Getting Matchy

This vest is the one I was trying on when Katy Sagal told me how great it looked on me. I think she was right; it fits me like a glove and is perfect for my style. It doesn't get a ton of use, but I always really enjoy wearing it. Pairing it with these cropped pants and espadrilles turned out to be a perfect combination. Another Sheriff of Matchy-Matchytown-approved ensemble. What is it about these shoes that makes me get all matchy?


Vest: Steam Trunk
Top: Anthropologie
Pants: Cynthia Steffe
Shoes: DSW brand
Bracelet: Leslie Danzis

Stumped!

It finally got warm enough to wear this little minidress without something over it... well, at least it did in San Francisco. By the time I arrived at work in South San Francisco however, I discovered this was really the wrong outfit for the windy, foggy day. What I wouldn't give to work in the same city I live in; it would make getting dressed so much simpler.

Today I'm calling on you to help me answer a fashion question, because frankly I'm a bit stumped. The question comes from a reader who quit her corporate job and donated all her summer office clothes to charity, only to later find herself back in an office environment, 2 months pregnant, with summer rapidly approaching. She now needs advice on building a new summer wardrobe for someone who:

- works in a fairly relaxed office environment
- has a budget of about $500 - $800
- needs a little extra room to grow

This question stumps me for several reasons, the foremost being that I've never been pregnant and therefore haven't a clue when it comes to what one might wear over a growing baby bump. But also, the mild climate in San Francisco means that my summer wardrobe doesn't need to vary that drastically from my winter one (as evidenced by the failure of this overly-summery outfit). What I've come up with so far is:

- Check out E.'s pregnancy posts on Academichic; that lady had amazing style throughout her entire term, and she employed a lot of great basics that shouldn't break anyone's budget.

- Look for stretchy jersey items that are not specifically maternity clothes; that way they can be worn during the pregnancy but also afterwards as well.

- Definitely try shopping in thrift stores, since most maternity clothes should be very lightly worn. That said, most clothes I've seen that are specifically designed for maternity wear are profoundly ugly, so even at thrift stores I think I'd branch out and shop in all the sections.

- Um, that's it. Like I said, I'm stumped. Stumped, I tell you!

OK readers, it's your turn. I feel certain you'll be able to put this lovely lady on the right path to affordable, summery clothes that will grow with her and be office-friendly. She also mentioned that she's about my size, so she wouldn't require any specialized sizing other than accommodating the baby. Let's hear it!

Today's outfit:
Dress: thrifted
Scarf: shop in San Luis Obispo
Pants: La Redoute
Shoes: gift from Jess

Matrix + G.I. Joe

The last time I wore these cropped pants with this top, fellow blogger Bekster stopped by with this suggestion:

"While I absolutely LOVE the tie and the jacket (they make the outfit), I'd be curious to see the rest of the outfit with some sort of military jacket (and maybe military/beret-like hat)... kind of Matrix meets G.I. Joe."

I decided to give it a try, so I pulled out the only military jacket I own, swapped the dressy black boots for these more rugged-looking dark brown ones, and added the beret. I have no idea if this outfit bears any resemblance to The Matrix, since I've never seen the movie (I know, I know, but that much Keanu Reeves is simply more than I can bear.). As for G.I. Joe, I seem to remember him wearing a lot more khaki. But hey, I did my best, and I liked the way the outfit turned out.

The button-down shirt is actually a size too small, so layering over it is a must. Since the sleeves are a little too short, I usually cuff them, and the jacket worked beautifully to keep the sleeves and cuffs in place. I like how the inside of the cuffs are a cute floral pattern, which is an unexpected detail on an otherwise basic striped shirt.

After test-wearing Mark's first prototypes of the Lucille underbust belt in both black and brown, I finally got one of my very own. I liked how the open jacket revealed just a little bit of the hardware-adorned sides of the belt when I walked or put my hand on my hip. The belt is made of soft, flexible leather and is remarkably comfortable to wear all day. It gave some contrast to the dark top half of the outfit and added a utilitarian look. I could almost imagine that it's a holster and that I had a tiny, pearl-handled pistol under there (I didn't, but wouldn't it have made a great accessory?).

Beret: ADS
Jacket: F21, modified by me
Button-down shirt: Old Navy
Top: Max Studio
Belt: Audra Jean
Cropped Pants: Noa Noa
Boots: Bata

Tourniquet

When I bought this vintage minidress, the neck and arm holes were tight enough that I could have used the dress as a giant tourniquet to cut off my entire blood supply. Some simple alterations took care of that, and now it allows both circulation and comfort. The shade of orange has got to be one of the brightest I've ever seen, so I added plenty of white to the outfit in order to to wash it out a little.

