One-Dollar Wonders

I started off with this blazer that has not gotten my love much since I switched jobs... tried to make it more exciting with a pattern mix and slouchy pants. I liked the look in the mirror, but in the pics I feel much more stumpified. Not much I can do since my black belts don't fit in these belt loops. Is it any better with the pants rolled up? Or is that adding fuel to the fire?

Taking a page from the book of IK today and putting together a hit list instead of shopping for myself! There has been some talk recently about adding structure to the soft, flowy blouses of summer, and my favorite solution so far has been the VEST (waistcoat in some parts of the world). Vests give jacket-like structure and toughness while leaving the arms free to breathe! Here are a few that tickle my fancy...

Denim:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005V.....=484833573

http://www.madewell.com/newarr.....RS_ohyLutg

Cotton/Utility:
http://www.yoox.com/item.asp?c.....y=3FD17CD7

http://www.chicos.com/store/br.....Affiliates

http://www.ralphlauren.com/pro.....opping.com

http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/la.....HvSYE1madA

Edgy:
http://www.farfetch.com/shoppi.....69962.aspx

http://store.delias.com/item.d.....8;crTYPE=2

http://us.topshop.com/webapp/w.....ory~209876|208640]&noOfRefinements=1&siteID=J84DHJLQkR4-TfEf5LMqXB4rEjT57EP2tQ&cmpid=aff_ls_tsus&_$ja=tsid:21416|prd:J84DHJLQkR4#13371014340571&currencySymbol:$^preferredUrl:us.topshop.com^langId:-1^country:United%20States^language:English^explicit:true^viewed:true^storeId:13052^salesCatalogId:33060

I waited a whole week to wear this baby again - one of the things I love about K/R posts is that they leave you with a bunch of ready-to-go styling ideas. I was dressed in about five minutes this morning!

Paired my agate print dress with my rust jacket without thinking about it, but I was very pleased when the combination made me think of rust and oxidized copper - fun way to bring that distressed feeling into an outfit without falling back on the faded, sunbleached colors that I complain about (at AllSaints, for example - no brights). Added the Raebot to continue the industrial/metal theme a little bit.

Rust suede jacket - Forever 21
Michael Michael Kors agate print dress - 6pm.com
Brown Perlina bag - $8 via Goodwill!
Boutique 9 mystery booties - swap meet
Raebot necklace - gift from Hubs

By now, most of you know that I am madly in love with boots. They make me feel strong, protected, prepared... but as a SoCal native, it would make sense to own more sandals. I currently have only three pairs in normal rotation -- two nude and one black.

So is it impossible to find a truly bad*ss sandal? By nature, sandals expose your feet, rather than protecting and armoring them - so although I see many *cool* *edgy* and *unique* sandals, I never fall in love with them. It's hard to get that rugged, tough person feel in a sandal. Is it even possible?

Still going strong with a menswear influence. I'm in the wrong industry, clearly. I should have been a pirate - either regular pirate or space pirate would do.

First set with orange blouse worn to get an MRI for my car accident injuries. I wanted to "dress up" a little bit to be sure no one would talk down to me. I shouldn't have worried, but what I DID learn was that this Nexx blouse really rocks my socks - looked great after 2 long hours of laying squished under a heavy blanket! Pic #1 is me belatedly attempting to include my bag and trench in the pic - whoops, didn't make it in time for the shutter to go...

Second set is my Steampunk Saloonkeep getup - or at least that's how it makes me feel. ;) In a perfect world, I'd have a cropped vest and cream doctor's bag to go with this, but a girl on SYC has to make do... I'm probably less conspicuous as-is, anyway. I will leave off the twisty mustache, armbands, and hat, though.

I'd never ordered custom jeans before, although the service has been available for quite some time. I never felt that I had complete control over the fit, details, washes, etc., and that is very important to me.

Getwear, however, drew me in with its real-time, Photoshop-esque design interface, which lets you construct, distress, and embroider with your mouse and appraise the result on a lifelike mock up - much better than choosing miscellaneous "fading" from a menu list. On this front, Getwear does very well. Designing is easy and fun, and they have pretty much all the information you need there on the design page - a catwalk video, fit descriptions. I would have liked to know the fabric content when designing, however. This information is available on the link to your jeans if you decide to sell your design, but not on the design page.

It was also very easy to put my jeans up for sale (Getwear offers a portion of sales to you if your design is purchased). After designing, you give them your email address. They send you a confirmation link, you click it, and you're set up. Mine didn't work on the first try, but an email to the company fixed that very quickly.

