Maybe-no-school-tomorrow wishes

Trying to find a good outfit for -5F wind chill factor tomorrow.... Hmm it would be *terrible* if school was canceled. Especially since I am on duty at 8am when it is supposed to be negative million. This town is crazy amounts of windy, too. Just cow fields and no trees for windbreaks!

So I was thinking a dress with OTK boots, but this outfit is just not working as much as I assumed it would in theory. My boots seem a bit baggy (although these pics are sans tights, which I plan to wear tomorrow). Maybe that will help.

Dress: DvF Fall '09 (I think)

Tank: Target pajamas $10

Tights: WalMart $5

Boots: Steve Madden $49.50

You know, I think it might be time to try out the "button-down under the wrap dress" I saw on someone else's blog a few weeks ago (I will credit you when I remember who did that!). I have a black button-down that might work, both for warmth and to provide a little more contrast between camel and skin colors (although it is really "white" outside so these photos are especially washed out with a sunless day. I will keep trying.

Camera review: Polaroid t1031

I write this review after posting a ton of blog entries with no photos (yet. They are being held hostage). :( My camera just won't hold a charge, and I am starting to think I am getting what I paid for.

I bought a little orange Polaroid t1031 off Amazon a few months back because my old Casio's battery stopped holding a charge. The little guy was $100 marked down to $50 so I jumped on it after reading good reviews. I am not so sure anymore. It is really hard to take clear photos--as you can see on the blog, lots of mine are grainy! I had better luck with my first digital clunker, a 2 megapixel Fuji from 2002.

Also the charger is hard to manage--it seems to be made for use with several different batteries, with different layers and depths, so you really have to know how to insert the battery. Lots of loose space between the battery and the charger. It usually takes me twice as long to charge because the light that goes from "orange" to "green" when fully charged is actually a green-orange color if that sounds possible. Several times I have taken out the battery after several hours thinking it would be charged but nope! Dead as a doornail--just hard to tell the charging/not charging colors apart. I'd show you but my battery's charging :o

I will continue to play around with this guy, but it isn't looking good. I am not very satisfied with its blurry photos and slow snap time. I am still playing around with getting the self timer to work and not take a "moving-car" picture. Not sure what I am doing wrong, but there may be a new camera in my future. And a tripod!

Things that look great on my frame

And these are the things I love and have committed to in holy matrimony.

Wrap dresses a la DvF
It is very hard to find things that define my waist as well as a wrap dress. They are body-conscious without being questionable, and I just could not live without the six or so I have in my closet. The wilder the print, the better. I always have something to wear. I can just throw one on and feel great. In wintertime, you will always find me wearing one over pants. I will be trying one with OTK boots on Tuesday (although it is supposed to be all of 1 degree when I go into work, so that might change).

 I always look so annoyed lol. DvF hmm I am thinking Fall '09 but don't know for sure.

Fitted sleeveless tops close-fitting arm holes are key. The Jason Choi top always gets compliments! My favorite top ever.

 Anna Sui for Target Fall '09 Love this top. It has nice high armholes and a back zipper, and the material is slightly sheer with a bit of foil woven in.

Richard Choi for Target hmm Spring 08? This is my absolute favorite piece of clothing I own. I call it my "Clown shirt" because of the orange ruffle. I wear it on any occasion and it always seems to fit in. I wore this the first time I met M's parents! Perfect-fitting piece that doesn't try too hard. Love the high arm holes and the side-zip. Could use an ironing, though! :)

Ann Taylor triacetate tunic, sometime in 2003 or 2004, I remember I got it on sale for $19. I have worn it to death!

Boot-cut jeans or pants (or a even a slight flare) I love those Hollister California jeans. Their 0s fit perfectly. Great 32" inseam. I like an opening of about 18" at the bottom. I need a little built-in hourglass-to-my-pants to give me some shape. 

