An Outfit Deconstructed...Sort Of

First things first...I apologize for these janky blurry photos. I snapped them this morning during the getting ready for work/school chaos (in low light). Let's just say I was going for immediacy over quality.

Now that we have that out of the way, onward to the purpose of today's post...I wanted to show you what I wore to work today. Specifically, I wanted to show you that I wore jeans to work today.

Jeans (!) friends.

Suffice to say I was not wearing jeans at my old job. Life is good.

The Details:

Blouse -- Club Monaco

Necklace -- Handmade

Jeans -- Banana Republic

An Outfit Deconstructed...Shoe Edition

So in full disclosure, this entire outfit was about showing you "the shoes"...

Typically I don't get so swoony over a pair of shoes. Don't get me wrong, I like a good shoe, I do, but I usually reserve my sartorial fawning for a necklaces and bags. Necklaces and bags are, without a doubt, my thing.

But these particular shoes are serious happy-makers... Every time I open my closet door and see them perched there amidst a sea of black shoes I smile. (Yes I smile. At my shoes. Is that strange?)

When wearing shoes like this, I think everything else has to sort of fade into the background... They are major (major for me at least -- leopard print! and really high heels) and a little transformative, like the red lipstick of shoes. So to balance things out, I've been sporting them with simple jeans and sweaters or dark tights and conservative dresses...just letting the shoes do their thing.





The Details:

Shoes -- J.Crew
Sweater -- Anthropologie
Jeans -- Gap
Necklace -- Vintage

An Outfit Deconstructed...Two Ways

I haven't shared an outfit in a while, as I've been in a bit of a wardrobe funk. In my head, I'm rockin' all sorts of sartorial goodness, but my reality is pretty much a steady rotation of less-than-exciting basics. Let's just say I've been pretty much living in a pair of straight dark jeans and a slouchy black t-shirt. If I'm feeling especially zany, I make a new necklace, throw it on with the t-shirt and call it a day.

But then I thought why not share some of the basics?? After all, the things you reach for again and again can be just as compelling as the "special stuff", right? So I give you one of my go-to outfits of late: grey cords, that aforementioned black t-shirt, boots and two "jacket" options. When I'm attempting to dress things up a bit, I throw on a little knit blazer action. When I'm bummin' around, on goes the cozy cardigan thing. I know, I know, I live on the edge...

The Details:

• T-Shirt -- C&C California
• Cords -- Gap (similar to these)
• Knit "Blazer" -- Madewell
• Sweater Cardigan -- Forever 21
• Boots -- Tory Burch (purchased on sale here)
• Necklace -- Homemade
• Large Gold Band -- F. is for Frank
• Interlock Ring (the beginnings of my "stack") -- Ilsa Loves Rick

An Outfit Deconstructed... (Summer's Last Gasp Edition)

My love for a good dress really knows no bounds...the right one can make getting dressed infinitely easier and solve any multitude of wardrobe conundrums. If given my druthers, I'd proabably just have a closet full of dresses. Just dresses. Full stop.

I've been planning to do an outfit post featuring Jennifer's "Huipil" dress ever since I purchased it earlier this summer. It was a mainstay during those long hot months when I wanted to wear something easy and comfortable but needed to feel pulled-together. Happily, the dress continues to be a "go-to", as it still feels right for the smattering of warm days we get in October and when temperatures dip a bit I just throw-on a chunky cardigan over it.

I just love this dress... I do.

The Details:

• Dress -- Ermie
• Necklace -- Homemade
• Shoes -- Marc Jacobs

An Outfit Deconstructed... (Recently Acquired Edition)

If you happen to be keeping up with the things I've acquired this year over on Operation Simplicity, you know that this Ace and Jig v-neck tee is a recent purchase. I'm historically bad about buying something and then letting it hang in my closet a looong time before I actually wear it. It's not a good thing, as I think it indicates that I tend to buy things I'm on the fence about...that I have to marinate on a bit if you will.

My (unscientific) theory is if you buy something you truly love, you want to wear it stat... And in the case of this top, that's what I did. I bought it when Christine and I were setting up for the pop-up shop a couple of weeks ago, and then I wore it that very night to some FNO events. Oh and I've worn it twice since then, so I'm feeling pretty sartorially virtuous on this one.

I love it when that happens.





The Details:

• Top -- Ace and Jig
• Jeans -- Banana Republic
• Necklace -- Vintage
• Handbag -- Derek Lam
• Shoes -- Old Navy

An Outfit (Deconstructed)...

