A Black Pearl

I've owned some fabulous jackets and coats in my time, but really none of them compare with the Pearl.  This coat doesn't really fit into my plan for spending less, but it was so cheap and closer to my size that I couldn't resist!  It does fit much better than the fox version although it was cheap for a reason.  It's obviously been well worn and is quite pilled up.  Thankfully, I don't mind and in fact, I think I feel more comfortable wearing the inexpensive/well-worn coat than one that's still pristine and cost a pretty penny.

I sort of wish I had waited until Collectif reopened to just get a coat in the right size, but after months of waiting, winter was on the way and I couldn't wait anymore.  Pilling aside, it's a great coat and I know I'll get years of wear out of it.  

Outfit Info: Pearl Coat by Collectif

No Ifs, Ants, or Buts About It

I'm beginning to realize that my blog is turning into an archive.  It's a place people stumble across because they are looking for a dress to buy or more likely looking to sell a dress and need to know the name and snatch a few photos for their listing as well.  While I'm not crazy about having people steal my photos and not at the very least give me credit for them, I really do understand the need because product photos just aren't out there anymore.  Once they're gone from the website, they're gone for good most of the time.  Ten years ago when people loved a dress they saved it to their pinterest, blogged about it, etc.  Now you have to search the company's instagram and hope someone out there tagged them in a post if you want to see what the dress looks like being worn, what its name is, and how long ago it came out.

This particular ModCloth gem came out in the summer of 2014, in case you're wondering, and was aptly named No Ifs, Ants, or Buts.  It was truly one of those pieces that we all drooled over during ModCloth's Bea & Dot golden age.  Back then I imagnined myself taking long picnics with my family in the Japanese countryside while wearing this dress, but alas, it just wasn't in the budget, so I let it go.  Recently I saw it on a resale site for extremely cheap and as I was desperately searching for just the perfect dress to go with these velvet strawberry earrings that I got for Christmas, I decided it was high time I made this dress mine.  10 years is long enough that there's no way this could be considered an impulse buy, right?

Outfit info:  ModCloth's No Ifs, Ants, or Buts Dress by Bea & Dot.  Earrings by Krameric Millinery, Collectif Strawberry bag, Shein headband.

Vintage Vision

I have a longstanding relationship with books.  To be honest I spent the first 15 years of my life really hating to read.  I always scored well in reading assignments, but I never understood the concept of reading for pleasure.  Why read about the adventures of others when I could simply go out and have my own? 

For my very first job, I was hired at the tender age of 16 as the Book Department Manager at a comic book store.  The shop had thousands of books in no order whatsoever and my job was to catergorize and then alphabetize them all.  And I did.  I was also in charge of purchasing.  My coworkers were the coolest kids in the world and I felt way out of my league trying to hang with them, but when it came to this monumental work task, I felt right at home with all the books.  I spent hours and months on this project and in the process probably took home and read more books than I ever would have otherwise.  

Not long after this I remember sitting at my desk and thinking about what kind of person I wanted to be now that I was nearly a grown up.  I wanted to be someone who was well traveled and well read.  The travel part took a lot more work, but I did manage to make that happen eventually, but the reading part I decided to start right away. I began with the classics such as The Count of Monte Cristo, Jane Eyre, A Clockwork Orange, and Madame Bovary to name just a few.  As I required myself to keep turning those pages, a love for reading emerged.  It's a bit like eating your vegetables because they're healthy and eventually realizing that you actually like them. 

I still enjoy reading, especially in the evenings before I fall asleep. (At this point I feel the need to interject that well-written, thought provoking stories are harder to find among modern writers.  Much of what passes for popular literature is trash.  When sex is your selling point, you really don't have a story.  I know that makes me sound like an old prude, but once you have read truly amazing books, you just cannot settle for brainless smut)

While I'm not a fan of most newer books (occasionally I do get my hands on a gem.  I'm currently enjoying The God of the Woods by Liz Moore), I was pretty smitten with this Vintage Vision sweater when a ModCloth ad came through my Instagram feed.  Books, cameos, and cozy sweaters are among my favorite things, so, promo code in hand, I decided to purchase.  

Already this sweater has faired well after being washed, dried, and worn.  It's thick and well made, though it is not as long as I had hoped.  I haven't purchased directly from ModCloth in years and I am very pleased with this purchase.  I don't know if I'll ever go back to the crazy obessed love I once had for all things MC, but I am definitely pleased with this sweater.

Outfit Info:  Vintage Vision Sweater in Twilight Marina from ModCloth

New Year, Old Favorites

My New Year's goals are much like my last year's goals: to spend less and to live more.  I wasn't so successful at the spending less part last year, but the key to success is really to just keep going and keep trying.  The only way we fail at anything is to give up.  So, I'm going to press on with my goals again this year and while I'm at it, I've really been enjoying these capsule wardrobes.  I love getting to wear these old favorites time and again, combine them in new ways, and feel like they're finally living up to their purpose.  I know you've seen everything in this outfit before, but never in this combination, and I kind of like it.

