Featured Outfit: Jason of Salmagundi

Whenever I visit Beth in Jamaica Plain, we inevitably end up shopping. Last Wednesday was no exception. There is a shop in J.P. that I adore because it is full of the most interesting and unique accessories, bags and clothes. They also happen to have one of the best hat selections I've ever come across. Salmagundi never fails to  provide me with a new, interesting and unique accessory. Last week when I was there, it was a wooden cocktail ring that caught my eye. I had to have it- it's going to make a great addition to my collection. What else caught my eye? Jason, one of their very stylish employees:

Things about Jason that I think are SUPER cool: 

1.) He rides a Vespa. A red one. 

2.) He moonlights as a DJ on the weekends. 

3.) His middle name is Wednesday.

4.) He has impeccably manicured sideburns. 

5.) He has great personal style. Great.  

I really appreciate his polished look- it's almost as if he is dressed for another decade, for a time in the past when people "dressed" for something as simple as running to the grocery store. It's modern-hipster-meets-Don-Draper with a distinct sophistication to the overall look. I'd buy a hat from him in a heartbeat. Wouldn't you? 

Alert: Don't forget the THANKSGIVEAWAY!!!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to remind you to enter the THANKSGIVEAWAY.

You have six more days.

Happy Saturday!

Yes, I am a NERD. Deal with it.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 opened at midnight last night and I am absolutely DYING to see it. Tonight after work, I'll be heading to the cinema for a viewing and I'm sure it won't be the only time I see it. I have loved the story of Harry Potter for quite a while- I remember reading the books as they came out. When the seventh book was released, I had the day off work. I picked up my copy first thing in the morning and literally spent the entire day reading it. I finished it in about ten hours (stopping for meals and bathroom breaks, of course), and immediately flipped back to the beginning and read it again, this time a little more slowly. I think that J.K. Rowling is an absolute GENIUS. The movies have been pretty good, for the most part, although Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was disappointing to me as a film. It is one of the most exciting books in the entire series, with amazing scenes from Voldemort's past. The film, on the other hand, was boring and extremely slow-moving. I was very disappointed in it. Based on the trailers for the final two movies, I think I will be anything but bored. In honor of the film, here are some outfits inspired by the three main characters: Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Enjoy!

Hermione Granger by Rtboo featuring a leather bag

Hermione's daily style is pretty understated. Much like her personality, her clothes are practical and logical. In the winter, she keeps warm in fitted but interesting sweaters and basic corduroy pants. Although her taste is simple, it doesn't lack style and there is always something interesting about the choices in her clothing. She rarely sports any jewelry or accessories, aside from a time turner, of course.

Ron Weasley by Rtboo featuring soft leather shoes

Ron's style is hardly that- his clothes are likely all second hand, or in the case of his sweaters, knit by his mother for him. His clothes tend to be ill-fitting, likely due to the fact that they are hand-me-downs from his (many) older brothers. They also tend to be in fairly poor taste, not really sure why that is.

Harry Potter by Rtboo featuring american eagle outfitters

Harry, in the books, is often described as wearing ill-fitting clothing that has been passed down from his cousin Dudley. In the films, this isn't the case at all. Harry's clothes fit well and look far from worn. His look is decidedly more athletic than Ron's, but still casual and comfortable.

Even though we've watched them grown up into adults, I'll still always remember the three of them as they were in the first movie.

Ron with his chipmunk cheeks:

Hermione's ridiculous bushy hair:

And Harry's wide-eyed innocence:

Thanks for the memories, kids- it's been a great ride! 

THANKSGIVEAWAY

In honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I am hosting a GIVEAWAY! Yippee!!!

I call it: Thanksgiveaway.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you may remember the amazing brooch that I bought as a birthday present to myself earlier this year. It is called "Autumn Kiss" and it is by an artisan on Etsy whose work I greatly admire. TinaTarnoff is an artist whose mediums include the intricate and ancient art of Papercut. I stumbled upon her Etsy shop one day and fell in love. There are some pieces of art that you see that touch you and draw you to them. That is how I feel with her artwork, especially the "Autumn Kiss" piece. As you know, I ended up purchasing the "Autumn Kiss" brooch for myself and I've worn it several times since then. I always receive many compliments on it and when people find out how it is a miniature work of papercut art, they are even more enamored of it.

