Shock socks

I admit, socks with sandals is a fashion atrocity in my eyes. Until now. Maybe.

I just saw these socks at Sock Dreams. They're called Tabi socks.

TABI SOCKS or split-toe socks have been worn in Japan since the sixteenth century, reaching their peak during the Edo period (1600-1868). They were developed to wear with sandals & wooden clogs called geta. There is a special place for your big toe. Lots of people wear Tabi socks~ People who practice Japanese martial arts like Aikido and Karate wear Tabi socks and so do Taiko drummers, Suzuki actors and traditional Japanese folk dancers. According to Shiatsu theory, wearing Tabi socks benefits the back, the spine, and the digestion due to the acupuncture meridians located between the toes.

Okay, I guess that's cool. Actually, I welcome socks that are actually made to accommodate flip-flops. I think if they weren't made for that purpose they're dorky though, sorry.

Anthropologie party dresses

I just stopped by Anthropologie and I see they have a new section of party dresses. Sadly, I have no parties coming up that would require a fancy frock. Or happily, because I couldn't afford one right now anyway.

I like a lot of these dresses, but if I had to choose one, I would probably pick the Spirited Away dress:

I have to say, a pet peeve I have about Anthropologie (and a lot of catalogs) is that they don't always have someone modeling the clothes. This dress doesn't (although it is shown on a hanger, which is pointless). I understand that this is an added expense for them, but sometimes I have trouble visualizing how something would look on an actual person. Clothes look different on a dress form or a hanger than they do on a real body. The styling and accessories can also sell a dress, because whether or not you want to buy those extras, it can help you visualize yourself wearing it - not to mention help those who don't know how to put an outfit together.

Case in point: the dress below is beautiful, but it looks a little over the top and prom night to me on the dress form. The length is a little odd too...is it above, at, or below the knee?

Once I saw it on the model, though, I was sold.

Maybe it's because she's in the snow, and waving her arms around because she's delirious from hypothermia. I don't know why, but this picture makes me want the dress. It looks flowy and not stiff. No huge pettycoat-like hoop skirt. It's silk, not taffeta, which is what I thought it looked like on the dress form. You can see the length that it's meant to be (slightly above-knee, or at the knee), and that it looks great with black tights. A suggestion of a coat might be nice here, but I guess she just stepped out...or in...the door. What a weird photo. Is she inside, and it's snowing inside?! Or is she going outside, and left the door open rudely so everyone inside will freeze to death? Why is she all alone here? Was she assaulted? Is she drunk and waving her arms around?

Anthropologie photos...who knew they could be so fun to deconstruct?

I like the Midnight Wanderer dress too:

Let's see if they show a model wandering...

Hm. She's not wandering, she's wondering where the bathroom is! Looks like the party food was tainted. That's why I hate buffets, too many people getting their germs all over the food. Gross.

I know it's a couture pose to look hunched over like you've got scoliosis or some other spinal problem (I learned this from Christian on Project Runway), and this looks like an attempt at that kind of pose. Why is it attractive to look like Gollum from Lord of the Rings? I don't get it. There are other ways to emphasize your hips. I'd like to see models and their photographers get more creative with props and poses. 

Sale alert

The Into the Blue Skirt is on sale now at Modcloth, now $29.99 instead of $64.99. So cute!

Shopping weekend booty

JCPenney had a fantastic looking sale running Friday and Saturday. It turned out to not be so fantastic - they jacked up the prices so the sale prices were still pretty high. Boo. They did have some cheap things, but not much I wanted. I did walk away with a winter coat that may just be warm enough for the tundra.

 St. John's Bay® Hooded Zip Front Pea Coat, blended wool and cashmere. It was around $80 on sale marked down from $200. I'm not sure that mine is exactly this one but it's pretty close. 

I picked up another jacket to wear that's more lightweight and suited more for layering. It's a double-breasted wool pea coat with 3/4 sleeves. It's by Guess and was only $30 at TJ Maxx. It looks kind of like this one, but with a different lapel.

 

Instead of going for colors, I played it safe so I could have these for awhile. I plan on tailoring them so they fit better and can add color with scarves and gloves and hats. I'm working on learning how to make those myself. Scarves are easy to make and I have plenty, I have plans to make some arm warmers now.

Old Navy didn't look the same when I stopped there. The whole store had been remodeled, I'm not sure if it was for the new season or if it was a larger planned out thing. There wasn't as much rock-botttom cheap stuff as usual. When I went in they had a promotion where if you donated a can of food, you got 10% off your purchase. There was a fleece Sherpa hoodie there that I wanted, but I decided to come back with the can of food later in the week for the discount. Well, it turned out that JCPenney had the same hoodie for cheaper, even without the discount, so I never returned. What can I say, I like a bargain and I can donate food somewhere else! 

