Marvelous Maxi Skirt

A lot of women these days claim to only feel comfortable in jeans, but there's something about a skirt that just feels more comfortable to me.  Something long and flowy for warm spring days makes me breathe a little easier and I've yet to meet a pair of jeans that makes me want to twirl.  What are your favorite comfort clothes?

Shopping Info:  Flower Season Chiffon Maxi Skirt in Yellow and Marvelous Floral Maxi Skirt in Yellow

DIY: Dress Alterations

    A few weeks ago, I published a post about adding a little length to one of my favorite Sparrow dresses.  It worked so well, I decided to do another by adding even more length to a dress that was even shorter.  I know I can't be the only person in the world to see a cute dress, try it on, and then hang my head as I walk back to the rack to hang it up because it was just too short.  
    I'm all for tailoring my own clothes, in fact I've been doing a lot of it lately, but that mostly involves removing excess fabric.  There's not much I can do where there isn't enough fabric.  What's the solution?  Three words:  Cotton.  Eyelet.  Border.  
    It's true that adding a lace border won't look right on every dress, but in the case of these cotton sundresses, I think it looks pretty charming.  Since this is a navy-blue/black dress, I started looking for black lace.  I wanted it to be cotton, since the dress is cotton, and I was looking for something 2-3 inches wide and found some available in three colors and at a width of 3.74", perfect for my project. 

I started by taking out the hemline.  I don't recommend taking the hem out of these dresses, because it can be really tricky since there's very little fabric to work with to create the new hem.  If you do decide to do this, you'll need to do it before you ever iron or wash the dress, preferably before you even wear it, because the bottom edge of the hem tends to fade quicker and will have a washed out crease that won't go away.

The next thing I did was to tack the eyelet border on and then sew it to the hem.  I like to attach it at the side seams so that the ends are masked better than if they wound up front and center.

The whole process only took about thirty minutes to complete and added about 4.5 inches to the total length of the dress.
...the result?  I absolutely love it!  I've admired this car print dress for a couple of years, but it was just too short. Now I feel comfortable wearing it even on a windy day like this one.

Shopping Info:  Vintage Cars Cute Retro Sundress, flats from Charlotte Russe

It's Friday; I'm in Love!

I don't have much in the way of Casual Fridays in my life.  I know we like to tout them as days of jeans and t-shirts, but on Fridays I volunteer at my children's school.  They have a very strict dress code, which is not casual in the least, and I'm there all day-8:15 to 3:15 without a break and it's a very demanding, exhausting day coming at the end of my regular work week.  Some of the children are absolute dolls who hug me and call me their school mom.  Others are unholy little goblins that I dislike.  Most of the goblins will probably grow out of it, I guess.  The point of all this is that school is hard for everyone no matter how old you are, so to celebrate the end of each week, my girls and I have come up with a new ritual.  Once we're out of the parking lot, we crank up The Cure's Friday, I'm in Love and sing!  I was never much of a fan of The Cure growing up and my girls dislike them immensely, but since they love me and they love Fridays at 3:16, they indulge me.  So, today's post in a little homage to Fridays, Blue Jeans, and being in love with life, the good, the bad, and the irritating.

 I think it's important to find reasons to celebrate good things even if they're small things.  We know all about the celebrations for really big stuff like a wedding or a birthday.  Then there are those time when we celebrate the medium things like promotions with dinner out or buying a really beautiful dress.  But I don't like to stop there.  I have several weekly traditions that help me find something to look forward to.  Wednesday is my phone call with my friend day.  Our schedules are pretty packed, but we set aside an hour or two to chat each Wednesday and my week just isn't the same with out it.  Thursdays are the unofficial end of my work week.  I still work on Friday and Saturday, but the really stressful part of my job is over with on Wednesday at 5:00p.m., so I celebrate the break on Thursdays with a slice of cheesecake or a really decadent lunch and a glass of wine. 

 As a kid our Friday nights were celebrated by heading straight from school to the video store to rent as many movies as our card allowed.  Next stop was the grocery store to buy all the ingredients for my mom's amazing homemade pizza and usually she'd let us pick out something sweet to go with it.  Then it was time to go home and get all our chores and homework done while mom got to work on the pizzas and we waited for dad to come home.  I don't remember what we watched—we pretty much watched everything during those years—all I really remember is how excited we all were each week and how anytime I stopped to look around every face in the room was eager and happy. 

This is a tradition I've carried on with my own children, although I'm far more selective about what movies we watch than my parents, or anyone's parents, were back then (can you believe I watched Robocop when I was like 6 or 7?!  It's so violent!).  And since I'm the one making the pizza now it does take a little of the joy out of it for me, but it's all worth it when I look around the room and see all the people I love are smiling.

How do you celebrate the end of the week?

Dropship-Clothes Military Style Dress

If you haven't been reading the blog over the last week or so, you've missed out on my latest collaboration with Dropship-clothes.com  I've had so much fun sporting their cute dresses--my first was this red sequin gown-- and I'm in love with the retro swimsuit I got and will definitely be wearing that all summer.  Today's post is this Green Military Button Off-The-Shoulder Vintage Dress.  I love this vintage military style, very reminiscent of the 1940s.  Dropship-Clothes has tons of cute dresses, but I was drawn to this one because it's a departure from the style I typically wear and I don't like to get stuck wearing the same old  predictable style post after post. Where's the fun in that?

Shopping Info:  Green Military Button Off-The-Shoulder Vintage Dress

The Blue Water, The Blue Sky

The spring rains have come.  They're melting all the snow on the mountain tops which comes rushing down the hillsides and into the creeks and rivers making the water this beautiful glacial blue.  It won't stay this way for long so, I'm out to enjoy it along with a hearty dose of sunshine while I can.

