Quick Conversion

One thing I've noticed since I've been walking to work is that I'm wearing pants a lot more often, I think because they feel less fussy -- there's no slip to deal with, or a skirt that's clinging to my tights, or blowing in the wind, or whatever. There have been a couple of times where I've changed my entire outfit once I got to work, but that involves a lot more hauling of stuff than I'm willing to do most days (especially since I often also walk home and thus have to haul everything for 6 miles). So my goal is generally to build an outfit where I can wear it mostly in its finished state, and change or add one or two things once I get to the office. Don't worry, I'm still looking for ways to make my skirt and dress-based outfits easy to wear for the walks, and I'll happily share any new tricks I hit upon.

This is an example of just the sort of quick-conversion outfit I'm after. I wore my Bastien short boots for the walk, and carried the tall boots as well as the white cardigan in my backpack. Then when I got to work it was quick and easy to convert the outfit for the work day.

Next week I'll be traveling to Germany and France on business (I know, I know -- what a sacrifice, right?), so I'm definitely going to be putting some of these new tactics to work for my travel outfits. In fact I think a couple of the pieces in this outfit will be making the trip with me. I'm going first to Dusseldorf and Strasbourg, and then spending the weekend in Paris before coming home. Dusseldorf and Strasbourg are for work, but the Paris weekend is all mine. Gond thing I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet!

Tunic: All Saints
Knit pants: Club Monaco
Cardigan: 12th Street Cynthia Vincent
Boots: Modern Vintage
Necklace: Wendy Brandes

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Quick Conversion

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Spirit

I wore this to work on Halloween, so as to be in the Halloween spirit and still not have to deal with a costume. It was a good call, because pretty much no one downtown wore a costume, and also because this was way more comfortable. And yes, Halloween was almost a month ago and I'm just getting around to posting this now. It has just been that busy lately.

If you're in the US, I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend. I certainly did; we spent a lot of time relaxing for a change, and for Thanksgiving dinner Mark and I went to Harris's for some delicious steak. OK it wasn't exactly a traditional meal, but I've made up for it by spending the last couple of weeks warming up for International Pie For Breakfast Month with plenty of pumpkin pie. It's always Thanksgiving when there's pumpkin pie.


Dress: Skunkfunk
Tights: Sock Dreams
Boots: Modern Vintage
Necklace: Untamed Menagerie

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Spirit

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Duster

I found this funky sheer zebra duster at a thrift store near my mom's house a few months ago when I was up there to visit. It was actually a dress when in combination with the long black liner that came with it, but I much prefer it this way. I made a couple of modifications: I hemmed it from straight across to the tapered hem you see here, and I added a pleat in the back to give it some shape at the waist. It was quite the boxy 90's shape before.




This was a perfect outfit for our gorgeous fall weather. It was warm enough outside to bare a little skin, but not quite warm enough to expose all the limbs in their entirety. Boots and socks and bare legs was just the thing.

Duster: thrifted
Dress: Max Studio
Belt: Lazarro
Boots: from Scoop in Copenhagen
Bag: Lucky

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Shorts Suit

I wore this outfit to the after-work welcome party that my new group took me out for. Which means I waited 3 whole days before hitting them with a shorts suit that shows off my tattooed arms. I'm sure no one cares; our VP, who I worked with at a previous job, only asked, "Are those new?" Biotech is certainly one of the least conservative of the professional fields.

It occurs to me that I might update the look of this jacket by removing the cap sleeves and turning it into a vest. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? On the one hand the cap sleeves give me a little more shoulder width, which is flattering. On the other hand they're sort of puffy and only look good with just the right top. Would removing the sleeves make this piece more versatile, or is it cuter the way it is?

Jacket: BCBG Max Azria
Top: Max Studio
Brooch: Trifari (vintage)
Shorts: White House Black Market
Shoes: Bettye Muller

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Janet

Recently I had the honor of being featured by the fabulous Sarah Von on her blog Yes and Yes. If you haven't done so already, go check it out!

Looking at these photos, which are now several weeks old, makes me realize how badly I need a haircut. Usually when I get my hair done I make my next appointment then and there, so as not to forget and let too much time slip by before the next cut and color. But for some reason the last time I forgot, and the other morning I realized that my hair has begun to look like Janet from Three's Company. Which was cute... in 1982.