The blissfully cooler weather here in Dallas (it's currently 75 degrees...a welcome break from yesterday's balmy 105!) has prompted me to bust out the jeans and some sturdier tops. I have to say, in terms of clothing, this is my least favorite time of year. It just feels wrong to keep wearing sundresses and the like, and yet it's totally unrealistic to sport sweaters and boots. Add to that the issue of wardrobe fatigue inevitable at the end of a season, and you have the impetus for a lot of, well...totally uninspired outfits.

So, bolstered by the drop in temperatures, I put on something that has yet to see the light of day, despite the fact that I bought it back in June. Granted it's essentially a giant, cozy sweatshirt, which isn't exactly the most practical of purchases for Texas in June, but I had coveted it for a while, so when it went on sale I pulled the trigger. And then I never wore it. (For the record, I'm not sure I would recommend this type of out-of-season, largely impractical shopping, as it rarely yields stellar long-term results, but I digress.)

But friends today I am wearing that possibly ill-advised, bought out-of-season, giant, cozy sweatshirt, and today it's making me feel all sorts of fall goodness.






The Details:

• Top -- Prairie Underground (bought on sale at Beklina)
• Jeans -- Madewell Rail Straight
• Shoes -- Max Studio
• Necklace -- Homemade
• Clutch -- Clare Vivier foldover clutch

Ladies of The Canyon (And Tracking Down a Dress)

Photo: Central Press, Hulton Archive, Getty Images

Between planning Audrey's birthday party and watching an excellent BBC documentary about the L.A. music scene in the '60s and '70s with Bryan earlier this week, I'm having a definite "Ladies of the Canyon" moment.

I also have my own personal history with this particular era...I was a child in Northern California in the mid-'70's with a rock musician father who was playing with some of the icons of the time. Let's just say the whole thing just resonates with me.

A few weeks ago during our trip to Marfa, I met a really cool lady (Karen Longshore) working in one of the shops we visited. She was incredibly kind to the girlies and just really lovely and she was wearing an amazing "ladies of the canyon-esque" dress. I have obsessed about her dress ever since...and it appears I'm not alone, as after I posted a photo (the one below) of her in said dress in my Marfa re-cap, I got tons of e-mails asking about it.

Karen in the obsession--worthy dress.. Nope, that wasn't me...

I figured that level of obsession deserved some investigation, so I e-mailed Karen who happily shared that the dress was a brand called Mogul, which made Indian "festival" dresses in the '70's. Some fevered searching on the interwebs for vintage Mogul dresses led me to this etsy shop and the subsequent purchase of the following dress...



Which is almost the exact. same. dress that Karen was wearing. Man I love the interwebs. So it appears I'm actually having a "Ladies of the Canyon" meets 2011 "conveniences of technology" moment...

An Outfit (Deconstructed)...

My closet is conspicuously devoid of red...

I'm just not a red girl, it's not my color. But a few weeks ago, I wore this outfit to my friend Sam's house for dinner, and my favorite part (besides that cut-out action on the back of the shirt, which I have to say, I really dig) were the little pops of red that made their way into the get-up. They were sneaky -- a little tassel on my Clare Viver clutch, a section of thread on my necklace, some lip gloss, but somehow they made the outfit a little more interesting. All of the sudden it was more than just your standard black skirt/fun shirt combo.

Red...who knew?








The Details:

• Shirt -- Urban Outfitters
• Skirt -- Ann Taylor Loft
• Clutch -- Clare Vivier
• Necklace -- Madewell
• Shoes -- Pollini

An Outfit (Deconstructed)...

Two outfits in a row featuring printed dresses...Watch out, I'm living the crazy life here friends.

This particular frock was a result of the one of the recent shopping expeditions with my mom. Truth be told, we were both a little freaked out by the print...it's pretty intense, but, reasoning that the "meh" I've been feeling about my closet of late might be due to the absence of any excitement to balance out all the black and grey and stripes, I took a risk.

There's also the fact that the dress (despite my general aversion to "loud" clothes) just made me...happy, which is really reason enough to take the plunge, yes?

Ok, the details:

• Dress -- Madewell
• Yellow & White Bead Necklace -- Madewell
• Gold Necklace -- Vintage
• Bag -- Vintage Coach
• Shoes -- J. Crew

An Outfit (Deconstructed)...

I'm feeling pretty meh about my closet of late, so I'm going (way) out on a limb with this one... My objective (yes, I sometimes have "objectives" when I'm putting an outfit together, I know, I have issues) was to wear something that felt a bit risky for me. I think this qualifies.

First and foremost, it's a dress worn without pants (I usually wear this belted over black skinny cropped pants from the Gap so this is a major departure). Second, it's short and printed, both of which are decidedly outside my comfort zone. And finally, instead of pairing the short printed dress with a simple gold necklace as is my wont, I decided to throw on Audrey's hot pink grosgrain ribbon adorned Crewcuts necklace...

