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.