Low-rise pants that buckle around my hips (too bad I can't tuck anything in without looking odd)

Fitted Button-down shirts (stretch)
Those are hard to find, though. I have had luck at Hollister (stretch/dressy, great patterns!--although some can hit a little short (barely at hip) so you might want to try them on if you are a tall petite) and sometimes American Eagle (cottony/casual) if I can find 00s. Good sleeve length on both stores, too--never too short!

Workout clothes
AE Aerie Yoga pants are absolutely perfect in both fit and inseam (XS regular)

Target's Mossimo Interlock hoodies' sleeves are the perfect length if I can remember not to dry them! And $16.
Target's Mossimo short and long sleeve tops are also perfect (and between $10 and $30; I just to use J.Crew's (on sale) but have since gone Target.

Demi purses
Like my Coaches. They don't overwhelm my frame like my big buckets do. I think I don't need any more purses. I am glad I grabbed up those other colors when I found them.

Steve Madden ballet flats in Kappy
I bought these on sale for $29 at Macy's Winter 2008 and I am upset they have not become a regularly stocked item. I would have paid full price ($59); they are the quintessential low rise ballet shoe. I have 2 pairs but one is slowly dying from too much use. I will soon send it to my shoe man Mike Morelli at Brooks Shoe Service in Chicago who does an excellent job resoling shoes! If you have new shoes you want to keep perfect, I highly recommend his company.

Sandals that cover the beginnings of my toes
I just don't have cute feet. If the tips of the toes stick out, that is fine, but I don't have feet I want to show off. I love these from Vera Wang at Kohl's!

Coats that cinch at the waist
Green GAP jacket
Trench coat

Jewel colors like emerald green, ruby, indigo, violet. Emerald green is my favorite! Kelly green for summer. It just looks so good with dark hair!

Items I regret/things I cannot wear (and I accept that!)

Here is my list of clothes I regret buying (or look terrible in)!! :D Stay tuned for funny pictures.


Because they are annoying:
Slingback shoes. I wanted the Choo version of these so I tried a similar pairby Victoria's Secret designer Collin Stuart. They are beautiful in theory but they just don't stay ON! Lol I remember some ladies at work saying not to buy slingbacks for the same reason...so glad I did not spend much on these, but I still found out the hard way. I hate them and never wear them, but I can't donate them because I still think they are beautiful!

Because they look bad on me:
Strapless dresses. I just don't look great in them. It's my shoulders! I just feel like a quarterback in them! Too bad. 

Anything halter, for that matter. Ya. No.

Below-the-knee skirts. The best part of my leg is right above my knee, and shorter things look better on me (too bad you can't be 20 forever). Still struggling with this.

Capri pants. Bleh. Same thing with the legs. I prefer my thighs to my calves any day, so that is why. I hate these things--I feel so dumpy in them! I am so surprised at how this trend has now lasted 10+ years!

Anything loose or A-line. I just get lost in it. Pants, tops, anything. It is very hard for me to wear.

Conferences & articles

I don't know if I will have time to post any photos today because I have deadlines. Horrible, self-imposed deadlines:

• Article draft due to my adviser
• Slides (sigh 50 of 'em) for a conference in Chicago due by Friday (aiming for Wednesday; I have them drafted, just have to fix all my charts) [at least they are based on my article draft]
• Lesson planning for class tomorrow & Thursday
• Grading 1 late assignment
• Laundry
• Vacuuming
• bleh

I just want to lie around and read. I'd like some dreary weather. Sometimes Lubbock is just too darn sunny!

Investing

[more pics coming soon]

When I was little (23), I had a very good job that paid very well, and since it was in the early 2000s, expensive clothes reigned. [Thanks Carrie Bradshaw]. Everyone thought they needed $600 shoes and $1000 purses. I was no exception to that (sheepish). What I am glad about, though, are the pieces I chose when I laid down the cash.

First, I didn't have a lot of work-appropriate clothes when I first started out. I went to places like J.Crew for their button-downs to wear under my suits, although it took me a while to find ones that fit well at Hollister. Ann Taylor was my go-to for suits, and I actually still wear my first suit (c.2000) to this day. I still wear a lot of the clothes I bought from AT and J.Crew in the early 2000s but I had to have almost all of them tailored or taken in. To this day, I am wary on buying suiting because of the added expenses (plus I don't need any right now). I do have my eyes on a suit from Theory once I graduate next year, but I am already disappointed to hear their suiting is not lined!

