More Press

Yet another super comfy screen printed by hand t-shirt dress,

Found it at the very local and fabulous Art Star, but you can find more like it here.

On a Manual Press, People

My mom got me this shirt a few years ago for my birthday from a local (to my mom, that is) gal who designs and prints her own shirts and scarves and tunics and tank tops (along with, it sounds like, some coerced help from her husband - the best kind of free labor!).

I love it for a number of reasons, but mostly because someone designed it and put that design on by hand. That makes me think twice (or, since I'm often sort of slow, three or four times) about how much crap I buy at Target and it's ilk. This was certainly more expensive than a shirt at Target, but SHE PRINTED IT HERSELF. ON A MANUAL PRESS (or maybe her husband did, but either way it's damn impressive).

That is just so cool, and so worth my money.

Check her and her goods out at Red Prairie Press, and spend some money you would have otherwise blown at Target.

Oh, and there are those awesome shoes again.

Get used to them - turns out they go with everything and make it all look better.

So now I wear them every day!

Saved by Gladiators

Right now, it's all about staying COOL. And not cool, like cooool, but like actually managing your body temperature. Because it's hot here right now, so hot it's a little hard to breathe.

This dress is an old friend of mine, though I think it may have lost it's very hot hip-ness a few years ago. It's one of those baggy-in-the-waist, flowy-at-the-bottom deals that makes it OK to wear something strapless during the day and is nice and loose on, you know, my problematic waistline.

A beloved friend gave me this fab necklace for my birthday, from a local shop called Zuzu. It's made of something that feels like porcelain but isn't, and looks heavy but isn't. I think my bracelet is actually some part of a small bicycle that, like a sucker, I paid actual money for at a flea market. But it doubles as a necklace or bracelet and doesn't leave grease on me, so I figure I came out ahead.

And these are old-as-the-hills flats from Target, or Old Navy, that are comfortable and can be worn barefoot without taking on any unfortunate foot-smell. So overall I was feeling pretty good about my get-up...breezy, comfortable, accessorized, multi-colored, etc. And then...

Denise and I went shopping, just for a second. And I found these, second-hand suede laceups with real leather for $18. What?! So I changed right then and there, because obviously I'd been missing these...in a big way.

Summer in the City (or the beach, or the pool...)

My most favorite summer dress I picked up at my most favorite store in Philly. I have worn it so far to the beach, the city, and the pool, with clunky wooden sandals or flip flops. The color is especially fantastic whilst posing in front of an old city building painted blue.

It feels weightless like a handkerchief and the pattern seems to hide the undies or bathing suit pretty well.

The racerback is kinda interesting, too...

If you see me this summer I will most definitely be wearing it all the time!

Metal Chic

I adore this shirt, with it's crazy winged butterfly arms. It makes me feel very flow-y.

On the not-perfect side, if I lift my arms and you happen to take a peek, you get a healthy view of what's

happening inside the shirt.

There's a story to the belt buckle. When I was 17 and a hot young thing, I went to a GnR concert in Augusta,

Maine with two friends. We spent, maybe, 8 hours getting ready and I wore one of those bodysuits that were

so popular in the (very) early nineties. Now the idea of a snap-crotch makes me feel terrible, like I've either

got a newborn or a yeast infection.

But then, it was fabulous.

And I was convinced - totally, totally sure - that Axl Rose (or his henchmen) would see me in the audience

and point to me, and beckon me to join them backstage. I wasn't sure what would happen next, but I knew

it would be AWESOME.

So, nothing happened, because we were like a football field away from any of the action, and I think we

were, shall we say, not trying as hard to be noticed as some of the other ladies were. As a consolation at the

end of the night I bought a pair of underpants that were see-through, had the GnR logo, and a spray-painted

arrow straight down to the crotch. And probably, that was about as much action as I was really looking for.

But I have an abiding love for the GnR boys. And for my ever-hopeful and adventurous 17 year old self.

Shirt, consignment store; Jeans, Mossimo; Belt buckle, market in Thailand; Scarf, H+M; Sunglasses, J.Crew

Avert Your Eyes, The Glare May Hurt

I've been reluctant to embrace the steaming hot weather since my legs are so white people have to look away when I walk by. I've been sweating it out in jeans, until today.

