SortaCrunchy

what i wore wednesday - (more) skirts and tights

cardigan: thrifted; t-shirt: thrifted; dress-to-skirt: Oh, Sweet Joy! closet sale; fleece tights: TJMaxx; boots: Ross; headband: AJ's

Just a few meager offerings this week. The weather has been SO uncooperative (rain! and snow!) for outdoor shots. I tried to take pictures inside and it was a massive fail, so just two outfits this week.

Despite the cold weather, I find myself pretty much living in skirts paired with tights. The one in this outfit is interesting. It was a knit dress I found in a closet sale at Oh, Sweet Joy! (thrifty tip: shop the closet sales of your favorite lifestyle bloggers! Good deals to be found without digging through the rack at Goodwill!) It was a medium, but I took a chance on it, not knowing for sure how it would fit up top.

Sure enough, when I tried it on, it was the kind of too-tight through the bodice that I knew would never fit correctly. So ... I chopped off the top. I did. I took a pair of scissors to that lovely and made that dress into a skirt. Because it's a knit, I didn't even bother to do any hemming where I had done the surgery!

Voila:

And the only other outfit was what I wore yesterday - Valentine's Day:

headband: The Children's Place; sweater: Harold's; sash: lifted from a dress in my closet; skirt: Must Have via Amazon; tights: We Love Colors; boots: JCP

So, you might recognize that this was one of the outfits I was considering for Blissdom. After yesterday, I'm glad I didn't take it with me to Nashville. The skirt - though darling - constantly hitched up while I was walking, so I found myself futzing with it all day.

The weather is supposed to return to the wonderful mildness we've been blessed with this summer, so I'm hoping to have some more for you next Wednesday when once again, I'll show you what I wore.

 

Help Me Pack for Blissdom!

So. That video? Is Blissdom '11. I'm sharing it today because I need a little help from you on what I should pack for Blissdom '12.

Because I leave in 9 days.

For Blissdom.

Interally, there is a lot of happy squee-ing and squealing going on right now.

I have to say, I really, really stressed out about what to wear to BlogHer '11. I bought a bunch of new clothes and didn't end up wearing most of them. I am NOT stressed out about what to wear to Blissdom, but I do want to hear your insights on what to pack.

So if you aren't familiar with Blissdom, watch that little video up there so you can get a feel for the look and the vibe of the conference and let's chat.

My Blissdom Schedule

Wednesday: travel day. I'll be driving my girls to the home of family members to stay for a while, and then driving to the airport. I leave OKC at 6 in the evening, change planes in Denver (because THAT makes sense!) and then arrive in Nashville at nearly 11 PM at night. I doubt I will see anyone when I arrive, so I'm planning to go super comfortable that day. Probably something like this:

 

Thursday day: I'm so looking forward to this day before the conference officially kicks off. I'm sure I will meet friends for lunch, shop the Blissdom Handmade Marketplace, and then the Newcomers Meeting is that afternoon.

This is the vintage top I found last week, and I'm kind of thinking of wearing it Thursday:

I'm just not sure what to wear with it. When wearing something vintage or retro, it's hard to find the balance between modern and costume-y. On the one hand, I could see this with a high-waisted pencil skirt - maybe in red? Or maybe some high-waisted jeans. I would looooooooove to pair it with these wide leg Jonas pants from Anthro, but I am not about to spend $100 on them:

 

 I might throw a fitted dark blazer over it to balance out the POW of the pattern, or maybe an open chambray shirt. So I'm still deliberating Thursday day. TOTALLY open to your thoughts here.

Thursday night: The official Kick-Off Reception is Thursday night, and the theme is Fiesta. I thought this dress might be nice:

I would belt it, of course, and my pink long-sleeve t-shirt under it and some tights and boots?

Friday day: This is the first day of the actual conference, so there will be lots of walking and lots of engaging in sessions. (I'm a Community Leader in the Writing Track.) I'm digging through past outfit posts, and I was thinking perhaps ...

Outfit A

or this:

Outfit B

or this:

Outfit C

Thoughts?

