a day behind

Anticipatory Set: I'm already a day behind.  And since I still have two days of posts from last weekend, I would just expect for me to pretty much always be at least a day behind on outfit posts from now on...  ;)  After bumming it all day Friday, I just had to get out of the house yesterday and since we have gift cards to get rid of I knew I'd be heading to Barnes & Noble, TJMaxx and Pier 1 to scope out how we want to use them.  (Gift cards are hard for me to part with sometimes.  Especially to places like Pier 1 and TJMaxx because I want my purchase to be fun and extraordinarily thrifty to maximize the credit.)  My hair was all wonky (dang you, static!) so I wanted to at least pull it together with my clothes.  As you're pretty well aware now I am trying to pull things from my closet that are either rarely worn or not worn at all and then either "make it work" or take it to sell/donate.  

Objective(s) Addressed: Browsing books and shopping with gift cards; shopping my closet (safe to say this will be an objective for many days, weeks, months? to come)

Materials and Sources:

• Dress (worn as blouse): Rosebud via Francesca's Collection
• Waist tie: Belt from old Gap trousers (c. 2004)
  
• Skinnies: Old Navy Sweetheart
• Corduroy coat: Gap (c. 2004)
• Boots: Steven by Steve Madden 'Intyce' boot in Cognac
• Favorite handbag: Lulu Guinness
  
• Bracelet: Banana Republic (c. 2005)
• Earrings: American Eagle (I think?... several years ago)
• Eyeglasses: Lulu Guinness
  

Input: The piece I was trying to work with here is the dress (worn as a blouse).  It's one of those items in my closet that I always pull out and then, for whatever reason, move on to something else.  I love it as a dress but since it is a knit material it needs some kind of slip underneath to keep it from sticking to undergarments, leggings, tights, etc.  The neckline is my favorite.  But as I discovered today it's not conducive to cold weather so I just used a simple gray layering tank underneath, nothin' fancy.  Also, it ties in the back to give some shape to the ribcage but since I was tucking it I wanted an additional tie in the front to tame potential lumpage. So I used an old scarf-belt-thing from a pair of Gap trousers circa 2004.

The rest was obvious for me - I threw on my favorite bag, boots and coat to wrap it up. I love the coat because it's so perfect for Georgia's winters.  It's light on days when it's not too cold but it's also perfect for cozying up with layers underneath.  Also, the top buttons all the way to the neck so a scarf isn't necessary unless it's really cold.  The handbag was a gift from P. my freshman year of college.  I'd been eyeing it all summer before I left for school and he surprised me with it on his visit for my birthday.  And, of course, the boots... so comfortable and I love the wedge.  Just a teensy bit of height and the color is so great and warm. 

Final Notes: After P. did his photographer duties I untucked the shirt a little more to lengthen it and make it a little more flattering.  (I'm sure you can use your imagination.)  The coat looks kinda bulky in the photo but I'm not sure what else I would change... I felt really comfortable, warm and pulled together for my little solo browsing rendezvous.  The weekend was nice with the additional snow day but tomorrow it's back to the grind in full force.  Wah.  Everybody have a great start to the work week!