I have zero recollection of what we saw and it's driving me crazy. Know how I said I was a wuss when it came to heels? I couldn't walk to dinner after the movie I was in so much pain and slowly shuffled the 3 blocks back to my house. If I keep wearing this much color and am unable to handle heels, I may just get kicked out of NY.