Friday night: Girls' Night Out. Okay, this is the big dress up night of Blissdom. Cute shoes, sparkly dresses, all that.

Here were some thoughts:

Outfit A: Black silk-blend turtle-neck sweater with gold-lace-over-black skirt. Bright colored tights and maybe some kind of statement necklace.

Outfit B: Much simpler dress, but dress it up with sparkly accessories and bright tights. It's so fun and easy to move in.

Outfit C: I found this Calvin Klein dress at Ross and bought it for BlogHer but didn't end up wearing it:

I thought about pairing it with a sparkly shrug like this one from Sears:

 

 

Thoughts?

Saturday day: More conference sessions. I think I will go with either Outfit A or B from the Friday night choices with more daytime appropriate styling. Or maybe I'll be re-inspired when I pick up my dry cleaning later this week!

Saturday night: Girls' Night In. This is the night to go comfy-cozy. I've heard some people wear nice dresses or sweater and jeans outfits (some come straight from dinner with friends to Girls' Night In) while others break out full-on pajamas. I'll be having dinner with Tsh and the other Simple Living Media contributors who will be at Blissdom that night. I'm planning on my trusty black Nike yoga pants and a t-shirt. I probably need to treat myself to some kind of owl t-shirt, don't you think? (I'll be shopping Etsy, of course).

I would so love to hear any thoughts you have. Thanks for humoring me as I scramble to get ready!

what i wore wednesday - back in the groove

long-sleeve t-shirt: Old Navy; ruffle neck t-shirt: J Crew, thrifted; belt: hand-me-down from my mom; dress as skirt: thrifted; tights: TJ Maxx; boots: JCP

Yes, it's been several weeks since I shared a What I Wore Wednesday post. This is partly due to time crunch, but also partly because I prefer to take pictures like the one one above and not this one:

where it looks like I'm standing in a wind tunnel and my tripod is in serious danger of being blown over. I feel like I need for you to understand I am not playin when I say I live on the windy plains of Oklahoma!

This outfit is one where I utilizing the dress-as-skirt idea. I have a LOT of cute, cute dresses in my closet with prints and skirts and cuts that I adore, but the bodice is too, too tight. The woes of a curvy girl, I suppose. So with this dress, I folded up the bodice and tucked it in so I could wear it as a skirt, and it worked really nicely! Obviously, this works best on dresses with full skirts, of which I have plenty.

long-sleeve t-shirt: Old Navy; top: Polo (at least a decade old); pleated wool skirt: vintage, thrifted; belt: thrifted; tights: Target; boots: JCP; necklace: white owl cameo, c/o My Sweet November

I found this amazing wool skirt at the Salvation Army in my hometown, but it has been hanging un-worn in my closet for months. I would really like to hem it up a bit, but that just hasn't happened yet. I decided to just hike up the waist a bit instead.

denim shirt: Harold's; t-shirt: thrifted; skirt: thrifted; belt: thrifted; tights: We Love Colors; boots: JCP

This is another skirt that I fell in LOVE with in the aisle of a thrift store. It also needs a good hemming, but that hasn't happened yet. I rolled the waistband a few times and used my belt to (sorta) secure the waist in place. It worked okay, I guess, but I really just need to drag out my sewing machine for one afternoon of hemming galore and I won't have to walk around with wonky waist-action so much!

(This is another time I'm glad for outfit shots. As I look at it now, I don't think the skinny belt is doing me any favors with this outfit.)

sweater: Ann Taylor (several years ago); striped t-shirt: hand-me-down from Mama; belt: thrifted; skirt: thrifted; tights: Wal-Mart; boots: Ross

This is probably one of my favorite outfits I've put together recently. The skirt is actually much more of a rich maroon than the picture portrays, and every time I wear it, I am just so tickled by the pleat in front. I love stripes, too, and when my mom handed this simple striped t-shirt off to me, I was a happy lady. I have worn that thing OUT lately.

I wore this on Monday and was at the grocery store when a nice, older, Santa-Claus-looking man smiled and said, "Howdy-do. You look real nice today, ma'am." Hee. That pretty much made my day.