Shoes were easier. My first pair of interview shoes were BCBGirls, and I think I actually gave them away within the last year. I was looking for them again recently and I was sad when I couldn't find them! I have never been a big shoe person--I am very picky about what I want them to look like and I don't have a problem saying no if a pair does not fulfill my needs. I decided that the 100mm black heel from Jimmy Choo was my ideal shoe. I also bought them in dark brown. Now that I am in my 30s, I sometimes wish that I had gone with the 85mm instead, but that shoe is so comfortable it doesn't really matter! I wear them all the time and have had them resoled quite a bit at my shoe guy in Chicago. When I bought them, they were only $445. If I had another $500 lying around (ha!) I would probably get the same black shoe in a 60mm heel.

Purses are another story. My first nice purse was a perfect black Coach Hamptons Demi my mom gave me for my 22nd birthday. Before that bag, I was more of a wallet-in-back-pocket kind of college girl. That was  perfect bag! Great size, great style, great price! I subsequently tracked down that bag and all its friends in all the classic colors I could find.

Later, I got into bigger bags which sometimes work against my frame/weight. I fell in love with this Marc Jacobs olive green/brown bag in 2005 (on sale at Neiman's for 50% off) and I still carry it although it weighs a TON from all that hardware! I usually just have my phone and wallet inside because it is soooo heavy!

I also love bright colored bags. Some of my favorites are my Dooney & Bourke bright orange bucket bag. I wish it had metal feet! The bottom scuffs if I am not careful.

And I have a beautiful jade green bag from the Kate Spade outlet in Houston and her ocean-blue clutch I could not resist. Oh I love these colors!! I love the lining. They can really make an outfit un-boring.

Coats are another tough area for shopping. Earlier this year, I needed a new raincoat. The town I live in has downpours like you wouldn't believe, but most of  the time it is just plain WINDY, making wearing dresses very difficult! I soon found the answer to my problem: a snug knee-length coat. For spring, summer and fall, I used to wear an old Old Navy trench from 2000 but the edges were frayed. I love the look of Burberry but there is no way I will ever spend $1000 on a coat. I thought London Fog did a great job on the classic trench, and I searched high and low for their double-breasted petite coat. It is harder to find than it looks! Every store was out of my size and I was so happy when I finally found it in both black and tan. I jumped on them! I think I got both for under $99, too. Very happy with both those pieces!

Winter coats are harder for me. I actually wear my snowboarding coat a lot in the winter, which is hardly fashionable. But I hate being cold and I tend to get to school/work before everyone else, so it is off before you know it. I have a long black coat from Casual Corner '03 that I wear, but it is not that warm, even being wool. I do wear it if I am super dressed up though and I just suffer.

Those are my most classic pieces that I am most proud of purchasing. Some were presents (thanks Ma!) but a lot of them I saved up for until I felt comfortable for the splurge, and I have ZERO regrets about these items! I love my clothes.

Ha now I will have to do a post about the items I DO regret buying! LOL luckily most of them were cheap.

Don't buy

Saturday. I am supposed to be revising an article but instead have been looking at J.Crew's 40% off sale/Free shipping on $100. Argh. I will refrain. It isn't that hard. It is annoying to see the things I have been waiting for (heather grey cashmere turtleneck sweater!!) go on sale so drastically. But I know J.Crew will make these items forever, and I have enough in my closet.

But if I WERE normally employed (non-GPTI salary) and had some extra money to burn, this is what I would buy:

• Cashmere turtleneck sweater in Grey Heather $119+40%
• Factory Always Striped cardigan in Navy 39+40% The contrasting stripes are great!
• Always Perfect button-down in white $60 [reg price]. They stretch after a while, and I am on my 3rd one.

