Really Late Tuesday Shoes- The Goodbye

So sometimes, I do have to get rid of shoes. My husband took it into his head to count my shoes yesterday, and the number he came up with was somewhat astonishing. Since I was already planning to get rid of these two pairs, it seemed like a good peace offering. The brown ones on the left are from Payless, and despite their three inch heels and wide square toes, they are horribly uncomfortable. They are in really good shape, so to the thrift store they go. The tan pair were from Target about 4 years ago, and they are just worn-looking. Scuffs and scratches just look worse on fake leather. I'm kinda sad, because I really liked these, but I just bought some camel-color Sam Edelman's to replace them, so in the bin they go! How do you decide how to purge your stuff?

Dave Barry on Mall of America

I love, love, love this billboard. I think it should be a t shirt.

I just read this in an old Dave Barry column, orginally published July 22, 2001:

Other than that, our trip to Minnesota was great. The highlight was our trip to the Mall of America, which bills itself as "the largest fully enclosed retail and family entertainment complex in the United States." How big is the Mall of America? Here's an actual quote from the mall's official list of Fun Facts: "258 Statue of Libertys could lay inside the Mall."

Where I come from, that's what we call a LOT of Statue of Libertys.

Fully enclosed spaces are popular in Minnesota, where winter lasts an average of 17 months. So the Mall of America is a huge hit. According to the promotional literature, it draws more visitors every year than the Grand Canyon, which of course is not enclosed (you wonder what they were thinking when they built it).

Also, the Grand Canyon offers very limited shopping, whereas the Mall of America has more than 500 stores. I got the impression there were at least 10 stores devoted just to refrigerator magnets. Also, every 35 feet there's a store selling food. So basically you have thousands of people circulating around, shopping and chewing. It's the ultimate American vacation experience. The only thing that would improve it is if you could rent burros, the way you can in the Grand Canyon, so you could shop and chew in a seated position.

In the middle of the Mall of America is - I swear - an amusement park. It has a roller coaster and various other rides, so that if you get tired of shopping and chewing, you can get sick.

I actually enjoy Mall of America, but I will admit this is fairly accurate. And I'm completely on board with the burro idea.

Hey Acne!

Apparently there is a clothing brand named "Acne." Why they decided to name their (expensive!) clothing and shoe designs after one of nature's most irritating and unattractive skin conditions is beyond me. I'm waiting for the diffusion line, Psoriasis. Sorry, that is not the point of this, I just got caught up in annoyance at the whole we're-so-edgy-ness of the name. Moving on!

I was reading Fashionista.com today, because I am a glutton for punishment, and they did one of their "Adventures in Copyright" posts regarding the lovely footwear specimen above, the Acne Ataconda. Apparently, Jeffrey Campbell has made a shoe that looks (almost) exactly like this highly coveted clodhopper. Horrors! And I mean horrors, that TWO designers would create such an ugly shoe, AND that lots of people would want to buy it. Doesn't it look orthopedic? I had a college professor who had a short leg due to a hip problem, and her left shoe looked a lot like this. Except without the snappy metallic stripe.

Image via Polyvore. God knows where they found it.

Want List: Bakers Shoes "Rory"

This is the "Rory" by Bakers Shoes. I want these. I've wanted these for months. Alas, they are still $50, and even I wouldn't try to wear these to work. :( Must be strong!

Halloween

This is me in my "Goth Girl" Halloween costume. I'm not that into Halloween so I wanted a costume that would require minimal expenditure. I already had the dress, the tights, the boots, the eyeliner and the pasty skin, so why not?

I think I did a pretty good job with the eyeliner, too. I would show a close up, but I kind of scared myself when I enlarged the picture, so you'll have to make do with this. It's pretty much a really smudgy, exaggerated cat eye, extended down toward my nose at the inner corner, and winged waaay out at the outer corner. I wanted the lid to be darker, but I'm eyeshadow-impaired, so it didn't work out. I did a mix of black and red lipstick, with gloss over the top. (Finally, a use for that massive collection of lipsticks.)

Black velvet dress- Jones New York, thrifted at Arc's ($1.00!!)
Skull necklace- Savers new stuff
Cross necklace- thrifted @ Arc's
Key necklace- Charlotte Russe
Red Ring- Michaels (the craft store)
Skull ring- Savers new stuff
Lace Gloves- Arc's new stuff
Lace tights- Kohls (I think) Fall 2008
"Army" Boots- Maurices, 1999 (I had to vacuum them, they were so dusty.)