SJB® Active Sherpa Hoodie from JCPenney. I have the red one, which is another option that wasn't at Old Navy. I like rocking the little red riding hood look. They had a lot of bright neon colors, as is the old/new trend. I remember that trend the first time, and I liked it then, but I was probably 11 years old or something. If I can remember a trend the last time it came around, I probably shouldn't be wearing it now. That's a personal rule. Anyway, I hate winter, but a cozy hoodie makes it a little more bearable. Socks too, and blankets, and other warm cozy things. Yay. Cardigans I wear all year long, I'm big on layering. Hey, it worked for Mr. Rogers.

St. John's Bay® Ruffle Front Cardigan - It was it was maybe $14 in the store. I got a tan version. The ruffles are pretty.

I didn't pick up anything with a lot of wow factor, but I'm satified. I've been organizing my stuff lately and fnding more and more things that I forgot that I had. Also, color-coordinating the closets and drawers makes putting together outfits so much easier.

Now that it is cooler, I have gone back to wearing my house shoes. They are these adorable clogs that I have had for a long time.

They're Haflinger Grizzly Wool Felt Clogs with Embroidery. So comfy! They look like they belong on a milk maid in Bavaria somewhere. Papa! I will be back with the milk! The hills are alive with the sound of moooing!

Apologies to Modcloth

I am a bonehead. After whining the other day about Modcloth not saying what their coats were made out of, today I figured out that they do have descriptions. It's not on the quick look pages, you have to go to the item's page and click on "composition and fit". I just saw that little measuring tape and didn't bother reading to see the "composition" part. Now that I actually READ that part, I saw that they even give specific size charts and warmth ratings for the jackets and coats. Sorry Modcloth! My brain froze with the early winter, I guess.

I would love to have the Saffron Sophisticate Coat from Modcloth, especially now that I know it is 50% wool and 50% rayon, with a 100% polyester lining! Also, 2.5 out of 5 on the winter warmth scale. :-) It is so sunny and adorable. It is from BB Dakota and sells for $107.99. It also has a matching skirt!

The Saffron Sophisticate skirt has the same composition and is $72.99 at Modcloth.

 

Red Hots Heels would go great with that suit, and they're vegan too! $34.99.

How about a pair of Modern Jackie sunglasses to go with that?  Only $9.99! I guess the modern part is that Jackie could be broke in this economy.

They're all out of pillbox hats, how about a scarf? It's a Crewel, Crewel Scarf (groan) for $15.99.

How did I miss this skirt? What lovely shades of blue...

Appropriately named Into the Blue skirt, from Modcloth, $64.99.

 

This Hepburn Blouse would look cute with that skirt. $53.99 from Modcloth.

Cute stuff on sale

Sales right now are not as robust as one would hope right now, but there's still plenty of deals out there. Some cute stuff that I might buy, if I were not broke:

daisy fuentes® Favorite Geometric Tee on sale for $11.99. Love this shade of blue!

Mudd® Cable-Knit Marilyn Sweaterdress  on sale for $23.99. Comes in three colors, this one is "Lakeview Blue", but it looks gray to me, and the "Slate Black" looks brown to me, am I going color blind or are they?

Short-sleeve tee with free scarf from Newport News. Rib knit cotton with dyed to match lace mesh scarf. Not bad at $14.99! Comes in different colors, availability dependent on size.

St. John's Bay® Squareneck Embroidered Tank from JCPenney for $6.99. Comes in different colors. Buy a cami for your mammy! Or for you.

a.n.a® Ruffle Front Top JCPenney for $6.99. Different colors, depends on size. I love the a.n.a. shirts at JCPenney, they're usually pretty cute. Penney's has great clearance sales, I've gotten shirts that I really liked for $2 off the rack.

Apostrophe Ruffle Cardigan by Sears, $24.99 each. Other colors available. So cute! Love the ruffles.

Isotoner Driving Glove, $17.99 from Target. I like that they're fake leather (85% nylon, 50% spandex) and more grippy than regular cloth gloves. If the gloves fit, you must aquit!

Xhilaration® Clutch in Red from Target, $14.99. Technically not on sale, but it's still cheap. That's the beauty of Target.

Danger: Curves ahead, clothes in restricted area

Yesterday I tried on some wool winter coats at Kohl's, and was sadly disappointed. Why? None of them would fit me and flatter me. I am short, with small shoulders, fairly big boobs and a small waist. If the coat fit in the shoulders, it wouldn't fit around my chest, and vice-versa. They do not make clothing for women that have breasts! I forgot about this, since it's been a long time since I have gone shopping for a more fitted winter coat. It's stupid of me, really. I don't buy button-down blouses or for the same reason, and most dresses and certain kinds of tops are off limits. I'd really need to go to a tailor and do a lot of alterations or start from scratch, which is what the more famous big-boobed women like Angelina Jolie must do. However, I don't have that kind of money. Too bad, because I like cute coats like this one.

