Cobbler Friday

This outfit is from two Fridays ago... I'm keeping track I promise.

If I had know how my day was going to go after taking these pictures in the morning I might not have been as happy. Instead I would have had a look of fierce determination. Why? Well, if you follow me on Instagram and/or Twitter (like you should) you would have gotten the blow by blow of those lovely shoes I was wearing completely falling apart as I tried to make it from the train station to my office and go about my day as regularly as possible. I'm glad that, against all odds, I was able to find these shoes but, I am sad that apparently they are not built to last. Hubby has performed his at home cobbler magic and hopefully it works so that I can use them but, we shall see.

• Top: beige/metallic striped sweater, Ella Moss via Ashby
• Bottom: skinny jeans, Forever 21
• Shoes & Accessories: silver gladiator sandals, Isaac Mizrahi via Buffalo Exchange; coin pearl necklace, V'ta jewelry; coin pearl earrings, gift from Mom

I most recently wore this shirt here.

Night Out: Blaze

Even though work was crazy I did manage to have some fun! One of the things that I did during that Fall was attend a festive event called the Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze. It's north of NYC in the Hudson Valley and features thousands of hand carved pumpkins set up in intricate scenes while you walk through and take in the slightly creepy but, utterly amazing spectacle. It's a fun thing to do around Halloween if you are looking for something festive but, want to avoid the creepy haunted houses/trick or treating. Check it out... 

Luckily for me, the date that we acquired tickets happened to coincide with a casual Friday. There was no need to rush home and change or pack an extra outfit which was convenient. It ended up being an extremely tepid night and the blazer was all I needed. It was also extremely humid because of earlier precipitation and my previously styled hair (thanks to Salon Caru in Hoboken) formed loose curls which I totally loved. All in all it was a fantastic (and stylish) night! 

• Top: yellow floral patterned sweater, Dana Buchman for Kohl's; black and white pinstripe blazer, Calvin Klein via SYMS (part of this suit)
• Bottom: skinny jeans, Forever21
• Shoes & Accessories: black Madison Heights Tall Boots, Timberland via Zappos; coin pearl necklace, V'ta jewelry; coin pearl earrings, borrowed from Mom then altered by me; Neverfull GM, Louis Vuitton/gift from BF

Weekend Wear: Swap Style

Weekends often consist of errands, shopping, and other boring things like that but, occasionally there is something fun happening or I am wearing an outfit that I want to share. This was an outfit that I wore to my first clothing swap (among other errands, etc.) Overall the experience of the swap was alright but, your "shopping" success at any swap is entirely contingent on the other people that are attending being your size. That was not really the case in this instance, even though I am in the sweet spot in the overlap of regular and plus size, and I didn't have much luck finding items for myself. 

The other reason that I wouldn't label this experience a rousing success was because there were some unpleasant people there. There were loud complainers, line cutters, and hoarders (AKA I am going to grab everything and sort it out in the corner later). I even got into a "Filene's Basement wedding dress sale" like battle with a woman over a dress that she grabbed after I grabbed it. By battle I mean we exchanged words and then she huffed away. After everything, I think swapping is a great idea but, knowing what you are getting yourself into is the first step... what kind of items will be there? will there be items in your size? how many other people will be there? If the answers to those questions aren't favorable then it isn't worth your time. Has anyone been to a swap? Have you held your own swap? How was the experience for you? 

• Top: black and white polka dot dress, Forever 21 via The Big Fat Flea
• Shoes & Accessories: red Bridget Thong Sandal, LOFT/gift from mom; pearl earrings, Macys/gift from Mom; silver watch, Fossil; cherry print tote, Luella for Target

Don't forget to enter to win a $75 gift certificate from Shabby Apple!

October 1, 2011: Black, White, and Light Layers

Yeah, I've been having some issues keeping up with blogging. October is a new month and I am ready to get back on track without getting ahead of myself (I hope.) One of the biggest challenges I am facing in regards to getting dress is the weather. I wake up in the morning and it's cold but, by the end of the day it is extremely warm. Also, I was pretty darn sick and am still getting over the remnants of my illness so, these seemingly subtle changes in temperature are very noticeable to me. 

My solution for now is light tops and a jackets/cardi with a pashmina in my purse in case I need additional warmth. Have you come down with the rando cold/flu that is plaguing the general population right now? How are you handling the change in the weather?

• Top: black and white polka dot dress, Forever 21 via The Big Fat Flea; black and white pinstripe blazer, Calvin Klein (part of this suit)
• Shoes & Accessories: red patent leather flats, Payless; pearl earrings, gift from Mom/Macys; silver watch, Fossil; Neverfull GM, Louis Vuitton/gift from BF

Items from this outfit are previously seen and remixed here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a New York Fashion Week Swag Bundle!

Purchases and Acquisitions: April 2012

­­­­This month I went shopping with a vengeance! Also, my Mom got me some stuff but, I digress... I had a goal in mind (suits) but, tragedy stuck and in the short span of two days I was down one pair of skinny jeans and one pair of skinny pants. While neither of those items are work necessities they are some of the things I wear most on the weekends. The universe was telling me to go shopping.

