Autumn Was a Lamb

    Autumn was a lamb. I spent the better part of autumn going outside for afternoon sunbathing and wearing light cotton dresses, enjoying every warm moment while it lasted.  Winter is already roaring like a lion. I look forward to the cozy winter days indoors, bundled up by the fire, reading an old favorite or a vintage page turner, but this year, because we've been working on our house so much, I'm afraid the cold season is upon us and we are woefully under stocked on firewood.  So, as the rain and sleet are falling outside my window this morning, I'm writing this from under the covers.  I've already dashed out to feed and water all the animals and run right back in to stoke the fire without overloading it on the precious pieces of firewood that we do have left, and wrap up to keep warm.

    As soon as this little cold snap passes, we'll get back outside to cut more firewood, so I'm not really worried about the length of the winter, but this first pass has been rough.  Even our 20 year old tabby cat has given up laying on my feet and snuggled as close to the fireplace as she possibly can.  It's hard to believe it was only two weeks ago that I the leaves were vibrant and the fall sunshine lit up the woods to create this beautiful evening in the photos for today's post.

Outfit Info:  Bernie Dexter Kitchen print Kelly Dress, Betsey Johnson Bag, B.A.I.T. Heels, Betsey Johnson Necklace & Earrings

Happy Pi Day!

As we celebrate this March 14th, also known as π, 3.14, or Pi day, I happen to have a little story for Pi day which involves my pie dresses.  I say pie dresses because I am in fact the proud owner of three of these dresses.  So, here's how it all went down.  Back in the 20-teens, 2014 was the year I believe, ModCloth released a dress called My Kind of Pie.  The fabric was originally made by Robert Kaufman under the name Confections Cotton Fabric and came in three background colors: Pink, Yellow, and ModCloth's blue.  

The dress was released by ModCloth's brand, Bea & Dot, and also by a brand frequently carried by ModCloth called Fervour.  My Kind of Pie was a huge success, featured constantly in the customer gallery and worn by bloggers everywhere from Kate Gabrielle to The Soubrette Brunette.  I don't remember what I spent my dress budget on that month instead of this dress, but I do remember it was a seriously close call.   So, I let this dress get away, but I always had a little crush on it.  

At some point, maybe when Susan sold the company to Walmart or maybe before, I don't really recall when and I never really knew why, ModCloth re-released a series of their best selling dresses this time under their own ModCloth brand label, Bea & Dot having disappeared.  At first, I thought fortune had smiled and I would have a second chance at this sweet dress, but there was a stone in this cherry.

According to reviewers at the time, the quality of this second string was somewhat second rate.  Colors weren't as bright, fabric wasn't as soft, and they just generally weren't as good as the originals yet cost the same.  I've actually seen this happen a number of times where people hold up a re-release to an original and the quality is visibly different.  In a side by side comparison, those reviews were correct.  (I don't really want to post the pics here though, because if you didn't know, you wouldn't know and I don't want to ruin it for someone else.)  I know it must be difficult to make something exactly the same as it was when there are years between the first and second, but I have to wonder if retailers know they can cut corners the second time around by decreasing quality to increase profit margins.  It's just a theory.

Since I didn't have the money to spend on a dress that wasn't quite like the original, I decided to pass on the second string.  But, you know me and my inability to forget a dress I once loved.   For some reason, it suddenly struck my fancy all these years later to see if I could find this dress and finally make it mine.  I think the reason obesession struck was because Betsey Johnson had just released a Cherry Pie Crossbody Bag that I was gaga for and I thought, Wow, I love this, but what would I wear with it?  And then I remembered the My Kind of Pie dress.

The original Bea & Dot is hard to find and still costs about $100 on resale sites even though by now all these originals have some wear and tear to them and the Fervour version is exactly the same.  Undeterred, I kept searching.  Finally, I found an original for well under $100 and bought it.  After a week, however the dress hadn't shipped and the seller hadn't responded to my messages, so I decided I would cancel the order and try another. 

I found a second dress but the seller never responded as to whether it was the original or re-release version and then the dress sold, making it all moot.  So, I found a third in my price range and approximate size, but it was the re-release.  Oh, well, I thought, if I never see the original, will I ever really know the difference?  So, I purchased it from a different re-sale site.  The payment wouldn't go through, so after messaging the seller, the seller and I agreed to just cancel the order.  The search was on again and I managed to locate and purchase a fourth dress, also re-release and this time the sale went through without a hitch.  I thought, Finally!  I'm going to get this dress!  And then things went awry.

The first seller messaged me at the last minute (before the order auto-canceled) and said they shipped the dress without initially adding tracking info. but it was on the way.  The seller added the tracking info, and the order couldn't be canceled.  Then the third seller messaged me and said she had figured out the issue with the payment processor and had also shipped the dress (even though we agreed to cancel), so it too was in the mail.  I now had not one, not two, but three pie dresses all on the way.  Oh my, oh my, oh so much pie.   I think this was right about the time I began to realize that I had a significant problem with my shopping.

