A Pencil Skirt Life

I have a pair of Chinese Laundry cherry red patent pumps that I picked up on sale at DSW 5 years ago. They are 3" heels but are quite comfortable for daily wear as long as I don't have a very long way to walk; ideal for weddings and work. I've even worn them to a (successful) job interview! I duplicated the pumps in gray before they went out of stock.

I know that they won't last *too* much longer, though, particularly given how frequently I pull them out of my closet. So I was excited to find an even more comfortable (and slightly lower heeled) pair of pumpkin orange ECCO pumps that are really feeding my cravings for "spicy" colors. They might not be versatile in exactly the same way that the red pumps are, but I think I can phase them into my wardrobe quite easily. When I need a true red, the CL pumps still have enough life in them to get by, but this way I won't wear them out as quickly - and I'll have an equally fun, "spicy" pump that is higher up on the comfort scale.

#1-3: Blue patterned wrap dress with emerald green camisole underneath; purple beaded disc necklace; orange ECCO pumps.

#4: A warm weather version of this outfit: Silk leopard print shell with an oversized pussycat bow; black ponte knit 3/4 circle midi skirt; brown braided belt; cherry red CL pumps.

I chose to pull out a very "oceanic" outfit today - the coral and white wrap dress is in a print that reminds me of coral to begin with, aqua/turquoise shoes, and a camisole with sewn-on beaded details that have always reminded me of beach glass and driftwood.

In retrospect I suppose it was a subliminal message that, on a day that *just about* broke 80 degrees, I would rather be lying on a beach - or my porch, even - than stay in an office all day!

Unfortunately the gorgeous weather comes with a major downside for me. I'm quite allergic to some kind of tree pollen, and our pollen counts are massively high this week. Nasonex is tamping down the congestion, thankfully, but I have a perpetual cough and stinging, itchy eyes. My state is fighting a whooping cough epidemic right now, and I feel like I should add a tasteful badge to my outfit to avoid making people panic: "This is an allergy attack; I got my pertussis vaccine 6 months ago."

YLF members that attended the Seattle clothing swap probably know that I was absolutely crazy over Antje's aqua Fluevog pumps, because I'd been looking for some of my own for a while. Miz Mooz has some pretty shoes in this shade, but generally the heels were a bit higher than I'd been hoping for - not to mention the prices.

I was pleased to find this simple, low-vamped, low-and-chunky-heeled BC pump instead (a much less expensive option.) http://www.zappos.com/bc-footw.....ay-emerald
They are *generally* comfortable; a great shape for my arch and incredibly stable. There is one inside seam that's a little harder than I'd prefer, but a thin layer of moleskin should clear up that problem. Maybe not the shoes I'd bring to traipse all over the city in, but perfectly comfortable for walking around.
I need a simple black pump in a low heel for a wedding in a few months, so I'm thinking about duplicating.

I wore the shoes this weekend as well on Mother's Day with a turquoise beaded necklace, kelly green knit shell, and emerald skirt that was a reasonably close color match. B. and I visited each of our parents and had a lovely day spending time with our moms. He laughed when we saw that we'd more or less matched each other by going all out in green!

I'm sorry for posting like crazy this week - I'm done for now! - but I'm having so much fun playing around this the bold colors I've been craving that I couldn't help but share.

Below, I've pulled together super-quick collages of the items I have that fall into this color scheme, or close to it. (It's a lot easier and far less time consuming than actually getting dressed, or even laying the clothes out and putting them away again.) I'm hoping this will give me inspiration to pull together combinations I hadn't previously worn together.

The last picture (#4) has some of the outfit ideas that I quickly came up with. It's kind of a cheap-o DIY Polyvore.

What outfits spring to your mind with these pieces at your disposal? What would you recommend trying out? I'm more or less approaching this exercise as if I have this large, colorful capsule to work with, though I'm certainly open to pulling non-colorful items from the rest of my closet into the mix.
If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears!

Back when Angie first blogged about the concept of the Fast Fall Back Outfit I was intrigued, and gave some thought to what is quickest and easiest for me to pull on when I'm in a pinch for time, but still need to look and feel put together. This is why I've fallen head over heels in love with patterned dresses - and why, during a very hectic year, I've been wearing dresses more than any other clothing item. Patterned dresses are a no-brainer for me - occasionally (but not necessarily) I'll throw on an accessory - a belt, scarf, or necklace - and a pair of pumps, flats, or boots. Then I'm done and good to go for the day. It couldn't be easier.

Recently forum member Elly posted asking forum members to share their favorite fast fall back outfit formulas. I was really intrigued by the creative combinations that others came up with, especially Aida's smart idea of tracking personal formulas that work best for her - something that I need to pay attention to! But for now, the dress is the easiest formula for me to pull off.