Hat: a gift from Kimberly
Minidress: Light Years Vintage
Shirt: H&M
Cropped pants: La Redoute
Shoes: Camper

Body on Tap

Looking at this outfit again I'm not really sure I like it. But no matter; what's important is that I tried something a little different. I'll leave it up to my readers to decide if this one was a winner or a loser. What I really wanted to talk about in this post was my hair.

This shiny, soft hairdo is brought to you by Anchor Steam Beer. What, you haven't heard of the old beer-in-your-hair trick? Allow me to explain. You know how after a party you wind up with all those forlorn, half-finished beers, the ones that someone opened and then abandoned because they couldn't remember where they set it or which one was theirs? Well, I'm here to tell you that there's a use for them. Flat beer is in fact a wonderful conditioner for your hair, and leaves it super soft and full of body.

I didn't throw a party, but a couple of months ago I bought several cases of Anchor Steam Beer in plastic bottles to take to Burning Man. The plastic bottles are great because they're lightweight and won't accidentally get broken, but they don't have the shelf life of beer in glass bottles. I cracked open one of my leftovers the other night and discovered that the beer was completely flat, so I decided to use it in my hair.

The best way is to completely soak your hair with the beer, then wrap plastic wrap around your hair and wait 20 or 30 minutes before shampooing and conditioning like normal. If you don't have time for that, you can do what I did yesterday: rinse your hair in the shower, pour on the beer and let it sit for a few minutes, and then shampoo and condition. It's important to really shampoo thoroughly or you'll end up smelling like a brewery (Unless you happen to work at a brewery; then you wouldn't care. I verified this last night with my friend who actually does work at a brewery.). Then just style your hair like normal. The effects of the beer last several days, especially if you don't shampoo every day and only use conditioner instead.

The outfit:
Button-down shirt: Guess
Wrap cardigan: S
Cropped pants: Noa Noa
Tights: American Apparel
Shoes: Bronx
Brooch: Vintage

Random

When I put away this cropped tartan jacket after the last time I wore it, I randomly hung it up next to this black and white floral top. I noticed that the mix of patterns contrasted nicely, so I kept the two items paired in my closet until I was ready to wear the jacket again. This is something that happens quite a bit, where I will accidentally create combinations based on random proximity of items.

This kind of haphazardly-tied look for a scarf is quite popular in San Francisco; in fact, scarves in general have to be one of the most oft-used accessories in this town. I was never a big scarf-wearer until I moved here and realized that even on sunny days, the ocean breezes are cool enough that a scarf makes the difference between Slightly Chilly and Perfectly Comfortable. On foggy days when the damp air seeps through to your very bones, a scarf means your teeth won't be chattering while you're ordering your double latte at the Blue Bottle coffee stand.

The jacket is from A. Byer, floral top and scarf from H&M, cropped pants from La Redoute, shoes from Bobbi Blue. I have to admit I'm pleasantly surprised with how comfortable these flats have turned out to be. Though I'm generally not a big fan of flats for comfort reasons, they definitely have their purpose, and I've recently broken down and bought a couple of pairs. These seemed a little dicey the first time I wore them, but have broken in quite well after just 3 wears.

Sassy

Wearing these John Fluevogs always makes me feel a bit sassy; it must be the little satin bows. This is the first time I've tried pairing them with these cropped pants, which are from Poleci. The pants have a cute tuxedo stripe down the sides of the legs, and the very fine lines of yellow and pink interspersed with the gray and black make them perfect for combining with bright colors. The aqua tank is Old Navy, t-shirt from Supermaggie, and yellow cardigan from Solemio.

A Month of Shoes: Week 1

I'll kick off this blog with a summary of an experiment I've been trying; namely, to wear all of my work-worthy shoes, a different pair every day without repeating. Now, I own a LOT of shoes, and figuring out the best way to incorporate them all into different outfits was somewhat of a challenge. I managed to go an entire month of workdays without repeating once, which I thought was pretty impressive. I've been posting these on my Facebook page but finally decided to create this blog, so rather than go through each outfit description in exhaustive detail I'll just recap them briefly.

Week 1: The experiment kicked off on Tuesday, March 25 with a pair of blue t-straps by Paolo, followed by mary janes by Steve Maddon and John Fluevog, and my favorite pair of comfy boots from Bata. At this point I was also experimenting with the setup and settings on my camera, so the photo quality isn't so great for some of these.



I'll go ahead and state right now that I'm a terrible bargain shopper, and rarely have any luck finding anything at thrift stores. The first 2 outfits pictured above came mainly from local boutiques, while the second and third came from a very pricey store in Copenhagen called Noa Noa, at which I have left a lot of my hard-earned and disadvantageously-converted US dollars.