Dress Week - Casual Friday means a Denim Dress!

Benefits to taking one's picture in the morning before work:
- my makeup hasn't melted off my face
- I look awake

Cons of taking one's picture before work in the morning:
- I show every drop of the wine I drank last night
- I am barely awake.

Witness:
Denim dress (Ricki's), mustard cami (barely visible, Inwear), brown leather belt (uh...don't remember, probably Plum), wood earrings and bracelet (Oscar & Libby's), gold kitten heels (Feet First).

This dress is so nice and comfortable, and flattering! I feel very girly, classic and pretty in this. I went shopping tonight with Mom for her birthday. We go every year (last year was to NYC), and I buy her an outfit. Got to keep my mom looking like the fashionable diva she is!

Funny story: she says she knew that my fashion-conscious ways had rubbed off on her when she went to do some sort of chore (jumping my brother's car, I think) and she changed because she couldn't go out in her sweats! The horror! Good job, Mom, I've taught you well.

Great shopping trip; Mom got a lovely black/white/grey faux wrap dress, black belt, cobalt blue jacket (all my gift), some pants, some walking shorts, a couple of tops. I got a pink jacket. Yes, a pink jacket. It's really pink, like baby pink. It's so not me that it is me, you know? It's a fabulous style...wait till you see it. It's very Chanel. I also got a great long grey fitted jacket - that "fingertip" length that was very big around 1999. I always liked that length; it gives a nice long, lean column down the front when it's open. I also got a grey top with some embelishment on the front. Cute.

We shopped for a couple of hours. Ruth and I had taken a long lunch today after the bosses left, so I'd already done a large part of the mall, but didn't look in any of the stores that Mom likes to go in.

Anyway, I wore shoes that I knew I could shop in: They are not the cutest shoes ever (another remnant of my "fat clothes" days), but they are really comfy. My feet are sore now, though.

Ah, 9:15: time for wine. Happy weekend!

Dress Week - Aqua 70s

Aqua dress (Kersh, Tulipe Noir), silk scarf (The Bay), silver leather slingbacks (Nicole, Century 21, NYC), white gold hoop earrings.
I love this dress - it's so light and summery-looking - I only wish it had pockets. Grabbed it off the sale rack while out with a walk with Ms. Cat. And I finally have something to wear this scarf with! This is one of what I think of as my "fat clothes", i.e. clothing I owned when I was heavier. I bought it to go with a fabulous yellow short trench coat, which I have since given away to someone (god knows who, I can't remember).

I bought the scarf at the Bay and it always makes me think of Ms. Carollyne (yes, you, hello, honey!) because I ran into her at the Bay one lunch hour; she was wandering around and I surprised her, and I ended up steering her around and helping her pick out a bunch of clothes (cords, a turtleneck, two pairs of shoes and a scarf like this one - I wasn't able to decide between the one I bought and the other one, but I'm so glad she got it).

I love these shoes. I've worn them so much, especially last summer. They are another pair from the NYC trip with mom a year ago. Poor mom; we went to Century 21 (we walked from Hell's Kitchen area all the way down to Ground Zero), then I pretty much abandoned her to zip through Century 21. I bought 2 dresses there, these shoes, a tie and some socks for L. Mom got a nightgown. I remember finding her sitting on the stairs in the menswear department, just patiently waiting for me. Aw...she never complained about me dragging her around or taking off to do my own shopping (I find it hard to shop with other people - only Cat and Ruth shop like me) while she waited.

Dress Week - Wild Green

Green and black print dress with loopy bows (I.N.C., The Bay), black swing jacket (Simply Manakin Petite, Winners), black faux patent boots (The Bay), silver double spiral earrings (Oscar & Libby's), silver spiral neck ring (consignment).
This is one of my favourite dresses in my whole closet. I waited patiently for this to go on sale - I think it was around $40 when I finally bought it. Every time I wear it, I feel great, and isn't that the hallmark of a great dress? Let's see, I wore this to go see Mom's painting in the art show last summer (her, my brother, Dave, and I); and to the Whisky Festival (with black tights and honking big silver platform peep-toes - killer outfit). I've worn it to work a couple of times - usually with a jacket, since it's so "out there".

The dress alone:

I feel sexy in this - it's totally comfortable, washable and balls up into a very small bundle. Great for travel.

Dress Week: 50s Turquoise

Turquoise cotton shirtdress (Le Chateau), big black leather belt (some tourist shop in Times Square, NYC), black slingbacks with white stitching (Unisa, DSW, NYC), capiz & wood necklace (Oscar & Libby's), white gold hoop earrings.
I found this dress on a clearance rack at Le Chateau last year for only $19.99 (it also came in khaki). I just love it. It's got pockets, a great cut and even a snap where buttons always gape on the boobs. It also accessorizes (damn, you can't see the necklace in this shot - trust me, it looked good) really well. I've done brown and red to pop off this colour. It does wrinkle, but everything wrinkles when you shove it in a backpack for half an hour.

The belt and shoes are part of my NYC loot (ah, a year ago! We were there, mom!). The belt was only $9.99 (real leather) and the shoes were around $49, I think. I can't remember; I bought 3 pairs of shoes at DSW in NYC. These just look so chic and they are really comfortable.

Dress Week - Chartreuse & Black

I have decided that this week will be Dress Week. All dresses!

Chartreuse green t-shirt dress (consignment), black cotton short-sleeved jacket (Vero Moda, Plum), leather leopard belt (Plum), multi-bead earrings and necklace (Plum), black leather kitten heels with buckles (Roberto Vianni, The Cobbler).
The dress was a bargain at $24 - love the colour and texture. It's super stretchy and comfortable and would be a great travel dress (it's even washable). Easy to change up the accessories to change the look - can't wait to do this with tights & boots for Fall.

I have a love/hate affair with this jacket: it's totally cute on and makes my waist look tiny, but the cotton is a serious hair magnet. With two cats, that's not a good thing. I'm always picking bits off it. This is the first wear ever (!) for this belt - I got it on clearance at the end of last summer and completely forgot I owned it.

I used to be one of those people who kept a couple of pairs of shoes in her desk and just put them on in the morning and put them back every night (changed into my runners, oh, the shame). You know, then you toss them when they start to smell bad...Anyway, my New Year's resolution for 2007 was to wear different shoes every day to work, so I pulled these back into the mix of my regular collection so that I could get some good weekend wear from them if needed. They have a cool rock n' roll vibe to them:
Great stud detail on the heels and the fake wood kitten heel is awesome. Even the texture is funky. Love these. I should wear them more.