WIW: one shirt two ways

The weather was rainy and cold this morning so warmth was in order. I decided to give another go to "boxy shirt under boxy sweater" formula.
My first attempt was in pic#2.  However in the first hour at work I realized that I am not happy with this outfit. The shirt under this sweater just did not feel right to me. What to do? 
My first inclination was to remove the shirt all together and just wear the sweater but then I decided to try and tuck the shirt in. Voila - it was completely different for me and I felt much better right away so this is how I went through the day (pic#1).
I tried to analyze why the version in pic#2 made me unhappy. I think it is the shirt: it is too long for this sweater, too boxy (the hem is bunching a bit) and too straight. On the other hand I really liked it tucked and the collar worked really well for me with the cowl of the sweater (or at least this is what I want to believe).
I will try this formula again but with the different shirt (maybe BB?) but what do you think of this experiment?

1

Go to the full post to see all of the pictures →

25 comments

Farewell letter to my first boyfriend!

I still remember the day when we met for the first time. In the beginning I had my doubts that I ever can have a relationship with you. Then I saw you online and decided to check you out - just for fun and  not really believing into anything.
And then we met in that dressing room in Nordstrom - and the rest was history. It was love from the first sight - or rather from the first try on. You had a soft touch, forgiving nature and made me look and feel good  - what else a girl can ask for from a boyfriend?! I was not really sure we can make it work in a long run ( can a prince charming from a fitting room turn into an ugly orphaned frog at home?) but I was willing to risk it and give it a try.

Well, you passed the real life test with flying colors. Our first outing together was a resounding success and I have never looked back. You went with me to work, on travels and to run casual errands on the weekends and were always true to your nature - soft, forgiving and flattering. 

We had so much fun together over the last 2 years but unfortunately the day came when we need to part ways with you. This is not your fault at all, you are still the same soft, forgiving and flattering boyfriend a girl can dream of  - but I have changed now. We are not a perfect match anymore and I feel that there is too much of you in all the wrong places and it makes me unhappy when we are together. I cannot do you the justice you deserve anymore because I cannot fill you up as well as I did before. It pains me to say good bye but I have no choice.

Fortunately you found a new loving home with my girlfriend now and it made the parting so much easier than if I had to abandon you to perfect strangers. I hope you will be as happy with her as you were with me and I will never forget you! These images of our happy times together will stay with me forever!

Farewell my boyfriend and please do not be angry with me: you know that I needed to lose that extra weight, which now made our relationship impossible to continue. I hope there will be another boyfriend in my future as soft, forgiving and flattering as you were but who is more suited to a new me.
I will remember you always with love!!!!

1

Go to the full post to see all of the pictures →

29 comments

WIW: my long awaited HEWI!

Remember I asked you all about JCrew shoes because I was attracted to these flat oxfords?  I have old Trouve oxfords which are falling apart and which were not as refined as I would liked and I have been looking for refined flat oxfords for 2 years without any luck.
Long story short I decided to pounce on JCrew oxfords when they had 30% sale and when they had free shipping and returns and they arrived last week. I was pretty sure they will be too narrow, not comfortable, etc. With trembling hands I removed them from the box and tried them on - and they were perfect fit for my wider forefoot and not pinching my toes even though the toe is almond. The leather is very soft quality and they were comfortable and not stiff at all. I still cannot believe that I got my HEWI and in this perfect off-white color!
I was also afraid that my feet wild look enormous in white flat oxfords but another surprise - I think they actually look good. My hubby also gave them a seal of approval - what more could I have asked for. Oh, and they are gone in my size now - I am so happy I pounced when I did!

I wanted to debut them today as they promise rain for the rest of the week. I was pouring over Angie's and Pinterest to figure out how to wear them with black skinnies (it was the only available trouser option for me). I even created a Pinterest board with loafers and oxfords outfits! Inthe end my solution came from one of the outfits in this Angie's post even though it is about loafers and not oxfords - but a gal has to be creative, right? I honestly think that flat oxfords work here as well as loafers would - what do you think?

I was not sure about the length of the trousers. They are full length skinnies but I felt like sporting crops or ankle pants today after Angie's post so here is a result. Leg shortening or not but I felt pretty good in this outfit all day (and was looking at my feet all the time admiring my new pets and thinking how lucky I was to gamble on them :-) )

Flat oxfords - JCrew
Tux blazer and Martin skinnies - Banana Republic
Sequin tee - Lord and Taylor via The Bay
Danier silver tote

Thank you for looking and sharing my HEWI finding joy with me!

1

Go to the full post to see all of the pictures →

55 comments

I don't want to believe it but I need help with glasses!

