Last WIW before I disappear for 3 weeks!

This is it - we are leaving for our Portugal vacation tomorrow night! All my stuff is packed in a carry-on and we will see how I fare with it.
This is the last set of my WIW - hopefully when I am back in mid-March I won't need winter boots anymore!

pic 1
I am trying to wear this Hinge jacket I got on my first NAS but I have a real problem styling it and feeling fab in it. I think one of the reasons that it should be a bit bigger - I cannot get rid of a feeling that it is too small on me. My niece is going to visit us this summer, if she likes it I will pass it on I think

pic 2
Tried to branch out of snow boots but had to lag these combat boots to work as it was very slippery to walk in them. This is one of the rare cases when I felt like wearing a scarf - like this combination of yellow, green and white!

pic 3
I have decided that it has been a long time since I wore my midi dress. I was too lazy to bring spare shoes to work so I wore my Blondo boots. I still think that flared midi skirt looks better with a more dressy heeled boot so maybe this is my level 2 item now - to complete my winter dress and skirt capsule?

pic 4
I have rebelled and wore my white trousers and booties to work because I was driving. Still had to show wonders of equilibrium to walk 100 m from the icy parking lot to the office :-)
Here I have a question: what is more flattering for me - full tuck or semi-tuck? I adore how elegant Angie tucking into her trousers but I am afraid it looks less that stellar on me. Also the trouser waist edge between the top and the belt really drives me crazy when it is not a low contrast!

pic 5
Another outfit with Shannon's slouchy trousers like in pic 2 but can you spot a difference? My mom tried to taper the openings a bit so they look better in this shorter-than-ideal length. However she could not taper just hems so she tapered them from the knee and - alas - they are a bit tight in the calves now :-( I seem not be able to get those trousers right!

This was it and now I am going to dress out of my suitcase for 2.5 weeks. I am sure I will be sick of my clothes well before I am back but hopefully I have enough distractions in the sightseeing, great food and a bit of shopping to make it less stressful.
I am apologizing in advance if I won't be able to reply to the comments on this post tomorrow - it is going to be a pretty crazy pre-travel day.

See you all in 3 weeks!!!!!!

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Another travel capsule post ! (VERY pic heavy)

Time is not standing still and it is one week before we leave for Portugal ( OMG! I am not ready!) Just to remind you: this is 17 day vacation trip and I want to fit everything into carryon because we will be moving between 6 different cities during this trip using public transport. It will be mostly sight-seeing during the day and hopefully some evening entertainment: music in the restaurants and bars, maybe a couple of concerts in Lisbon, nothing too fancy. The weather can be rainy or sunny and temps between 12 - 19 C during the day and cooler at night and i the morning.
I did the last major rehearsal last night with pictures to sort out what I am taking with me and there is a result:
Bottoms:
1. slouchy micro-houndtooth trousers
2. straight leg dark wash Paige jeans
3. stretchy jersey polka dot sheath dress

Long sleeve tops:
1. B/W striped shirt
2. Animal print shirt
3. Denim shirt
4. Navy / white cat print shirt
5. Black t-neck
6. Fuchsia t-neck
7. B/W striped sweater

Short sleeve tops:
1. AT black sleeveless top
2. B/w polka dot sleeveless top
3. Black sequin short sleeve tunic

Toppers:
1. Black tuxedo jacket
2. Taupe leather jacket
3. Purple trench with removable liner

Footwear:
1. Brown combat boots
2. Grey flat oxfords
3. Nude MJ Fidji pumps.