I've been thinking about female models lately, and the fit of clothing. A lot of people have been, after this Photoshop of horrors courtesy of Ralph Lauren. It's no secret that models have gotten smaller and so have the clothes, while the rest of the country gets fatter from oversized portions, high-fructose corn syrup and cheap fast food. What people blame first is usually a bias towards thin people in the fashion industry, or a trend started by Kate Moss that never died. While this bias exists, I suspect that this all started to save money. The standard size 8 that used to be sent to photo shoots and runways is now something like a zero to four. Less fabric! It may not be much, but it adds up. Especially for couture gowns, with details such as beading. Fabric costs money, and can cost time too. Anyone who does knitting or crochet like I do knows that. That's my theory: the fashion industry is cheap and greedy. They're sending out the cheapest samples they can get away with.

It's strange that while fashion designers make clothes for skinny, flat-chested models, Hollywood tells us that a desirable woman has a skinny body and a large chest. Increasingly, a nice round butt too. Most women are not built this way, so they have to get plastic surgery. I would almost be built this way if my stomach were flatter and I lost 10 or 15 pounds. I say almost because when I lose weight, I lose it from my chest first. Oh, that ticks me off! The one place that I WANT fat to be! Recently I have lost weight, and my reward has been that I fit into my older bras and tops. My belly I and butt just stay the same. Man that sucks!

I'm okay with my body as-is though, and I've watched enough episodes of What Not To Wear to know that we can all look good at any size, and it's the clothes that are the problem, not me. Shopping is work! You have to try things on! It's all about fit! Hire a tailor! Thanks, Stacy and Clinton.

I'm taking my mind away from getting a structured coat, it exhausts me thinking about it now. It's just not practical, especially considering I like to layer clothing in this cold tundra. I'm thinking about getting a thick wool sweater coat now, and I'll continue wearing my fake fur coat from Newport News for the really cold days. I look like a furry bear in it, but hey, it's Minnesota - nobody cares about fashion at -30 F.

I'd like to get one of those heavy wool cabled cream colored sweaters like the fishermen wear on the east coast in the movies. Accessories made from qiviut would be awesome too. Qiviut is from the underwool of the Arctic Musk Ox, and is 8 times warmer than wool, very lightweight and softer than cashmere. It's also very expensive and rare. There's a farm in Alaska where people gather the molts from the Musk Ox, so the animals are completely undisturbed. My parents saw some for sale when they visited Alaska. A 2 ounce skein of yarn is $80. My mom said it was so soft and light...oh, those lucky Musk Ox! What lovely belly fur they have.

Here are some sweaters that pretend to be coats:

Double-breasted shawl cardigan from The Gap (how is this a shawl?!), also available in gray and petite, $59.50. 45% acrylic, nylon 45% angora 10%. Probably not that warm, but it does look like a regular coat, only it is more pliable.

Heritage double-breasted cardigan,100% wool, $175 from Banana Republic.

Rachel Rachel Roy sweater coat, double breasted, 100% Merino wool, Macy's, $109.

Covington Sport mixed stitch sweater jacket,  other colors available, $19.95 at Sears.

Victoria's Secret Bouclé peplum cardigan sweater, acrylic/nylon/wool/Lycra spandex, many colors available, $39.

You want to be taken seriously? Stop dressing like a little girl.

Joan! I love Joan on Mad Men, and I just happened upon Urban Minx, that has a celebrity style page. There was Joan! And I clicked on Joan, and there was Joan's dress! For sale, a mere $156! As my mother used to say when I pointed out the "low" price of something, "Let's buy two!".

Seriously, that dress is HAWT. It's by a company called Stop Staring. Well, I'm sorry, but I Cannot Stop Staring. If I could just suck my gut in some more, I could rock this dress too. It's perfect for the lady with curves.

I dig the other dresses by Stop Staring too. None of them are quite as awesome as Joan's though. Joan can really sell a dress!

And now, an ode to Joan Holloway (played by Christina Hendricks).

 

Joan is a brick house. I love her curves, no offense to the thinner ladies, I just love to see women of a different body type being celebrated. Woohoo Joan!  