Baaaa

This is a teeny weeny picture of the Ulta Salon Finish nail polish in "Princess." I bought because... I don't know why. I read about it yesterday on BellaSugar, it's supposed to be a dead ringer for some more expensive nail polish, (the brand escapes me at the moment) so I bought it. Just. Like. That. I barely even looked at it first, that is how easily swayed I am by the opinions of others, evey people I've never met.

Luckily, it turns out to be pretty cute, sort of a pinky-peachy shimmer that would look nice on my fingernails, if I ever painted them. Which I don't. Gah! I bought a new eyeliner too, in Emerald, because they were having a buy one, get one free sale on Ulta products, AND I had a coupon for 20% off one item. In considering this purchase, I realized a couple things: 1) I am a sheep. 2) I will buy anything if it is on sale and I have a coupon. 3) I should not shop on my lunch half-hour, because it leads me to make hasty decisions. In my defense, I was also being crowded by a blond woman who apparently desperately needed an inappropriately dark eyebrow pencil to scribble on her Joan Crawford eyebrows. I'm no makeup guru, but why do people do that?

There is no point to this, other than to moan about my lack of self control. If you actually need make-up or nail polish, the Ulta brand stuff is buy one, get one free through Saturday, and it looks like pretty good stuff.

Hey! Rachel Bilson

So recently there has been some debate about the FTC rules about bloggers disclosing free stuff they get from companies to review. That's all well and good; I don't really care because no one gives me free stuff. I'm really more annoyed about celebrity product endorsements. I hate when you see a celebrity in an ad or on a commercial, shilling some product you just know they don't use. (Tiger Woods drives a Buick? Sarah Jessica Parker colors her own hair at home with Garnier??)

A particularly irksome example of this phenomenon occurred in the November issue of Lucky. Rachel Bilson* (who's also on the cover) stars in a six page advertisement for Tresemme products: Note the text starting on line 4: "With the help of Tresemme, she achieves the most fashion-forward hairstyles to compliment each look."

Then, about twenty pages later in the "Her Way" segment, she gives a recommendation for a shampoo and conditioner: Tresemme! No, wait, that would actually make sense. Instead, she recommends something called Davines Love Smoothing Shampoo and Conditioner, which will set you back $19 and $22, respectively. What?! Didn't you just spend six pages of ad space trying to convince me that Tresemme will make my hair look like yours for about $3 a bottle? Liar!

Scanned evidence! (from Lucky Magazine, November 2009)

If you click the picture, you can see the whole thing, if you need to.

*Who is this person, anyway? I keep seeing her all over the place, (well, on the internet and in magazines) but she doesn't seem to do anything, other than lie about shampoo and wear outfits that people think are really cool. Anyone? Am I just getting old?

Tights

I've been having trouble finding tights that I like. (I suspect this is mainly because I am cheap.) I recently bought some Xhilaration ones from Target, and I hate them because some idiot made the crotch seam in the front really thick, so it makes a ridge on the pootchy part of my belly that you can see through my dresses! It's worse than VPL. Who designs something like that?! I decided to give Target another chance, and bought the Merona ones ($5.00, on sale last week) and they are a little better. I always buy the tights a size larger than I would theoretically fit, because I like them to be opaque. In this case, it means that the waistband of the tights comes pretty much to the bottom of my bra, but at least the tights aren't see through! The other thing I don't like is that these are kind of shiny-- it may be the horrible florescent lighting from my office, but they have a sort of golden shimmer. ???
My hunt for perfect black, opaque, matte tights continues. And really, would it be so hard to make the toes opaque, too? Now that we all decided that it's okay to wear tights with open toe shoes?

image from target.com

Tuesday Shoes- Spring Iridescent Peep Toe Pumps

Okay, this is kind of lazy because I just blogged about these on Friday, but here we go. These are my green/blue/purple iridescent peep toe pumps from Spring*. I bought these in September because they are shiny and remind me of peacocks. I had no idea what I would wear them with, or where I would wear them. (Of course, the salesgirls swore that I could wear them with so many things!) I ended up getting them anyway, (I had a coupon!) and I've actually worn them three times already, usually with gray. These shoes are completely indicative of my raccoon nature. I don't want them for any specific purpose; I want them because they are shiny. Lucky thing my office is used to my crazy taste in footwear.

*That's Aldo's cheaper sister, in case you were wondering. Most of the shoes seem to be synthetic, but I prefer to think of them as "vegan."

Outfit 10/29/2009

Now I see why all the fashion bloggers put their hand on their hip like that- look how shapely my arm looks! Must stand like that all the time. Anyway, I wore this to work on Thursday, and now that I look at the picture, it may have been pushing the envelope a little. The shirt is a little low and of course, the shoes are sparkly. I did have my hair pulled back in a low ponytail, so maybe that helped make it a little more professional. Oh well, no one said anything, and it's actually pretty flattering. I bought the top specifically to wear with these silly shoes, and in real life, it actually matches better. The shoes change color in different lights, and here they look more green.


