Holiday Blues

The peacock blue and teal looked so awesome together that they practically glowed. You'd never know it by these pictures though. Ah well, I will photograph it when I get my new camera and see if it looks any better.

 For some reason I'm not loving myself in pants/trousers these days and I'm ready to A. Ditch pants altogether, B. Get them all altered or C. Go out and purchase all new pants. Right here at Christmas I can't afford to do any of the above! I read somewhere that people with my body shape--X, hourglass, pear or curvy depending on who you ask--have trouble with trousers pulling across the crotch. Well, I can vouch for that. It seems all of mine sag horribly or are too tight with no in-between perfect fit. As a person who has always bought straight off the rack and hoped for the best, this is all a major change of mindset for me. I had my 1st wedding dress altered and not much since then. After I hemmed them, they are the proper length for flats, but I'm loving my BOC by Born heels. I hesitate to call them heels as they are comfy and kind of wedge-ish. I just know my feet actually tolerate them pretty well.

These pants don't look terrible I guess, but my standards are getting higher. Hopefully watch for changes in the new year!

Tunic, Leggings, Boots

 O.K. So this is apparently an outfit formula lots of people use, but not something I do often. I thought I was too curvy and, well, blobby to pull it off. But I gave it some thought, and here are the results. Isn't it cute? And I took the sweater off when I got hot at work because it was up in the 60's today. Don't I look like a happy office elf?

Weekend Review

Saturday we left the house and piddled around town. Very relaxing, but got absolutely nothing done, including posts. So here is what I wore Sunday to church and afterwards when I went casual. Saturday I was just too busy doing nothing to pause for a photo.

I found an awesome backdrop for my photo. And then I beat a hasty retreat from the old stone house restaurant when some dude began walking over to see what I was up to. On Sunday after church I convinced my hubby to get in the picture with me wearing the outfit I gave him for his birthday.

I'm terrible about identifying my clothing for various reasons. Not least of which is that I don't consider my blog a "how-to" blog. There are lots of others out there who can give you advice. Mine is more of a personal discovery thing. Other reasons include shame over buying low quality things, having no tag after cutting them all out, and just plain having a bad memory.  But I'll try to start identifying items more.

I know that the dress is from Cato, the little grey laceless oxfords came from Payless Shoes. The boots came from Kmart. After trying on many expensive boots, these finally fit the bill. Weird huh? My feet are weird about boots because the arthritis made my ankles less flexible.

 Generally I buy better quality now, and since I've discovered thrifting, my standards are getting higher. I'm still a work in progress. My hubby is wearing a  dark grey Van Heusen shirt and black Dockers pants.

Oh, and here's my work outfit today

 I look like I could break into some kind of folk dance any minute, don't I?

When I bought this dress I thought it had a western prairie vibe to it. Looking at these pictures, I'm getting more of an Eastern European folksy feel. I'm realizing changing my clothing style involves risk. Sad to say, I decided to try this dress out on a day when I'd be in the office with my one co-worker. I didn't feel confident enough in it to venture into a community meeting or to see a client. What's up with that?

For one thing this breaks my general guideline never to wear anything I can't climb a tree in. I'm just beginning to see dresses as comfortable and fun. You probably won't see me in a pencil skirt unless it's for a short event. Love the look but they're just too confining to wear all day. But this dress is as comfy to wear as pants. Fun! And I would wear it here or there. I would wear it anywhere.

It's true; I have a waist!

Until recently I've been scared of belts and things that tie at my waist. They just seem to perch right on my tummy and make me look worse. Imagine my surprise when I loved the way this looks. 

And the dog likes it too!

Down by the Riverside

 For my Alabama friends--extra points if you can name the small town and river in the photos.

 This was my first ever attempt at a public photo shoot and I'm generally a shy, self-conscious person. So what would be no big deal for most people . . . well, kind of is for me. There were a few families and couples walking around and I got a few odd looks--some woman snapping photos of herself. Mostly people politely ignored me. Of course I hadn't planned ahead to do this, so no tripod. I figured out railings on a dock, park benches and even steps make a pretty good substitute.

Like I've said, my style is a work in progress right now--lots of bugs to still work out. The boobage is an issue with t-shirts like this one. I need a professional bra fitting for one thing. Seeing photos of myself is so different than a mirror. I had no idea this outfit was so "Hey, look everybody. I have boobs!" I'm glad it was cool enough that I wore a sweater to church. After seeing the pictures, I made the mistake of asking my husband if the outfit emphasized my bust too much. He's usually helpful with fashion questions, but this just elicited a smirk.

Other new things for me that day--cowboy boots and belting. I have been afraid of belts. I love them but my attempts tended to emphasize my "mother of twins" belly. Buckles or knots tended to perch right on top and stick out rather than showing off my small waist. I'm beginning to figure it out. Usually tucking anything in doesn't work for me but I think I like it better for this outfit.

Cowboy boots. I chose these particular ones because I have major foot issues due to arthritis. They weren't the cutest, but they were comfy and still cute enough, and I wanted some I could wear all day. For some reason, they make me feel spunky and strong. Maybe I'll even ride a horse some day soon.