Now you, like the alternate-universe-pastry-chef-version-of-Sir-Mixalot, may be wondering, Whatcha gonna do with all that pie?  I wish I had an answer for you, but the best I can think to do right now is just set two aside and wear the other non-stop, every week, until it becomes my signature piece and neither I nor anyone else can remember a time in my life when I wore anything else and at my funeral the picture will be of me in this dress (or one of them) and the eulogy will mention how I was probably born in this dress and definitely breathed my last in it as well.  For today, though, I'll just wear the original to celebrate Pi day and be grateful that this dress is at very long last mine indeed.

Outfit Info:  My Kind of Pie dress, Betsey Johnson Pie Bag, Honiara Vintage Shoes.

Coping with FOMO

Call it the winter blues, but I have had strawberries and cherries on my mind for months.  I made that classic mistake of one last splurge before commiting to change my shopping ways, and thrifted several Collectif tops and this versatile skirt at the tail end of last year.  I set them aside for photos, but haven't allowed myself to wear them yet, because they really are more suited for warmer weather.  Looking back on my December spending spree, I have realized that while I am doing better in 2025, I still have a long way to go, and it all goes back to habits formed in my childhood that I have to address and retrain.

I grew up in a feast or famine home that was heavy on the famine and light on the feasting.  Sometimes we had some money, most of the time we had none.  So, when we did have a little extra, we had to hurry up and enjoy it before it was gone.  It turned me into an avid prepper as an adult, so that I wouldn't have to go through the famine again.  That's a great way to be in a lot of situations, but not so much when it comes to clothes.  You see not only was there rarely money for clothes in my childhood, but when there was, it was so difficult to find clothes that fit my body type that I spent years loathing myself and hiding in baggy boys' clothes.  If I ever did find something that actually fit and looked good on me, I would buy one in every color to tide me over until the next time I could either find clothes and/or have enough money to buy them.  

Times have changed now, and it's important to note that.  Just because someone has a difficult childhood, it's not an excuse for everything that happens afterward.  Growing up means working through all that stuff, letting go and moving on.  Not only is all that childhood stuff behind me, but after much time spent researching, I know the brands that suit me and I regularly find clothes that fit my frame and are the right size, but I am still in the Fear Of Missing Out mentality.  It needs to stop and I've put it on the list for change.  If a beloved brand goes away, I should just enjoy the pieces I have rather than frantically collecting all I can find.  Because sometimes brands come back just as wonderful as before, and sometimes, it's good to just enjoy and then move on.

Likewise, if I find something that fits me well, just get one or two and wear them out, rather than stocking up for the apocalypse of linen pants or scoop neck blouses.  There will be other thinsg to come along and it's Ok to just enjoy things for a season and then find new things to enjoy once they're gone.

As much time as I've spent being afraid of missing out, I've never actually gone without clothes.  I always end up finding something that I either love, or will at least suffice to keep me covered until I do.  It's time to let go of the FOMO and just be present in the here and now.

Outfit Info:  Thrifted skirt and top by Collectif, Betsey Johnson purse, necklace, and earrings, SheIn shoes.

Sweet Strawberry Things

In my first post of 2025 I mentioned my New Year's goals.  In case you missed that, I'll sum it up by saying that I really want to get back to having other hobbies besides shopping.  To that end I have revived my Felt Sweets hobby that I picked up while living in Japan.  So far I have made four cakes and thought I would showcase a couple of my favorites here.  In the beginning I wanted to dive in head first and just power through all my ideas; in other words, I wanted to be totally obsessed.  However, rather than go that route, I reminded myself to slow down and enjoy this as a form of relaxation and it has made all the difference.  I make little goals to pace myself, and it's been great for getting me away from my computer while providing something that I enjoy and gives me sense of accomplishment.

For months now I have been completely hung up on strawberries.  They're in my kitchen, in my crafting and in my closet.  This Betsey Johnson dress is one that I said I didn't need to buy because I already have some strawberry dresses and fabrics, but after three months of wanting and searching I found one so impossibly cheap and I still wanted it so much that I caved in and bought it.  It goes perfectly with my velvet strawberry earrings, and I did think about it and wait for a good price for months before purchasing, so I think it was Ok to allow myself this indulgence.

My First Cake getting back into the craft.  I really wanted to start small and work out all the rust from my memory.  I'm glad I did; Can you see the pencil marks on the piping?  

Cake #4  Getting Fancy with this unicorn cake!  I just completed this cake this morning and am definitely more comfortable in the process.

Cake #2 was this chocolate berry cake.  Berries are some of the harder things to make, but after a few trial and errors, it was starting to come back to me.

Cake #3.  Trying to increase the difficulty by making a double decker cake.  

After taking these photos, I just felt the cake was lacking something, so I added some leaves around the larger cake.

And now, if you're tired of cakes, we can just do the fashion photos so you can checkout this pretty dress!