Oh, and I got a couple of compliments on my hair today, which was funny, considering that it was dirty. I'm trying not to wash it everyday, but if I don't, I have to do something to it so it isn't gross-looking. So I sprayed it with dry shampoo and hot-rollered it. I'm glad it was humid today, because my hair was HUGE when I took the rollers out. (I can't go more than one day without shampooing. Isn't it weird that all the magazines are suddenly advocating going three plus days without washing our hair? I'm wondering if the whole island of Manhattan smells like dirty scalp. Just throwing it out there.)


Teal cowl neck top: Target, Sept. 2009
Gray Skirt: Isaac Mizrahi for Target, 2008
Gray tights: Can't remember, and wish I could because I love them
Iridescent peacock shoes: Spring, Sept. 2009

Pretty!

I just saw these Valentino ruffle heels from F/W 2009 show on shoelust.tumblr.com, and I love them. But oddly, my first thought was, "imagine wearing them to the grocery store- someone would ram your heels for sure!" And then you would have to cut them, because you don't mess with shoes like that.

Maybe Steve Madden will make them?

Jimmy Choo Is a Crocodile!

Okay, I don't know that for sure. But I do know that the Hunter boot people describe these rubber boots thusly:

"The legendary Hunter silhouette with natural rubber construction has been embossed with signature Jimmy Choo crocodile print and branded top bind."
(Italics mine, quote from www.hunter-boot.com)

I thought these were pretty silly when I got the email from Bergdorf Goodman back in May, (not really on top of this one, am I?) but then I read that little quote and laughed pretty much all day. I'm pretty sure that the crocodile can call crocodile print its signature, but I don't think anyone else can get away with that. It's not like they invented it over at Jimmy Choo. These appear to be sold out, but never fear, I'm sure they will partner with Christian Louboutin next year, and then your rubber Morton Salt Girl boots can have red soles! (Estimated retail price: Eleventy billion US dollars.)

Here is the extended URL for the press release: http://www.hunter-boot.com/81/Shop-Online/Special-Edition/Hunter-for-Jimmy-Choo/Hunter-for-Jimmy-Choo.aspx

The image, once again, is courtesy of the Bergdorf Goodman email.

Tuesday Shoes- How Sweet It Is!

Here is the (boring) saga, Dear Reader: I saw these Chinese Laundry "Just Because" suede pumps at DSW at MOA about two weeks ago, but they didn't have my size in taupe. And yea, I was bummed because I really liked them, plus I had a gift card AND a thirty percent off coupon, so they would be, like, almost free. I went home and checked dsw.com, but they were sold out in my size in taupe, and I didn't want the black because the "baroque" embroidery doesn't pop as much. I'm not gonna lie, there was much wringing of the hands and general moping over this situation.

So a week after the original sighting, I was still thinking about them, so I tried the DSW in Burnsville. They didn't have ANY in taupe, only the wretched black ones!* Grr. However, there was one last DSW in my acceptable shopping range. I drove to St. Louis Park on Saturday morning, vowing that this would be my last effort. If they didn't have them, then I would give up and start obsessing about these sort of western/sort of preppy boots that I also like. But lo! The St. Louis Park DSW had the Chinese Laundry Just Because embroidered heels, in taupe, in my size. (Which actually turned out to be a half size down.) Hurrah! Victory! I purchased them immediately, along with a pair of leopard print flats that my husband (Amish Ryan) will loathe. Double victory!!

And THEN, when I wore these yesterday, they turned out to be (relatively) comfortable. Dare I say, triple victory!!!

But I still kinda want those boots...

*The black ones are actually pretty cute, too. Just not as cute as the taupe.
Image courtesy of dsw.com, where these are available for 59.95.

the Devil and The Angel

Today I received an email from CVS offering me a free gift! It turns out to be my choice of a free Absolutely Divine chocolate bar or... four disposable toothbrushes! My first reaction was, "who on earth is taking the toothbrushes?" But then I realized that I know at least two people who would be all over the disposable toothbrushes. (Including my own husband, who does not like chocolate. Communist.) Secondly, what a dichotomy. It's like the sort of test I imagine a dentist giving his kids, to see if they've been properly indoctrinated. All I'm saying is, it's a weird choice of gifts.

Anyway, the point of this stupid post is to tell you that you should sign up for the CVS email, because they give you free candy, or sometimes coupons for $3.00 off a $10.00 purchase. Think of all the lipstick you could buy! Or you could buy things you will actually use. Whatever.