Fortunately for all those admirers of the brooch, Tina has been generous enough to let me host a giveaway in which the prize is the necklace version of the piece:

The rules are as follows: 

1.) The giveaway is open to all US residents. 

2.) You may enter up to three times by commenting on THIS POST. 

3.) Of your three comments, one of them must tell me your favorite item in Tina's Etsy Shop. 

4.) The deadline to post your comments is midnight on Thanksgiving Day. I will announce the winner on Black Friday here on the blog. I will also email the winner (if possible). 

5.) If I do not hear confirmation from the winner within 48 hours, I will pick a new winner. 

Any questions? Happy Thanksgiveaway! 

Accessories Anonymous: Headbands

My coworker, Cheryl, gave me an amazing feather that I am so excited to use to create a gorgeous headband for myself. She had the idea of sewing it to a ribbon rather than an actual headband and I may have to steal that idea. When I actually go through with creating the headband, I'll be sure to post it on here. In the meantime, I've been seeking inspiration on Etsy. Where better to do that, right? Here's what I found:

Braided Faux-Leather Headband, FunnyPeopleCo, $8.75

Gossip Girl-Inspired Golden Bloom Headband, FunnyPeopleCo, $17.75

Leather Headband with Braided Roses and Brown Leaves, LeatherBlossoms, $44

Harvest Headband, BlackSatinShoes, $19.50 

Something I learned about headbands is that if you are going for an interesting design, but you don't want it to overpower you, select one that is similar in color to your hair. If you have pale blonde hair, but you want to wear a peacock feather, look for a bleached peacock feather headband instead, like this one: 

Bleached Peacock Feather Headband, LovMely, $24

See what I mean? It's enough of a statement because it's made with peacock feathers, so a bold color on top of that isn't entirely necessary. Look at the difference when the feathers are a bright color: 

Hot Pink Peacock Feather Headband, Naughteebits, $21.12

I am the kind of person who can't resist a bold color- more is more in my world, and I don't really follow the rules of moderation when it comes to fashion. Don't get me wrong- this is often to my detriment, but I can't always help myself. I am someone who SHOULD choose the interesting headband in a blend-able color. However, all too often what I end up being is the person who bought the bright pink feather headband instead. That being said, headbands are one of the few accessories that I feel can truly overwhelm me, so I tend to wear darker colored ones when I do choose the option of color. 

What about you? What are your thoughts on headbands in general? Or specifically regarding the color? Do you like them with feathers? Flowers? Rhinestones? Leave a comment and tell me what you think! 

Saturday Dress Code: Black

I feel as though nearly ever profession I've worked in, I've been required in some way to wear black. When I worked as a musician, black was required for performances. When I worked in theatre, black was required when working backstage. Now, at my new job at the bridal shop, black is required on the weekends. I don't mind it, but even with all those black clothing requirements throughout the years, I haven't really amassed much that's suitable for my current needs. My musician clothing was mostly formal wear. My backstage attire consisted mainly of t-shirts and black sweatpants or yoga pants (they're the most comfortable for running around backstage). Now, I need black clothing that's comfortable, but professional. I don't need to wear a suit or anything really fancy, but what I wear does need to be all black. Some of the sales consultants push the boundaries by wearing grey or adding pops of color here and there. I'm not sure how I feel about that, so for now I'm going to try to stick with all black. I did a bit of shopping last Friday and got a handful of black items from Old Navy. My plan moving forward is to try to find black separates rather than black dresses. (Although, if I find some great casual/professional LBD's, I won't turn 'em down!) Regardless of whether it's separates or dresses, my main goal is to keep black from being an ultra boring snooze-fest.

For starters, I got this skirt from Old Navy:

High Waist Skirt, $25 (It has a cute exposed zipper in the back- fun!)