Here are the outfits (excuse my dark glasses as I was looking pretty bad w/o makeup):
1-4: with straight leg jeans
3 of my shirts are long enough to war with straight jeans (I am very sensitive to proportions!) I did not include pictures for all toppers but both jackets work wit them. Question: in pic 2 I tried jeans tucked in and worn over the boots: which do you prefer?
BTW, navy / white cat print shirt is a new one from Gap, I hope it does not look to young for me. I really like to add this new print to my collection and I just love navy / white color combo! What do you think of this shirt?
5-11: slouchy trousers
by the sheer number of these pictures you can guess what is my favorite trouser silhouette now :-) Tried them with all 3 footwear options, I think they work with all of them.
Questions:
I am not sure about pic 10: wearing AT black top as a vest over this shirt: does it work or just looks silly? If I cannot wear it over the shirts I will not take it with me.
Pic 3 and 7: sleeveless polka dot top. I think it works with both jackets but I am debating if I need to take it. I am sure it will not be hot enough to go sleeveless, maybe I should take a sleeved top instead so I can remove the jacket if it is warm?
Pic 11: does this t-neck looks good with a black jacket and lighter trousers? I also plan on taking a black tneck , did not take any pictures with it as it is very easy to style and a good canvas for my scarves.
12-13: dress
Works with both jackets, striped sweater on top and AT top as a vest. I also can layer a shirt over it with a striped sweater or vest on top to look as a skirt if I need another layer. I prefer pumps with nude hose and boots with dark hose. I am afraid my feet look ginormous in flat oxfords with this dress (well, they ARE ginormous at size 12 but especially in these pictures) - or am I just too sensitive here?
I think I could style more outfits with these options but don't want to burden your eyes.
I think I can wear #4, 8 and 13 for the evening with nude pumps or oxfords - what do you think? Nothing fancy, just restaurants and maybe concerts.
So at this time I have doubts about the following items:
1. AT sleeveless top as a vest (pic 10 , 13)
2. Sleeveless polka dot top (pic 3,7)
3. Denim shirt - I like it in #5 but not sure I can wear it with jeans and the dress so it goes with one bottom only.
I would appreciate your feedback on these 3 items as well as on anything else!
I also plan to take my purple trench - pic 14 - it should work over all bottoms.

Thanks for reading my novel!

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32 comments

WIW - a lot of slouch!

This was one of the most awful weeks at work for quite a while. According to Murphy's laws everything what could go wrong went wrong and even what could not go wrong was not right either. In addition (or maybe because) of the stress I had an splitting headache for 3 days. Not one of my best weeks at all and I am afraid it shows in my WIW :-(

pic 1
I am still struggling to wear denim shirt even if I really like denim shirt outfits on my Pinterest board. That was another attempt to de-bombshell a pencil skirt, I think I failed miserably again. I wore big pearl necklace inside of he collar but because of my headache I had to take it off :-(
Halogen seamed ponte skirt - Nordstrom
Denim shirt - BR
Blondo Valente boots - Nordstrom

pic 2 -3
My attempt on rolled down BF jeans after Angie's post this week (pic 1). I still think they look better on me rolled up (pic 3) - what do you think?
Kut Catherine BF jeans - Nordstrom
Tahari white shirt - Winners
Cashemere cowl sweater - Winnes
SM combat boots - Nordstrom
MK animal print belt - Rack

pic 4
Tried to dress up for Friday to face my release day - and it helped, everything came together on the last day despite the horrid week! I don't wear necklaces very often now but I felt I need one here because I did not wear a belt.
Tahari white shirt - Winners
Black blazer - thrifted (I am struggling with this blazer, I think it looks too small on me and ridiculous - what do you think?)
Long Tall Sally micro houndtooth slouchy trousers
Clarks booties

pic 5
We had friends over on Friday night so I left the trousers on but changed the top part.
Brown / gold lurex mockneck sweater - Winners
MK animal print belt
Trotters wedge pumps

I was not really very proud about my outfits this week but I post them anyway because this is the game I play with myself. Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

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WIW - inspired by today's post and my new jacket

Angie's post today on Casual Chic BF jeans and the fact that I got back my new BR tuxedo jacket from alterations prompted my outfit choice this morning (pic 1).

If you remember I got a black tuxedo jacket from BR a couple of week ago but it was 1 size too big. After consulting with my mom we decided to alter it so I kept it. Here is its debut with BF jeans. pictures 2 and 3 show the jacket before alterations (on the left) and after (on the right). In pic 3 I wear it closed on the left and open on the right (to explain some fabric gathers on the back in the left picture - I forgot to fasten it).

I was not sure if these jeans are too light and faded for a black blazer but I usually don't over-analyze and just wear what fancy strikes me and look at pictures after! :-) I like BF jeans rolled up much more that rolled all way down so this is how I wear them using sheer knee high socks :-)

Angie, I hope this jacket passes your fit test because I really love it. I am seriously considering to take it with me to Portugal!

