I Shop Secondhand First.

Lots of photos with my dog lately, I know, but she's just such a great costar!

This past weekend it was so warm that I wore a skirt this day, and shorts the other (post to come)!!!  All of us Wisconsinites couldn't believe it was November!  Buuuut our lovely state cured our doubt yesterday by snowing. 
This is why I love good old WI: it always keeps me on my toes, I'll never be bored.

I love the colors I got to wear in this outfit...jewel tones are so rich and beautiful, and the pattern on this skirt is one of my favorites.  It's the same pattern my grandma has on some wallpaper in her house that I've always loved. 
And this tweed hat is the first hat I ever thrifted.  I've had it for years.  It's definitely a man's hat, and very old, and I love it.

Hat: thrifted || Sweater: Target || Skirt: thrifted (orig. from Express) || Shoes: Target || Scarf: old || Bag: thrifted (Louis Vuitton) || Belt: H&M

 

Speaking of thrifting, I wanted to share a pledge I've recently taken.  I hope you, my dear readers, have all noticed the new widget on my sidebar.  Please, join me in taking the pledge below, if it's something on your heart. 

This whole thing was started by Bella at the Citizen Rosebud, a wonderful blogger who has inspired me for quite awhile.  Check out her original post regarding this pledge and see how you can get involved!  :)

 

 

Burberry Girl in a Plaid, Plaid World

I wanted to dress in such a nonchalantly elegant way that it stunned the world!  :)  It was a cold, rainy day, and I wanted to bring a little pep (and prep) and freshness into it.

Also: these are the first pictures you all get to see of the inside of my new apartment...a little anti-climactic, huh? lol I'm standing in from of our linen closet.

I had fun sporting all this plaid...  This is another outfit--like the one in my last post--that I feel is really me.  I felt comfortable and vibrant while wearing it out and about.  And I wasn't trying to impress anyone but myself.  :)  Though if you guys, my readers, like it, I will certainly be very happy about that.



Like my cateyes?  I've been doing that a lot lately...
I've also been really into highlighter.  Trying to find new ways to define my cheekbones.  Any suggestions?

 Plaid on plaid...how English of me.  :)  I'm returning to my roots, I guess.  I was quite the little Anglophile back in high school...even to the point of spelling words the English way, adding 'U's and such where Americans don't.  Someday I'll visit.  :)

 

Scarf: thrifted || Coat: old || Shirt: Gap || Jeans: Charlotte Russe || Shoes: thrifted || Bag: thrifted Burberry ||Earrings: thrifted

Nerdy Skirt

This was a beautiful day: both weather-wise and event-wise.  I took a nice long walk with my hubby and visited his family to watch the Packer game.

My burnished silver metallic cut-out shoes originally from Aldo. I had to buy new laces, but otherwise I'm pretty sure whoever had them before I did hardly wore them! Her loss, poor, unfortunate soul.

 I love Fall layers...denim shirt, leather coat, plaid skirt, and fun pops of color in my accessories!

The skirt is kinda nerdy, really, but I love the pattern and texture! 
I'm trying to dress like me, again. 
I know it sounds silly to blame a thing like this, but Lookbook really started to mess with my personal style; I thrifted thinking in my head, "Ooh! I don't really care for this, but it would get a lot of hypes on Lookbook!"  Whenever I catch myself thinking that kind of thing, I back off of whatever is causing it.  [I've said since the start of this blog that it's not primarily a FASHION blog, but rather a STYLE blog.]  So, I've stopped going on Lookbook completely.  Lookbook could have been a wonderful fashion and style tool, but I'm tired of seeing all the emaciated women wearing slutty clothes getting all the love! Ripped fishnets are not innately stylish; showing off long, thin legs does not mean a woman has pinache. Yes, of course I am jealous of those legs and the money required to buy all brand new designer denim to clothe those legs in, but that is not my chief qualm with Lookbook: my biggest problem is the lack of originality.  There are so many women who are regarded as international fashion plates who I respect and admire and so many pictures in magazines that I really don't believe would get majorly hyped on Lookbook (if they were unknowns like me).  And really, what are hypes to tell you what is cool and what is not?
Sorry for the rant, but it's been on my mind since I read similar thoughts on another blog I really like recently. 

Has anyone else had a problem with Lookbook?

or something similar?  

 

Skirt: thrifted || Purse: old || Scarf: old || Shoes: thrifted (orig. Aldo) || Shirt: H&M || Sunnies: Marshall's (orig. American Eage Outfitters) || Belt: White House | Black Market || Jacket: gift

 



Femenine Foodie

Found this food-patterned dress at Goodwill in the Halloween section.  :)  That makes me giggle... 

I fell in love with the bizarre pattern and the line of dainty buttons right away, and then--after a trip to the dressing room--I knew it was destined to come home with me: a tailor couldn't fit it to my figure any better!

I had been watching Paris When It Sizzles (starring Audrey Hepburn and William Holden) when I first found this dress, and putting it on made me feel as though I could walk right onto the set and look completely at home.  Of course, I'd have to have my hair done, first, but I'm completely inept in that category.  Anyway, the cut of the dress is very Audrey (dingdingding HUUUUGE selling point for yours truly), and the muted colors fit in with the Givenchy clothes Audrey sported during the film.

With the addition of some very Audrey kitten heels (she had big feet just like me!), and a bag in a truly bizarre shade of green (but it's an excellent quality bag), I'm ready to float down staircases with killer elegance.  (This dress totally billows out like a huge, pillowy cloud when you sweep down stairs!!)

Classic lines join the modern era with the addition of a fun pattern...

I actually woke up this morning intending "not to look cute."  Like, I didn't want to put any effort into my look that day.  But this outfit ended up being truly effortless!  It just...happened. 
It renews my hope that it really is simple to look chic if you have good pieces to work with.  I'll doggedly continue in my search to fill my closet with quality and timelessness.

 Dress: thrifted || Hat: Forever 21 || Belt: thrifted || Shoes: old || Bag: thrifted

Quite a Dotty Pin-up

Subtitled: 

Hodgepodge Hottie

I had some fun with print-mixing!  AND a retro silhouette with a modern twist!  
I was attempting one of those
that doesn't got together AT ALL, but somehow it just...goes together
kind of looks.  This is something I don't do really often, so I'm quite a novice, but I thought it turned out.  :)  Probably because I stuck with a fundamental element that I know quite well: a retro silhouette.

A little bit tropical, and little bit pin-up, and a LOT a bit crazy, that's me!

Showing that little piece of skin right under your ribs (above your belly button) has been such a hot thing to do this Summer.  This is the first time I've ever accomplished it in a classy way that I actually like (...aaaand it's already September...sigh, I'm a little slow, I guess).  But I put a Fall trend in there, too, to sort of bridge the gap: red lips with plain eyes and very pink cheeks.

detail of the print-mixing

Top: thrifted || Skirt: thrifted || Belt: thrifted || Shoes: Target || Bag: thrifted || Arm Party: thrifted || Scarf: thrifted || Sunnies: Marshall's