Outfit Info:  Betsey Johnson Strawberry Fields Dress, Velvet Strawberry earrings from Kramaric Millinery

Life With Pie

I know what you're thinking- didn't she just do a pie themed outfit? It's an old (but still true) adage that one thing leads to another and this is certainly the case wtih novelty pieces such as my Cherry Pie Bag from Betsey Johnson.  It seems that now that I have this bag, my brain is searching for other pie-themed things with which to pair it.  

After searching for some fabric to make my own dresses, I found some Cherry Pie by Gail Cadden for Timeless Treasures fabric on Etsy, and bought it.  I then remembered how Retrolicious always has fun novelty prints and stopped by there only to find a dress already made in the exact fabric I had just bought.  

Honestly, there are times when I don't mind doing the work myself so I can save some money, but sometimes I would much rather just pay someone else to do all the work for me.  This is one of those times when I would much rather pay someone else to do the work and I do love supporting smaller brands like Retrolicious.  So, I bought the cute little skater dress and I have the fabric too so I can make my own one day.

While I was at Retrolicious, I also got a cute little red plaid top, which I thought would go nicely with the dress and another little cherry dress from the same fabric collection, which I will be featuring soon.  (Gosh, times like this I really miss Fabric.com, but I guess I'll save that rant for another post.)  It goes with the bag but isn't quite as on the nose as the pie themed stuff and both these cotton dresses are perfect for summer.

Outfit Info:  Cherry Pie Dress and Red Plaid Top from Retrolicious, Cherry Pie Bag from Betsey Johnson

My Kind of Pie: The ModCloth Good Old Days

A recent Poshmark acquisition has me strolling down memory lane, so today I thought I'd pay homage to an oldie but a goodie, this pretty little My Kind of Pie dress made by ModCloth's own label, Bea & Dot.  Bea & Dot was such a gem of a brand, and ModCloth was too before the owner and founder, a.k.a. "Mod Susan," sold out.  "Sold out" has some really negative connotations to it, and I don't mean to throw any shade at Susan.  She built an empire and then made a profit by handing it over to someone else, in other words, she did what she thought was best for her and for her life, and that's ok.  But, for the rest of us, the magic ended.  Susan must surely have been the heart and soul of ModCloth because after she sold to Wal-Mart (who then sold out to someone else, I think) the brand never really recovered.  

Those magical years of checking the shop every week to see what new and beautiful things they had discovered, and creating fun outfits with my purchases to upload to the customer gallery, were some of my most favorite hobbies during what was otherwise a very lonely and difficult time in my life.  Seeing like-minded others get excited too and create their own unique looks, was also part of the joy.  I was lacking connection every which way I turned but suddenly I found a place filled with fellow fashion lovers and felt a small connection (even if it was an internet connection), and felt a little less lonely for a moment while simultaneously building my dream wardrobe and being the envy of all I encountered.  It was a special time.  *Sigh*  And now it's over.  

I knew when I went back to ModCloth, after Susan was gone, and saw it smeared with polyester and basic florals (they were still charging $100 per dress though) that the magic was over.  I checked in on MC every few months over the course of the next year, but it was all the same over-priced boring junk I could find everywhere else on the web or in stores, so I gave up.  Then when Wal-Mart sold it, things got way better, but I could tell that it was still lacking whatever Susan had brought to the table.

I have so many happy memories from that sliver of time in my life, The ModCloth Years, as I like to call them.  I remember when my mom and I first discovered MC and since we were thousands of miles apart, we sat on the phone shopping together for hours, just picking out all our favorites and sharing links back and forth.  She actually bought my first two ModCloth dresses for me for Christmas that year.  We were just getting ready to move to Japan and I remember packing the dresses in my carry-on because they were so precious to me I didn't trust anyone with them.  

I remember first discovering artists like Kate Gabrielle and influencers like A Clothes Horse, Southern California Belle, and The Soubrette Brunette from ModCloth's customer gallery.  I remember seeing Zooey Deschanel wearing something on New Girl and then scrambling to see if I could find it on the site before it sold out.  I remember opening each new acquisition with my then very young daughters and the way their faces lit up before they exclaimed, "oh, it's so pretty!" and shared in my joy.  But, most of all, I remember that after so many years of struggling to not only find clothes that fit but that also brought me joy, when I found ModCloth I finally felt like me, the me that was always there just waiting for the fashion world to make the things that would help me properly express it.  Tasteful, whimsical, vintage, modern, modest, playful, and all the good things and most of all, in the right size!

As sad as I am that fashion trends didn't continue in the direction of this vintage revival with modern flare and instead slammed into reverse extra hard by way of everyone wearing stretchy pants and crocs all the time, I suppose all things whether good or bad must eventually end and the only thing that ever stays the same is that everything is always changing.  We don't get to choose which way the winds will blow, we only get to decide whether or not we bend with them.  I'm agreeable to going with the flow now and again, but current trends are one thing I will gladly stand tall against.  Yes, I know these dresses have had their moment in the sun and now the sun has set, but I'm not letting go until something better comes along.

Outfit Info:  My Kind Of Pie Dress by ModCloth, Sweet As Cherry Pie Bag from Betsey Johnson, Honiara Vintage Heels