Yellow Bellied

Cardi - Old Navy; Dress - Target (thrifted); Belt - Target; Tights - Hue; Shoes - Clarks

I learned some things about these items in my closet today.  I learned that these booties don't look so hot with these light yellow tights.  At least on my legs.  I learned that the purple is such a contrast that I need something with it to transition to the yellow.  I learned that this dress is much better looking on me in the summer when I'm a bit tanner.  I learned that these tights are more orange than yellow.  I also learned that I need to wear some sort of necklace witht this dress.

Overall, on of my least favorite outfits.  I'll try again tomorrow.

Been a Long Time

 Shirt - Matthew Morrison (Macy's); Skirt - Spiegel; Belt and Bracelets- Thrifted; Boots - Charlotte Russe (thrifted); Earrings - Steinmart

I've been a bad, bad blogger.  It's been weeks.  But a fabulous new promotion led to tons of extra responsibility and a trip to corporate headquarters for training.  And NO time for blogging.  Now that life is back to normal, I'm back to getting my pictures taken in the morning :-)

Dress - NY & Co (thrifted); Sweater - Target; Shoes - Payless; Necklace and Bracelets - Thrifted

There is a preview of 'Hall Pass' where Jenna Fisher is wearing a dress much like the one I'm wearing.  In fact, when I first saw the preview I thought 'I really love that dress'.  So imagine my elation when I was perusing through my local Plato's Closet and saw a dress from NY & Co, in my size (for $8), with the same print and pallette.  Of course, fate had brought us together.  The dress is light enough to be worn in summer, but the color pallette also lends to its ability to be worn with tights and boots in the fall.  Bonus!

Yellow Shoes

Shirt - Thrifted; Tank - Old Navy; Skirt - Target; Shoes - Payless; Necklace and Belt - JC Penny; Ring - Steinmart
Polka Dot Dress, Cardi, and Shoes - Thrifted; Earrings and Necklace - Premiere; Belt - JC Penny
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Yellow shoes. Elusive until recently. These yellow platform T-straps are so darn comfy that they were worn three times in one week. The look and feel remind me of my old ballroom dancing shoes from the early dancing days. And I love the splash of color and happiness they can't help but bring out in any outfit. Best $8 I've spend in a long time!

Summer Brights

Skirt - Spiegel; Boots - Macy's; Shirt - Steinmart; Sweater Vest - August Silk (Macy's); Cardi - Loft (thrifted)

Although I felt way too bright for my engineering office, I'm pretty happy with how this uber bright outfit turned out.

Dress - Chaps (from sister); Shoes - Unlisted (from co-worker); Cardi - TJ Maxx

This dress was so basic, it was almost boring. Almost because the red was so vibrant, the basicness actually did it justice. I think this dress will be fun to play around with in the winter with sweaters and tights and boots... Thanks to my little sister who lost a ton of weight (jealous) and my co-worker who refuses to wear skirts after her third child (and gave me all of her sandals), my outfit was almost entirely free. Love that!!

Comfy Sexy

Cardi and Shirt - Old Navy; Pants - Style & Co (Macy's); Shoes - Steinmart; Belt - Thrifted; Necklace - Premiere; Earrings - Lia Sophia (gift from MIL)

This outfit is pretty basic. Nothing out of the ordinary and super comfy. Great outfit for work and school. That's about it.

Sweater - Steinmart; Skirt and Tights - Old Navy; Boots - Macy's; Belt - Dots; Earrings - Chico's; Necklaces - Premeire

Husby went so far as to call me sexy in this outfit. He told me multiple times that I looked really good. I guess he must like this one :-P This is one of those way-after-winter-on-the-clearance-rack-for-$3.50-becuase-it's-the-last-sweater-in-the-store finds. And it is the only sweater that I didn't pack away for the summer because it's warm yet light weight enough to slap on over a tank while sitting by a fire drinking a beer with my neighbors. This is my new go-to sweater.

Skirt Love

Skirt, Shirt, Sweater, Belt and Shoes - Thrifted; Tights - Old Navy;

Earrings - Steinmart; Necklace - Premeire

This outfit is almost entirely the fruit of my Valentine's thrifting excursion to find a colorful pencil skirt. As you can see I was successful. It was 25% off day and my outfit cost a total of $8.50. That's some thrifting I can get behind (and Husby was okay with, too). The skirt was $1.50, so it has already earned its worth :-) The shoes are a bit odd in that they won't zip up (even when off), but I actually kind of liked them unzipped anyway, so here they are. I love the orangey leather, which is so on trend know. I love the red skirt and it will be making MANY return appearances, as well as the cream lace shirt, which is such a fun neutral piece. Rating - Two Thumbs Up

Crazy Spoutings of a Shoe Addict

Cardi - Macy's (FREE); Skirt and Belt - JC Penny; Shirt - NY & Co (thrifted);

