Fancy Footwear

I always love it when my shoes are the focal point of my outfit, as they obviously are in this all-black ensemble with green boots just for kicks.

I would never buy such an un-versatile pair of shoes unless it was dirt cheap, and these ones were, purchased from ShoeDazzle at the end of the season for around 10 dollars. They were my Valentine's Day present to myself, and I love them. Even though they are supposed to be "green" but everyone says they're aqua.

Just to keep the overall look from being too bottom-heavy, I added in a teal pendant to bring some attention back to my head.

Retail Therapy for the Winter Blahs

Q: What do you do when you're sick to death of cold weather, but it just won't go away?
A: Buy more winter clothes! A wardrobe refresher can make even dressing like an Eskimo fun again!

Yesterday, I had a simple shopping mission: get some croissant dough for a potluck. While I was out, I saw that Rainbow had dropped the prices on their winter shoes down to 10 dollars (more on that later!), so I had to stop in.

And I left with this dusky pink swing cardigan. It's a style I'd been contemplating adding to my wardrobe for a while, and when I found one for 5 dollars, I knew the time was now! I also bought a tan one, but after I took it home, I realized I have a lot of tan overlayers, and I'll probably return it the next time I'm out.

Assembling an outfit with this cardigan in it was a simple case of maximizing the monochrome—I wore it with a pink tank top and pink shoes. All are slightly different shades, but they pair up nicely.

I tried every pair of pants imaginable: black, khaki, and grey, but ultimately went with the dark brown because it contrasted with the pastel shades of the sweater while complementing its neutral hue.

I also had a go at wrapping the base of my ponytail with my hair, like they do in all the hairstyle tutorials. Let me tell you, it's harder than they make it seem! My wrap had fallen out within 20 minutes, and after 2 attempts at redoing it, I gave up.

Oh well, at least I had a nice sweater.

Just So Boho

You know me, I'm a wordy Unfashionista, but I think this outfit speaks for itself, so I'll keep my commentary to one sentence.

Look o' the Irish

I love the color green. My favorite colors come and go, but green always stays close to the top of the list. And I just recently acquired two new green articles of clothing that I had yet to wear, so naturally I was pretty thrilled when Saint Patrick's Day rolled around.

I wore them both together in one verdant outfit that could only be described as magical! I'd like to add that I also wore some leg warmers, which I haven't had the guts to put on since last year since they seem to have already gone out of style—but I saw someone else sporting some just today, so I guess they haven't completely lost their charm yet.

I wish I could tell you how the public reacted to this outfit, but alas, the public never saw it. My St. Patrick's Day evening was spent waiting in the subway, riding in a car, looking for parking, sitting in an deserted pizza restaurant, arriving at a bar just as it was closing, and finally going home.

Pants is not a four-letter word

After years of only feeling pretty when wearing a skirt or dress, I seem to be on a pants kick. Maybe it's the fact that I've had it up to here (here = higher than my waistband) with winter and just want to be warm! But in any case, I'm wearing a lot of pants.

The first time I wore this sweater dress (back when I worked in a grocery store), one of my coworkers told me, "I like your dress!" Dress? Up until that point, I'd just thought of it as an extra-long sweater. And I was wearing it with jeans.

Well, once I started working in an office and my wardrobe no longer had to be limited to what was "sensible," I never wore this dress over pants again (leggings, yes). But of all my dresses, it is the best candidate for being worn over pants, thanks to its somewhat shorter length. So that's what I did with it.

Choosing a pair of pink pants and matching pink jewelry (and also being pretty pleased with my hair after taking it out of a French braid), I had a pants-based outfit that, again, made me happier than any frilly frock I  might have pulled out of my closet.

Go Brown!

I never thought I'd get excited over an all-brown outfit that prominently featured tapered pants, but if there's one thing I've learned from writing this blog, it's that you should never say never.

When I planned out my outfit on Sunday, it featured a dress, but I was so unenthusiastic about that, I had to rethink it. What I came up with made me so excited, I could hardly wait for Monday to arrive!

Yes, I was trembling with anticipation of wearing khaki pants. I guess partly the excitement was due to the new shoes, which I purchased for a mere 5$ (to finally replace the vegan shoes that proved unrepairable over a year ago). And partly the pants, which, even though they are plain old khakis, are new enough to be exciting. Plus I'm still feeling my way around the idea of pants that are wider at the top than the bottom, so this conservative outfit felt, to me at least, like a style experiment!

I did wear a blazer over the top of it, at least for my bike ride into the office, but I then proceeded to hang the blazer on the back of my door all day and leave it there when I went home.

Another Fabulous Thrift Store Find

The last time I found a pair of boots at the thrift store, I just about died of happiness. But within a few months of making that purchase, I realized my amazing boots were unforgivably out of style. They had the bulging, oversized toe of the late 90's, and after wearing them a few times, I no longer could stand to, because they made my feet look too fat.

Luckily for me, I recently ran across another pair of boots at the thrift store. Similarly brown, similarly fur-lined, but slightly newer with a more modern profile. And, at $7.50, they cost even less than the last pair!

Like many of the clothes I buy, they needed some heavy alteration. The faux shearling looked like it had the mange, so I ended up trimming most of it off. But after that, I was proud to have a pair of boots that I could wear for years to come! Or at least, until next winter, when I realize fashion has evolved too much again.

The dress, I just want to add quickly, was an eBay purchase that was less successfully restored to usability. When it arrived, I was disappointed to see the fabric covered with scruff and pills. Though I did my best to shave it clean (as per my foolproof fabric rejuvenation method), it still was barely passable. I probably won't wear it but one season.