Cute angel/devil doodle from www.doodlerblog.com

Wouldja?

Actually, I despise the "Wouldja?" game, in which you point at someone on the street or tv, and ask your friend if they would "do" that person. But it came to mind when I was thinking about shoes I can't afford, because I'm always trying to decide:
IF I saved up $1,000.00 to blow on one, single pair of shoes, would I buy something classic/timeless in black or nude? Or would I say the hell with it and buy something crazytown that I could wear maybe once a year? I go back and forth on the issue. The exclusive Christian Louboutin crystal-encrusted slingbacks above are out of the question either way, as they cost $2830.00. Also, when I showed them to my husband, I think he called them clown shoes. Damn, you could buy the clown car for that much money.

Image courtesty of email from Bergdorf Goodman.

You Should Know...

...that it is not a good idea to experiment with your new Max Factor Vivid Impact Eye Shadow two minutes before you have to leave for work. Especially the disco-esque gold color. Glittery! Blindingly so. On the upside, if you WERE trying to look like a Vegas showgirl, this would totally be the product for you!

Luckily I was able to blend/smear/scrape enough of it off that I looked okay for work. If you want a bold eyeshadow that sticks like glue, you might want to snap one of these up before Max Factor stops selling in the United States. Ulta had them half off.

Image courtesy of cinnamonkitten.blogspot.com

Tuesday Shoes x 2

Long time, no blogging. Since I totally slacked the last week or so, here are two pairs of Tuesday shoes. I really, really wanted a pair of cobalt blue heels, so I turned to trusty Amazon, and found these Charles by Charles David Pompadour heels. The color glows and I LOVE the shape of these! Sort of retro, very sexy, and oh-so-difficult to walk in! The pitch is really steep, and so was the price (for me, anyway-- if my husband asks, they were 50 bucks.)
I'm never attracted to a shoe unless it potentially can cause calluses, corns, bunions or strained tendons. Sick, I know. But the soles are GOLD, you guys. Gold.

Anyway, while I was looking for these, Amazon helpfully popped up these boots! I've been on a hunt for The Perfect Boots for three years. My previous pair was purchased in 2000 from Maurices. They were PVC, had just the right level of shine, had round/square toes, a 3/4 inch platform and a chunky heel. The zipper ripped out back in 2006, plus Dimitri chewed on the toe. RIP. These new boots are not exactly those things, but they are leather and they do have round toes. They are Charles by Charles David Liberation* boots. I love them. Mission Accomplished!

*I'm not sure if they are women's "Liberation" or the full model name is "Women's Liberation." I hope it is just Liberation.

Tuesday Shoes

Yes, I own the much derided -- and defended-- Uggs. Except mine are worse, because they are fake Uggs, purchased at Target about 3 years ago. As in, well after they were considered cool on any planet. They are really Fuggs (appropriate, but not very nice), or Tuggs maybe. I'm going with Tuggs. And you know what? I don't have a problem with them, as long as they are worn as cold weather footwear and not paired with mini skirts. They are warm and comfy, and some days, that's all I ask. Come October, I will be defiantly plodding around the Metro area in them again.

Outfit- March 31, 2009

Another outfit that's all about the shoes. Brown pants and lavender button-up are from Express (on clearance!). I'm wearing a thrifted long necklace with fake pearls, which you can't see because it's hanging funny. The shoes are lilac-colored Charles by Charles David "Azalea" pointed toe pumps. They were part of the big Amazon.com shoe purchase I made this fall. Not at all comfortable, but pretty and shiny!

Side note-- I love button-up shirts but they are tough to fit. This one is a little tight, for example. I'm guessing this is pretty common, but it sure is annoying.

Gratuitous Picture of My Blogging Buddies

My babies are adorable, no?

Outfit- March 30, 2009 "In the Navy..."

I've been wanting to wear this sweater again before spring, and "luckily," awesome Minnesota weather gave me another chance. This is another piece of clothing I bought specifically to match a pair of shoes, in this case, these pink Chinese Laundry heels. Like 85% of my wardrobe, I bought it on clearance at Target. The pink in the argyle print matches these shoes almost perfectly. The skirt is thrifted and the navy tights are from welovecolors.com. The tights are a different kind of navy than the skirt (oh, the drama) but I managed to get through my day anyway.