I'm living on the edge here people.

But back to the closet for a minute (as that's what instigated this whole crazy-town outfit in the first place)... I am truly having issues. Namely, I hate everything in there. Not sure if this is a valid emotion or if I'm just in a mid-summer clothing funk, but regardless I need to take some action, as getting dressed each day is much harder than it should be.

I think the first logical step toward remedying the situation is a ruthless closet edit. I'm ok with the concept overall, as I'm always happy to get rid of massive amounts of stuff, but what's daunting is finding the time to actually try everything on, assess it and then take some sort of corresponding action. The project just feels so big that it has me sort of paralyzed with inaction. Does this ever happen to you, where you get so overwhelmed by a project that you don't know where to start, so instead you do nothing (except complain) or is it just me?

Can you tell that I'm feeling the need for some solidarity...






The Details:

• Dress -- Madewell


• Wedges -- Old Navy


• Necklace -- Crewcuts

Two Outfits (Deconstructed)...

I'm a bit of a creature of habit when it comes to outfit construction. My childhood dream was to go to a private all-girls school, not for the promise of a top-notch education but because I could wear a uniform. Bliss.

I do try; but not wearing the same thing every day takes a concerted effort, and when I just can't pull it off I tend to rely on "mixing-up" my accessories to create the illusion of change (even if I've actually been wearing the same black shirt or dress, or pants for three days running...thus my love of a good necklace).

But lately I've sort of flipped my strategy a bit and instead of mixing up the accessories, I've been mixing up the clothes (!) and keeping the extras consistent. (First the red lipstick, now this...I'm livin' la vida loca here friends). This week's outfits (a twofer!) are an example of my daring new approach...or they're just evidence of my immense fondness for the turquoise necklace and slouchy hobo bag. You decide. ;-)

p.s. -- I'm giving you a glimpse of the "double denim".








The Details...

Outfit One:
Dress -- C&C California
Wedges -- Marc Jacobs
Snakeskin Hobo -- Bought from a friend
Turquoise Necklace -- Simply Livly

Outfit Two:
Chambray Shirt -- J. Crew
Jeans -- Gap
Shoes -- Givenchy
Snakeskin Hobo -- Bought from a friend
Turquoise Necklace -- Simply Livly

An Outfit (Deconstructed)...

Something interesting has happened over the past couple of months in terms of how I approach shopping:

I have become way, way more selective.

Admittedly, this is a good thing, and honestly it's something I've been working on...hard, so I'm psyched to see it actually happening. It's sort of empowering to realize I'm not really excited by impulse purchases. It feels prudent and healthy that I've pondered seriously (and in some cases obsessed over wildly) most everything I've acquired of late.

Three of the items in this outfit post fall into that "prudent" category... First and foremost, there's the bag -- the Clare Vivier "La Trop". I've thought about this bag ad naseum for the past year and finally took the plunge. I love it. LOVE. Every time I sling that bag over my shoulder, it makes me happy. A sign of a good purchase for sure. Then there's the J. Crew Beatrice blouse that I couldn't seem to stop thinking about after blogging about it here and then pinning it here. Even that Laura Lombardi necklace sat on my wish list where I peeked at it non-stop before finally pulling the trigger. I wear it almost every day. It's my go-to necklace.

I'm making progress friends. It's good stuff.

So, I'd love to know... what's the best purchase you've made of late. What have you bought recently that you completely and utterly love???

And on another note, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the kind words on yesterday's post. You made Bob's (and my) day. I really do have the loveliest readers. You guys rock!

The Details:

• Blouse -- J. Crew (cheaper in the store)
  
• Jeans -- Gap Always Skinny
  
• Bag -- Clare Vivier La Tropézienne via Pretty Mommy
  
• Necklace -- Laura Lombardi via Pretty Mommy
  
• Wedges -- J. Crew

An Outfit (Deconstructed)...

I realized two things recently:

1. I haven't done an outfit post in a while.


2. I might be in the midst of a slight obsession with (wait for it) peach and dusky blue. Oh ok, it could also be camel and slate or orange and cobalt, but peach is just so much more scandalous, don't you think?

Some evidence of the latter (in no particular order):

• This loving list...


• Most of my recent purchases...


• My living room, den and bedroom (pictured below)

And finally (you knew I'd get to it eventually), the outfit featured in this post...

The Details:

• Cardigan -- J. Crew
• Dress -- J. Crew
• Necklace -- Vintage
• Shoes -- Target (I know, I know)
• Clutch -- Clare Vivier