I was never a horse girl. Cath and I might have had one forgotten My Little Pony between us. We went horse back riding once, when we were five. And all I remember is pinching my nose against the offending manure smell (tomboy I was not). That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a good buckle and a bit of leather.

The belt (from local boutique Rockit) has a built-in pocket that fits a cell phone perfectly. I doubt real equestrians carry cell phones. Hunting horns and riding crops, maybe (I’ve received most of my equestrian knowledge from period English films). The tee and blazer are from H&M, the jeans are Blank Denim, and the boots are Frye.

Do you think this belt crosses a line into bum bag/fanny pack zone? Bags attached with belts kind of give that impression, don’t they? I think real equestrians would never wear such a thing on the . er .field? countryside? fox hunting hills?

Some subtle bling to go with the To-the-Manor-Born look, Agnes Scott College ring, June Shin earrings and a necklace from Vivid Boutique.

Did you all have a good Monday/Ides of March? I find a Monday directly following daylight savings absolutely brutal. Another brutal aspect of this week? Having to wear green (and look good in it) on Wednesday. Why isn’t there a holiday where we all dress in flattering shades of blue? Maybe we should celebrate St. Andrew’s Day instead of St. Patty’s.

viagra ioofgrandlodgeofohio.org

You guys are angels! I’m crediting you all for getting me out of my winter doldrums! After reading all your helpful suggestions of what you would do to stave off the layers of black I’ve been schlepping around the past couple months, I did it! Colorful tights! Accessories! Sparkle! I really had forgot I had a lot of this in my closet.

This might be less impressive to some, but Cath and I haven’t been shopping in over a month. The last time was at the Decatur Boutique sale. So I shopped in my closet for these two outfits. Above: dress is forever21, H&M Jacket, AA tights, boots from Cherry Bomb (local L5P boutique), necklace from Evolve Boutique (another local boutique by Emory).

Isn’t this necklace gorgeous?! I did buy this at the boutique sale last month from Evolve Boutique. It’s refabbed from an Indian sari. I love to think about the history of a reused piece. If a piece of fabric could talk, huh?

I love the rust color of these tights. I know AA isn’t cheap when it comes to their hosiery, but they are really soft and fairly durable.

Now I loooove these tights. They are lacy, but not itchy. I got them at Rockit boutique in Decatur, but they are by Look from London and sold online.

Everything else in this outfit is anywhere from one year to five years old.

So what do you have planned for the weekend? A little closet shopping? I think I might do more now that this week’s shopping “trip” was so successful. Thanks again for all your help with the fashion doldrums! This is just another lovely perk to blogging- fantastic advice from fellow fashionistas/os.

I know it’s fashion week, and beautiful, inspiring things are being shown daily, but I can’t get out of my personal winter fashion rut. If you’ve wondered why Cath and I haven’t posted many outfit photos in the past few weeks, it’s because we’ve been wearing clothes that make us look like black hole blobs: layers of dark sweaters and coats. And as a side note. Hotlanta, what happened to you? It’s frigid! There is no way I’m wearing cute tights and a skirt out in this weather unless I can fit it under my skinny jeans and oversized mumu sweaters.

So I tried to scare my fashion doldrums away this morning by pulling on some color: cream vest, coral silk blouse, gray skinnies. Ooo I like it! I feel positively galactic (in a big, colorful way) compared to what I’ve been wearing. I’ll probably slip back into a black hole tomorrow (still too cold!), but today I wanted a little morning-after-Mardis-Gras to peek through.

I also love this outfit because there is nary a piece from H&M: Shirt is thrifted, vest is from local boutique Rockit, Cheap Monday jeans from local boutique Bill Halman.

I plan to wear these pretty lovelies with dresses all spring and summer long. Get here already, Spring! (Shoes from Mango).

I don’t know if you can see the long, bronze tassel necklace I have on, but it’s yet another indie treasure (from the bf- le swoon- he has good taste, non?). Check out Snoozer Looser. I first heard about them from GBLYSS.

What do you guys do when you hit a fashion rut? And how do you conquer winter black hole layers? Should I just give in and move to the equator? Sun! Heat! Ahhh. daydreams absolutely worthy of a good toe wiggle.