 And I am oddly attracted to:

• A cashmere Henley in an unexplainable orange-red color called Cherise $99+40%. Not sure what the attraction is... Yes I do: it is all the bloggers wearing really bright skirts lately against the snow/grey skies, and the closest thing I have is a (dark & somber) maroon fluted skirt from Ann Taylor Loft '05.

Unfortunately, I just looked up how much I would be saving and the total cost would be about $167 down from $256. I want those items! But I am refraining. I have stuff to wear here. And $167 is groceries for a whole month, and gas, and if I spent that much at J.Crew, it would only be for three items. Yes, one is regularly priced at $158 , but I will not die if I don't have it. It would just be nice...

I have been really proud of myself for not spending hardly any money on clothes this school year, but I think I could do better. The only items I have bought were some neutral cardigans (on a drastic sale) from J.Crew in mid-October. It is harder to refrain from basics like sweaters or cardigans or white shirts because I can see where I would immediately wear them, or that having them would help me wear XYZ. Shoes are less of a problem. I used to buy a few pairs of shoes per season, but the only ones I have bought this school year were my running shoes (which I desperately needed) and the boots I found for $50. I am glad I already have what I need to get through most of the days.

I feel better about blowing off that J.Crew sale! I just need to get a grip sometimes.

UPDATE
Was just reading a blog post about not being able to find work after earning advanced degree...sobering! Now I am extra glad I refrained from that sale.

Clothes that act my age

I have a tough time dressing for school. I loovve dresses, but I am small and it is hard to find ones that fit without:
a) being for a teen
b) looking really cheap looking (because it was made for a teen)
c) being really short on me (I'm 5'5")
c) having an unnaturally high waist

Plus, I already do have a naturally high waist, so that is hard enough to work with already. I have begun to embrace it lately. I will never forget being in 8th grade, at the height of Guess? jeans popularity, and some rude girl in my chemistry class saying something about my brand new jeans looking high-waisted. Sigh. I was so happy when Mariah Carey invented the low rise (albeit six years later).

One of my "teen" dresses, attempting to pass for 30+ (it's using its friend's fake)

Does it work with the boots and tights? That was one of the main reasons I wanted OTK boots this season--to provide more leg coverage with dresses (plus it's freezing and windy here). [It is so hard to know where to look/smile when taking one of these self-portraits in a mirror].

Yea I feel better about this dress! I always have to wear another cami under it AND a slip because F21 dresses have that notoriously bad lining that goes wherever it wants.I was thinking about using navy or blue tights with this outfit instead of black since the flowers are blue and gold. Might give it some more zip.

What I'm wearing:
Dress: F21 ($18)
Belt: a ribbon from another F21 dress
Cami: Rodarte for Target ($7 on sale)
Half slip: Macy's
Tights: Wal-Mart ($5)
Boots: Steve Madden

The older I get, the weirder I feel shopping in Juniors-like sections. Talbots makes some really great skirts, but they don't fit me. JCrew still needs tailoring. My favorite jeans this year came from Hollister, of all places. Really expensive lines fit better (of course they do!) and I have had the best luck with wrap dresses a la DvF. In the past, I have also had extremely good luck with the Target guest designer lines, particularly Richard Choi (all time fave pieces), Anna Sui, and Jason Saunders--but not so much with their more recent lines. I was psyched about Marc Jacobs, but a lot of the stuff looked really young.

Anyway, what I wanted this post to be about is wearing dresses, etc. and making them not look too "young." I don't want to look old and dumpy, for sure, but I also don't want to look like I am trying too hard or that I want to be the age of the students I am teaching (18-22). No thanks! I want to look my age, only good. I am attempting to balance shorter lengths with tights, high boots, and other layers.Without tights, this dress looks bare.

Too much skin! Not exactly skanky, but it just totally doesn't work. I am still figuring out the best methods to wear what I have. I will post both things I think works and those that fail--mainly to remind myself not to wear it again.
More experimenting to come.

Owls about staying late?