Joan and her awesome clothing in motion:

The frozen tundra does not wait

It is freezing here in Minnesota, but the stores are not reflecting this harsh reality. Online and at the mall, the outerwear is still very much stuck in fall. Makes sense, since winter doesn't officially start until somewhere in December, but nobody told that to the arctic cold fronts swooping down from the far north. I need a new warm coat, but am not finding exactly what I want. So I am waiting. Watching. Stalking my prey, like a cat. Like one of those hairless Dr. Evil looking cats, because IT'S ONLY OCTOBER AND I AM FREEZING!

Ahem. I am finding some beautiful jackets and coats in the meantime. Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy them. I can still look at them though, and share them with you. Jackets and coats...what's the difference between a jacket and a coat? They seem to overlap, and I think this is just a scam they use online to get you to look at more jackets and coats. There's no difference that I can see. 

The oracle (aka Google) tells me that a jacket is a short coat usually extending to the hips. A coat is a sleeved outer garment extending from the shoulders to the waist or below. Wait a minute. So a coat could be a jacket too if it's not long? Now I think the poor definition of either garment just gives stores a perfect opportunity to confuse us into buying more outerwear!

Now that I've established that conspiracy theory, lets move on to the coat and jacket porn:

This cardigan sweater jacket/coat thingy has those awesome sleeves that I love. The thinner arms are longer though, so rather than gigot I think these are called Juliette sleeves. Sounds fancy, huh? You can learn all about sleeves here at Wikipedia. This faux-fur trimmed cardigan has a great belt to make your waist look thin, a lovely gray color that will make you look sophisticated, and a faux-fur collar that will make you look like a movie star (or an animal killer - you can actually buy a faux not fur lapel pin so people will know you're not!). It's from Juicy Couture and retails for $280.

How cute is this? Military double-breasted coat with purple lining and cuffs. 90% Virgin Wool, 10% cashmere. Lining 60% acetate, 40% viscose.  Sonia by Sonia Rykiel, retails for $755.

I love almost all of the outerwear at Modcloth. Here are some favorites:

West End Girls Coat (great, now I have that Pet Shop Boys song in my head!). So cute, $217.99. If only an East End Boy came with it.

Anna Von Diederitz coat, faux fur collar, $83.99. It is also available in white. One thing that bothers me about Modcloth is that they usually don't list the type of fabrics used. Is it wool? Cotton? Polyester? Who knows. It's adorable though. I've never actually purchased from Modcloth, but I'm sure they'd be happy to give those details upon request. I just prefer those details up front, ya know? It's important to me what something is made of, especially when it comes to outerwear. Moving on...

Five Alarm Coat, $64.99.  I love, love, love red coats. I says look at me, I'm the life of the party, the heartbeat of this cold gray day! It says I'm not dead! I'm representing humanity, the heart of cold suburbia! I watch way too many movies with representative color, which have now has become a cliche, thanks a lot M. Night Shyamalan!

Yellow has that effect too. Modcloth knows it, they call this the When Life Gives You Lemons coat. $129.99. It has a satin lining, it looks soft, could be wool, could be cotton, who knows? Grr. It's by BB Dakota.

One more from Modcloth:

This Madison Jacket is so classic and classy. Love the belt, the single breasted simplicity, the seaming. Orchid purple satin lining, made by Tulle, $107.99.

I love gray and I love yellow, but I have not loved them together...until now.

Valentino Roma full-length jacket from Yoox. Satin, two pockets, snap close, lined interior. $790. If this were styled badly, it could go into bathrobe territory really quick.

Stella McCartney Tufted Wool Coat, $8,845. It does have a rather Muppet like appearance, but it must feel fabulous to wear. It's tufted wool and silk - mostly wool, it's only 5% silk (that's not including the lining). It looks like the wool was looped into the base fabric of the coat shaped, and then either felted with a washing machine or with a carder. I crochet and have knitted (I don't like knitting, too difficult). I'm curious if I could make a scarf or hat like this? Hm. Anyway, pretty pricy, but it is coat porn! It does look like it was a lot of work to make. Not THAT much, but...

Here's something you can maybe afford - Takeout Sherpa-Lined Hooded Sweater Coat from Kohl's, on sale for $27.99.  If you order today, shipping is only 99 cents per item! This sweater coat comes in 5 different colors. I just noticed this is Juniors size. If you're like me, you can squeeze into the larger sizes. although this looks like it might be a little narrow for my knockers. There are a lot of cute cardigan sweaters on sale now at Kohl's in Women's sizes.

This coat from Kohl's is close to what I had in mind to get for winter. Croft and Barrow Hooded Wool Coat, on sale for $108.00, women's sizes S-XL. Kohl's has other nice women's coats and cute plus-sized coats too.

Effortless Velvet Coat from Boden, $218. Comes in 6 colors, but she wore blue velvet, bluer than velvet was the niiiight....