When leaves are turning red and yellow it is definitely fall; when it is snowing it must be winter; when you need reading glasses you are irreversibly "over the hill" - and it looks like I just reached that happy stage of my life!
So trying to make lemonade out of lemons of getting older I want my first glasses to be a perfect accessory. The problem is  - I am a complete dilettante when it come to glasses and I need all combined YLF wisdom to make it right.
these pictures are from the first store I visited today. I am going to visit all of them in my city (hey, I need to have my fun, right?) but I would like to know if any of those are "maybe".
Colors are not captured very well here so I would like to get your reaction for the shape and size most of all. They are reading glasses for the computer so I will not wear them all the time (which should not prevent me from having fun with them anyway, right? :-) )

pic 1
Red frame on the left (I don't have a separate picture for this one). I was not sure if it is too square and not uplifting.
Green underside. I like the funky shape but not sure if it is too dark for me.

pic 2
Left: these are man frames which somehow attracted me but looking at the picture I think they may be too square? they have fun creamy yellow underside and sides are plaid.
Right: these are fun but is it too much? yellow inside and outside.

pic 3
Left: dark blue. Looking at the picture I think they maybe too wide for me?
Right: lighter blue. Both are pretty classic in shape

pic 4: not considering those - just for fun! I like my sunglasses big but somehow I want the reading glasses to be smaller...
Left; I liked white and black frame but too big!
Right: serious cat eye - or even butterfly eye here! 

Do you think any of the first 6 work for me or should I scratch all of them and keep looking?

Thanks for your help!

1

Go to the full post to see all of the pictures →

42 comments

WIW: White and citron to match a sunny day

I missed taking pictures of outfits from the first part of the week so I decided to post this one before I completely forget.
Today was a rare dry and sunny spring day, albeit a cool one so I grasped at the opportunity to wear flared jeans or pants. I turned to Angie's ensembles for inspiration and this grey, white and citron one was just the thing!
I have these wide leg sailor trousers for 4th year now and they begin to show their age so I may retire them next season. On the other hand as they became a bit big for me they became more fluid in fit so I can enjoy them a bit differently this year :-)
The next was the footwear. The ensemble post says:
<<Footwear: You’re after light coloured shoes in a shade of white, beige, nude, light grey or silver. Pewter, dark grey and gold work pretty well too. >>
Well, all my light colored shoes and booties have heels too low for those trousers...but then I remembered these animal print ones. Ideally I would prefer them to have almond toes but a girl has to make do with what she has, right? :-)
The rest was easy: white leather moto and citron sweater to match the formula. Off white studded belt was another no brainer here and silver tote was a must as I had a yoga class tonight. 
It felt fresh and spring-like - and warm enough for a chilly morning. Aside from the citron sweater everything else is from the last year or older but  still I hope it is "2014" in spirit :-)...but if not I am all ears for critique and suggestions!

Danier leather moto jacket
JCrew merino Tippi sweater
Long Tall Sally sailor trousers
David Tate animal booties
Danier silver tote

25 comments

WIW: flares are out to play!

I was itching to start wearing my flares again inspired by Angie's ensemble and outfit posts. Alas, all this snow was preventing this from happening...until today!
These are basically bootcut jeans and not flares but leg opening is pretty wide so I thought they should do too.
I really liked the idea to wear a long coat with the jeans and jumped on the opportunity to wear my leather trench. I did not feel like layering a jacket under and shirt alone would be too cold so I decided to go with welted pullover. Lilac felt a good shade to pair with the blushing tan of the trench. I added a pink scarf to keep me warmer in the morning and wore it part of the day at work as well.

Leather trench - Danier (of course!)
Lilac merino Tippi sweater - JCrew
Hidden Hills Paige bootcut jeans
Sam Eldeman python booties
Shimmery gold belt - Winners
Dove leather satchel - Danier

After seeing Janet's amazing flares outfit I almost decided not to post this one because it seems so mundane in comparison but - oh well! not everybody can be as cool as Janet!:-)

Thank for looking and enjoy your long weekend (for those in Canada anyway)!

1

Go to the full post to see all of the pictures →

34 comments

WIW: modern midi to brave the cold!

It does feel a bit weird to post WIW every day instead of once a week...but I am sticking to it for this week and you would need to bear with my onslaught of posts for a little longer :-)

Ever since Angie posted this ensemble in February I wanted to give it a go. Unfortunately my 2 midi flared skirts are pretty light in fabrication and not suited for winter at all - so I had to wait. At last today I decided that I am not going to wait anymore, that the spring is here (even though it has this personality disorder and thinks it is  winter) and here I come, ready or not!
Even though it was still cold ( -7C in the morning )  I decided that I have enough and braved the elements featuring a skirt and nude hose...although I have added a cashmere sweater to keep me warm. I also could not wear pumps so I hope my booties are refined enough for this formula.