These posts really are fun for me, so hopefully I really am back in the groove of showing you What I Wore!

what i wore wednesday - enjoying january

tunic: thrifted; long sleeve tee: Old Navy, about nine years old; skirt: thrifted; belt: thrifted; tights: We Love Colors; boots: JCP

So, yes, you saw this outfit in my open to healthy living post. I wanted to talk a little about it because it shows a spin on layering I have been doing quite a bit lately: skirt over dress.

I love this tunic. It is SO comfortable, but the material is VERY thin and not really winter-y at all. Putting a t-shirt under it helps a bit, but I have to say that layering a skirt on top and tights underneath made it quite wonderful for winter wear. It helps that up until the past few days, we have had gorgeous no-coat-needed temperatures, but with this many layers, a skirt in the winter is totally workable.

Plus I just had to include my little Liza Joy, also in layers. She can work some color blocking like no one else.

sweater: thrfited; long sleeve t-shirt: thrifted; belt: thrifted; skirt: TJMaxx; tights: TJMaxx; boots: Ross

I met a friend for a breakfast playdate the day I wore this outfit. We were talking about how hard it is to find jeans that fit correctly. I have the fairly common fit problem that when jeans fit me through the seat and thighs, they ALWAYS gape at the waist. I think this is why, now that I've started wearing them so much, I'm enjoying skirts and dresses. I rarely have to worry about hiking up my jeans or worrying about my everything hanging out in the back.

Interestingly, too, is the fact that skirts and dresses are WAY more comfortable to me than jeans. When I was wearing jeans all the time, I would change out of my out-in-public clothes and into pajama-type clothes as soon as I was home for the day. I find I'm wearing my skirt/dress outfits right up until bedtime. They are that comfy!

blouse: thrifted; belt: thrifted; skirt: thrifted; tights: Wal-Mart; boots: Ross

So here's that plaid blouse that I LOVE that I showed last week under the gray cardigan. This week, I let it shine on its own and paired it with my most comfy gray skirt. The temps dropped a bit this week, so I was quite chilly grabbing a picture of it with no coat on, but for indoor wear, it was perfect.

Unrelated: our Christmas tree is still up. We really are enjoying the pace of January and the twinkly bright white lights of the Christmas tree just seem to add a special glow. I've NEVER left our tree up this long. Between actually enjoying winter and the tree still being up and wearing real clothes until it's legitimately time to change into jammies ... I don't even know who I am anymore.

But I do know it's Wednesday, and this is what I wore.

what i wore wednesday - after Christmas

cardigan: Banana Republic, thrifted; t-shirt: thrifted; belt: lifted out of my mom's closet; skirt: thrifted; leggings: We Love Colors; boots: JCP

If the question is do I wear that red cardigan a little too often, the answer is a resounding yes. I can't help myself. I love it.

I'm trying to find my way back into thoughtful outfits after quite a few days of lounge-y, relax-y clothes over the holiday break. I found that I ♥ NY t-shirt when I went thrifting with Laura and absolutely love it. Even though I've never been to NY. But I really do ♥ NY. When I wear that t-shirt, it lets me pretend I've visited there and I did all the tourist-y things and bought a campy t-shirt to remember it by.

Look! Don't I look like someone treasuring fond memories of a visit to NY? Either that or someone who has been hitting the eggnog a little too hard.

(Except: gross. Never.)

lace top: Banana Republic, thrifted; t-shirt: thrifted; silk skirt: thrifted; tights: We Love Colors; boots: JCP

That black and gray skirt with the incredible print is also from the same thrifting trip with the Hollywood Housewife. I think she brought me all kinds of good luck at the thrifts that day, don't you?