I went shopping for replacement jeans with one of my close friends (who stuck with me the whole time, love ya!) the weekend after tragedy struck twice. While I wasn’t 100% on board with the idea of going shopping I knew I needed to replace my broken pants. We went to a ton of stores, trying on lots of different types/brands of jeans. Naturally, the ones that I was most comfortable in were at the last store that we went to, Forever 21. I know, I know… it isn’t where I would have thought either but, I’m glad I checked it out because I’m happy with what I got in the end. They had a great pair of dark wash skinny jeans for only $13.50! I bought two with a Visa gift card I had been holding on to. I also hit the GAP and bought another pair of pants to replace my ripped ones. Ouch, 'nuff said.

Next weekend the next stop on my shopping extravaganza was the Unique Thrift Store near my house. While I had every intention of going there to pick out more suits it ended up being a total bust on that front. I did, however, end up finding two lovely vintage dresses that fit perfectly for $4.99 each! I had no doubts or reservations in my mind as I headed to the register to check out, the shopping bug had caught me! I tried to pay for the total with some Unique Thrift Store gift cards that I had received for placing in their costume contest this past October but, they didn’t work… thanks? Fortunately I had another Visa gift card that I have been holding on to and there were no issues with that.

Then I took a short trip down the block to my local Loehmanns to check out their suit selection. I have had great success finding suits there in the past so, it was a  no brainer! After sifting through the racks of suits I found a Tahari suit that really worked for me (high stance, shorter jacket, etc.). I had a coupon so the $99.99 price tag (down from $280.00 MSRP) was whittled down a little more to $79.99 total. WIN? Either way my Mom took pity on my situation and helped me out with that one, thanks Mom!

Unfortunately, the jeans that I bought at Forever 21 ended up being too big even after I washed them. They were a little loose at the store but, I figured one go around in the washing machine and they would be perfect. Wrong, they were still falling off. So I had to go exchange/return them for a different pair. Thankfully, I ended up finding something that worked even better: jeans with an elastic waistband. Yes, they are a hop, skip, and jump away from being pajama jeans. Yes, I’m ok with that. They fit well and are super comfortable! Even better they were only $11.50!! So, I exchanged one pair of the larger jeans for two pairs of the smaller ones. In the same trip I also returned the GAP pants since I was able to patch up my broken pair, more on that later.

Since I had a coupon for Old Navy and some dresses that I had pinned on Pinterest in my mind I decided to stop by and see if I could find them. I used to shop for EVERYTHING at Old Navy but, my tastes (and their quality) have shifted so, I normally don’t give them alot of thought. They didn’t have what I wanted but, I did find a different dress that I liked on sale. When it fit I decided to go for it since the coupon and a gift card made it an easy purchase.

While at the mall I also decided to try Macy’s for a suit since they were having one of their sales and I had yet another coupon. I ended up finding another suit with a fantastic pattern that I’m sure you will be seeing soon! Don’t get too excited it’s still very work appropriate but, I digress… I had some gift cards and merchandise credits on top of the coupon so with all of the discounts combined the $69.99 suit (down from $260.00) ended up coming out to $10.27 which I paid for with the balance on one of my Visa gift cards.

Shopping Overview:

• Unique Thrift Store
• $9.98  Gift Card - $0
• Loehmanns
• $79.99 after coupon  Mom - $0
• Forever 21
• $36.50  Gift Card - $0
• Gap
• $62.10 Return
• Old Navy
• $9.75 after coupon  Gift Card - $0
• Macy’s
• $10.27 after coupon  Gift Card -$0

In the end I ended up getting a whole bunch of new needed stuff for no money out of my normal income. That was partly due to the fact that I returned the replacement skinny pants from the GAP since I was able to find away to make it work and my gift card hoarding tendencies. I don’t think I will be shopping like this again for a while. That’s not to say that I am done beefing up my suit selection, I just need to replenish my gift card reserves…

           

September 9, 2010: WWW - Classic Prints

This might be Wardrobe Workhorse Week but, it's also Iris Workhorse Week (witty, I know) at my job just in case you couldn't tell from the look on my face... It has been non-stop. All I can say is that I hope it lightens up a little bit so I can get back to my early morning posting and legitimate witty repartee.

One of my biggest personal challenges when it comes to putting together outfits (besides the obvious) is pattern mixing. I have made a point to make this phenomenon a more regular thing and I would like to think that I have become more adept at it as this personal style blog has progressed. One of the things that I always count on when pattern mixing is the ease of utilyzing more classic patterns: argyle, animal print, polks dots, pinstripes, brenton stripes, actually any kind of stripes but, I digress... I have started to rely heavily on these prints in my pattern mixing attempts and today is no exception!

• Top: cream, yellow, and brown argyle sweater, GAP
• Bottom: gray pencil skirt, New York and Company (this could be a Wardrobe Workhorse as well)
• Shoes & Accessories: silver beaded flip flops (because apparently they might be allowed at work according to our new policy handbook. I'm waiting for someone to tell me different) Xhiliration via Target; green and black striped infinity scarf, Forever 21/BF gift from my awesome friend Alex. Sorry, I didn't get a detail shot of this but, it looks really cute; silver bead earrings, Tiffany & Co. (another Wardrobe Workhorse); blue Foley + Corrina City Clutch gifted via Plaza Too (the same goes for this)

Items from this outfit are previously seen here, here, here, here, here and here:

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