Outfit- March 25, 2009

Oh man, some of my self-portraits are really great for keeping my ego in check. Oy. Anyway. On my work monitor, this outfit looks like one black blob, but it is actually a really cute navy blue empire-style dress by Converse One Star (for Target). It has black trim around the neckline and around the empire waist. I got it on clearance for 9.99 or something, and I'm pretty impressed with the quality. It's lined and everything, and actually really comfortable. I wore a cropped black cardigan, black tights, and red patent Isaac Mizrahi for Target mary janes ($7.50!!!). To appease my matchy-matchy self, I wore a shiny red necklace to tie it together.

This outfit actually marks the first time I broke the "no black with navy" rule I've been following blindly since prom shopping in 1998. My friend's dress was navy and we spent two hours scouring the mall for matching shoes because her cousin Mary said she couldn't wear black ones. Do you have rules about black and navy? In this case, the dress pre-broke the rule, so I just went with it. I mean, if Converse can put black with navy, then who am I to say no?

My Goal in Life...

...is to feel like this at least one day a week. :-)











Image via Star Tribune, 3/28/2009

Tuesday Shoes

Today I'm posting my bright pink Chinese Laundry "Alanie" pumps. I call them my mermaid shoes because of the scale pattern and the shape of the upper. As you can see from the pictures, I doctored them up with various inserts to make them walkable, but they are still really awesome. (I find I have a hard time getting a good fit with D'Orsay style pumps. Anyone else?)

I already mentioned that sometimes amazon.com has good prices on shoes-- that is where I got these. The site was running a special where you got $25 off an order of $125 or more, so I bought these and 4 other pairs for about $110.00, after the discount. (And free shipping! So you can see that basically Amazon forced me to buy them.) I had them delivered to work because I didn't want my husband to freak out about five pairs of shoes arriving at once. Unfortunately, they arrived in a ginormous refrigerator-type carton which caused no end of comments at the office. As in:
Lori: "What's in the box?"
Me: "I ordered some shoes."
Lori: "Why did they ship them in such a big box?!"
Me: "Um. Well. I ordered five pairs of shoes."
Lori: [gives a look that clearly says "You are a nut."]

Anyhoo. Here's the shot from above, including my blogging buddy Daria.

Daria is disappointed that they aren't edible, despite their fishy appearance.

Outfit- March 23, 2009

I need to find a more flattering angle for taking pictures. Or maybe I actually look like this? No, must be the camera. Wearing black long sleeve t shirt from Target, thrifted gray skirt, purple thigh high tights from welovecolors.com, and my tough sandal booties from Payless. Confession: I chickened out wearing them to work and wore my sequin flats instead. Which is just as well, because these tights are bright purple, and got many comments ("Your legs are purple!") even without the crazy booties. I may still wear the shoes to work, but I will probably wear them with pants to tone them down.

On the plus side, I really like these tights from welovecolors.com. I probably won't buy the thigh high version again, because one of them rolled down all day, creating a tourniquet around my upper thigh that I had to surreptitiously unroll all day. But the quality, both in color and opaque-ness are awesome.

Outfit- March 19, 2009

This is me saying, "Isn't it awesome that my new white top with the little tuxedo pleats is completely transparent?" Why can they shoot people into space, but not make a white shirt that isn't see-through? At least I noticed how bad it was before I went to work so I could throw on the dorky undershirt. Why, why, why? Is there really a woman out there who wants her co-workers to know exactly what her bra looks like? Gah! Anyhoo, I bought this top on clearance from Old Navy a while back, and I sort of regret it. First, because it is basically Saran Wrap as far as coverage goes, and second, it is going to be a bitch to iron. I HATE ironing, and this has those fussy little pleats that I thought were so cute...

You know what? I'm going to move on to the shoes. They are leopard print satin high-heel slides from Nine West. That totally makes them sound like boudoir slippers, but there are a subtle leopard print. (Is that an oxymoron?) I'm not a huge fan of this style of high heel because they are tricky to walk in, but they pretty much threw themselves into my virtual cart-- $20 on Amazon.com, which sometimes has really good clearance prices on name brand shoes. The sizes can be limited, but I've found some good stuff, AND any order over $25 ships for free, as long as it sold directly by Amazon. Love free shipping!

Tuesday Shoes

Squeaking this one in while it's still Tuesday. These are Oh Deer black sequin flats. (I don't remember the style name-- it's probably something silly.) I don't have much in the way of flats because I'm just not drawn to them like I am to heels. Unfortunately, I am not a Stiletto Warrior. (You know, those "Honey, I sleep in my high heels!" women.) I love high-heeled shoes, but I can't wear them everyday. Thus, I bought the flashiest black flats I could find for days when I just can't totter around any longer. I was a little worried that they might be too "Golden Girls" when I ordered them, but the sequins are small enough to make the shoes contemporary. Adorable and relatively comfortable- hurray!