I picked the skirt up because I loved the print, but when I saw that it's 100% silk, I knew it would be mine. I am such a sucker for silk. I kind of wish I would have worn a belt over this top. Live and learn. (or more accurately, take outfit photos and learn.)

gray cardigan: thrifted; plaid shirt: thrifted; BKE jeans: gifted; boots: Ross

I have been looking everywhere for both a gray cardigan AND a plaid blouse that I liked, and would you believe I found them both on the same trip at our Goodwill? I am pretty much in love with both of those pieces, especially the plaid top. I've been looking for one with a specific plaid in mind everywhere and to think I found it right under my nose. Such a treat. It does have the unfortunate habit of coming unbuttoned quite easily (which is probably what landed it at the Goodwill in the first place), so I have to wear something over it or under it. But still. It makes me smile when I wear it.

And, oh yeah. I colored my hair. But I do not like it. Let's not talk about it. (Unless you can point me in the direction of a color-at-home auburn that you think would flatter me. This turned out way more purple red than I thought it would. Boo.)

It's the first Wednesday of 2012! And this is what I wore.

Did you do any post-Christmas shopping? Have you found anything lately that made your heart pitter-patter?

what i wore wednesday - note to self

sweater: express, thrifted; t-shirt: thrifted; skirt: TJMaxx; tights: TJMaxx; boots: Ross

Dear self,

Yes, I know it's been a terribly busy week, what with end-of-semester and homeroom mothering and Texas traveling and last-minute Christmas'ing. It's lucky you got one outfit shot in, isn't it?

A few notes:

1) Love this skirt. Love that it was $5 even more.

2) Yes, you needed a belt. Go with your gut and don't second guess so much.

3) Congrats on finding the boots you've been looking for! $15 at Ross. Not too shabby.

4) Your shoulders are broad enough as it is. Please consider your poses more carefully next time, you spaz.

5) Purple tights for the second week in a row. FTW. (Shout out to friend Jenna for the inspiration!) Let's see what we can do about expanding our colored tights collection.

Love,

Me

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all the What I Wore Wednesday chicas!

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what i wore wednesday - decembery

sweater: thrifted; t-shirt: target; belt: thrifted; skirt: thrifted; tights: Wal-Mart; boots: JCP

December has brought with it all the rain we were so desperate for over the summer. I am not not not complaining, but it does take a bit more effort to step away from the workout pants and sweatshirts right now.

I finally found a creme cable knit sweater after looking for one for weeks. But then I wore it and I remembered why I don't have many cable knit sweaters - they feel so bulky to me! But this one certainly did keep me warm and it was only $.99 at the Goodwill.

dress: Ross; t-shirt: thrifted; belt: thrifted; tights: TJMaxx; boots: JCP

I don't usually have time to snap a few outfit shots on Sundays, but I got so many compliments and comments on what I wore to church earlier this week, so I decided to grab a few shots before I changed into my Sunday afternoon snugglies.

I was SO excited to finally find a pair of purple tights (has anyone else had a hard time finding them in stores? it's weird how elusive they have been), so I was eager to wear them. Mostly on Sunday mornings, I just throw open the closet door and look for whatever doesn't need to be ironed!
Also, I had just seen Katie's tutorial at A Beautiful Mess for Perfect Holiday Hair, so I went with a little less glammed-up version of it for church.

(Do you dress up for church? I'm just curious. Our church is SUPER laid-back and very come as you are, even on Sunday mornings - I mean, we are meeting in an elementary school cafeteria at the moment - and I have certainly gone casual many times. But I don't know. There's something kind of nice about dressing up Sunday morning.)
So anyway, here's how the holiday hair looked in the back. I don't have a velvet bow like Katie, so I just popped in this flowery, feathery clip I got at Ross. This was SUPER easy and held up so well.

And here's a close-up of my purple tights. Because I just love them.

cardigan: Banana Republic, thrifted; dress: Francesca's; t-shirt: Maurice's; belt: thrifted; leggings: Target; knee-high socks: Target; boots: JCP

If this outfit looks at all familiar, it's because I've already worn it here. I just added a long-sleeve t-shirt underneath for winter purposes.

I also added in the knee-high socks for a little extra warmth and to play with pattern mixing a bit.

Hello, hair close-up! Do you even know how hard it is to take pictures of the back of your head? It's not easy. Anyway, I did the holiday hair up-do again, but it was sooooooooo rainy and thick yesterday that the hair I had left down looked stringy and felt heavy, so I pulled it up into a little bun.

