Jeans-free June: a roundup

    For the month of June, I challenged myself to not wear jeans/pants and wear only skirts, dresses, and the occasional pair of shorts. Here are a few things I learned:

 

Planet Gold ivory and gray dress; Old Navy green dress; Trina Turk maxi

Dresses = minimum effort, maximum effect. They're easy to put on (with the exception of the sticky zipper on the ivory and gray dress), and hard to mess up (no tricky pairing up of separates). Add some accessories or even the right belt, and the look is polished, easy and comfortable. I think the 3 outfits above are my favorites for the month. :)

CK pencil skirt paired with: Charter Club tunic; Yoshitomo Nara tee; CK top

A good pencil skirt is the chameleon of my closet, going just as well with a fun graphic tee as with a dressier top.  The longer length is perfect for work (I spent June sitting on an itty-bitty chair for daily read-alouds, so the longer length is appreciated) and the high waist is flattering. 

BR embellished top; wide green stripes; sheer duster; scarf as a belt    

Experimentation is essential. Ditching the jeans and pants for a month helped me play around a bit more with my clothes. While some were more miss than hit, it was fun to try some different combinations. 

The end result: My monthlong challenge let me use some neglected items in my closet, and showed me how comfortable and polished a good skirt and dress can be. I'll confess that I wore my turquoise pants on July 1 to celebrate the end of the challenge -- but I know I will definitely be wearing my skirts and dresses more often. 

Try-it-out Tuesday: tunic, tucked in

   I've had a rather limited imagination when it comes to styling tunics -- I've always pictured them paired with skinny jeans. Then I came across Gracey's masterful styling of her black pencil skirt, and the idea of tucking this tunic into a pencil skirt was born. I think it was the cheerful scarf print of Gracey's shirt that reminded me of my tunic. Last weekend the ironing gods deemed it necessary auspicious to iron, so the tunic finally graduated from the to-iron box to the closet.

Charter Club tunic, Macy's

petite pencil skirt, CK Outlet

     While this is long-sleeved, it's a light cotton, and I happened to wear this on a rare gray, rainy and windy day.
      This pencil skirt turned out to be a real workhorse during Jeans-free June! I only get to the CK outlet store about once a year, but the next time I go, I will definitely see whether I can add another pencil skirt to my closet.
     Happy Tuesday!

two bananas walk into a classroom ...

    Punch line, anyone? If you feel so inspired, leave me a punch line in the comments ... :)
    It's not intentional, but this is the second outfit I've posted lately that features two items from the same company.

Embellished top and skirt, Banana Republic

pearl bracelet, HauteLook

blue sparkly bracelet, gifted

cord and seed bead bracelet, DIY

  
     There is a very pretty ribbon tie in the back of this top that I'm sure I tied horribly. I didn't even attempt to photograph it -- but perhaps next time Erin will lend me her drunken gnomes as photographers.

     A few sparkly bracelets always make work outfits a little more fun. ...

Try-it-out Tuesday: centerpiece bag

     The bag I'm carrying is, 99% of the time, an afterthought. However, I won this lovely Purse & Clutch bag from Joanne of Fabulously Average and decided that it should be the starting point of my Father's Day (gosh, that seems like so long ago!) lunch outfit.

Planet Gold dress, Macy's (old)

bird classic clutch, giveaway win from Joanne of Fabulously Average

rhodium door hinge bracelet, Iolani Palace

sparkly blue bracelet, gifted

pearl bracelet, HauteLook

hoop earrings, Old Navy     

    This is only the second time I've worn this dress. I like the gray and ivory color combination and the cut, but the sticking point (literally) is the zipper. I cannot zip this up on my own. As it is, the Mr. had a hard time zipping it up and I was worried he would break the zipper entirely.

     Do you ever have those days when just about every picture you take ... you have your eyes closed?

