The Hunt for Red

 

I've been trying hard to acquire a  pair of red shoes, because I just want them, that's why! Unfortunately, this has proved harder than you might imagine, as it took me several months of failures before I finally succeeded (read: gave up).

Burgundy rose-toed shoes (7$ at Goodwill) - I bought these way back in May, when I first got the inkling that I needed red shoes. I allowed myself to be satisfied with them for months, until I finally decided that burgundy is not red. And I needed to start shopping again.

Red peep-toe transparent sole wedges ($9.05 on Shoedazzle) - A whole lot of discounts conspired to get me these 49$ shoes for under 10. I was instantly in love with them—a bright wild red with see-through ombre platforms with a graceful curve in the back. Unfortunately, the love didn't transfer to real life, as they were too narrow to buy in my size, so I ended up with too-long shoes that always looked stupid on my feet. I wore them twice and then gave up, thinking I should sell them while they were still hot. Unfortunately it didn't work that way, and they're still siting in my eBay pile, waiting for a buyer.

Red suede-like ruffled pumps ($9.02 on eBay) -  I'm looking for fire-engine-red, ruby-red, scarlet, but apparently not "biking red", which I discovered as soon as I got these. They're not a bad pair of shoes, but they're so similar to the rose-toed shoes that I decided to let these go as they were in a better condition to sell, and the others seemed to match my clothes better. I only lost a dollar after reselling them on eBay.

Red loafer-style canvas wedges ($8.15 on eBay) - Even though these were obviously not red enough for my needs, I bid on them because I liked the two-tone thing, and I thought they were unique yet sneakily similar to the smoking slippers* that I've been seeing a lot. I also thought they'd make a nice casual shoe with a bit of lift, for when I want to wear longer jeans. Sadly, they crowd my toes a bit, which doesn't make them the walking shoes I had dreamed of. They're on my "To-sell" table as I type.

Red platform heels (17$ on eBay) - Yikes, I paid a lot for these! But I finally got a shade of red I can accept. It's just that now, I think I would have preferred a patent leather to a slightly worn-looking faux suede. Especially one with a wobbly heel. The seller gave me a partial refund, and I'm still trying to find a buyer to take these off my hands.

Red peep-toe velvet shoes (10$ at Rugged Wearhouse) - I know very well that peep toes look dumb on me, but when confronted with a 10$ pair in just the right shade and the raw desperation to get red shoes, I couldn't restrain myself. I regretted it as soon as I got home, but by then I had lost the receipt.

*The linguist in me would like to point you to a blog post I found about the definition and origin of the "smoking slipper." http://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2012/11/fashion-word-watch-smoking-slipper.html

Boots Under Cover

I've always thought that boots and skirts should be worn with a gap between them. I think it has something to do with wanting to prove that there are real legs under all that fabric, and I'm not just a human made out of pillows. In my mind, boots worn under a skirt are the sort of thing you might see on a Victorian bag lady.

However, lately I've been embracing the dowdy silhouette, because, let's face it, it's warm! I've done my fair share of sacrifice in the name of style, but I'm frankly tired of spending all day at work in a semi-coma because I'm too cold to move because I've got bare knees in December.

So there!

DIY Wire-Wrapped Pendant

When I acquire new jewelry, I put it in a basket on top of my wardrobe, to keep it separate from my old jewelry, until the first time I wear it. If it sits around in the basket for months, I know that it is of very limited use to me, and I might consider reselling it.

A certain pink agate pendant I bought from eBay landed there in April and sat there all the way through October, at which point, I finally realized I just didn't like it! There were a number of reasons for this. I had bought it primarily because I didn't have any pastel pink jewelry (except for a necklace set that was too fancy to wear with much of anything), but when I got it, I found it was less the powdery pink that I'd been expecting, and more of an uncooked-meat pink with purplish undertones. It wasn't an easy-to-wear color.

On top of that, I didn't like the setting. Though I foolishly didn't take any pictures before I went all DIY on it, it looked kind of like this picture here. It had a silver backing and 4 silver claws that reached around the outside edge to hold it onto the backing. The claws were really obtrusive, it looked unfinished and ungainly, and I just didn't want to wear it!

But I had paid a good $3.44 for it, and I certainly wasn't going to make that much reselling it, so I decided to try and make it more wearable before I gave up on it for good.