Outfit Info:  Collectif Sweater is old, Modcloth skirt is Old, tights and shoes are old.  Person in the outfit is also old.

Rustic Elegance

I know I've said it many times before but ModCloth started it all.  They were the place to get the most wonderful and unique vintage style clothes.  And then they changed.  Founder Susan Gregg Koger, A.K.A "Mod Susan," sold out to Walmart and ModCloth's soul was dead.  Walmart later sold MC after it had been gutted and strung up, and whomever is in charge now seems to be trying to make a comeback, but I've never been as crazy in love since the Susan-days.  For that reason, it's been years since I've bought anything from ModCloth directly and only purchase vintage MC second hand.  Until now.

An ad came across my instagram feed during Christmastime with an adorable cotton sweater, and it was so pretty and unique I decided to visit the site for a closer look.  While I was browsing I saw this vintage style button-down Rustic Elegance dress as well.  This dress retails for $109, but since I had a very nice holiday discount, I decided to purchase both sweater and dress.  

In the beginning, most ModCloth dresses cost $80-$100, standard.  That is a steep price now, but it was even more so in 2012.  And yet, we were all crazy for them because the dresses were generally worth it.  I decided way back then, as someone who had Zero dresses and nothing at all nice to wear, to work it into my budget to buy one per month for a year until I had a nice wardrobe built up.  At that time, ModCloth also sent a 20% promo code with every purchase, so I felt like I was getting a real bargain.   Each month was agonizing as I had to decided which to buy and which to let go perhaps forever as they tended to sell out quickly. 

Orignal ModCloth dresses (and those from the brands they carried like Retrolicious, Fervour, and Dear Creatures) were well made, unique clothes that were usually made by smaller brands in the US and UK, from natural fibers, in flattering styles and before the age of size inclusivity, were already offering a broader range of sizes than most.  They were worth every penny.  My most recent order?  Shipped from China, took three weeks to arrive, and this dress feels like very thin polyester flannel (even though it says it's 100% cotton).  It wrinkles easily and doesn't iron easily or well.  This, my friends, is not a $100 dress, it's $50 at best.  The sweater on the other hand is quite nice and probably worth its hefty price tag.  This dress certainly has its perks but I'm glad I got it on sale.  Under this current management, MC has made great strides but it's not back to its former glory.  Time will tell, I suppose.

Outfit Info:  Rustic Elegance Casual Dress in Sailor Sea Plaid from ModCloth, Bag from Ecosusi, Cardigan from YeMak

Color Corrections

Remember that snow I mentioned in my last post?  Well, that was just the beginning.  But, I won't bore you with a lot of snow talk today; let's talk new hair color instead. 
Two and a half years ago, I stopped heat styling my hair to attempt to correct some of the serious damage that had been done.  Not seeing the dramatic results I had hoped for, I also stopped coloring my hair 18 months ago. I am not the most patient person, and this was truly a test, but I was determined to have healthier hair, so I gritted my teeth and put up with the process.  After a year and a half, my hair was softer but no less frizzy and much, much grayer than I realized.  I'm not opposed to gray hair, especially when it turns a witchy silvery white.  I'm also not opposed to aging naturally, in spite of the fact that it doesn't seem like there are any shining examples of it to follow.  It seems like everyone I know is either getting over loaded with fillers, botox, and God knows what else, or else has completely given up on their appearance altogether by buzzing their hair off and climbing into a track suit to wither and die; there's no middle ground!

My gray hair wasn't really pretty.  At all.  I kept hoping and waiting but when it was all grown in, I had to admit it made me look rather pale, and in my opinion, it made me look much older than I am ready to look.  So, after much debate, I enlisted the help of my new hair stylist, who is very talented indeed, and didn't charge me an arm and a leg to color my hair.  She assured me that what she was using would be far less harsh on my hair than box dye, and in order to give us the maximum time between visits (for the sake of my scalp health), I opted to keep my white streak in the front as it would be impossible to go eight weeks without some serious roots showing.  My stylist also has been working with me on reshaping my bangs.  They've gotten way too thick over the years and it was time for a change.

I immediately loved the cut!  I loved the color too, however, the first night after getting the color, I lay awake for hours, wondering if I had made a mistake and would have to start over on the painstakingly slow regrowth process.  The next morning, I did my makeup and put on something I loved but was starting to feel "too old" to wear everytime I saw my very gray-haired self in it.  This time, it felt right, because this bit of color, to me feels like the perfect middle ground.  No injections and no intentions of getting any, but also not giving up.  I'm not trying to look 25, just a more polished version of my actual age, which is 43 in case you're wondering, and I am very pleased with the results.

Photo bombed by the ninja cat!

Outfit Info:  Foxglove dress in Ornament print from Selkie, Kate Spade Strawberry Earrings and Necklace