Below, what I'm wearing today: colorful "scribble print" Nine West faux-wrap dress; purple necklace of flat disc-like beads; burgundy pumps.

And for kicks, a collage of some of my tried and true FFBO's during the past year.

Some more experimenting with my recent color obsessions:

1. Kelly green knit dress over a gray knit long-sleeved tee; double strand of white pearls; gray pumps.
2. Bright red ponte knit dress; cobalt and white striped knit jacket; silver ballet flats.

Today my parents and I visited my grandfather and his lady friend - there was a free concert in their assisted living community that we met up at, and had a great time listening to a great classical guitarist treating us to beautiful Mexican music.

I broke out my new turquoise argyle sweater from the Seattle clothing swap. (I'm on Team Wear and couldn't wait to try this out with my Halogen pencil skirt once I saw how great the colors looked together.) I paired it with my turquoise mutli-strand beaded necklace, yellow Fidji slingback lace-up pumps, and mustard Kate Spade handbag.

So the bottom line is that I'm waffling right now on what alterations I should make to the sweater - if anything. I feel like it would be more wearable if it were sleeveless than with the short cap sleeves. At first I was thinking about taking out the collar, but after wearing it I rather like it - but as a sleeveless garment, it would be a lot more wearable if it were also collarless.

Tough decisions! Perhaps I need to sleep on it and visit a tailor.

It was a gorgeous, sunny day and for once some natural light actually strayed into my living room, so I snapped a couple gratuitous self-portraits.

I had a blast at the Seattle YouLookFab clothing swap yesterday-the second that I've been able to attend. This year I didn't come home with a lot, but I'm quite pleased with what I brought home: an INC. brand turquoise short sleeved argyle print sweater with faux white collar attached, a black beaded necklace with a black feathery pendant pinned on, and a white costume pearl necklace with black tulle.

Both necklaces were Angie's from Hong Kong - it's even more fun for me to take home a formerly owned piece that belonged to someone I really like. I don't know who the sweater belonged to, but it makes me think of MaryK. The colors are spot on for my "spicy and greens" color palette. The color looks fantastic with my raisin, turquoise, and magenta Halogen pencil skirts.

I'm contemplating seeing if I can turn the sweater into a short sleeved sweater vest and removing the collar as I suspect I'll get more wear that way. What do you think?

My outfit was really more inspired by the photo rather than an interpretation of the original - it's a lot less literal than some of my other challenge outfits.

My first thought was about the shapes that the photo evokes. The tortoises are all arranged in a wavy linear fashion as if they are following one another, which made me think about evoking lines and curves in my outfit. I also thought about the build of a tortoise/turtle inside its shell, which made me think of layering up - especially around the neck and cuffs. Finally, the tranquil haze of the black and white photo inspired me to tone down the brights that I've been sporting lately.

Here's what I came up with: eggplant and white striped Bailey44 dress over a collared chambray blouse, double-cuffed; black waistcoat left open; silver chain and leaf necklace; simple gray pumps.

I don't have pictures (yet!) but I wanted to give a shout out to a really awesome wrap dress that just arrived in the mail in case any of you are looking for wrap dresses, or are also enamored with coral right now: http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/ta.....ltback=700

It's a beautiful, vibrant coral and white. It's a somewhat thick poly-spandex blend that feels lovely and soft, and at 5'5" the regular size hits me just at the knee, slightly lower than shown on the model. It does run a size large and comes in petite sizes too. Like all wrap dresses are on me, it's a bit too low cut to wear on its own without a safety pin, but on those of you that are a bit less busty you may not need an under-layer at all. I'm planning to wear this to friends' weddings this summer and plan to give it a trial run at the YLF swap this weekend.

I tried this Eliza J. dress too but on me, the colors were not right (the pink is a little more neon, and less salmony than displayed, the cream is a bit too pinky-toned) and the neckline was too high, but the ruching on the side was quite pretty. For someone that can wear high necklines with more ease it would probably work well. This one was true to size for me.
http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/el.....tback=3000

(Edited to add photos, now that I have some natural light.)

Bella's challenge thread here: http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....replies=63
(Again, I wanted to have this on my blog, so I apologize for the cross-post.)

This is not the most creative interpretation to the challenge for day 2, but I had a bit of a crisis yesterday, so this is what resulted:

Turquoise, green, and black patterned surplice fit-and-flare dress (from last year's Seattle clothing swap.) It's a bit of a stretch, but the small circular pattern of the print does make me think a little bit of lily pads. The neckline's a little low so underneath I wore a kelly green knit shell that has a ripply neckline and a turquoise-colored glass beaded necklace - again, trying to evoke the tranquility and movement in the inspiration photo. My own "stems" are encased by my favorite cognac boots. The lily pads are a bit yellow in the photo from sunlight streaming overhead, so I cheated a bit by bringing this out in my trusty mustard handbag.