I've seen wire-wrapped jewelry before and always been a fan, so I decided to give it a try. The choice between silver and gold wire puzzled me for a second. Eventually I went with gold, mainly because I use it less and would like to get rid of the spool of gold wire that is unraveling itself all over my jewelry-making drawer. But I'm glad I chose the gold, because part of the problem with the original pendant was that it looked sickly on its silver backing. I think gold is a much better setting for this particular hue of stone.

To wrap it, I just pressed the wire into the back, and kept turning the pendant over until the wire was wrapped around it enough times to hold the loose end in. Then I kept wrapping until I felt like I was done. I cut the wire at the other end and wove it through the mess of wires on the back to lock it into place.

Then I took another short piece of wire, wove it into the back the same way, and twisted it into a loop through which I threaded the jewelry chain.

I have a feeling this is a very precarious arrangement. Already, one of the top strands of wire is lifting off the stone. I probably won't be able to wear this necklace more than once or twice, but for now, it's an improvement over being unable to wear it at all.

So it came out in public for the first time today. I paired it with a new blouse I just acquired in an eBay lot, a big brown corduroy skirt, and tall brown boots.

An Alternative to Staples

 

As soon as I pulled this dress out of my closet, I thought two things:
1) It's so boring and grey! and 2) It has a hole in it.

The hole was from the staples I used to hold it up the first time I wore it. But that gave me an idea—why not wear it with another layer underneath, which will not only mitigate the excessive droop of the neckline, but also add some color to make it less boring and grey?

The logical color for this under-layer was teal, which would also allow me to wear my bold & beautiful blue-green boots.

And, I had extra time to get ready this morning, so I did makeup to match (the nails are leftovers from Halloween). When I got to the office, I added a long glass beaded necklace, which I forgot to wear when I posed for the first picture at home!

What will I pair with black next time?

Black and ___ is my fallback color scheme whenever I just can't muster the effort to put together something more artistic.

But when I do go with black and blank, I go all the way. So naturally when I put on a black and red dress, I don't go halfway with the accessorizing. I wore red tights and black boots and a black duster.

To really mix things up, I put on a silver and white necklace. I wish I'd had plain silver, but I really don't. Need to work on incorporating some simple basics into my jewelry collection.

Do not, on the other hand, need to work any more shoes into my collection. The black boots are just one of many pairs of relatively new shoes that have not yet made an appearance on this blog (I can count 5 others that are still waiting to even be worn). I bought them for a song at Goodwill while on a business trip in Portland (this was the morning after I broke the heel on the black shoes I'd brought with me, so they were a natural replacement), but after wearing them the whole day, I'm pretty certain they don't go well with bare legs or tights. They make my ankles look too scrawny. I think from now on I'll try to wear them over socks or jeans.

Buttoning Up

Today's jacket outfit is a summery sundress, autumned up by suede boots and a denim blazer.

I wasn't sure how to wear the blazer: open, partially buttoned, or buttoned all the way, so I took pictures of all three looks and let the camera tell the truth.

This jacket is too big to be worn unbuttoned all the way. It swims around me, which, in conjunction with the shapeless maxi dress, gives a very dowdy appearance. Nonetheless, this was how I wore it all day, because it was just too warm in my office to wear my jacket buttoned.

With one button buttoned, it looks, well, just plain silly. This jacket has the unique feature of having the top button exposed but the bottom two hidden behind a layer of fabric. So buttoning only one, be it the top or the middle, both created the odd illusion of a missing button. Plus, buttoning only the top did not help the fit problem mentioned above.

Buttoning all the buttons proved to be my favorite of the three options. It gathered in the blazer for a more streamlined look, and although I still find only one button visible at the top to be a weird way to wear your jacket, it was better than the even weirder way it looked with just one buttoned.

There's no single way to decide whether to wear your jackets open, closed, or partially closed. But the choice can have a huge impact on how you look, so consider it wisely!

I did learn one other thing from wearing this outfit. Don't wear suede boots with a long dress made of clingy fabric. The one will constantly adhere to the other, giving you a static problem that no amount of fabric softener can cure!

Green for Halloween

My officemates dressed collectively as a rainbow for Halloween, and I was my favorite color to wear (second to pink, which isn't in the traditional rainbow)—green!

This post is just for fun – unsurprisingly I am not proud of the green polo shirt which is clearly too small – but it amuses me to combine a lot of the same color into one outfit at any rate, and Halloween is the perfect excuse to really take it over the top! I would have worn green pants, too, but since not everyone could come up with a full outfit in their chosen color, we agreed to just wear blue jeans.

I posed next to my bike, because it's Greenie!