Just a quick little outfit post for your Saturday afternoon/evening! This year I’ve resolved to 1) be more creative with layering and 2) actually use what’s in my closet. With that in mind I pulled on some ole leggings (which I use as tights during the frigid winter months), an AA mini skirt (hardly risque at all when paired with opaque leggings), Tarjay boots from five years ago (they are my old stand-bys), a thrifted ruffle blouse ($3 at Goodwill!), an H&M blazer and scarf, and my $1.60 Bottega Veneta bag (at some point I promise to stop being tacky and take off the “$1.60” before I utter the words “Bottega Veneta”).

I was actually looking for an over-the-top ruffly blouse at Goodwill, but found this demure beauty instead. I’m also wearing my grandmother’s (costume jewelry) “pearl” choker and my favorite pair of earrings that I bought for two euros when I studied in Spain years ago.

Happy weekend, Everyone!

xoxo,

Lar

p.s. If you are wondering about the weirdness of what’s going on with my hair. it’s called a Sally. My personal hair style includes this weird little (sometimes big) bump that I do at the front of my hair. For some reason I can’t do bangs (like Cath) or a sweeping side part, but I can do bumps (or “Sallys” as one of my friend’s calls it- no idea why). Sally got a little smushed under my hat the day I took these pics, so you see what she looks like after she’s had one too many and can no longer stand up straight.

Ack! We’ve been so remiss on the internets of late. Beaucoup apologies to our wonderful readers. Somehow, every year, I forget how insane the holidays are: local events, shopping for the perfect presents, concerts, a house museum to decorate, baked goods to make (and eat and eat and eat), family and friends to visit. We love it all, but it means our blogging, emailing and commenting get left out in the cold.

Well here’s a lovely little warm up: a cozy pair of sweat pants! Yes, indeedy. The girl who wouldn’t even wear sweat pants when required in middle school gym class, is now wearing them to work! See Exhibit A below:

Can you tell how much I love this Nasty Gal shoulder-padded blazer? I’m hardly ever without it. And what better why to dress up sweats, but with structured shoulders and a neutral/minimalist (okay, nonexistent) palette?

So the sweatpants kinda sorta look more like leggings, ’tis true. And many of you reminded me that wearing leggings to work is pretty much like wearing sweats. So no ground-breaking fashion moments here. But I really do love when fashion and comfort collide – not so much in footwear (begone, crocs and uggs!). If my waist band can expand whilst I eat more Christmas chocolate and gingerbread, and I can maintain a certain level of superficial chic-ness, well, I’m all for it!

Here’s how some svelte models (of the non-waist-expanding-variety) donned their sweats on the runway (click image for photo credit).

Below, Chloe creative director Hannah MacGibbon makes sweatpants look so good, you’ll burn your Juicy Couture track suit. Heck, she’s even wearing a sweatshirt- on her runway! A sweatshirt and sweatpants combo to work? That’s the next step.

Cath and I are out of town this weekend, but we promise to respond to all of your wonderful comments and emails – they truly make our day/week/month/year!

Also, stay tuned for an upcoming post on some lovely things the boys over at Epidemik Coalition sent us. Thanks for the early xmas presents, guys!

I know the big shoulder trend made its first appearance many months ago, but I didn’t give in until last week. Earlier in the summer I tried on a shoulder-padded tee at H&M and I looked like a line backer. My already broad shoulders didn’t need the extra padding. Turns out I just chose the wrong item of clothing! This blazer (from Nasty Gal) is very French Editor chic with just the right touch of football defense – haha! (anyone else sensing a sugar low?)

Are you guys embracing the big shoulder trend? Obviously our lovely Lady Gaga is. (p.s. who’s going to see her Monster Ball Tour? Oo, me! Me! Me!). Of course she makes my jacket look like a boring black blazer with non-existent shoulders. Well, I went pantless for you Gaga, but I won’t go shoulder-full for you just yet.

Are you guys pro-shoulder pads or are you wishing 80s revival would die a quick and painful death?

Oh! And it’s Friday!!! Hope you all have a fabulous, fabulous weekend! Cath and I will be mucking it up with the Wren’s Nest folks, decorating the historic home for the holidays. Come see us on Sunday for The Wren’s Nest Victorian Christmas Party (it’s free – yippee)!