I also bought this sweater at the bargain price of $9, although on the website it appears to be quite a bit more than that: 

Button-front Cape, $34.99 

I also got a cute scoop-neck tee with a satin trim along the neckline. I can't find it on Old Navy's website, so I'll have to take a picture with an outfit at some point to show you. I think it's going to be a versatile top for me because it's long enough to wear untucked, but it also looks good tucked into the new skirt. I have a handful of other basic black tops to incorporate into my black weekend uniform, but I'm also going to keep an eye out for some comfortable, but flattering and stylish black pants as well as some interesting black accessories. 

I kind of like these other options, also from Old Navy: 

Lace Trim Blouson Top, $26.50 

Ruffled Button-Down Blouse, $16.99

Ponte-Knit Trousers, $34.50

Black Crystal Necklace, $12.50 

Black Beaded Bracelet, $10.50 

Maybe I'll allow myself a smidge of leeway in the accessories department , or at least in the jewelry department. Any thoughts? Do you have a dress code for your job? What does it entail? Leave a comment and tell me all about it! 

I've got my high heel MOJO back!

I did it! I survived an ENTIRE day at work in a pair of heels! I honestly didn't know if it was going to happen for me, but I did it! I intended to stick it out from at least 9:00 to 3:00, but I had some down time where my feet got a rest, and with that second wind, I made it all the way to closing time at 5:00! I definitely have to plan my days for wearing heels very strategically, and I will always be sure to have a pair of flats waiting in the wings in case it's too hard, but it's exciting to know I can do it! I've done it once, so I figure I can do it again! And again! And again!

I know by now you are dying to know which heels, so I'll show you. Actually, I'll show you the whole outfit since it's not only cute (in my opinion), but it also incorporates the trend I wrote about last week- the tie-neck blouse! 

My blouse is completely sheer and I unfortunately could not find a clean white cami to wear underneath it. The black looked fine, but I would have preferred the white. The skirt is the one I got at Ann Taylor Loft at a super bargain price. The cardigan is so old, I have no idea where it came from and the shoes are one of my favorite pair- the high heel lace-up oxfords. They have a fabulous wing-tip style detail on them and the laces are ribbon. I have had them for a few years, actually and they've really held up. It's funny how a cheap shoe can sometimes end up in your closet for years, huh? They came from Burlington Coat Factory and I'm pretty sure I only paid $19.99 for them. You can see a close-up of them here, if you like. As for the blouse, you can see how well it works as a layering piece in this outfit- even though the top is flowy, I've made it a structured outfit by topping it off with a fitted cardigan. The pencil skirt also helps to keep the look trim and sleek. The monochromatic color scheme of the dark denim with the black tights, shoes and cardigan also helps create a long line and allows the polka-dot blouse to be the focal point. 

I did my photo shoot close to where my new job is located. There is an old, closed-down movie theatre close to the bridal shop and the morning sun was hitting it hard on this particular day. I could barely keep my eyes open in the blazing sun! I liked the bricks on the side of the building as well as the faded graffiti: 

I don't know if any of my coworkers saw me with my tripod, posing in front of the graffiti-tagged movie theatre, but they'll know about it soon enough. Well, one of them will, anyway- Gigi. The very next day after I took these photos, Gigi came to work ALSO wearing a black and white sheer polka-dot tie-neck blouse. She was not at work the day I wore the above outfit, so she wasn't copying me- it was just pure coincidence that we both wore our nearly identical tops back to back! 

Gigi was completely on-trend with her outfit selection, so I just had to get her picture for the blog. She obliged and I'm so glad she did: 

I can't believe she can look that great even under fluorescent lighting! It's just not fair! I'm afraid to take my picture in the shop because of those lights. It was very brave of her to let me take her picture, knowing I'd be posting it on the interwebs, so please leave a comment and let her know how fabulous she looks! Maybe then she (and all my other stylish co-workers) will be more than willing to let me post them on the blog. That's my master plan, anyway- help me achieve it! Comment!