Day 1 of 30 My favorite dress

These pictures turned out terrible! My fault. I took them after the sun was starting to go down, I had no natural light, and it has been an overcast day anyway. I thought the dress would look great against the snow, but I am not stepping a foot outside until the temp goes above -1.

I might re-take these photos tomorrow when I am off work early; the faded light does not do the colors of this dress justice!

Wrap dress: DvF (2004)

Jeans: 7 Dojo (2005)

Shoes: Jimmy Choo 100mm black (2005)

This is my favorite dress. It always goes with me when I travel, and I love wearing wrap dresses with jeans when it's cold! And it looks amazing with nude heels.

I will be making a post for my thirty items soon. I have photographed them but I still need to photoshop them. Are there any tall petites from Alterations Needed doing 30 for 30?

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!

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.

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!