It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Cardi - NY & Co (thrifted), Belt  - Thrifted; Shoes - Mossimo (Thrifted); Capris - Gap (maternity);  Shirt - NY  & Co; Earrings and Bracelet - Steinmart

This outfit was part of my attempt to find yet another non-christmassy red/green combo.  This shirt is a pale bluish green, so I guess it could technically be classified at teal, but I thought I'd give it a shot in my ever present quest for things not black or blue that go with red.  Sadly, my beautiful tomato NY&Co cropped cardi got caught on something (not really sure what) this day and got a ginormous hole in the back. It has since been retired (to the garbage) as it was a hole that I could not repair.  I searched for months for the perfect red cardi.  Now I am again on the quest. :-(

The shoes support my theory that every good shoe eventually ends up at Platos.  I saw these shoes on Target.com for around $25 dollars.  Although adorable, and I still on my mind weeks later, the words 'I'll wait until they show up at Plato's' actrually came out of my mouth in my externalized internal monologue.  And lo and behold, around 3 months later, they showed up at Plato's in my size.  Our union was meant to be.  And they are surprisingly comfortable.  A match made in heaven.

Take On Me

Shirt - Old Navy (thrifted); Pants - Gap (maternity - gifted); Earrings - Steinmart; Ring - NY&Co; Shoes - Nine West (thrifted)

This is not an optical illusion.  This is not a graphic editing trick. My shoes have lips on them.  Not just lips, magenta and blue lips.  These shoes make me think of the 80's and, more specifically, the A-Ha video for Take On Me.  No, I don't think there were any crazy colored lips in that video.  I just said it made me think of it.

This shirt is another on of the freebie's I took a chance on in the Plato's Clearance grab bag event.  A chance well taken, as I think it is very flattering.  And I discovered this weekend as I was packing for a camping trip, that I don't really own any khaki's or jeans that aren't maternity.  Not because regular ones don't fit me.  But because I rarely wear either.  I was gifted a bunch of both from my bestie's older sister who also has freakishly long legs and I never really saw the point of buying non-maternity ones since I don't wear them enough to warrant.  Plus, all her stuff was from the Gap, and who makes better jeans than the Gap??  I wear them proudly.

A Different Grape

 Sweater - NY & Co (thrifted); Skirt - Anne Klein (thifted); Shoes - gift; Necklace and Earrings - Macys; Ring and Bracelet - Premiere

I usually stay away from pinks in the makeup department because of my coloring, but I have a lipstick that I got in my 'free gift with purchase' at the Clinique counter called 'A Different Grape' which I just love.  It's a great mulberry/raspberry color, just like this cardi, and I wear the lipstick any time I wear this color.  See..it looks really good. 

Mixing this skirt with the green polka dot shirt made me think that other bright stand out colors would look great with this skirt, too.  Next maybe orange....or electric blue....or 'hot yellow'...the possibilities are endless.

Inspiration

 Earrings and Necklace - Steinmart; Shirt - Ann Taylor (thrifted); Skirt - Old Navy (thrifted); Shoes - Madden (thrifted); Belt - NY & Co (thrifted); Bandles - Macy's; Necklace and Earrings - Steinmart

This is probably one of my favorite outfits in quite a long time.  I love these colors together.  And, oddly enough, I got my inspiration from these earrings. 

I've had these earrings for year but never really thought about them much or looked at them too closeley.  They are hematite chandelier with jewel tone accents (sorry, hard to see in the picture), and as I was putting away another pair of earrings the night before this picture was taken, I noticed that I really liked how the mauve and teal looked together.  Voila, outfit inspiration.

Boring Business

 Skirt - JC Penny; Shirt - Gift; Shoes - Clarks; Jewelry - Premiere

Shirt - Steinmart; Skirt - Anne Klein (thifted); Shoes - Stuart Weitzman (thifted); Bracelet - Premiere; Necklace and Earrings - Me

We had some major league big wigs coming into the office this week for a client interview to win a HUGE project.  When I have meetings with clients, I tend to dress up a little more, usually breaking out a dress or donning a pencil skirt.  I do not, however tone down my color or pattern choices for clients.  Its a bit different when corporate big wigs are in town.  I always get a little nervous that they may see my color choices as frivolous and make a snap judgement about my work performance.  I may be worrying for nothing, but in this economy, with the threat of layoffs always looming, I don't want to do anything to jeopardize even the perceptions made about me. 

So, that being said, this is my twist on boring business. Yes, I'm all in gray, but I mixed plaid and polka dots.  And Stuart was able to give me a pop of color while still being muted and understated.  One of the female higher ups even complimented my shoes :-)

Color of Summer

 Shirt - Lane Bryant (thrifted); Skirt - Spiegel; Shoes - thrifted; Belt - Dress Barn; Necklace and Bangle - Premiere

Sweater and Skirt - NY & Co (thrifted); Shoes - Payless; Necklace - Premiere

Yellow is the color of the summer.  Not any summer, but this summer.  And not because it is the color of the sun.  Because all my life I have been told that yellow is not a good color for me because I am so pale.  This summer, I threw caution to the wind and started wearing it anyway.  Screw my complexion - I rock out some yellow. 

Bag of Free Clothes

 Dress - Chaps (thrifted); Shoes - Payless; Necklace and Belt - Steinmart

My local Plato's Closet had a clearance sale recently.  $15 was all it would cost for each plastic shopping bag (smallish) that you filled with clearance items.  I was pleased to find that the clearance items were all sorted and in their own section.  I was not pleased to find the limited amount of items in my size that were on clearance.  Well, I guess I shouldn't have been two surprised...it is Plato's Closet.  But I digress.  I found this sundress pretty early on and for the cute plaid pattern and good construction of the dress, I would have paid $15 for it.  Which basically made everything else in my bag free.  I've already worn the dress twice since the sale, so it was definitely worth it.  While not everything in my bag ended up being a winner (I took some long shots since they were essentially free...I'll probably end up donating them), I ended up with quite a few really nice pieces in addition to the dress.

Shirt and Scarf- NY & Co (thrifted); Skirt - Ralph Lauren (Macy's) ; Shoes - Payless; Belt - NY & Co

This purple sweater was one of my gem 'freebies' from the bag.  It totally matched the scarf I had thrifted from there last year and is pretty seasonless, as I see myself putting this over a buttondown and wearing with a skirt and boots in the winter as well.  In fact, most of the items I own from NY&Co have been thrifted from this Plato's.  I have a theory that there is a plus sized teenager whose gramdma buys here beautiful conservative things from NY & Co, but she would rather wear flannels, tees and tanks, so she brings them in to trade. Did I mention that many of the items have NEVER been worn and still have original tags??

I don't really care how they got there, though.  I'll take it!