Pattern Mixing

Remember last summer when I wrote about being a long time pattern mixer? Turns out I have passed that gene on to the Boy. He totally dressed himself for the picture.

Strut your Stuff

The last prompt was about embracing something that scares me. Most of the things that scare me about fashion I've already tackled in the past few challenges or I just can't do - like wear high heels because I broke my big toe 6 years ago and that makes wearing heels is painful. This left me only two options - wear make-up/lipstick or embrace my curves. Since make-up takes time, money, and some skills, I chose the latter. Embracing my curves scares me for reasons I won't go into, and I know that some of my outfits in the past have been curvalicious, but that was incidental and they were still scary to wear. Today I wore something purposely to show off the waist I have been trimming in water aerobics. A friend noticed at church and I didn't cower away, but owned it. Plus, at church there was an empowering lesson about the divine potential of women, so how can I be ashamed of being a woman and having the body God blessed me with?

cardigan: thrifted, dress: thrifted, belt: thrifted, tights: target, shoes: thrifted doc martens

So if you've got it, flaunt it - modestly.

Lydia's Corner

Thursday's prompt was open to interpretation. I jumped on the teal aspect, ran with it, and threw in some neutral black to keep from overwhelming anyone with too much color. Teal may be my favorite color right now, especially seeing how much of it I have in my wardrobe. Also, when I think about buying a colored pair of skinny jeans (or dying a pair) teal is the first color I think about. Maybe I should act on that.

cardigan: old navy, shirt: target, belt: thrifted, maxi dress: thrifted, shoes: thrifted

And that is how Sue Lydia sees it.

Now it is Art

Today's prompt was dressing up a coat. Well, what dresses up a coat quite like putting a bird on it?

scarf: homemade, coat: delias, bird: homemade, jeggings: old navy, boots: target

I should note that I wore this coat only for the time it took to take pictures. It is in the high 70s today in the Valley of the Sun and this coat was from my Utah years. I sure do love my home.

Also, the Boy really liked the idea of putting birds on things.

I Like Bright Colors And I Cannot Lie

I love bright colors, especially ones that remind me of the beauty of the 80s. Have I mentioned that I love that trend is coming back? This dress and it's bright abstract flowers spoke to me from the thrift store rack. It sure does brighten any day, even a wintery one.

cardigan: hand me down, undershirt: shade, dress: thrifted, tights: target, shoes: thrifted

Go big, bold, and bright or go home.

Honest to Goodness it's the Absolute Ultimate!

Today's prompt of decades or regions sent my mind straight to Gidget and her California life in 1959. We are kindred spirits from different times. I looked at my closet and thought "What would the Gidge wear on a day like this?" and figured skinnies, sneakers, and a plaid button up - preferably Moondoggie's button up shirt if given the chance. Lucky for me I have a Moondoggie who owns with a button up shirt.

shirt: husbands-aeropostale, jeggings: old navy, shoes: thrifted converse

Being Gidget for the day was the absolute most to say the least.

A Little Mix Up

Instead of taking a picture of the patterns I mixed on Friday (which I totally wore, just ask Jen), I went to the zoo with the Boy and girls night with my cousins. I guess I could have just taken the picture on Saturday morning, but I played Just Dance 2 for 3 hours in those clothes plus slept in them as girls night turned into a sleep over and they stuck to high heaven by the time there was any natural light to speak of and a biohazard. That said, I mixed different patterns today to wear to church and that is what is represented in the post.

cardigan: thrifted, shirt: target, skirt: target, shoes: thrifted

In the picture, I am walking like an Egyptian. That is one of the dance moves I used while playing Just Dance. Did I mention my whole body hurts from playing that game? It was a workout that I will gladly do again, especially to the song Big Girl You are Beautiful by Mika.

I Could Certainly Use the Release

While contemplating who was inspiring me today, a Gap commercial kept running through my head.

Funny Face is far from being my preferred Audrey Hepburn movie, but I do love her beatnik dance scene.

Today started off pretty bad when the Boy pulled a table down and smashed his toe and continued with inconsolable cries and whines until about noon. Thank goodness for pbskids.org and their WordWorld games. After a much needed nap, we were all in better moods but I still needed a little release. Enter dance photo shoot.

cardigan: target, shirt: gift, jeggings: old navy, shoes: thrifted

Sometimes a girl has got to dance. It is nothing more than a form of expression.

So Trendy it Hurts

The word of the day is Trendy brought to you by Right Said Fred.

I've seen a lot of rain boots/wellies making it into outfits lately, so I thought I'd try it out. The only time I've worn these boots was while fertilizing my parents garden last year. Any other footwear while manhandling bags of manure would have been uncivilized, mind you.

cardigan: target, dress: hand-me-down, belt: bella band, tights: target, socks: big 5, rainboots: target

I love this outfit, especially the bright colors. The boots were fun to wear, but Husband pointed out that my steps are much heavier in them. Boots were made for stomping, right?

I'm too trendy for this post.

So I Saw This Thing Coming Out of the Sky...

Another day, another prompt. Today was a monochromatic day in a hazy shade of purple.

I drew inspiration from Purple from the Purple People Eater movie circa 1988. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it for a quality movie night. Let me break it down for you: Little Neil Patrick Harris (pre-Doogie Howser) teams up with a magical musical alien to play in a rock n roll band and help elderly people. It is tender and inspirational. And fashion forward.

This is Purple:

This is me:

cardigan: thrifted, shirt (actually a dress): thrifted, skirt: downeast basics, tights: target, flats: thrifted

Pretty sure I nailed it. Maybe I should have left this outfit for Thursday...

30 for 30

Guess what? I'm going to masquerade as a fashion blogger again! For the next month I'm joining Jen in the 30 for 30 challenge. Jen explains that "Essentially you take 30 articles of clothing and create 30 unique outfits from those pieces." Sounds easy enough and another way to be intentional in my dress. Here are my clothing picks:

shirts

undershirts

dresses/tunics

skirts

jeans/leggings

cardigans

shoes

I only have 27 items listed because:
1. I couldn't commit to 3 more
2. There are a few items that I'm searching for that I just might find out thrifting in the next week
3. I'm a little skeptical that that AZ will let me go full force into cold weather attire

The ultimate reason to participate in this challenge is to learn to better accessorize. I learned in the last fashion challenge that I am accessory deficient/challenged. The next month I will work better, harder, faster, stronger on using accessories to enhance my ensembles.