Tights - We Love Colors; Shoes - FREE (from my boss)

Close up of the cutie-pa-tootie shoes. My boss decided after getting pregnant with her third child that heels were no longer in the cards for her. Lucky for me, she has big honkin' feet like I do. She gives me first dibs before sending them to Goodwill. Even more lucky for me, cause I'd probably end up paying for them at Goodwill cause she had good shoe taste. However, when it comes to shoes I have a weird kind of mantra. While on one hand I feel that you can never have too many shoes, on the other hand, I feel that shoes have souls (haha I'm so clever) and must fulfill their shoe destiny. Therefore, I won't adopt or purchase a pair of shoes that are too similar to shoes that I have in my closet, so that all get worn. When I took these, I had no brown pumps. These shoes have been worn plenty and have smiling, happy, bright orange auras to match their cute little bows. It's all about Karma. Happy shoes won't break a heel or allow you to twist your ankle or give you blisters.

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Don't get me wrong. I couldn't have 50+ pairs of shoes and bee too narrow in my shoe sorting. Example: I have pewter flats and pumps;Red flats, pumps and Mary Janes; and black pointed toe mid heel, rounded toe low heel, rounded toe T-straps with ruffles and a high heel, flat boots with scrunchy calves, etc, etc....etc. Do you have good shoe Karma?? Am I just a Crazy shoe lady??

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And here is the Fugly sweater's second wearing. I'm not nearly as happy with this look as I was the last, but I've got at least 6 shirts of varying colors or styles to pair with this cardi before I make a definitive decision. C'mon people....free makes it even better!!

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Rating - Two Thumbs Up

Gradumacation

Sweater - Steinmart; Jeans - TJ Maxx; T-Shirt - Banana Republic (Gap Outlet);

Scarf - Thrifted; Boots - Macy's; Belt - Steinmart; Jewelry - Premiere

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This sweater is an oldie but a goodie. I bought this right after I had my son, who was my first attempt at nursing. This sweater got me through last winter, probably my most worn item, cause all I had to do was unbutton one of the sides and slide him under to nurse and I was still covered. Plus, I could wear my Baby Bjorn underneath it, giving Eli extra warmth when I was shopping.

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But after I didn't have him strapped on or nursing, I wasn't quite sure how to wear this. The color was so gorgeous that I was determined to make it work someday. Looks like a belt did the trick.

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This day I was heading to school (hence the jeans) but I was meeting with an advisor to talk about nailing down a graduation date. I didn't want to wear my typical sweatshirt and pony tail, because part of this meeting involved some begging. Begging them to count my full time job in my Civil Engineering firm as my Mechanical Engineering co-op requirement. Begging them to take the Civil classes that I had taken as part of my associates degree and count them as some of the mechanical technical electives. Begging them to waive the remaining technical electives because of my work experience. All of these items are possible, but at the whim of the person making the call, so I needed to look like a grown up who was taking responsibility, who wasn't just looking for the easy way out. I needed to look like the mom supporting her family while trying to further her education to make their lives better. When I'm in a sweatshirt and ponytail, I just look 12. I think I pulled it off nicely, because I may be able to graduate in the summer of 2013, instead of the summer of 2015 as originally thought. YAY ME!!
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Rating - Two Thumbs Up (which means a lot for a jeans outfit)

Can You Tell Me How to Get?

Sweater Dress - From Mom; Vest - Steinmart; Tights - We Love Colors;

Boots, Scarf and Hat - Thrifted; Earrings - Premeire

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The hat was not a part of the outfit, but I wore it out in the snow and it did a number on my hair, so it became part of it for the rest of the evening. The scarf, vest and boots are all OHWs today. I was told by a co-worker that I was wearing too many colors, and that I looked like I belonged on Sesame Street. I laughed it off, but the truth was that it bothered me a bit. In fact, the conservative engineers that I work with often make comments about my attire, and they are not very often positive. If I didn't have such good self esteem, I'd start dressing as boring as they do. But I like my wardrobe, and I like my choices and outfits, even the ones that don't work. Most of the time I laugh when they joke and jibe, but every once in a while, the insecure little kid that was made fun of for wearing her big sisters' hand-me downs feels the poke a bit too sharply. I was self conscious all day. One day I will truly be able to not let it bother me, but today I am human.

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On another note, this was my first time wearing this sweater dress my mom gave me, and sadly it's not going to remain in my closet. It's a bit too thick and bulky up top and the neck kinda made me feel like I was being choked all day. This dress is being retired not because of lack of imagination, but because of the discomfort I suffered all day wearing it.

