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Showing posts from September, 2017

Paisley and Flannel-Not Just For PJ's

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We've had a bit of a cold snap, and so it was Danny discovered none of last year's clothes fit. At not-quite thirteen, he's now taller than his mama and weighs about the same. He has no problem lending me his clothes but for some reason the child is completely uninterested in wearing mine. I suspect it is the polyester. Anyhoo, off we went today seeking shirts with long-enough sleeves (harder than it sounds) and trousers that don't look like they've been slept in before being worn (also a bit of a challenge). I will say that I'm lucky having a son that is completely indifferent to fashion. He likes checked shirts and jeans without a bunch of crap on the back pockets. As teenage style goes, his is blissfully plain. Danny requested a denim jacket, which we bought, and a puffy ski-vest to keep his arms free when out bird-banding. Two hundred dollars and an hour later he had the jacket, vest, three pair of trousers, four shirts, a dress shirt, and something else I&#

Eccentric Party People

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Where's the party? People don't dress as I do-I get it. I'm accustomed to being asked where I'm headed to because let's face it-my wardrobe isn't representative of Midwestern American streetwear in 2017 (or ever, really). That's fine, if it brings a smile to someone, all the better. I had a group of elderly women watching as we took photos today, and they genuinely seemed to be enjoying themselves. Yesterday, at the pharmacy the dour pharmacist that never says much was so taken with my flower crown he could only smile and stammer a few words about the "thing on your head."That's wonderful-I've worked in retail and it is dead dull engaging with the public. An unusually attired customer always raised my spirits. Sometimes though, my clothes catch people off guard, and they blurt out things they wouldn't otherwise. So it was that the rather conservative woman working behind the cosmetics counter exclaimed,  "You're one of those ec

Birds of a Feather...Pinned to My Sweater

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 I thought it was lucky finding a second of the carved swallow pins, but when I happened upon the small carved gull (I think it is a gull) I knew they had to be worn together. I like clustering my brooches, though these were large enough that it took some fiddling with them to make it work. If you spend enough time in thrift stores, eventually you find duplicate pieces. I'll always buy bracelets in duplicate as I like the look of identical pieces on both wrists (like Wonder Woman!) and earrings are a practical investment as I wear mostly clips and tend to lose them from time to time. Lately, I've been indulging in purchasing duplicate brooches, though I limit it to the novelty sort as it would look silly wearing two identical rhinestone starburts but a pair of celluloid Scotties will always look better than a solitary brooch. Sometimes, a theme is better than identical pieces and this time of year I like to cluster different leaf brooches with acorns, woodland animals, etc. Oth

The Best Sale of the Year

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 I've been having a ruthless clear out (must be done from time to time) and in the process have come across some items I'd forgotten about. Both this top and skirt are slated for moving along to new homes, but I might think twice about the top. I like Liberty (who doesn't?) but the Liberty for Target range was kinda meh. I like the print fine, but the fabric is synthetic and the ruffle at the bottom, annoying. It is too long for the 3/4 sleeves. I'm sure it would look great with a pair of skinny jeans, but that's not my look. I'd forgotten about this pleated silk skirt. It has a Neiman Marcus label ("Needless Markup" as my husband calls it) and a Made in Korea tag. I'd call it 80's based on the length. I wore my share of long skirts in the 80's, with long blazers and massive shoulder pads. A long, white double breasted blazer would be lovely with this skirt-but I don't own one and don't plan to seek one out. I had one...in the 80