After I took these pictures, I ran around and played tag in the backyard with AJ for about ten minutes. Sometimes you just gotta run off that Big Energy! The up-do stayed up but the bun fell out. Oh well. I did discover that if the occasion ever warrants it, I absolutely can run in my boots.

December, you're turning out to be quite the fun one.

And this is what I wore.

Looking for boots you could really take off in? I'm thinking Inca Boots' Classic Tall Tan could take you anywhere you want to go. Special thanks to Inca Boots for partnering with SortaCrunchy in the month of December!

what i wore wednesday - experimenting

cardigan: LOFT, thrifted; t-shirt: thrifted; belt: thrifted; skirt: thrifted: tights: Wal-Mart; boots: thrifted

I did some playing around this week, and I discovered two things:

#1) This combination? Is my new favorite for cold weather. I love a playful t-shirt and I am now scouring the thrifts looking for more. I can honestly say that this is just as comfortable (if not more so) than wearing a sweater and jeans, and I felt pretty fantastic in it.

I wanted to show you the back of this cardigan because, well, look at it. Isn't it unexpected? I should have taken a close-up shot of it. The cardigan is a heathered brown and on the back it has this sort of brown and white pinstripe-y cut-out. As I'm putting outfits together these days, I'm drawn more and more to unexpected.

P.S. Full disclosure: these boots did not make it the entire day. Those heels are a little advanced for me, so by noon I was back in my trusty brown low-heel boots..

dress: vintage, thrifted; t-shirt: Old Navy; belt: thrifted; tights: TJ Maxx; boots: JCP; necklace: kiamichi7 on etsy

#2) Dresses/skirts + tights really can work in winter weather.

I've never really worn much of anything except for jeans through the fall and winter. Maybe dress pants to church or the occasional dress/long skirt, but for the most part, I've lived in sweatshirts and jeans. And listen, I still wore that plenty in the past week. But I've found myself wondering if it was worth it to keep looking for new t-shirt/skirt combos like the first outfit or for new vintage and retro dresses if I was going to lapse into default mode when the real cold hit.

I'll have  you know it was 24 degrees yesterday when I shot these pictures. YES. 24 DEGREES. And while I don't recommend flitting about in your backyard with no coat on when it's that cold, I wanted to prove (to myself more than anyone) that this is completely wearable throughout the winter.

(this dress is a post in and of itself. more on it another day)

Fun fact: those are fleeced tights by Ellen Tracy that I found at TJ Maxx for about $10. Highly recommend. They kept my legs quite toasty as I darted in and out of the cold and they were SUPER comfy against my skin.

Also in the recommend category: kiamichi7, the shop that necklace is from. This is a totally unsponsored statement - I just wanted to say that if you love costume jewelry pieces that have charm and character, you can't go wrong with this shop. Her customer service is fantastic and her collection is AMAZING!

All in all, I'm glad I did some experimenting this week! Thanks for letting me share what I learned and what I wore.

What are you wearing these days as cold weather settles in? Or is it still lovely and mild where you are?

Meet Inca Boots!

I may be a flip-flops and sandals girl by nature, but y'all, I cannot resist a great pair of boots. Cannot. Resist.

(if you can't resist them either, make sure to read to the end of this post for an awesome discount for SortaCrunchy readers!)

When Evan Streusand of Inca Boot Company approached me about partnering with SortaCrunchy for the month of December, I got a little bit giddy. And no, not just because Inca Boot Company is based in Austin (oh, my heart!)! I was thrilled to discover a collection on amazing, gorgeous, UNIQUE boots that are all handcrafted in fair-wage conditions in Peru.

I wanted to share a little about Inca Boot Company in Evan's own words:

I went with a couple of my closest childhood friends on a backpacking trip throughout South America.

After about 3 months of travel I found myself in Cusco, Peru, where an Aussie friend asked if I wanted to go check out a local boot shop. Hesitant at first because I never really liked wearing boots (despite being from Texas), I followed her anyway, and little did I know that it would be a life changing decision.