Not exactly the look I'm going for in 2011, though.


Of course making the appointment has been on my to-do list for the last week and a half, but somehow I just haven't managed to remember to call during business hours. I'm hopeful that this is the week I'll actually make it happen.

My aunt gave me this cute top, which has a panel of sequins that show subtly through a layer of sheer chiffon. I like how the soft neutral color looks contrasted against the black shrug.

Top: Express
Shrug: Cenit
Necklace: from a glass shop in Venice
Skirt: Noa Noa
Leggings: Black Market Baby
Boots: All Black

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Janet

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Amazon

I felt like an Amazon in this outfit, what with the sky-high heels and the long, floor-skimming skirt. I actually want to hem this skirt to ankle length but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. If I were several inches taller, like the Asos model, it would look like this:




And isn't that cute? The shoes are fully visible even when she's standing relatively straight; i.e., she isn't thrusting one leg out to show off her shoes, like I had to do. Lopping off about 3 inches ought to do the trick; that way if I ever want to wear it with flats it won't be dragging on the ground. I also won't step on it when I climb a flight of stairs. Did I ever mention that falling down a flight of stairs and knocking my teeth out is a huge phobia of mine? Don't think I didn't have visions of that phobia being realized when I wore this outfit.

This was one of my last outfits at the old job, and I got lots of compliments on it. Other than the shoe-hiding and the stair trampling, oh and the rolling over the bottom of the hem with my office chair every time I moved around, and the wind picking up the skirt like a huge sail when I was outside, I really loved the outfit. Yeah. Time to look into that hemming.

Top: Michael Stars
Cardigan: Express (a gift from my aunt)
Necklace: Wendy Brandes
Skirt: Asos
Shoes: Pour la Victoire

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Below the Knee

Here are those amazingly versatile Modern Vintage boots again, this time making an appearance with the cuffs folded to just below the knee. With the cuffs at this height, they stick out a little further and give the boots a pirate-like look, as opposed to when I wear them folded further down like this. I know it's tough to tell from the photos, but in person the effect is much more noticeable.

While we're on the subject of versatility, this little dress turned out to have far more of it than I ever imagined it would. Every time I've worn it I've assumed it was the last completely original variation I could come up with and the next wearing would have to be a repeat of a previous one, but so far it hasn't happened yet. For a retrospective on the ways I've styled this dress so far, check out the photos below.

Which outfit is your favorite?

Scarf: Duke et Duchess
Shirt: H&M
Dress: Orla Kiely
Boots: Modern Vintage

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Thigh High

Thigh high boots -- holy crap, am I really this trendy? Well, it turns out that I am and I didn't even realize it until a few days ago. This is actually just my trusty pair of Modern Vintage boots that I've worn about a million times, only it recently dawned on me that I could flip up the folded cuffs and voila! I've got my very own pair of thigh high boots. I've had these suckers in my closet for a full 2 years, that's how ahead of the trends I am.

I wore this outfit for Girls' Night Out after yesterday's Libby Smith ensemble. As you can see, the only piece that carried over from day into evening was the vest. The real star of the show was the boots, of course, and I wanted to take a moment to elaborate on why I think a pair like this is a worthwhile investment.

This season it appears that thigh high boots are going to be all the rage, but before you run out and snap up a pair, it's worth considering how versatile they'll be once the trend dies down. I've seen very few pairs that are under the $200-300 range (and far more pairs that are well above it), and if you're going to drop that kind of coin on a pair of boots, it's worth having a style that won't look outdated after just one season. These Modern Vintage boots turned out to be ideal because the cuff can be worn in multiple positions: just below the knee, folded further down for a classic equestrian look, or flipped all the way up as I've shown here for an above-the-knee length. For me it was just a lucky break, but if you're in the market for thigh highs this season, you have an opportunity to make a solid investment with versatility and timelessness in mind. This is yet another way to avoid buyer's remorse!