And wrap dresses are...complicated. They tend to fly open in the breeze, and this one sat in my closet for a while before making it's debut. But once I got it on I remembered that it snaps at the cleavage and wraps well around my legs. Even a stiff breeze couldn't move it, and that makes this dress my new go-to.

Plus, purple.

The shoes were last year's on-sale Aerosoles, a totally loser brand that has somehow emerged from the ashes of nursing clogs with unbelievably comfortable and great looking heels. I wore these suckers all day, to and from the preschool and errands and lunch-making and nap-giving, unscathed and exceedingly comfortable.

Of course, Target is so fast to take items off their shelves and websites that this dress is no longer available, but

something just like it is here. And the shoes are still on sale, here.

Out Like A Lamb...

Still working on the spring transition. I thought I'd hit a winner here (gladiator sandals! long necklace! my favorite jeans!),

but then I saw these snazzy pics Denise took of me, and it turns out my favorite jeans look like crap on me. Low rise, rolled up, light wash, it's hard to pinpoint the specific problem. I will admit that I've ripped off two of the belt loops simply through repeated yanking in a Sisyphean attempt to keep them above my butt. You might think I'd have taken a clue from that, but no...I've still been wearing them. All the time.

Well friends, no more. Kiss them goodbye. Turns out this experiment of ours works in both

directions...helping me jump boldly into some out-of-character clothes, and run screaming from

some very in-character items. This, the latter.

Muchas gracias, blog.

Sisterly Love

I have two sisters. They are both young and beautiful and very stylish.

That doesn't seem fair, does it?

Anyway, I get most of my good clothes from whatever they give away. And when we're all together, I always feel a bit stressed about keeping up, in the looking-snazzy department. I mean, I have those kids and that post-kid body, and my love of clogs, and my functional wardrobe, and a good six years on the closest one. I am definitely the least glam-o-rama of the three.

I could go on about how I was born in the 70's, which I think may make it slightly impossible (having grown up with 80's stonewash and 90's flannel) to be intuitively stylish, or about how my mother always dressed me like a lumberjack, but it's beside the point. I have two fab sisters, and while enjoying quality time with them I also like to nick some of their good fashion ideas.

(And, I know I'm doing well if they like something I have!)

So last weekend the one sister and I dumped my kids on our parents, and headed south together to visit the third sister. When she picked us up at the airport,

we were all wearing the same aviator shades.

I did some recon for good spring-wear:

(Not so sure about these Urban Outfitter shoes...do they give her hobbit toes?)

We spent most of our time eating chinese food in our pajamas while watching romantic comedies for the fourth or fifth time, and getting held up in our attempts to leave the house by trying on each other's shoes and pants and accessories, but when we did venture out it was to flea market.

Check out what we found:

(I like that bright skinny belt)

(I look about 15 months pregnant here...damn empire waist shirts)

We all liked this pair of sunglasses, so did a little photo contest to see who they looked best on.

The middle picture won, she bought the shades, and we went back to our pajamas and movies.

In Like A Lion...

Dear Weather Gods,

This weather you're sending our way is a little confusing to me.

One day it's pouring rain and 46 degrees, and a few days later it hits 85.

See, I've only recently mastered the winter look, and it's stretching my style reserves to ping pong back and forth between seasons. If we could just go with spring for a bit, I'd appreciate it. That would give me some time to ease on out of the winter duds and figure out what's next.

Boots, Sudler by Spring; Jeans, Gap Long and Lean; Bracelets, random finds in Chinatown; Shirt, Target; Jacket, thrifted; Scarf, Anthropologie

As you can see, at the moment all I can figure to wear is them winter duds, only all rolled up and without socks.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Jailhouse Rock

I have gone a little crazy this season with the compulsive purchasing of striped shirts.

(I have this same problem with compulsive purchases of oversized black sunglasses.)

Some fashion rule somewhere claims that horizontal stripes are a no-no for someone as petite as I am.

But stripes make me feel so french!

(I'm even buying them for my daughters)