Happy St.Patrick's Day, Colleen McGirl Scout!

Again with the face! I swear I was not intoxicated at 7 a.m. on a Tuesday. I never wear this color, but I bought a pair of green shoes, so then I needed a green top to wear them with. (Matchy-matchy!) AND what better day to debut them than St. Patrick's Day. Cheesy, I know. Anyway, this is an Old Navy t shirt, (with a white tank underneath-- why are all V necks so deep?) tank pants, and my green Mossimo for Target slingbacks. It kind of bugged me that they weren't exactly the same green, but I think it worked out because they weren't right next to each other.

Something You Should Know

Sometimes I get cravings for weird stuff. Lately, Pop Tarts have been one of those items. Until about 2 months ago, I hadn't eaten a Pop Tart since that fateful day in 2000 when I finally took a gander at the "nutritional" information. (Not required reading. If you luuuuuuv Pop Tarts, I would seriously scribble over it with a Sharpie because you just don't want to know.) Anyway. I wanted Pop Tarts, but I felt guilty about how they are little rectangles of high fructose corn syrup. Then I saw Whole Grain Pop Tarts! "That means they are good for you." I explained to my husband, who is ever-skeptical. But.

Whole grain Pop Tarts are disgusting. I mean, above and beyond the delightful disgusting-ness of ordinary Pop Tarts. They are dry and crumbly and not worth it. Go real or go home, people. Buy original Pop Tarts and drink some Metamucil if you have to. This has been a public service announcement.

Outfit March 12, 2009

Yep, only a week late with this one... blame the death of my blogging machine. I was pretty proud of this outfit, because I finally used another of my thrift store finds. I bought this skirt at Savers for about 7.00. It's made by Elevenses, which leads me to believe it was originally from Anthropologie, and therefore expensive. I bought it because it fits well and it's kind of fun to wear-- it swishes around and makes me feel a little like June Cleaver. (And who knew that that would be a pleasant feeling?)

The downside is that it's sort of a tan color with a little hint of pink, plus it has that plaid-ish pattern, so it is hard for me to figure out what to wear with it. I went with my black Old Navy sweater because it's easy, but I think maybe a really bright fuschia or maybe dark purple would work too. It would probably also take a little more courage. If you haven't noticed by now, I fall pretty heavily on the matchy-matchy side of the spectrum, so I have a hard time putting color with color. I'm wearing the Charlotte Russe satin ruffle heels and no jewelry because I ran out of time. As you can see, I hadn't even gotten to the hair and makeup stage of the morning when I took this photo. I probably need to spend less time staring into my closet and more time actually getting dressed and getting moving.

Tuesday Shoes- on Wednesday.

Look how cute with the little bows!

A little late- Featured in today's "Tuesday" shoes are my Charlotte Russe black satin ruffle pumps. I paid about 25.00 for them, so obviously they aren't an heirloom piece, but they are relatively comfortable with the round toe. I know all the arguments for saving up for expensive shoes, and I do get that it is probably better in every way, but if I traded in my whole shoe collection, it would net me 1.5 pairs of Louboutins. Probably those 3 shoes would wear out pretty fast, especially the days I would be hopping along in one shoe.
Moi, I would rather have many than few. On the upside, because I have so many pairs, they hardly ever get worn so they still last a long time despite their dubious quality. I had to have these because they are just sweet-looking with the ruffle around the edge. I was deeply tempted by the red pair, but they were too saloon-girl, even for me.

R.I.P.

My computer died last week. Wahhhhhhhh! I should have my new one set up today though.

*Update*

I have a new computer. Supposedly, it has my old computer's data on it, but the only thing I've found so far is my Christmas card list. Thank God. Wouldn't want to lose that kind of vital information.

Morton Salt Girl

Me, contemplating the inherent unsexiness of rubber boots.

So Wednesday, I was at Target, wearing this outfit, buying apples in the produce section, when I see this guy staring at me. ??? I think:

1. Oh Jesus, I tucked my skirt into my tights and everyone at Target has been staring at my panties and laughing at me for the last hour. [Do skirt check.] No, I'm good...

2. Heyyyy, maybe he's checking me out! That never happens, and he's sort of cute...

3. Oh, wait, he's just looking at my stupid rubber boots. I guess my marriage is safe afterall.

Outfit- March 10, 2009

You know, someday I'm going to get a picture where my clothes AND my hair AND my makeup are all complete. Unfortunately, yesterday was not that day. I wore a red sweater from Express, a black camisole from Old Navy, a multi-strand necklace, a black pencil skirt from Express, stupid "opaque" Worthington tights from JCP, and my favorite, red plaid peep toe slingback wedges (whew!) by Very Volatile. If you aren't blinded by the shiny-ness of my chin, you will see that Dimitri finds these shoes very intriguing. They were definitely the highlight of this outfit.

