3-ring circus, or, fashion fail?

   I think I got overambitious with this outfit. Fun graphic tee + stripes! Layering! Tights + sneakers!  And make the sneakers not an unobtrusive neutral, but bright pink!

 Rebecca Beeson long-sleeve tee (Costco, old)

   "The Day the Fire Brigade Went on Strike" tee (Threadless)

   striped skirt and tights (F21)

   Puma sneakers

    After examining my tights + sneakers pins more closely, I realized that I COMPLETELY missed how simplicity made the look work. Solid tops and bottoms and a restrained color palette, by and large, kept things simple and fresh. My favorite is the third: I think the drapey pink dress is so cute!

                                                                                          Source: chictopia.com via Carrie on Pinterest

  

  

  

                                                                                       Source: teenvogue.com via Carrie on Pinterest

                                                                                           Source: chictopia.com via Carrie on Pinterest

I did marginally better reproducing this cute, cozy and simple look from What Would a Nerd Wear.

                                                                                         Source: bloglovin.com via Carrie on Pinterest

  

   

DKNY cable sweater hoodie (Macy's, old)

    I think this outfit would have worked better with a plain black shirt -- it would have made the outfit less busy and accented the pink sneakers. In the meantime, I'm adding a pair of simple black sneakers to my wish list ...

Inspired by: Mae of thereafter-ish

   A big thank you to Mae of thereafter-ish, whose travel outfits inspired this one. I like that she puts her own stylish stamp on a comfortable, practical outfit through the mixing of patterns and the inclusion of playful accessories. Click here to see her latest outfit that mixes an interestingly cut top, animal print and stripes.
   I started with some old favorites: a loose-fitting linen buttondown and jeans.  Then I added a camisole and left the shirt partially open to highlight my drapey necklace. The finishing touch was an arm party to add some intricacy, color and sparkle.

  
     Long gone are the days of wearing one bracelet at a time! I am an official arm-party addict. Even my students noticed one day and admired the pile-up. :)

'Iolani Palace door hinge bracelet (rhodium plated)

     One of my favorite landmarks is 'Iolani Palace. I still remember our fourth-grade field trip -- we had to put covers on our shoes to protect the gorgeous wooden floors and our admission tickets looked like old-fashioned dance cards. Definitely a place to check out if you are ever in beautiful Honolulu! :)

Try-it-out (Wednesday): doubling up

    Classes are still keeping me busy, but one final project is completed, two more to go! :)
    T+J Designs is running a style challenge about statement jewelry, so I thought it'd be a fun idea for a belated Try-it-out post.
    I've mentioned my love of whimsical/cute tees before. A tee and jeans is the ultimate in comfortable and simple, but I decided to see whether this Jedidiah tee could be dressed up a little. Enter this Forever 21 pearl-and-chain necklace:

  I also added a light blue cardigan (previously loved by E.I.):

    (Click here for a good look at the tee shirt's design.)
    I'm not a fan of pastels, but I'm surprised at how much I like the soft blue and pink together.

    Pairing a printed tee with a bold necklace is a little out of my comfort zone, but I think the necklace and cardigan add polish to an otherwise basic outfit.

thrift find #2

    I think a well-fitting dress is a no-brainer outfit. Perfect for this time of year when I need all my brain power for important stuff, like procrastinating final projects.
   I picked this up at Goodwill for $8.99 a while back. My thrifting pattern seems to go like this: purchase, wash, throw in closet, ignore for several months.

     This is a petite dress, so it ends a little above the knee. For work, I usually prefer my dress hemline to be a tad longer -- who wants to worry every time they bend down to pick up a pencil? But it worked out OK when I wore it to school yesterday.
    Yesterday's book club read-aloud was "Zomo the Rabbit" by Gerald McDermott. The high point of the story for the kids was when the fish danced so hard his scales fell off. That elicited a chorus of "EEEEWWWW!" and tons of giggles. It wasn't til much later that  I thought, I hope they don't go home and tell their parents they learned about naked fish today ...

Try-it-out Tuesday: Pinterest-inspired

     During the summer, Pinterest and I were likethis. I was enthralled with the possibilities - no more ripping things out of magazines and losing them or having no neat way to collect them! Everything in one place! I can write little captions to remind me of why I ripped it out in the first place!
     I pinned recipes, possible DIY projects, 2 million cupcake recipes ... anything that caught my eye. And then to balance out the cupcakes I dutifully started a board for other foods (i.e. breakfast, lunch, dinner).
     Alas, Pinterest and I have cooled down to a long-distance relationship. I stop by once a week, and only for a minute or two at that. We're still fond of each other but it's not the same. This blog has become my new time-suck project, and Pinterest knows it.

Source: weardrobe.com via Carrie on Pinterest

     I seem to excel at pinning outfits that prominently feature things I DON'T own (i.e. colorful things). But I've seen so many bloggers wearing cool outfits inspired by pins that I decided to browse my board one more time for Try-it-out Tuesday. And the one shown above looked perfect.

     According to the tag, the dress print is "Fresh Zebra." Looks like I was on an animal-print kick when I was shopping a few months ago.
     Things I like about this dress: the fuller skirt, the colors, and that it's lined.
     Things I wish I had noticed before: the dreaded chest-button gap. Very odd, as I'm not busty and the dress fits well everywhere else. Now I know to try a size up in this brand.
     Luckily, I'm not teaching this year, so I don't need to go into my "power stance" (hands on the hips) on a daily basis and risk giving someone an accidental eyeful. I first heard of the power stance from a teacher in my education program. He said he used it regularly when teaching middle school and that it was helpful for projecting physical presence when you're on the short side. When I first saw the power stance, I thought, "Nah, I can't see myself doing that." Fast-forward a year or two to my stint as a classroom teacher and I found myself using it ... everyday.