     Happy Tuesday! ; )

inspiration monday: (yet another) printed maxi

     I think I mentioned a while back that I temporarily broke my shopping ban to pick up a third patterned maxi dress. I decided to showcase the offender for Two Birds' Inspiration Monday:

This is my "it's-blazing-hot-and-I-
need-a-popsicle" face

Trina Turk maxi dress, Nordstrom Rack ($30)

Love Change tank, Macy's juniors department 

The inspiration: Michelle Trachtenberg

     There were a number of things that drew me to this dress: the splashy black, white and pink print, the airy silk-cotton blend, and the fact that I can wear this when occasions call for aloha wear. Oh, and let's not forget the price, which is a 91% markdown (according to the tag).

Can't decide whether the tank looks better like this ...

          

To make this dress really worth my $$, however, I needed to find a way to make it work-appropriate -- it's pretty skimpy up top, with string ties at the shoulders. Adding a plain black tank kept the look summery while offering some coverage.

purple, poofy, and pencil-skirted

     Life is full of new opportunities to be awkward (yay??!?). Case in point, the university locker room.

Calvin Klein top and pencil skirt, CK outlet

     While I'm sure the locker rooms for the college athletes are better appointed, the offerings are rather grim for us sweaty amateurs.
     Let's talk about the showers. My gym (the YMCA) has private stalls with shower curtains. The university locker room has a big tiled area with stands of shower heads. I'm there early, so I've avoided the weirdness of showering in front of someone else, but these are still the fastest showers I've ever taken. While I'm not one to linger in clouds of steam and torrents of hot water,  I scrub and rinse at warp speed to avoid the possibility of company.
     I mentioned torrents of hot water. Well, I've figured out that while all of the shower stands have hot water faucets, not all of them work. Some of the shower heads are also missing, so I have to check unless I like the idea of rinsing off very slowly by using one tiny jet of water.
    In the end, nothing beats showering at home. ...

      
     To switch gears -- my camera is baffled by shades of purple, but this shirt really is a deeper, more vibrant purple. I am baffled by the logistics of tweaking one color while using PicMonkey, so you're going to have to use your imagination today.
    Also, this is the first time I've paired these pieces together. I usually wear this top untucked over pants, but that wasn't an option for Jeans-free June. I think I prefer the top loose, as it is a bit too poofy when worn this way. Speaking of Jeans-free June, I can't believe there are only 9 days left! Where did this month go??

Try-it-out Tuesday: up or down?

    Perhaps one of the secrets to a flexible, well-used wardrobe is knowing how to dress items up or down?

  Yoshitomo Nara 2K men's tee

petite pencil skirt, CK outlet

navy and green colorblock belt, Forever 21

     On Friday I paired a graphic tee with a pencil skirt and a belt. It could be viewed both ways: dressing down a pencil skirt or dressing up a tee.
     Happy Tuesday! What's your favorite item to dress up (or down)? :)

an odd bird

     Tee with fat stripes + skirt with almost invisible vertical stripes + stepladder = blog post.

Stripedshirt.com tee, won in giveaway from Hayley of The Weekend File

skirt, Banana Republic (old)

sparkly hoop earrings, Old Navy

  
     I feel like this outfit is missing something, but I'm not sure what. The wider stripes of this shirt don't seem to play well with a necklace. I would usually add a belt, but the button tabs at the waist prevent that. Maybe this shirt would look better with my trusty pencil skirt?
  

Left: OK; right: odd

     Today I read the kindergartners and first-graders "Tacky the Penguin" by Helen Lester. If you haven't met Tacky yet, you should. The kids laughed out loud at Tacky, who is repeatedly called "an odd bird" in the story. Not to mention, it's so much fun to voice Tacky (who sings a song called "How Many Toes Does a Fish Have?") as well as the growly, mean hunters. Any day that allows me to sing a silly song as part of my job is a good day in my books.
    While Tacky wears a bright yellow aloha shirt, and I'm wearing stripes, I feel like I'm channeling him in the right photo above ...
    Happy Thursday! I hope you work a little silliness into your day. :)

consolation prize

  