Incidentally, this was the 2nd outfit of the morning, which is why I don't have makeup on in this photo. The first ensemble that was so cool in my head totally didn't work in reality-- the dress was sort of see-through, the cardigan was itchy and too boxy... I need to do trial runs of these BEFORE 6:45 a.m. the day I'm planning to wear them. Do you change outfits a dozen times before you leave the house?

The shoes. I had to buy them because they have kilt pins. You understand.

Is It Just Me?

This photo of Drew Barrymore is from the new issue of W. I think the look here is "rock chick" because of the smoky eye/pale lip/big hair combo AND also:

Check out this photo of Sebastian Bach, rock dude, circa 1990 (from rockaces.com). Weird, huh? Am I nuts? Maybe. The question of the day is, who rocks (heh) this look harder?

Tuesday Shoes*

To be filed under I-can't-believe-I'm-posting-this... These are the pair of shoes I wear the most often. They are a pair of boy's faux suede Mossimo sneakers I bought at Target about 2 years ago. They are utterly disgusting-- dirty, fraying, battered. And maybe- though I have not verified this- maybe a little smelly. Currently, I wear them on weekends and as my "commuter shoes." (Not that I walk anywhere, but I don't like to wear my nice shoes outside, even for the eight steps from car to building.) It is probably time for these to go, but they are still so comfy! I actually bought a second pair of them later on clearance, but ended up returning them. Gah! I should have kept them, because now the boys' department is full of shoes with skulls and skateboarders on them. (I almost bought the skull ones. I'm not even kidding.)

Now you are thinking, what are you doing buying boys' shoes? Well, I wear a size seven in womens, so I can still fit into youth size 5 or even 4.5 shoes. And they are cheaper, sometimes by a lot. Also, I don't really like white tennis shoes, which predominate in the women's section. What I like are big old wide skater boy shoes. If you like flats and have small feet, you can find some pretty cute shoes in the girls' department too. But. This time I struck out in little people shoes, so I bought these Vans (from the adult women's section!) to replace the veteran sneakers:
But the soles are falling off already! I'm sooo disappointed. The one time I buy a brand name shoe, and it can't even survive being worn around my office. I doctored them up with superglue, so we shall see, but I may be back at Target buying the Converse One Star shoes. From the kids' section, of course.

*This post inspired by Sally at Almost Pretty's Sunday Shoe post. Everyone should post their shoes!

Outfit- March 6, 2009

Yet another face of doom... smiles are hard at 7 a.m. This is my Casual Friday outfit from last week. It's a "vintage" sequin-peacock-feather-t-shirt from Target (9.99). I wore it with my dark wash jeans from... okay, they are from Wet Seal, but they were only $13.00, so I had to. The shoes are black Vans sneakers that I am super disappointed about. They are relatively cute, but the soles are falling off! I only wore them outside three times. When they get wet, they make this annoying squeaky fart noise as I walk. Nice. I'm probably going to buy a pair of the Converse One Star sneakers from Target to replace them, unless my superglue job worked!

Outfit- March 5, 2009

So here is a makeup-free, slightly blurry photo of me on Thursday morning. I'm wearing my new strawberry sweater from Savers ($2.00), a denim pencil skirt from Old Navy ($20.00), a red necklace from Target, black tights from Penney's, maybe? and no shoes because I was running way, way behind. I mean, I put on shoes before I left the house, but I didn't have time before hand. I think I ended up wearing my black sequin flats again because my ankle is still acting up.
I was really excited about this skirt when I bought it, but I think "dark denim pencil skirt" is back on the Want List. This one fits really oddly around the waist and the pockets sort of stick out. I'm thinking of sewing them shut. (I say that like I actually have the skills to do any such thing.)

Starting Over (Again)

Okay, this is flaky of me, but I had two previous blogs. One which was mostly sporadic complaining and one that was supposed to focus on my new interest in thrift store shopping. However, I soon realized that I wasn't really living up to the "thriftstorerookie" blog name. So I'm moving my fashion/general observation blog to this address. In case anyone actually reads either one. Hah! And I should have realized, but since I actually imported the old entries, they are all BEFORE this post.