Fossil "Mystic" necklace

      I played around with buttoning the top button and adding a necklace, but it seemed like a little too much.
       Happy Tuesday!

blue & yellow

    I was very excited to find a new way to wear both this cardi and necklace (see necklace in full here). 

Leopard cardi and necklace, Macy's; gray camisole, Forever 21

     Tucking in the necklace puts the focus on the blue and how well it plays off the yellow. Here's hoping that the necklace stays tucked! I'm headed off to class now, so we'll see how well it stays in place.
     

viva la arm party!

     Signs that you probably watch too much "South Park": when your Traditional Literature and Oral Narration class reminds you of a specific episode. The teacher shared with us a snippet of Robert Bly's "Sibling Society," which posits that society has moved from a parent-in-charge view to the child-makes-her-own-decisions mindset. And then the teacher even referred to "dog whisperer" Cesar Millan! (The episode I'm thinking about is the one where Cartman's mom, fed up with his running the show, calls in Cesar Millan to help her take charge.) 

       For this outfit I wanted to play with shades of blue and also try out the arm party idea. I originally didn't include the two jade bracelets, but then I decided, the more the merrier.

      I'd be embarrassed to admit just how much time I spent admiring my arm party during class. I truly hope everyone else was too absorbed in the classwork to notice me. I can hope, right?

closet orphans, part #2

    Since I had so much fun wearing yesterday's underloved but beautiful top, I decided to show another closet orphan a little love to celebrate Friday.

Banana Republic blouse; Loft blazer 

     Check out the wonderful beading using different colors, sizes and shapes of beads, plus the embroidery.
     There is also a ribbon tie in back, but there were two problems. One: it's hard to tie a neat bow with your hands behind your head. Two: taking a decent photo of the bow is beyond my camera skills right now. I suppose this means I will need to wear this top again. :)

        
     Problem 3: I think it's so cute to wear a blazer with sleeves cuffed, but this blazer is so snug on me that rolling the cuffs up a bit makes it difficult to move my arms! So I had to roll the sleeves down. Oh, the things I do for the love of stripes. ...

Try-it-out Tuesday: starting points

     Pre-blog days, my clothing choices were often dictated by two key criteria: 1) is it ironed? 2) Does it match something that is also ironed?
      This Tuesday, I decided to challenge myself. These shoes and necklace are recent purchases, and I wanted to experiment with building an outfit based on these key pieces.

     I loved the colors and drape of this necklace when I spotted it while browsing the Macy's clearance section. It's very different from my other necklaces, which tend to be on the dainty, understated side. Since I'm still searching for my style, I'm not sure whether this necklace is really "me." But it looked fun and different.

     I couldn't really figure out what colors/style of top to wear with this necklace, so I wimped out with a basic black T and pencil skirt.
    On a whim I added the fuschia belt, another recent purchase. No, I don't believe in wearing all of my new purchases at once, but I wanted to see how it looked with the other colors.

    I'm excited about finding these shoes! I literally own one black pair of comfortable sandals for work, so these will be a great alternative. I think the pewter color is just a little different and pretty.

  

     I kind of like the light in this last photo, and this is the best sitting-on-the-ground photo I've taken yet. Just don't ask what I'm doing with my hands, or whose mess that is in the background ...

Try-it-out Tuesday teaser

Tongue-twisting title, right? ;) Try saying it 10 times fast.
I made a list today of Try-it-out Tuesday ideas, and they should happily carry me well into 2012. But here's a preview for this week's:

Tuesday's mission is to design an outfit based on these shoes and necklace. I know, design is a big word! But somehow "thrown together" doesn't sound right. Given that shoes are often a (disappointing) afterthought and jewelry is what I can grab on the way out the door, it will be a learning experience to start with these items.

Stay tuned for the answers to these perplexing questions: 

Is it OK for my jewelry and shoes to match? 

Will I wear those Salt Works jeans again? 

Will this necklace be fun and funky, or just weird?

camera blues

     Good news: my camera tripod came in this week! No more balancing acts involving the laundry hamper and a box!

     Bad news: something's amiss with the camera battery and/or charger, so I don't have enough juice to take photos. 

     Bad news #2: the point-and-shoot is having the same problems.

     Sigh.  

     So, these photos are even blurrier than usual. My apologies.

    Anyhow, on to the outfit ... 

    I am shaped like a Snickers bar (translation: not much of a waist) and short-waisted as well, so I was excited to find Kelly's guide to successful tucking-in for short-waisted petites.

   

   

     I didn't have a belt to match my top, so I chose one that went with my necklace. The ruffled top + the long sparkly necklace is a little out of my comfort zone. In my pre-style-blog-reading days, it would have seemed like way too much. But after I got used to it I kind of liked it. 

    I wore this to class with the cardigan open. However, after reviewing Kelly's directions I decided to belt over the cardigan. This cardigan is too slouchy to produce the coveted X-shape via buttoning.

    

      I think this would look better with a different cardigan and belt, but it's not bad for a first try! I'm looking forward to experimenting more with this idea.