Style & Co. maxi dress, Macy's 

     I attended a graduation party on Saturday night. Boy, it made me feel old when they started the slideshow and I realized the graduate was born in 1994 ... and, oh, I was a junior in high school when that happened! I consoled myself by winning the centerpiece, which was a basketful of snacks. They  were all from Japan and not available here, so I am looking forward to trying them out. :)
      A maxi dress is perfect for parties -- dressy but still roomy enough to let me eat my fill. This print is kind of busy, so I didn't add many accessories. I like the print, but now I realize that I own 2 printed maxi dresses and 0 solid-colored maxis. Solid-colored maxis are so versatile, but I guess I didn't learn -- I broke my shopping ban (a temporary lapse, I promise!) recently and bought a .... yup, you guessed right ... a third printed maxi dress. Shopping bans turn out to be so instructive when I stick to them -- not adding new things to the closet really helps me see what's missing.
      I didn't wear anything fancy for Sunday's party, because it was at a rec center and very hot. I know silly bands are out, but I still had fun picking up a complete set of Paul Frank bands.

Try-it-out Tuesday: dressing up shorts

     On Friday, we had to move our summer school classrooms to a different building, so I dressed for lugging boxes and bags and moving desks. It's too warm to wear a scarf as is, so I wore it as a belt. It was a fun way to add another pattern to the mix.

    striped tee, J. Crew

Calvin Klein Jeans shorts, Macy's (old)

scarf, Ross

jade beetle and ceramic bead bracelets, gifted

necklace, New Zealand

blue and green should not be seen?

      Just popping in for a quick post! I'm skipping Try-it-out Tuesday this week, but I have two parties to attend this weekend, so I'll be posting those outfits next week. :)

  

 dress, Old Navy

belt, from dress

• I haven't worn my snake print dress much, but the belt has proven quite versatile (see it adding some zest to a red buttondown here and livening up a chambray tunic here). This has me thinking about going through my enormous fabric stash and turning some of it into fabric belts. I bet it would be easy to whip up several in an afternoon.
• Jeans-free June has been surprisingly pain-free (but then again, it's pretty early to be making any judgments!) I have figured out that a non-stretch pencil skirt is not the best thing to wear when your summer school classroom is on the second floor and you need to walk your classes up and down the stairs several times a day. I have also figured out how comfortable and easy a dress can be. Throw it on, add some accessories, and I'm ready to go. 
• It amazes me just how much kindergartners moving up to first grade and first-graders going up to second vary, in everything from attention span, to book tastes, to work habits. For instance, yesterday I read Keiko Kasza's "A Mother for Choco" to both groups. The kinder lesson involved making story bracelets using pipe cleaners and pony beads (and guess who spent the night beforehand using a brown Sharpie to scribble giraffe spots on yellow beads, putting a loop on the end of 30 pipe cleaners, and sorting beads by color?) With the first-graders, however, I did a lesson about comparing two people (themselves and mom or dad) that involved filling out a graphic organizer and turning those notes into writing. It's sobering to realize how quickly children change and grow in just a year. 

Happy Wednesday! :)

Jeans-free June: kickoff

     I'm sending my jeans on summer vacation! (Should I say yay or yikes?) They work so hard all year, they deserve a break. :) This means that I'll be wearing only skirts and dresses (and maybe shorts) this month. I'm still most comfortable in pants, but I'm hoping this challenge will change that.
   To kick off my jeans-free June, I wore this yesterday. It's not officially a dress, given that it's composed of separates, but it's dress-like enough.

Love Change tank, Macy's

foldover-waist jersey skirt, Old Navy

sheer duster, inherited from great-aunt

Carole agate necklace, Nordstrom Rack clearance

 
   I  like that the sheer layer adds a bold pattern and a lot of movement. I also like that adding a layer makes this jersey skirt more work-friendly (clingy knits on my bottom half are usually not work-appropriate). The main reason that I'm not totally sold on this outfit is that I'm concerned that this still looks too 1970s-ish. 

   Typing "sheer" into a Google search will give you some ... interesting results. However, here are a few ideas I found for styling my duster. 

Source: fashionwashere.net via Carrie on Pinterest

Source: lapetitemarmoset.blogspot.com via Carrie on Pinterest

Source: flyelephantfly.blogspot.com via Carrie on Pinterest

Source: shop.nordstrom.com via Carrie on Pinterest

How would you style this duster? I'd love to hear some suggestions. :)