Outfit March 4, 2009

I really need to work on my modeling face-- I'm not sure what I'm looking at here. Anyway, it isn't too bad for a hastily-taken, poorly-lit shot snapped 2 seconds before I had to leave for work. This is a gray ombre sweater dress from Target. It's sort of like walking around wrapped in a blanket and isn't very form-fitting. Good for all-you-can-eat buffets and the early stages of pregnancy, I imagine. I wore it with extremely annoying (see below) navy tights from Walmart and my new blue striped heels from Charlotte Russe. I will probably feature these shoes in a later post, because they are cute, and there is a mildly amusing story associated with their purchase. I also have a little sapphire necklace on, but you can't really see it. It matches my bracelet.

Here is a list of complaints about these tights:

1. Going by their size chart, I thought I was buying a size UP from what I technically could cram myself into. These tights are supposed to fit someone up to 40 pounds heavier or 5 inches taller than me. No. Flippin'. Way. My husband was laughing watching me try to wriggle and dance my way into these suckers.

2. Not opaque! Tights that aren't opaque look kind of trashy, I think. And I need the opaque tights to blend in the fact that this dress is shorter than I would normally wear to work.

3. I had a snag in them by noon, and I haven't had a run in my tights in years. I later spent about a half hour turning it into a full on run, just to see if I could pull off a sort of punk look. Nope.

4. The seam on the front-belly part was all lumpy and no matter how high up I pulled the tights (pretty darn high) it wouldn't flatten out. As a result, the fabric of the dress would cling to it. Ugh!

The odd thing is, I have another pair of George tights from Walmart in gray and they are awesome. For the record, I also had issues with Worthington tights from Penney's. So far, I like Vera Wang from Kohls the best. I hear good things about Merona tights from Target, but they didn't have navy the last time I looked. I bought some on clearance at Old Navy today, so I will see how they hold up. I know I should "invest" in some from Hue or Wolford, but I just can't make myself pay more than 10 bucks for something I'm probably going to shred.

Outfit March 2 2009

So this is what I put together for yesterday. (And a bonus shot of my other blogging buddy, Dimitri. We matched yesterday!) Not bad for a Monday, for me. It is a purple tie-neck top from Target, on clearance for about $6.50. Target.com styled it with a big bow tied in the middle, but that didn't work for me, so I just pretend it's a scarf. I love the color of this shirt, but unfortunately, the fabric is really cheap and I will probably only be able to wear it to work 2-3 more times before it is too ragged-y looking. It is too short to wear with pants, anyway. (For an in-depth analysis of ideal shirt lengths, see Sally @ Already Pretty!)
The gray skirt is one of my finds from Savers- $2.50. The brand is Alia, and I actually bought an identical one in navy from Savers that same day- weird. When I Google the brand name, I get a lot of matronly elastic-waist Bermuda shorts, but I assure you, the skirts are basic, but very nice. The tights are gray, maybe from Walmart? And I'm wearing my black sequin Oh Deer! flats (again) because my ankle still hurts. Sigh. Continuing with my tradition of being unable to photograph jewelry, here is close up of the sapphire tennis bracelet I was wearing:


This was a gift from my grandma when I graduated from college. I don't wear it nearly enough-- the last time was probably when I got married 4.5 years ago!
This whole outfit thing has been tricker than I thought. I really admire the people who do something different every day, because that really takes effort.

'Cuz Being Dead Isn't Cute

The result of me taking a picture through the window. It's enough to make you cry.

As you may or may not know, a huge snow storm crapped all over Minnesota today. In light of this event, I thought I would take a break from nattering about my clothes to discuss Winter Driving. Now, you would think Minnesotans would have this down. You would be wrong-o. Here are a few tips from me, possibly the worst driver ever:

1. Brush the snow off your car. Do ALL of the windows, even that pesky back one, just in case you, you know, need to see what is behind you for some reason. If you are feeling really motivated, brush as much snow off the top of the car as you can so it doesn't slide off and block your view.

2. Scrape off any ice that may be under the snow. Do not make a tiny porthole in the driver's side of the windshield and pretend you can see, because we all know you can't.

3. Turn your lights on. This cannot be over-emphasized. Dirty grayish car on a dirty grayish road against a dirty grayish sky equals nobody can see your dumbass.

4. Slow down. I'm talking to you, Mr. Escalade driver. That enormous hunk of iron you drive does not make you Superman. While you're at it, save the aggressive tailgating for a nice, dry, sunny day, m'kay?

5. A snowstorm is not the time to practice automotive multi-tasking. Cease and desist eating, scratching, cell phone chatting, texting and nose-picking. Both hands on the wheel, both eyes on the road is the motto here. (Unless Nickleback comes on the radio. Then changing the station is totally worth the risk of death.)

6. If your car should happen to stall, say in the middle of France Avenue, please turn on your emergency flashers. Geez.

Those are my most important ones. Always remember, better late than dead!