(Lesson learned: saying “yes” opens up many doors that would otherwise remain closed).

Inspired by the style and comfort of my boots, I went back to Peru a few years ago on a quest to bring these Inca styles to American shores…and the rest is history.

 

Drool-worthy boot history, my friends. Feast your eyes:

Q'ECHUA FIREFLY

ELECTRA ZORA


POCAHONTAS SUPERHERO

MOSS TAV

For many of you all, knowing who made your clothing and accessories and the labor conditions under which they were created are an integral part of your purchasing habits. Here's a little more from Evan how the boots are made:

All of our boots are handcrafted in Peru by skilled artisans, all of whom work in high quality conditions.Our artisans are paid very nice wages for their work. The wages they make from this work are vitalto sustaining themselves and their families. Peru has a longstanding tradition of excellence in textiles that goes back thousands of years. We work collaboratively with these artisans to create boots that represent the continuing evolution of their extraordinary craft.

Stunning fashion, handmade quality, fair-wage confidence. You can see why I'm pretty tickled to have Inca Boot Company as the featured sponsor this month.

For those who are making a list and checking it twice, you'll be pretty tickled, too, to find out that Inca Boot Company is offering a December-only discount to SortaCrunchy readers:

Take $20 OFF of any purchase of $100 or more when you use the code ‘crunchy’ – this offer is valid until December 31, 2011. We offer FREE SHIPPING BOTH WAYS on all of our products.

Thank you to Evan and the entire team at Inca Boot Company for your support of SortaCrunchy! You can keep up with all that Inca Boots has going on when you like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter!

what i wore wednesday - skirt over dress (and more)

cardigan: banana republic, thrifted; dress: Casual Corner (years ago); skirt: thrifted; belt: thrifted; tights: Target; boots: JCP

Since I have already done skirt-as-dress, I thought it would be fun to try out the skirt-over-dress trend. I've had this black dress from Casual Corner since I was teaching, and it reminds me of teaching every time I wear it. I thought it would be fun to break up the look a little with this gray skirt I thrifted a few months ago but hadn't worn yet.

Wearing a skirt over a dress was really fun!

The colors are quite conservative though, aren't they? It is fall, I suppose. I am hoping to be able to do it in a more playful way as cute LIndsay of The Aisle to Aloha has done here, but that will probably have to wait until spring.

(Oh my heavens. I just noticed my outfit matches my blog again. I have got to stop doing this!)

denim vest: Harold's, thrifted; long-sleeve t-shirt: Target; skirt: Harold's, thrifted; tights: Wal-Mart; ankle boots: thrifted

Here's that same long Harold's skirt as dress again. I wasn't quite as happy with how this outfit turned out. I really did feel like a teacher. Maybe it was the denim vest? Oh well. Live and learn.

I wanted to grab a quick shot of how I wear my hear most days. This is the braided knot you may have seen on Pinterest, except that even after I knot it twice, I still have quite a bit of hair poking up. I've been taking the leftover hair and twisting and pinning it into a bun on top of the knot. This is not the best shot of it ever, but it's really tricky to take pictures of your own hair, you know?

retro blouse: thrifted; grandpa cardigan: thrifted; trousers: Old Navy; boots: JCP

This retro Graff blouse is one of my very favorite finds from Outreach Thrift. It's a good thing I have to drive nearly an hour to get to Outreach, or I would be there daily giddily spending too much money and time. I've never walked out of there disappointed with my haul.

Please ignore the funky lighting which makes it look shimmery. It's just good old-fashioned made in the USA polyester and I adore the print. I have worn this blouse quite a bit in the past few months actually, always paired with my trusty Old Navy trouser jeans.

Because it is getting quite cold these days, I threw this simple grandpa cardigan on top yesterday. It was one of those days when I didn't feel quite up to a dress or skirt but I was definitely weary of the workout pants and sweatshirt I sported all weekend long.

One of these days, if I really, really work at it, maybe I'll be able to pull off what she is able to throw together without a second thought.

And that's what I wore.