Looking over my pins, I was very attracted to the idea of putting a skinny belt over a pencil skirt with a jacket or cardigan worn over it as shown in this mirror selfie from an unknown fashion blogger. I love her red pencil skirt but, since I don't have one, I decided I could definitely more than make do with my (not as tight) bright pink one.
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| From Pinterest, original source unknown |
I matched her white top, colorful pencil skirt, and beige topper, and took it all up a notch with the addition of an animal print belt and a bird scarf. And tights and tall boots because even though it's spring, I just don't trust, and these weatherproofed boots mean I don't have to worry about my shoes if it does indeed rain as forecast (hah, sunny all day).
Bright pink pencil skirt (JCP)
White T (Lands End)
Beige knit jacket (Nordstrom)
Leopard skinny belt (Target)
Beige/pink bird scarf (Kohls)
Brown sweater tights (Target)
Tall brown boots by Fitzwell
I rearranged my scarf for this photo, to display the gorgeous birdies to better effect. One of the many nice things about spring is that I can start wearing my lightweight jackets again. This one is extremely useful, much more so than I even expected. I don't like wearing beige pants, so it's nice in the spring and summer to lighten up dark colors or balance out bright ones with a pleasant beige.
Even with the dark brown tights and tall boots, this outfit felt really cheerful and spring-time appropriate to me.
Verdict: I liked my rendition even better than the inspiration photo due to the little touch of leopard print and the "putting a bird on it" effect. While I can't swear that 100% of situations are improved with the addition of a bird, I can definitively state that this outfit was. I got a big compliment on my outfit from a co-worker, so: Success.
In other fashion news...Tam was rocking a pair of old, too-short khakis today, demonstrating that a pair of soft woven cotton pants make a nice spring transition piece for those who adhere to the Work Play Sleep ensemble. It's not all leggings, yoga pants, and PJs--you can wear pants with a zipper, normcore college kiddos!
In other bird news...my officemate told me this morning that she was seeing a lot of crows flying outside her office window. I looked over and said, I see a vulture out there. Oh, there's another one. She said, I thought that was a crow. So I explained about how turkey vultures hold their wings at a dihedral angle (demonstrated with hands), and how they soar without flapping for long periods, and how they have white feathers underneath and red heads. I pulled up images on google for her reference. We went back to the window and after a minute, she said, I see one with a red head now...and it has white feathers, too! I think all those birds I was calling crows are really vultures. I didn't even know we had turkey vultures in Coldville. A few minutes later, she said, I can really see that they're vultures now. I've learned something today.
She asked me if I knew about vultures from working at Parks and Wildlife, and I explained that Robert and I have spent a lot of time watching birds, and that vultures are extremely common in Texas. It was fun to teach somebody something about wildlife--I have left the field of natural resources [is that a pun?] so I enjoyed this opportunity to keep my hand in. Also, I've felt a bit wobbly on my birding skills since I moved up here. Different birds, same birds in different seasons in different plumages with different behaviors...even that old friend the Northern Cardinal sings with a different accent up here. So it was kind of a boost to be reminded that I do still have some bird identification knowledge that isn't already known to 100% of people.
A to Z Challenge Day 11: K is for Khakis and Keeping My Hand In
4 comments:
Such a beautiful scarf!
Thanks, I agree it's fabulous. I was very excited by that one.
I'm now unsure whether I should admit that the slightly-too-short khaki trousers don't, in fact, have a zipper. They have pockets but the waist is a drawstring. I love it.
I've pointed out mockingbirds to at least two people from this area who did not know what they were. One of them asked me, "How can you tell?" when I referred to one of them as a mockingbird. It was a very weird moment because, as you know, I can identify very few birds. Also, the way the question was asked seemed to imply that it was strange to be able to tell at all - like if I had declared the sex of a duckling or something - rather than that the person just didn't know the features of a mockingbird.
Ah well, I guess pants with a zipper would probably be too terrifying a leap for these kids anyway. But drawstring waist pants? That should be doable.
Love the "knowing the features of a mockingbird" ~= "declaring the sex of a duckling" equivalency. Of course I still remember being surprised to discover that ducks come in different kinds that look different from each other, so...
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