Brocade Babe

I've always loved brocade...It's so luxe and elegant...always makes me think medieval.  The medieval period has always been my favorite imagination playground. 

This dress is a little big (and by "a little'" I mean...about 4 sizes), but it's so pretty, I had to have it when I found it at the thrift store!!!  :)  And I was determined to find a flattering way to style it.

Instead of heels, I rocked some fancy flats with this outfit.  I wanted to add a bit of hipster quirk to the look.

Dress: thrifted || Sweater: Express || Tights: Wal*Mart || Shoes: thrifted

Found this lovely lady at the thrift store, too...

Wanted to show you all the whole dress, even though it's huge.

 

The PIANO SIDEWALK. and a BIG thank-you!

My dear readers, I am filled with pleasure, pride, and gratitude to announce that...

I have over 100 followers! 

Having been blogging for just a year, with very limited funds/time and a crappy camera, and from my little place in the middle of nowhere, I can't even tell you how much this means to me! 

Now whenever my family members [rather snarkily] ask, "What's the point of this 'blogging' stuff?" I tell them, "Look at all the friends I'm making!  Look at all the people who care about what I share with them, and who share with me in return!  The coolest part?  I have a bunch of followers from other countries! direct connections with special people I never would have met any other way!" 
And who knows the wonderful places it'll go from here?  Social networking, FTW!  So I'm glad to just keep on keeping on: posting my blog posts, putting photos up on Instagram (@spritzy88), and sharing cool stuff on my Facebook page (link at right).  And this kind of feedback--100+ followers--makes the sharing even more fun.

So, my mom (who has been by far my staunchest supporter) took me out to lunch to celebrate my 100 followers.  :)  Here's the outfit I wore that day, incorporating a blouse she gave me to sort of honor her in return:

This is also the debut of my patterned pants from H&M.  :)  I was soooo excited to find a pair of patterned pants that I actually like and will be able to style with my pre-existing wardrobe.  And they're comfy, too.

As I'm posting these photos, I'm seeing the effects of Instagram and Pinterest and magazine subscriptions hahaha...

What I mean is that this is *gasp* a TRENDY outfit.
 
Patterned cropped pants, sexy statement shoes, a sheer hi-lo blouse, a cropped tuxedo jacket, burgundy lipstick, and even my bangs are all "IN" right now. 
Except for my Rolex and my eyes (lol), I don't think I'm wearing anything NOT trendy. 
How weird.

These photos were taken in the center square of a city next to my hometown.  Actually, the suburbs where I live are all kinda mushed together, sooo it's all kinda the same place, but I digress; the point is that the fountain and gazebo (which you've already seen) are lovely, annnnnnd the following photos showcase my favorite thing about this square:

The PIANO SIDEWALK.

 

 

 

And with that, dear readers, this post draws to its end.  :)  I'll put one more great big THANK YOU out there, throw out a quick Rundown, and see you later!

 

Jacket: thrifted (orig. from Target) || Blouse: gift || Pants: H&M || Shoes: thrifted (orig. from Charlotte Russe) || Watch: thrifted (Rolex)



Get on your dancin' shoes and your bobby-socks!

So the day seems grey? 
Well, you just let it know that--for you and me--there is no such thing as a boring, dull, grey day! 
Take that middle-muddle of a puddle-y grey day, and
show it what it really is meant to be:

It's not really just an in-between,

muddle-y shade of grey

~but actually ~

snazzy 

BLACK and WHITE

mixed together! 

This was the first outing for these shoes, but they were a huge hit with everyone who saw them.  I'm thrilled about them!  They make even my humungous feet look relatively small.

And they'll be great for fall: menswear is still going strong as a trend (I think that--for the truly stylish--menswear will always be around), and the fall runways/magazine spreads are mostly BLACKonBLACKonBLACKonBLACK.  What a change from the neons and brights we've been seeing! 

But anyway, I have a feeling that these shoes will look fab poking out from a black wide-leg trouser.

I'm also looking forward to paring them with a floral print dress (on the comPLETE flip side) with lacey bobby socks (like I have on in these photos). 
But for this day, my fave burgundy shorts served me well yet again.

Posing for my mom at McDonald's.
Yeah: we's classy.

Had waaaay too much fun editing all my "bobby-soxer-meets-schoolboy" (how do I come up with these things???) photos...Hope you enjoy!

Top: Express || Shorts: Banana Republic (thrifted) || Scarf: thrifted || Socks: Target (from the little girls' section, of course) || Shoes: thrifted || Umbrella: Totes