Ha! There I am. I haven't played around with photos, blogging, etc., and I figured if I let 30/30 be the first time I went live, It'd be trouble. My apartment is trashed (and you can pretty much see all 400 square feet of it!) and I took this pic around 6:30 after the sun had gone down. I will have to play around with lighting and figure out if my camera has a self-timer this weekend.

I knew today would be madness (28 tickets in the queue :O ) and the main IT guy is still out sick. Working IT and teaching on the same days is a toughie, outfit-wise. You can get grimy crawling around behind the hardware, but I still want to look cute for teaching my course! I knew today would have to be a casual day due to the tickets, although I really wanted to debut my new boots.

Now you can see my makeup explosion...hmm the point of this one was to show the shoes!

This is a close-up of the owl print. I was paired this with an orange Dooney bucket bag but I forgot to include the bag in the pics.

Oh well. This is what I am wearing head to toe:
Necklace: James Avery
Cardigan: J.Crew ($19)
Black tank: Psst from Nordstrom Rack ($7)
Owl tank: Forever 21 ($20?)
Belt: a black ribbon likely pulled from a F21 dress
Watch: Citizen
Jeans: Seven lightweight Dojos from Nordstrom Rack
Shoes: Steve Madden ($29)

And one last pic of my helper, Boris Snoris I Adoris, my darling Boston Terrorist.

OTK boots at O-30

I am going to try to pull off over the knee boots at 32. And I am a teacher of college-age students, so that will make it extra hard to:
a) not look like a Skankarella prostitute,
b) not like I am trying way too hard, and
c) not elicit sour looks from real faculty/advisers/chairs

What I do have working for me is that my West Texas town is at least five years ago, so anything post-Ugg is still "fresh."

I hope the ones I ordered aren't ugly in real life. They come Saturday. They are at a shipping facility in Dallas right now. I just checked. In my brain, I have them on as pants, wearing them with dresses. They will never be worn with skinny jeans. No. The ones that are coming have a 14" shaft/opening, which is what I have. Here's hoping. Wish: Please, please do not look cheap, even though I stingily bought you for $49 + gift card.

UPDATE: Oo they came later that night! Here they are:

What I'm wearing:

Dress: F21

Cardigan: Macy's cashmere from Xmas sale '09

Boots: Steve Madden

I thought they'd be a bit longer/taller. I am not sure why they are a bit loose in the back (not tight on your thighs at all) but my calf and thigh measurements are about the same. I wonder if they have to meet/exceed the hemline of your dress to look really great? I am pleased with them. I will need to play around this weekend and figure out how to wear them.

The front-facing pics are bit misleading on snugness. The tops are a bit baggy (14" tops), but when you sit down they are ok. Not sure. Hmm. To alter or not to alter...?


UPDATE 01/21:
A few days later, I am really pleased with this purchase and I think the boots have a lot of potential. They aren't 100% perfect (a little loose at the top) but reading other blogs and seeing other pictures of people wearing similar styles has been inspiring. I almost went with more expensive pairs, and I agonized about buying shoes I "didn't need" for several days. For $50 though, I am really pleased with this purchase.

I like that they are made of a suede-like material instead of leather (or worse: fake leather) which would have increased the hooker potential tenfold. The material doesn't make the boots shout at passerbys; the materials let the boots act as tights/pants in a way, which was my original goal! I am really happy with these! I will be experimenting with different outfits around the house this weekend. I think they need tights in most cases.

30 for 30

I am going to try this. It is bothering me that February has 28 days but I am trying to get over that. Who is going to take my photo? I guess that is me. Off the Dairy Queen table in the park? These will be in my apt for now.

Ack it is hard to take full-length photos of yourself!

I am wearing:
Dress: F21 ($25)
Tomato cardigan: Target ($18)
MEK Jeans ($100 at the Buckle in '09)
Shoes: Jimmy Choo 100mm (from '04)
Belt: Ribbon off an H&M shirt I bought in DC '05

I do love the blue. It is so bright outside, especially with the cardigan. I took these pics around 1pm so the light might be blasting the colors down a bit.

First blog post accomplished!