A Weird Feeling Week: Part 2

Have I mentioned yet that there is a bunny that lives across the street from my work?  Our building is in a residential neighborhood with houses on one side and a small park on the other.  At the end of the block, next to a row of houses, there is either an empty lot or a big extension to the yard of the house next to it -- in either case, this summer a big bramble of bushes/vines/weeds/whatever has grown up in that spot, and I have now twice seen a bunny eating grass on that corner right next to the conveniently located bramble that I assume he lives in.  I get excited every morning as I approach that corner, hoping that my day will be bunnified by his presence.  Meanwhile, people in my department continue to be giddy over the turkeys who venture into the parking lot from the park next to it.  I have not seen them again, but some people with offices overlooking that side of the building continue to see them.

Summer Scarves -- Thursday, 7/24/14

As a life-long southerner, it was odd to consider wearing scarves in the summertime, but with Snow City's 80 degree summer days (and me now with a gloriously air-conditioned car to drive me from the parking garage to the parking lot, instead of hoofing it several blocks to a bus stop or all the way to school), they are a great addition to my wardrobe year-round.  I love scarves so much that I am resistant to the idea of moving somewhere that can't support a scarf habit in every season.  By choosing a lightweight scarf and tying it loosely (it basically sits directly over the neckline of the shirt), I was perfectly comfy in this scarf all day, and I enjoyed how it brought texture and pattern-mixing interest to a pretty standard outfit.

Also, this pencil skirt is fab.  It's weird...I usually don't have luck with Target's pencil skirts.  They seem to be built (perhaps even more than pencil skirts usually are) for very straight, non-curvy bodies, but this one fits really great.  I don't understand it.  Inexpensive clothing suppliers like Target, Old Navy, etc., often show quite a bit of variability between two supposedly-identical items (I've learned I have to try on each individual item when I want to buy multiples from Target because one blue shirt might fit differently from its ostensible twin and the red one may be totally different from both of the blue ones), so maybe this one was cut/sewn in a sloppy/erroneous way that just happened to make it work like it was made for me?  Wearing this great skirt reminded me that it's worth continuing to roll the dice on Target pencil skirts; I don't mind having to return them to the store when they don't work out (as is typically the case), and I would be happy to add another one that fits like this one to my collection.  I wear a lot of pleated/flared/etc. skirts, but the sleeker fit of a pencil skirt is often just the thing.  And I think it has a more "business" feel than A-line type skirts, which makes it easy to feel appropriate to wear to work even with a knit shirt.

*Aqua knit shirt (thrifted)
Navy polka dot pencil skirt (Target)
Light grey wedge flats
Blue/aqua scarf (Target)

Replicate This Please -- Friday, 7/25/14

Findings tops to wear with fuller skirts continues to be a challenge for me given my preference to not tuck the shirt in.  (Tucked in shirts are fiddly and comfortable and bunch strangely, and I just can't be bothered to do it for my business casual office.)  This August Silk top I bought at Goodwill is great for this purpose, though -- it's a knit, but it's heavy (made from a combination of fibers that give it body and heft) and structured.  I like this top so much that I spent some time on the Internet to see if it (or something similar) is still being made/sold, but I struck out.  Well, black is a really useful color (and I can change it up a lot by wearing different scarves, jackets, etc.), so I'm glad I found this prize for like $4 at the thrift store.  But man, it would have been so worth it to replicate it in a couple other colors.

Instead, I'll just have to keep going back to the thrift shop and see what other one-off treasures I can find.  This is one way the thrift store is very useful to me -- I have a tendency to want to buy anything I like in every color/pattern there is right now, and you just can't do that at the thrift store.  Ultimately, this means that my wardrobe is forced to have more variety than it otherwise would, and since I really value variety (despite my instinct to buy in multiples), this is a good thing.  But yeah, occasionally, it's tough to realize that this item that would be absolutely perfect if I could also have it in cream just isn't available.  (White and cream being the hardest colors of shirts/sweaters to find at the thrift store for obvious reasons.  Hello, mustard spill!, etc.)

It just occurs to me that if I were really serious about it, I could also check out eBay and other second-hand e-tailers to see if a similar top is available.  Something to think about.

*Black August Silk knit top (thrifted)
*Black and cream inverted-pleat skirt (thrifted, Loft)
Black Lifestrides flats
Black/white necklace (gift from my mom)