Only Mine polka dot sweater
Spanners midi flared skirt
Munro booties
Danier silver tote

Now I think that a warmer winter weight midi flared skirt (or two)  must go on my shopping list so I don't have to deprive myself from wearing this ensemble when it is bitterly cold outside!

15 comments

WIW: my casual version of ink blue and white

After beautifully warm and sunny weekend our arctic Vortex is back with the vengeance: I woke up today to 3" of snow! :-( My poor crocuses and irises all wore snowy hats today and looked quite pitiful. I really hope this is the last blast of winter.
...but it made the dressing difficult this morning. Does not matter how I wanted to wear my spring things it was too cold so skinnies and warm sweater were the way to go. However I remembered Angie's post on ink blue and white capsule and decided to wear a casual variety of it.

Ink blue boxy t-neck - Club Monaco
Cream skinnies - Banana Republic
Dove satchel - Danier
Python booties - Sam Eldeman

And of course I could not miss a chance to wear my red cape today while it is not too warm and i still can :-)

I am afraid this outfit is nothing special but it was comfortable and felt good. 

pic 1 is with semi tuck and pic 2 is untucked. This sweater has high - low hem so I feel it can be worn both ways - what do you think?

Now they promise sun and above freezing tomorrow so off I go to peruse Angie's ensemble posts and decide what to wear tomorrow! 

Thanks for looking and as usual all comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!

1

Go to the full post to see all of the pictures →

35 comments

WIW: my darling Blushing Peach

Oh, a joy of coming home and hugging your wardrobe after dressing for 2 weeks  out of a carry on suitcase WHICH WAS PACKED FOR ONE WEEK ONLY!!!
I decided to use Angie's ensembles and capsules for a dressing inspiration this week. I want to use this cool feature to link from the blog posts so I will be posting my outfits instead of the whole week together.

So this is the first one. Ever since I read this post i wanted to try this combination but I did not have either peach or orange to play with. Not anymore!

I found this Ann Taylor tipped blouse during our Toronto meetup (the ladies there convinced me that it was a flattering color for me and black tipping really spoke to my style sense) but I did not get it then.  Last week in Boston after the YLF gathering on Sunday when I had time to kill before my flight I went to look for it - and bought it! I thought it was pink blush but when I put it next to Zara pink blazer I realized that it is more peach than pink - so I call it Blushing Peach now :-)

For navy color I have paired it with my Paige straight leg jeans. These jeans are a bit big for me now and I was not feeling so fab in them Last night I had a light bulb moment: I realized that they fit me like slim BF jeans now so I just have to style them like boyfriends and not like skinnies - and voila! Magically I feel fab in the them again :-)

I have worn it untucked and semi-tucked during the day - which way you like better? I usually semi-tuck or tuck my tops with my roomier BF jeans but these ones are slimmer fitting and also I like so much the tipping detail on the blouse I wanted it to be fully visible.

For brown I had my leather blazer, booties and tote. I also have an option to pair it with Gap navy moto but this will be for another post :-)

As usual all comments and suggestions are very much appreciated - thanks for looking!

1

Go to the full post to see all of the pictures →

35 comments

K / R: Pastel blue and pink Zara blazers

I had a history with this blue Zara blazer with gathered sleeves. First I saw it on Angie's post and thought that I love the color and the sleeves look interesting but I am not sure if they will work for my wide shoulders and if pale blue color is flattering for me. Then during our Toronto meetup I saw it in XL size and tried it on. I was amazed that this light blue color is actually flattering for me and that gathered sleeves look pretty good as well - and it was confirmed by my fab shopping mates Nicole, Emily, merwoman, Katie and Ami.
What I was not sure about was the length...so I did not get it.
Last weekend in Boston I decided to ask Angie's opinion. Unfortunately that store did not have blue in my size so I tried on the yellow. Amazingly it got approval from Angie as well - including the color which I thought is too bright for me. I did not get it again because I wanted blue and I already have a citron blazer.
So is third time the charm?  I have ordered the blue one from Zara...but I also ordered this pink one... and now I cannot decide which one to keep!
Pink is longer and more classic in shape but has regular sleeves.
Blue is a bit shorter but I love the sleeve shape.

Both of them work with dresses and skirt but what about pants?
Which should I keep - blue? pink?...or both?

Oh, and bonus - my new Lord&Taylor tee I got today. Our fab Shannon is always finding treasures at The Bay so I tried it today too. The black pattern on the front is made from black sequins and beads so even if this is a t-shirt material it looks dressy enough for me to feel myself in it. What do you think?

1

Go to the full post to see all of the pictures →

45 comments