Boots with foldable cuffs abound this season, but I thought I'd share a few of my picks from Amazon and Endless that I think would function well as either a cuffed equestrian or a sexy above-the-knee:


Pura Lopez L101-B, $398
Pour La Victoire Rena, $209

















Apepazza Cagliari, $329
Via Spiga Brook, $256

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Ebb and Flow

It's interesting how items seem to ebb and flow in my wardrobe. There are things I've had in there untouched for ages and ages, and then suddenly I find myself wearing them all the time again. Such is the case with this bright pink flower clip; I think last week was the first time it's seen the light of day in at least a year, and now here I am wearing it again just a few days later. Such is the hazard of having a huge wardrobe: you often can't keep track of everything in it.

The clip started out life as a pin on a flirty cocktail dress. I thought it had way more potential as a clip, so I took the pin backing off and attached the flower to a hair clip. This way I can wear it in my hair or attach it to clothing, including the original dress. In this outfit, the folds of the skirt created the perfect spot to attach the clip, because it looks like the flower is the attachment point for the drape of fabric.

This outfit was carefully designed to prevent the dreaded 'floating in space' effect that can happen when you wear a bright top over a solid black skirt or pants. First, I chose gray tights over black ones to bring some value contrast and depth to the bottom half of the outfit, rather than letting it be stark black the whole way down. Next, I used the pink flower and burgundy pettipants to add some color to the skirt. Finally, I blended some black into the top of the outfit by layering the black t-shirt underneath the pink top.

Many people think of a bright top with a black skirt or pants as a no-brainer combination, but in reality it's one of the toughest looks to pull off. Black isn't a very well-mannered neutral; it contrasts sharply against most everything else and can easily sap the vibrancy from your outfit, so it's important that the black makes sense with the other color. Here, I brought my bright colors into the bottom half of the outfit and the black into the top. Thus the skirt is no longer just a black skirt, but a pink, burgundy, and black one, because the flower, pettipants and skirt can be considered as one piece. In this way black is used as a vehicle with which to highlight brighter colors rather than allowing it to work against them.

Top and skirt: Attila Designs
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Black shirt: H&M
Pettipants: Glam Garb by Gunlis
Boots: All Black

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Black Widow

I've owned this black lace dress for years and years; it was one of those long-standing favorites that I had tucked away in a dress bag and stashed under my bed for safe keeping. Along with my 90's rompers that I turned into mini-dresses, this was one of those things I pulled from the vaults with the intention of reworking it somehow.

The dress is a Betsey Johnson and was originally purchased sometime around 1993. It also came with an opaque black slipdress that goes underneath, which I still use as a slip fairly often. The black lace completely transforms the look of this 50's-style red dress, giving it much more of a goth quality than I'd ever thought possible. I kept the rest of the outfit simple so as not to overdo it; after all, black and red makes quite a statement on its own. I left my legs bare despite the frigid Bay Area temperatures, because I felt that even sheer black hose would look too gloomy.

The dress is obviously meant to be buttoned all the way down, but I wanted to use the stark contrast between the two dresses to create the illusion of an hourglass shape, which I don't actually have. The 'V' shapes that I created by unbuttoning the black dress above and below the elastic belt are accentuated by the saturated red underneath. I think the red hourglass shape also makes me look a little like a black widow. If only I had all those handy extra limbs -- just think how many more tattoos I could get!

Red dress: J. Crew
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Shoes: Steve Madden

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Something Studded

I originally planned this outfit with bare legs in mind, but the persistent cold weather necessitated a last-minute swap. These boots had just arrived in the mail the day before, so I thought I'd try them out.

I'd had my eye on these boots for many months, but wasn't willing to pay full price for a brand I'm unfamiliar with. Then last week I was poking around on Endless.com looking for something studded, and these turned up on clearance; between the additional $20 off that Endless was offering and the 6% rebate I'll get from Fat Wallet, they came out to less than half the original price.

I like the fact that the studs on these boots are fairly subtle; to me this bodes well for them not looking hopelessly dated 3 months down the road. So many of the studded items I've seen in recent months seem to have been created on the belief that if a little is good, then a lot is better. These boots already have a biker vibe going on, so to me a little goes a long way when it comes to additional embellishments. By the way, the boots are really comfortable and the tops have a clever overlapping construction, which makes them able to fit different sized calves without the need for elastic. The leather is buttery and supple and the construction seems to be good quality; I would order this brand again.