In terms of production and shipping times, they were spot on in my case: a week to produce, and 3 days to ship. The only negative was that the Fedex had to be signed for, so my apartment manager was disturbed for the signature. Next time, I would ship to my office to avoid this.

And now... yak yak yak, get to the final product, right? Well, it's not perfect, but it's pretty good. The jeans FIT, no gaping in the waist, nothing tight, perfect inseam measurement. The denim is thin - and don't mistake their "raw" wash for actual raw denim... this is not that heavy, scratchy stuff you'd find LA hipsters wearing unwashed for years on end - but the fabric is nice and dark, soft and not scratchy, and neatly constructed. HOWEVER, I am not their easiest customer.

I know that I have an unusually small rise by normal retail standards, so I specifically asked for a 7-inch rise. Hubs is also very picky about back pockets, so I gave them the below measurements (sans pictures - I took the ones below for my second try). The service rep got back to me quickly and asked for pictures of the jeans I wanted to mimic. I supplied the pictures and was notified when production started and when the jeans shipped.

The jeans, sadly, arrived with a 9 (!!) inch rise (is that really "low rise" on any planet?) and, while the top corners of the pockets were in the correct place, the bottoms of the pockets were angled out a lot, making my backside look really wide. I did not opt for fading or embroidery, as I wanted these jeans to be dressy for work, so I can't speak to those options.

As far as service goes, I emailed the company with my issues and got a reply the same day, asking a couple of followup questions - this is when I emailed the below pictures. I was pleased that there was no push back about either issue, and the rep said that they would accommodate me.

I can't say quite yet whether I'll be 100% happy with the jeans. I believe that, once you get all your desired measurements in, you can re-order and re-design your jeans using the same data - in that regard, it is worth it to work with the company to get the perfect fit - and it's all going to come down to that. If I can get a killer, flattering fit out of it all, for 1/2 the price of premium jeans, I'll be thrilled. So far, I'm a wide, hippy mess, but it ain't over 'till it's over.

http://www.modcloth.com/shop/s.....el-in-dots

I'm not supposed to be a dot person, but they are catching my eye lately. The also come in a flat oxford version and a red/navy version.

https://bassshoes.harborghb.co...../start/all

For those who may not know me, I have *nothing* against butch dressing - there are tons of fab ladies on television and the streets of LA who rock that style - it's just not my style goal. As much as I borrow from the boys, I like looking like a gal. Just a personal preference.

Today's outfit feels like it might flirt with that line a little bit. I bought this too-big Foxcroft wrinkle-free blouse to resell, but Hubs convinced me to keep it. Got these skinnies purposefully baggy so I would be able to tuck at work. Started off the outfit with Aida's pearl necklace (last pic), but I ended up taking a page from the book of Angie and preferring a cleaner effect (but still tucked in a small necklace that reads "Daughter" for good measure). And of course I kept using the frilliest, girliest piece I own: my yellow floral bag.

Oh, yeah, and waffle cone perfume. :)

Foxcroft shirt - $1 via swap meet
J. Crew jeans - via Ebay
Boutique 9 boots - via Piperlime
Jessica Simpson Floral Garden bag - via Amazon
Distressed leather belt - $3 via swap meet
Daughter necklace - gift from Mom

It seems it was my USB cable misbehaving, and not my camera (yay, troubleshooting!), so here are better pics of todays outfit, complete with bag and jacket. Thanks to everyone who commented in my earlier thread to reassure me about the boots - they drew some nice compliments today, and I felt like a superhero in them. Some mentioned that the dress reminds them of the 70s, so I have dubbed this outfit 70s Steampunk. The flower power bag doesn't argue. :)

Also included is a bonus, mother-son WIW from yesterday. Notice that hank has coordinated to match my two-toned sleeves and cream boots!

Target shirt dress - $1 via swap meet
Python belt - $2 via Goodwill Hilton Head (vacation find!)
F21 Blazer - $4 via Goodwill
Jessica Simpson Flower Garden bag - via... I think it was Amazon
Timberland Marge Wood boots - via Ebay

I'm pretty darned happy with everything I've allowed myself to buy new this season... except a few things are already falling apart. As someone used to thrifing used and discarded items, I'm really shocked. My hand-me-downs never wear out this fast!

In review:
Mossimo cardigan - developed a hole on the shoulder seam
F21 orange blazer - pilling all over
Anne Taylor sweater - pilling significantly

I don't even put any "outside" clothes into the washing machine anymore - everything gets Dryel-ed or frozen. Sheesh. As much as I like and wear those items, I can't help but hear a little voice in my head saying, "Haha! This is what you get for paying more than $1!"