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Rating - Two Thumbs Down

Ugly Pretty

Cardi - Macy's; Pants - Target; Shirt, Tank and Loafers- Steinmart;

Necklace and Earrings - Premiere; Belt - NY & Co (thrifted)

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One of my favorite movies, Kissing Jessica Stein, has a scene where they discuss sexy ugly. You know, guys like Nicholas Cage and James Woods who are not empirically attractive, but something about them makes them sexy. This sweater is the apparel version of sexy ugly. The sweater is so ugly that it's actually really pretty. When I first saw it, I thought it looked like vomit. Teal, orange, purple, mustard, olive in a floral pattern....but I was so drawn to it. And I love how it pairs with this orange shirt. The teal belt was just icing on the cardi cake. So many options.....

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What I love most, though, is that I found a way to style pants that I thought was flattering on me. See, I'm a pencil skirt kinda gal. My body type and curves leave me feeling frumpy in most full-length slacks. Not today, my friends. YAY!!

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Rating - Two Thumbs Up

Black on Black

Shirt - Jones New York (Macy's); Vest and Tights - Steinmart; Skirt - Old Navy; Scarf - Thirfted; Earrings - Premiere; Bracelet - Sears

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So days after confessing my bad-day tell to Style Underdog, I had one of the worst nights of this year. An incredibly stressul day at work was followed by an extremely frustrating night at school which culminated in me crying myself home from school. I went to sleep feeling defeated - by my job, my school, myself.

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I woke up this morning down in the dumps and feeling kinda numb. You know the feeling when you've cried too much. So I resisted the urge to ensconce myself in black and blend into the woodwork today. I put together the most colorful combo of navy week. My clothes alone are making me feel quite a bit better. That and the thought of actually being able to go home tonight at dinner time to see my Husband and kids. Man, I miss you guys!

Protector of Sherwood Forest

Shirt, Belt and Vest - Steinmart; Pants - Macy's; Shoes - Jessica Simpson (thrifted); Earrinngs, Necklace and Bracelets - Premiere

You know that go-to shoe that is always comfy and makes you feel super fab? These are one of my two pairs. The other ones are silver and glittery all over. These babies are an awesome red plaid, with gold jinglies and a little red patent bow to match the trim. Got them for $4 at a thrift store and I couldn't figure out why they were not only thrifted, but clearance. Why would no one want these beautiful shoes? I finally figured it out.

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Despite Plato's Closets efforts to keep things organized, shoes never quite end up in the right places. While I am a size 9.5 - 10 (just call me Sasquatch) I look through all of the sizes until around 7, and I've found some gems put in the wrong places. I found these babies in the 8-9 section and despite saying 8.5, they looked awefully big so I tried them on and they fit. I can see how someone with size 8.5 feet would try these on and pass them by. Oh how I love manufacturer's defects that work in my favor!!

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I was very pleased with this color combo until I got to work and everyone was calling me Robin Hood. I'll still most likely try this combo again, just in a more feminine way. Oh, how I love being compared to a boy.

The 70's Continue

Shirt and Cami - Steinmart; Dress - Michael Kors (Steinmart);

Tights - Old Navy; Boots - Thrifted; Necklace - Steinmart; Belt - thrifted

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I;ve never really done the dark top, dark tights with light skirt inbetween before, but I actualy like how it turned out. Even though my co-worker told me I looked like her mom. I love the colors of this ensemble, and felt great. These boots are the greatest part. So glad that fall is here, cause sweaty calves on leather boots trucking up the hill to campus every day just SUCKS!!

Hey Babe, Take a Walk on the Wild Side

Dress - Lane Bryant (thrifted); Shoes - Connie (thrifted); Necklace - thrifted;

Earrings - old Premiere; Bangles - Steinmart

Husby kind of caught me off guard with the camera this morning, so I don't like the pose or my smile, but I was running too late to take another shot. But trust me, this dress is very flattering. I love Lany Bryant's styles and overall classy look, I just have a slight problem with their estimation of a plus-sized bust. Mine is less than ample and, as with most Lany Bryant stuff I acquire, I had to pin the top together to keep it from showing my meager wares. But this dress has enough going on that it's not noticeable. The colors are fabulous, both on their own and with my complexion. And again a dress with POCKETS!! Happy, happy, joy, joy. Finsihed off with some cheetah print bangles, I feel like I can attack my day.

Tutti Frutti

Shirt - Steinmart; Skirt and belt - JC Penny; Shoes - Madden Girl (via TJ Maxx);

Bracelets, Earrings and Necklace - Premiere Designs (via local sales rep)

I picked up this very colorful orange, teal and green necklace and earring combo at a jewelry party this weekend and couldn't wait to try it out. It's so summery and colorful, and it's just feminine enough to really dazzle with this orange button down I've been trying to incorporate into my wardrobe for years (it's been sitting in a closet - only worn once). Add my colorful floral print Madden Girl peep-toe Mary Janes and this is an ensemble that's fun, and flirty while still being professional. And most of all, I think it's very flattering on my figure. I've felt like a million bucks all day. This is one of those outfits that gives you confidence in spades. Day one - a success!!