A Shirt Dress and Styling I Really Like

It took me a long time to find shirt dresses I really like, but Walmart and Beyonce's mom delivered with this one and its rust-colored mate. I'd rather have a litle nicer fabric, but they are the best shirt dresses I've found yet.  I particularly like it with leggings because the result is comfortable and reasonably chic.

Dress, Miss Tina, Walmart; leggings, Faded Glory, Walmart; belt, thrifted; shoes, Christmas Tree Shops; earrings handmade by me.

I'm still trying to figure out how to style this hair.  So far I've figured out that slightly dirty hair styles better than freshly washed.  I am terrible at styling hair.

I'm wearing leopard shoes, leggings, and belt.  The cashier at Costco said I must really like leopard, and she was right!

Blue Suede Shoes

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen this photo posted last week.  My friend and coworker Holly and I coordinated to wear our blue suede shoes on the same day.  We cajoled another coworker's boyfriend to take a picture of our stylish feet.

Jacket, thrifted; tee, Walmart; skirt, Target; tights, Target; booties, Rack Room Shoes; necklace, ebay; earrings, Claire's; glasses, Firmoo.com.

 

Stephen told me I looked very professional.  It must be the jacket or the glasses.  Glasses always make you look more serious and professional.  It definitely isn't the shoes.

 

I love these glasses from Firmoo.com and they were insanely affordable.  I caught them with a "take 60% off your entire purchase" coupon, so these plus a pair of prescription sunglasses were only around $50 total.  They're leopard print-ish, so they'll go with a lot of my wardrobe.

 

 

Almost Accidental

I really like my sartorial "rule of threes."  One is a statement, two could be an oversight, three is a battle cry.  Or something like that.  I intentionally paired this lion-head necklace with grey leopard tights, but, since there are only two examples of big cat pride in this ensemble, it might as well be an accident.

Whenever possible, crop the pug into
the frame.

Sweater, Walmart; skirt, thrifted; tights, Walmart; boots, Rack Room Shoes; earrings, Claire's; necklace, ebay.

 

Say goodbye to my old glasses.  I have had them for at least four years, but they've never been a first choice when compared with contacts.  I've recently added fours pairs of new prescription glasses to my wardrobe, and I like them enough to wear them before my eyes feel like they're falling out.

 

I had more fun with this than the typical black and grey outfit.  The feline touches and buckle-detailed boots added interest to an otherwise boring color palette.

Fun-ctional

It's not too often that an outfit really puts the fun in functional for me, but this one does.  The jacket is jersey.  The pants are denim.  The shoes are sneakers.  This is a comfortable, do whatever outfit, but it also has stripes, leopard, pattern mixing and hot peppers.

 

Jacket, Target; jeans, Sam's Club; shoes, Target; earrings, Claire's; necklace, Fire Mountain Gems.

What is wrong with my arms in this
picture? They look too long.

 



I recently replaced the original white shoe laces in these shoes with red ones.  This was an excellent decision.  Learn from my wisdom.

 

Not the Postman

I am obviously not the postman.  For one thing, I'm not a man.  Also, rain, snow, ice, power outages, and earthquakes will all keep me from my task.  I had extended time away from both my real work and blogging.  Now I'm back and ready to catch up on some of my lost outfits.

 

Glasses, Costco; dress, ebay; shirt, thrifted; tights, Walmart; shoes, Target; earrings, Claire's; necklace, ebay.

 

I just love these new glasses.  I wanted to pick something that would encourage me to wear glasses more and give my eyes a break from contacts.  I found these and another pair at Costco, and I ordered another pair and a pair of sunglasses from Firmoo.com. I especially love these.  The rest of the outfit plays a supporting role to the glasses.  When two leopard prints, patterned tights, and a giant centipede necklace can play second fiddle to a pair of glasses, those are the glasses for me. 

What's New Pussycat?

This dress is covered in a print of tiny Siamese cats.  I liked it so much I bought one for myself and one for my sister.  Some might say we're a little old for matching sister outfits.  I think they're wrong... and we live across the country from each other anyway.

 

Sweater, thrifted; scarf, from my grandmother; dress, Target; tights, Target; boots, Rack Room Shoes; earrings, gifted (thanks Sue & Kristin!).

 

I tied the pink and tan tones in the dress with grey and tan accessories.  The scarf has both grey and tan, so it ties all the colors together.

Sneak peek of Wonton.

 


I spent all day thinking that if I somehow wore this dress on the main stage of RuPaul's Drag Race (unlikely because I'm a cisgender woman), one of the judges would undoubtedly tell me my cats are showing.

Side Saddle

This is one of my favorite outfits, so it gets a fair bit of wear in assorted variations.  I had an impromptu girls' night with a few of my friends recently, and I immediately reached for this equestrian-themed standby.  The outfit was great.  The photography... it was a little sideways.

 

Shrug, gifted; dress, Target; belt, thrifted; tights, Target; boots, thrifted; earrings, gifted (thanks Sue/Kristin!).

 

I wish I had noticed that my tripod was cockeyed before I started, but this dress has too much horsepower to be bogged down by crooked photos.

Bear Chested

Sometimes I come up with a post title and think "I shouldn't use this.  It will attract the wrong kind of traffic."  Hopefully people will realize that this outfit is "bear" not "bare" chested.

 

Sweater, gifted (thanks Pop and Laura!); red jeans, Sam's Club; shoes, Younkers; earrings, gifted (thanks, Natalie!); watch, gifted (thanks Pop!).

Spot the Boston terrier.

 


When I first took these photos I was in a foul mood, and I thought they turned out horribly.  Now that I'm looking at them with happier eyes, I think the cuteness is bear-ly contained.

 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Pattern Mixing

I am so far behind in my OOTD posts, it almost seems futile.  Almost, but not quite.  I've put together some enjoyable outfits in the past couple weeks, but if no one on the internet sees them, did they even really happen?

Take this masterful pairing of leopard and plaid. This feels like Christmas to me.  I'm certainly not the first to pair these two prints, but I'm still surprise by how nicely they go together.

 

Sweater, thrifted; skirt, thrifted; belt, thrifted; boots, Target; necklace, thrifted; fishing lure bracelet and earrings, handmade by me (instructions here).

 

I took these photos after work in terrible lighting, so they didn't do justice to the glory of this pairing.  At least I have photographic evidence that it works (for me) that I can use next time I'm looking for a good pattern mix.