Feeling a Little Retro

It's the sweater. Or maybe the shoes.

What I'm wearing:
Light purple wrap sweater, gift from Lisa | Black T-shirt, Old Navy | Black A-line skirt, thrifted | Black micro-fishnets, Target | Black ribbon-tie pumps, Clarks | Purple glass tiered necklace, NY & Company | Silver cameo earrings, vintage | Purple & black flower pins in hair, random accessory store

Unfortunately, this skirt is headed to the donations pile. The waist keeps riding up, making it even shorter throughout the day than necessary. Poor fit means goodbye!

Not like I don't have a zillion other black skirts (but probably not this exact cut).

Monday Repeat & Weekend Recap

I wore a repeat outfit today (this dress, which I adore & have worn often to work -- but this is pretty much the only way to style it in summer, just mix up the jewelry & shoes, maybe no leggings, but it looks so much the same that there's no point in re-blogging it).

However, I did take pix of Saturday's outfit that I wore to a family BBQ. And it's one I love just as much.

What I wore:
Red & black stripey maxi dress, Target | Black crochet duster, Coldwater Creek | Chunky black & silver bead necklace, Target | Gunmetal & rhinestone earrings, NY & Company | Black beaded flip-flop sandals, Mootsies Tootsies

I love that I found another maxi dress that was not overly long on me! Score. I've worn this quite a big on summer weekends, & I'm glad to finally blog it. My husband calls me his cinnamon stick when I wear it. He's sweet :-)

Dark Floral

Mornings continue foggy, burning off by noon to reveal hot afternoons. This makes a cardigan a necessity. That's our California summer.

What I'm wearing:
Black cardigan, Chadwicks | Dark floral knit top, H&M | Black crochet trumpet skirt, Coldwater Creek | Black wedge pumps, Dockers | Black & silver chunky bead necklace, Target | Large silver filigree earrings, Target

I'm experimenting by wearing different types of shoes without hosiery recently. I've mentioned on this blog how I find that a bit squicky. But this summer, I ran out of other sandal options, plus I'm taking the bus to work more often, thus I need to wear walkable shoes. And yet I don't always want to wear socks or tights in summer.

I've been kicking my shoes off under my desk at work, which I'm sure would squick out my coworkers. Luckily, the woman I share a cubicle with is on vacation this week :-)

Oh, Sarah came over last night, and we painted our nails while drinking beer. She has some great nail colors, like this dark purple. I'd love to paint my nail more often, but I'm lazy (as you can probably tell from the poor quality of this manicure!).

Casual Boho Day

I fully admit that my wardrobe is a bit schizophrenic. One day, I go for a dress & heels, the next, I feel like wearing jeans.

Since my workplace is incredibly casual & so many of my meetings are conference calls, there's no particular guidelines or strictures about what I wear. It really is up to my moods or whims. And I'm pretty darn whimsical ;-)

What I'm wearing:
Black crochet duster, Coldwater Creek | Burgundy knit cowl-neck top, Forever 21 | Black jeans, Levis | Black embellished mules, secondhand | Black & gold disk earrings, Forever 21 | Burgundy & black flower pins in hair, random accessory store

Another Foggy Morning

Grabbed a black cardigan after taking these pix. The fog burned off by noon, but was it ever socked in for the a.m. commute.

What I'm wearing:
Grey & black knit dress, Coldwater Creek (why yes, I did recently make a bunch of purchases there (online) & am slowly working them all into my wardrobe!) | Black belt with silver flower, NY & Company | Black T-strap leather pumps, Aldo | Black, silver, & pearl chunky bead necklace, Aldo Accessories | Gunmetal & rhinestone hoop earrings, NY & Company | Square-cut black cocktail ring, NY & Company

I also parted my hair on the opposite side I usually do. No particular reason -- my hair just fell that way when I started doing stuff to it this morning. Must be time to switch.

Incomplete Picture

After I took this picture, I changed my earrings & added a cardigan, so this is not a wholly accurate reflection of what I wore today. Still, I adore this sundress & had to show it because it's a maxi dress that actually *fits* my petite height. Love that.

What I'm wearing:
Black cotton tiered maxi sundress, Coldwater Creek | Black jeweled flip-flops, Mootsies Tootsies | Black dangly shell earrings, Target (swapped for mother-of-pearl heart-shaped dangly earrings that contrasted better against my hair) | Red Venetian glass heart on black glass bead necklace, made by me
Skull bracelet, gift from Mom | Silver & garnet poison ring, eBay | Red flower pin in hair, random accessory store

Leggings Are Not Pants

This outfit dangerously skirts (hah) the above-stated rule. But I was taking the bus to work today, so my footwear options were limited. I didn't want to wear tights, so no skirts or dresses. I just did not feel like jeans. So that kind of left me with leggings & figuring out a suitably tunic-like top that covered my backside. This just barely made it.

What I'm wearing:
Burgundy sweater with satin insets, Anthropologie, gift from Sarah | Black lace-trimmed camisole, unknown brand | Black leggings, Newport News | Black flip-flops, Old Navy | Gold with burgundy enameled shield-shaped necklace, local artist | Black & pink dangly earrings, random accessory store

And I'm wearing flip-flops to work. Not even jeweled sandal flip-flops. Yeah, really skating thin ice here. I'm bored of dressing for summer! I want all my spring/fall clothing options back. More shoes, more tops, more layers.

August is traditionally the hottest month of summer here, & while it's still nothing as terrible as the rest of the U.S. gets, I'm done with it.

*shakes tiny fist in sky*