Cardigan: Solemio
Scarf and flower both came with other garments
Shirt: Max Studio
Pants: Poleci
Boots: All Black

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Another Chance

I'm going to come clean here. I bought this dress at a thrift store several months ago and in doing so I ignored many of the very same suggestions I gave to you just the other day. It didn't really fill any gaping hole in my wardrobe, and more importantly I didn't exactly love it. But you see, it was months ago, and I hadn't yet learned how to scrutinize my thrift store purchases so carefully. So consequently, I wasn't terribly excited about this dress when I brought it home.

Determined to give it a rigorous test, I pulled the dress out a few nights ago and found to my surprise that it looks and feels GREAT. The cut is incredibly flattering, and the black trim makes it the perfect starting point for a navy/black combo, which is one of my favorites. So why on earth have I only worn it one other time? I think I must have convinced myself at some point that it was only okay, and ever since then I've passed it by, thinking it just wasn't interesting enough to bother with. Amazing what can happen when you allow yourself to become predjudiced against items in your wardrobe. If it hadn't been for Sal's inspiring me to try a blazer/dress combo, it might have been many more months still before I gave this dress another chance.

The dress isn't anything particularly special, really. It's just a simple, navy knit dress with a couple of well-positioned darts and a black neckline and cuffs. It's made by Converse All Star for pete's sake. Yeah, you heard me. But holy smokes, what a perfect fit -- if I hadn't been trying to play up the navy/black combo I could've easily gone without a belt and had plenty of waist definition, which isn't so easy for me to pull off with a solid-color dress, let alone one made of drapey jersey. As you can probably tell, I'm now pretty stoked about my thrift store find and am resolved to wear it more often. It'll be great for warm weather (assuming we ever get any more) with bare legs and my adorable Simple sneakers for a casual weekend look.

Scarf: Banana Republic
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Boots: Doc Marten's

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Carny

This isn't exactly how I wore this outfit to work; I went hatless during the work day and put the hat on later to meet Laura and her father-in-law for a couple of drinks after work. I felt the hat was a little too showy for the office, but it was great fun for an evening out.

I made this hat several months ago and finished trimming it only last weekend. Sometimes hats have to sit around a little while before they're quite ready to be trimmed; each has its own personality that doesn't always reveal itself right away. The idea of a bowler style for women is something I've been playing with since I first started making hats, and I even have a couple in the shop, but this is the first I've done where I added a hat pin. I also made the hat pin myself; this is a new craft I've taken up recently that I'm having a lot of fun with. I like the way the pin and the feathers give an elegant touch to what is otherwise a casual, daytime men's style. The band is made from a vintage necktie.

This is the first time I've worn this vest and skirt combo, though I bought them together with the intention of wearing them this way. The length of the vest is just right for the high-waisted skirt, and the two of them together certainly have the steampunk aesthetic that I've been drawn to lately. The whole outfit with the hat has sort of a carny vibe, most likely inspired by my recent addiction to the now-defunct HBO series Carnivàle. Mark got me hooked on it and we've spent the last few weeks devouring the entire series via Netflix.

Top: H&M
Vest: Heathen
Skirt: Skin Graft
Shoes: John Fluevog

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Lest I Forget

Here's that long skirt worn as a dress that I talked about the other day; I was inspired to wear it after I wrote that post. It looks absolutely terrible on me as a skirt, but I love it this way; the fullness at the bottom looks great with a fitted top half. The vest brought in the loose-fitting top portion of the skirt (otherwise it would look like a big tent on me), and the belt kept the skirt from slipping down during the day. I strengthened the blue/black combination by adding the black necklace, hat, and shoes.

Reader Becca pointed me to this wonderful necklace from Etsy seller Untamed Menagerie. It's made of black, precision-cut acrylic and couldn't be more perfectly suited to my style. I think between this necklace and my newest tattoo, I'm not going to be forgetting my own mortality any time soon.

Vest: Guess
Skirt: Ralph Lauren
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Shoes: Sofft

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Lest I Forget

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