Gap striped tee
Ancient studded white belt
Kut Catherine BF jeans
SE Petty python booties

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36 comments

WIW - dress rehearsal for my trip (long)

I am so excited - we are going on vacation in Portugal in 25 days - I can hardly wait. We have the simple things figured out already - like plane tickets, accommodations, sightseeing planing - but now it is time to address the hardest part - travel wardrobe!
So I have been agonizing over my travel wardrobe for a couple of weeks now and this is why:
- we will be away for 17 days including flights;
- it is early March so weather can be unpredictable - from dry and warm to cold and rainy;
- I need to be able to fit everything into carry on bag!
The last point really makes it hard but it is a necessity for me - mainly because we will be moving all this time, staying in one place for a couple of days and then moving again. The least I want is to lag a huge suitcase with me all the time. Add to the mix the local flavor - hilly walled medieval towns where you cannot even drive sometimes, old houses with steep stairs and no elevators, using trains and buses for moving around...small carry on is the way to go!
I definitely will be able to do laundry after the first 5 days but not sure I can do it for the next 10 days so I need to plan for at least 10 days of wear.
After a week of agonizing I decided to play a challenge with myself: I selected the things I planned on taking with me and decided to wear them for 2 weeks for work and weekends to road test. This was week one and this is what I learned:
1. I started with footwear because it will define the rest of my travel capsule. I need footwear I can walk in for 16 hours - cobblestones, uphill and all. - so it calls for my most comfortable shoes or boots. I have 3 contenders:
- tall black Blondo boots;
- brown combat boots;
- grey flat oxfords
I am taking 2 pairs only due to the luggage limit so I think it should be either tall boots and oxfords or combat boots and oxfords. I am leaning towards the combat boots because tall boots feel more limiting in bottoms selection: it is either skirts or skinnies.
So this is my first 5 days of rehearsal. I decided on 3 bottoms - skinny jeans, BF jeans and taupe slouchy trousers.
#1 felt OK. I am not sure about practicality of white sweater though but I hope I can wear it twice in the first 5 days and then wash it and wear 2 more times at least.
#2 I felt good about this one too except I am not sure if oxfords look OK with the trousers - they are close in color but not the same. What do you think? (python booties were really worn to work but they are not an option for the trip, they are no 16h shoes for me)

#3 This was a disaster. This Gap striped tee stretches like crazy and I don't feel good in it Also this jacket while comfortable knit has this ruched short sleeves which are a pain to layer under a trench or to layer over long sleeve tops. However I am thinking that BF jeans and boots may work.

#4 I thought to take my 2 BR non-iron shirts with me but I am hesitating now. They feel too short to me, especially with skinnies, I was pulling it down all day. I think I would need an alternative to shirts for this trip. I may still take this BF cardigan though...

#5 This felt OK but again this t-neck feels too short for skinnies. Is it?

I am limiting myself to 15 pieces of clothing - not counting underwear, socks, trench and scarves. So far the following verdict out of my experiment:
- I am definitely taking t-necks, maybe more than 2 if I won't take the shirts;
- leather jacket is coming with me, it makes me feel good :-)
- if you approve these oxfords with the taupe slouchy trousers then the trousers are coming with me
- animal print blouse and white sweater are big contenders, they both layer well.
- undecided on skinnies, BF cardigan, and grey jacket
- definitely NO to striped grey tee and this button down shirt.
- not sure how combat boots look with tucked in skinnies and BF jeans - thoughts?

I am going to continue my experiment next week as well: I think it is really helpful to get the sense of outfits I want to wear in advance and living the whole day in them. The only danger if I get sick and tired of these clothes before I actually go on a trip! :-)

Wow, that was a novel! If you are still with me thank you for the effort to read it!
I would appreciate any suggestions and advice you may give me - after all you may know my closet almost as well as I do by now :-)

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36 comments

It must be fate!

After reading Angie's post on flat oxfords this morning I remembered how much I liked my Hush Puppies yellow and white oxfords last summer and how they were able to elevate any outfit to the next level (in my eyes anyway) - here are some samples (pic 1-3).
I was just thinking how I like Angie's black and white oxfords and where can I find a similar pair for summer (not an easy task for my size)...
...when I opened Long Tall Sally website and what I find there in new arrivals? More Hush Puppies oxfords in new colors (pic 4-6)
This must be fate! I think I NEED another pair of oxfords, what do you think? Now if only I can decide on the color...Tan? Black? Raspberry?

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14 comments