Shopping Info: Hat and dress from Shein, Flats from ModCloth

Swimsuit Season is Here

    Yes, it's that special time of year that has Northern Hemisphere dressing rooms around the world filled with sighs as we shed those winter layers and attempt to squeeze into teeny bikinis.  While in the past I've typically I found it easier to stay bikini ready year round rather than hibernate for 6 months and then rip my muscles apart in an attempt to rid myself of extra pounds, it's gotten harder over time as life fills up with other obligations to stay in that all-seasons-fitness-zone.  

    As I mentioned in my last swim post, swimsuit photos are not my favorite.  I haven't felt confident in a bikini for several years now, so this year I decided to try a couple of those vintage style high-waist numbers.  I started with an inexpensive model since returning a swimsuit can be difficult at best, but saved it for last since it wasn't my favorite of the two swimsuits I tried.  TThis little cutie came from amazon and only cost me about $25.  I loved the vintage sailor style, but the buttons immediately started falling off within minutes of putting it on and they are now the piece of me that I left in Florida since several of them got last in the sand.  More importantly, the fit leaves a lot to be desired.  I bought it one size up from my usual, but it simply doesn't go as high as it should (over the navel) and that creates a bit of waistline over-hang.    Oh well, maybe it will motivate me to squeeze in an extra hour or two of exercise each week until summer comes.  I think I'll pass this suit on to my teenage daughter and keep the Dropship Retro bikini for myself.

Dropship-Clothes.com Retro Swim Wear

Swimsuit season is right around the corner and this year I really wanted to try a vintage style high waist suit.  So, I thought I'd try two different styles and since I like to start things on a positive note, today's post features my favorite of the two, which is this  Retro 1950s Navy Anchors Halter Swimsuit from Dropship-Clothes.com.  DropShip has  partnered with me to show you some fo the great and inexpensive pieces they offer.  They have some  awesome swim wear, and plenty of high waist sets so I had a really tough time choosing, but in the end the bright blue of this set and its anchor print tickled my love of all things nautical, so the anchor print was a must have.  I chose the size s (4-6) which is a size up from my usual, but it truly fits like a dream, not too tight or too loose and I love the way I look in it.  If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times, but it's so true:  a lot of body insecurity can be taken care of simply by finding the right style, cut and size for your shape and this swimsuit is exactly what I've been looking for.  Check back with me soon for my next swimsuit post!

Shopping Info:  Retro 1950s Navy Anchors Halter Sailor High Waist Swimwear $4.58 from Dropship-clothes, Sunglasses from: SHEIN

Positively Pink

Pink maybe the only color that arouses strong feelings in people.  You either love it or hate it.  Originally coming from a South American dye, it was extremely expensive to have clothing in pink and  at first was considered a very masculine color in the French court and then throughout the rest of Europe during the 18th century.  But, somehow it's masculinity was lost in translation as pink made its way back across the pond to America. 

There is one mention in Louisa May Alcott's 1880 novel Little Women about how Meg tied ribbons on her twins to tell them apart—pink for the girl and blue for the boy.  Eventually department stores began doing the same, and pink has ever since been considered a color for girls. 

Though in the last decade I've seen a host of Easter egg colors, including pink, make their way into men's wear, they always seem to be a passing fad.  I hear things like, "It takes a secure man to wear pink,"  and then the color fades from the spotlight in men's wear.  Pink simply can't go the distance in men's clothing.  And perhaps due to the feminist movement, and women wanting to be taken seriously, pink even fell into disrepute with women.  It was the color worn by ditsy bimbos with no aspirations beyond the kitchen.  An intelligent woman, simply didn't wear pink. 

I went through my anti-pink phase to be sure.  I wasn't a little girl anymore, and wanted to be taken seriously as an adult.  I had an intelligent mind (still do) and I wanted that to show, so for many years I stayed away from anything pink like it would instantly lower my IQ if I even got too near it.  Black was my preferred color.  Then something wonderful happened—I know what you're thinking, and No, it wasn't that Legally Blonde came out and showed us all that a woman can be smart and successful while still being beautiful and wearing a crap-ton of pink, although let's face it, that movie did a lot to change our minds about pink.  No, the thing that happened was that I began to feel confident enough in myself—looks and intelligence-- to wear pink. 

I still remember the day I came to the office wearing color.  Not pink, but a pale blue sweater and khaki slacks, not the most adventurous outfit in the world, I'll admit, but my coworkers heads all turned.  One even hopped up from her chair and said, “Leandra!  You're...wearing color!”  I'll never forget the way her whole face lit up when she looked at me.  A dark cloud was lifting for me mentally and it was beginning to show in my appearance.

It was a year later, and starting at a new job that I really updated my wardrobe to include even more color such as a beautiful hot pink sweater with frilled collar and buttons down the neck and only one black thing—a classic blouse with tiny white polka dots and a pink ribbon at the waist—and I felt more confident, standing in front of a room full of eyes in that wardrobe than I ever had playing it safe with black. 

We all get stuck in these silly rules about how to dress, how to think, how the world will perceive us, and pink has taken the brunt of silly fashion rules fallout.  I can't even count how often I've heard women say things like, “I can't wear dresses,” “Pink doesn't look good on me,”  “Ugh, too girly.”  I promise that there is a shade of pink that's right for everyone, it just takes time to find it.  There's no shame in being a woman, which means, there's no shame in being girly.  Be proud of your femininity. Embrace it!  You're just as competent in dusty rose as you are in olive drab, but if wearing something beautiful makes you feel better about yourself, then your ability to express that competence soars even higher.  If you've been holding back on your inner girly-girl, let her out.  Let her shine.  Let her wear pink!

Shopping Info:  Love me more skirt from Chicwish, Top from: SHEIN, Marie Antoinette Cameo necklace made by me :)