Not exactly a new idea of course. We ladies have been wearing (the) pants for decades – almost centuries- now. Cath and I have always admired Katharine Hepburn and her ability to look stunning in a boxy mans’ suit. But here is the great divide between Katharine and I: where she is like a tall coat hanger with beautiful cheekbones, I’m like a smaller, slightly padded coat hanger with smaller, less padded cheekbones. I look downright Lilliputian and curvy next to Ms. Hepburn. Because of this, I always veered away from an entire suit that would overwhelm my frame.

I also think the 100% masculine look doesn’t work with me. It could be because I’m just too damn girlie. So I feel more at home by adding a lace trim shirt (thanks, Aunt Mare!) under a three quarter sleeved shrunken blazer, topped with a fringy scarf (both H&M). I also skip on the trousers. I have finally given into the fact that I look bad and frumpy in roomy bottoms. Even when skinny jeans and leggings go out of style, I’ll wear them with everything.

I really like lacy ruffles with this sharp, hard-lined blazer that Marlene is wearing below. Are poet shirts coming back? Because I am so hopping on that bandwagon asap!

What do you ladies say? Are you for a little cross dressing? And gentlemen, do you like your ladies in a suit (or parts of one)?

I bought this (loud) coral silk shirt a few months ago at a local thrift store (see Kudzu Antique Market). I put off wearing it because I couldn’t figure out what went with this color. At the time, I succumbed to purchasing it because it’s silk and only $12! I don’t think I own anything that drapes this well on my body (and I definitely don’t own anything this pinky coral). Apologies for the craptastic photos (they don’t do justice to the drapey-ness of the blouse), but indoor photos during the dark wintery months are a challenge.

And what does beautiful fabric make me think of? Art history! But of course!

Enter (mainly) headless Hellenic statues:

Before Common Era, Greek sculptors had mastered the perfect fall and drape of fabric in stone. They magically turned marble into gauzy, rippling pieces of clingy fabric. Before the Hellenic era, poor sculpted bodies had to endure all sorts of uncomfortable stony attire. Hellenic artists created haute couture in stone.

Skip ahead a few centuries to the Dark Ages; a return to Walmart-quality stone wardrobes for all. Even Jesus and Mary had to put up with pointy, rigid gowns and shrouds that did absolutely nothing for their figures.

Skip ahead a few more centuries to the Renaissance and Baroque eras (deep sigh of relief); both sculptors and painters perfect the verisimilitude of fabric out of stone or paint. Below, Artemesia Gentileschi so convincingly paints the folds and fabrics in bed sheets that you (almost) barely notice ole Holofernes getting his head chopped off by strong-armed Judith. Go drapery!

And now we come full circle back to fashion. Long, long before the first wet t-shirt contests were even thought of, Josephine Bonaparte and her fashion lemmings (I would have been one of them) discovered a way to make wet drapery literal. Under their barely-there empire-waisted gowns, ladies would wet their slips (the only other layer they wore) so that their dresses would cling to every curve and leave even less to the imagination. Herve Leger’s bandage dresses have nothing on these 19th century gentlewomen.

Now don’t you want to go out and buy more silk things?! I mean who wouldn’t? The next time you wear something that feels deliciously liquid as it drapes over your body, you can imagine yourself a Greek god or goddess, a mighty biblical figure (on bed sheets!?), or the wife of the most powerful emperor of the era. Not bad, eh? Do you already have something in your closet that makes you feel that way?

We apologize for the lack of outfit posts lately. Cath has been running around being a super-awesome City employee, and I’ve been . uninspired in a rut discovering my cold-weather uniform! Black leggings or skinny jeans, large blouse/shirt, blazer and boots (thigh-highs preferable). It’s the most comfortable uniform yet, and apart from the boots, darn cheap! The shirt and blazer were thrifted and the leggings are from Tarjay. 

I always have grand plans for awesome next-day outfits in the evening, and then come morning, I’m crawling out of my nice warm bed looking for the next best thing to my robe. And do you know what’s comfy? Leggings! And you can hide this cop-out version of pants with some chic boots and a boyfriend blazer. Nice, huh?

(Lord, someone get me out of this shopping-freeze/fashion rut I’m in or I’ll start wearing sweat pants to work!)

Do you guys have a uniform for cold, early mornings when you’re in a scramble to get ready for work or school? My closet would be eternal grateful for your inspiration.