58, I can't wait!!!

No. it's not that I can't wait to turn 58, but I couldn't wait for a three day weekend in honor of my birthday !!! We are going up to Burbank to stay at the Tangerine Hotel and eat at Porto's Cuban Restaurant and go to the antique shops up there.

Before all that, this is what I wore on Thursday:

This is a pleather skirt from ABS that is probably as old as me !! On top, I have a black cashmere turtleneck and this slinky jacket that I got at the thrift store somewhere sometime.

 The knit jacket has bead detail on the front.

Usually, Doc gives me a chihuahua themed card, but because of my dress making escapades of last weekend, he gave me a flapper themed card this year. 

On Friday, before I went out to have some fun, I paid a couple of bills, and Bank of America had a surprise for me - $350 !!! It came from this promotion where they give you double cash back on all your credit card purchases. So I have been putting lots of stuff that I would normally pay in cash on the card to get the points. I can truthfully say that this worked out great, now I have free money !!

I went out and did some errands, and then I bought two rugs that I have been looking for :

A faux sheepskin for the area in front of the fireplace, and an area rug for the room where I get all my outfit pictures taken.

Then I went for a run through HB Central Park. I had time to go for an extra long run. Here is the newly opened Senior Center. One day soon, I need to stop in and see if it is 55 and older. If it is, maybe there are some cool classes that I can take.

Later on, I started my new portrait of Kenni.

I'll show it to you again when I am finished. Time to get ready to go to Burbank !!!

Linking with :

www.highlatitudestyle.com, www.eleganceandmommyhood.blogspot.com, www.stylenudge.com, www.shelbeeontheedge.com, www.walkinginmemphisinhighheels.com, www.nancysfashionstyle.com, www.fashionshouldbefun.com, www.notdressedaslamb.com, www.livingincolorblog.com

Stay tuned for fun in Burbank!!!

The Bee's Knees or the Cat's Pajamas???

Let's start to solve this riddle by looking at what I wore yesterday:

This is a black and white Michael Kors dress with a mottled abstract pattern. It has a lot of tucks around the neckline, and is made of scuba material. With it, I am wearing my black suede BCBG boots and a pink leather belt from Spiegel.

On top, I wore a bright pink suede jacket. It has a perforated pattern and bell sleeves.

You can see the fabric and the tucks in this shot of my necklaces. The shorter one is an emerald cut tanzanite and the longer one is a diamond heart pendant.

On my left arm, a gold bracelet and an amethyst tennis bracelet.

On my right arm, a closeup look at one of my favorite hand me downs from my mom- a turquoise and tanzanite bracelet.

Then, it's on to today's outfit. Remember the pattern I showed you the other day for the 1923 dress?

I made View A -  no back sashes and a smaller dip at the back hemline.

Here it was, all finished and pressed. Now I just need to style it up.

The pattern came with instructions for knitting a matching cardigan sweater for day wear. But I don't knit, and since I have about 1,000 cardigans, I was sure that I could find one that works. I chose my INC beige cardi with pink, purple and maroon flowers on it. It also has some rhinestones scattered here and there.

See?? No knitting skills required. I tried it over the dress, and it looked perfect.

I noticed that in the 1920s, women wore a lot of Maryjane style shoes, so I busted out my Guess pair - they have all the colors in the cardi.

I went with garnet and marcasite jewelry, since that style seems to fit with the vibe of the dress. The pendant here is garnet - my mom and I both had one, and when she died, I gave hers to my niece.

On my right arm, a cushion ring made of tiny garnets from Colleen Lopez, a three row garnet bracelet, and the same bracelet made of two rows of garnets and one of opals.

On my left arm, a fire opal ring and a marcasite/garnet watch.

Here's a closer look at the wristwatch.

So what do you think? The Bee's Knees ? Or the Cat's Pajamas? Everyone at work loved it, regardless of what phrase I used.

So let' link !!!
www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com, www.thepleatedpoppy.com, www.pastriespumpsandpi.blogspot.com, www.poshclassymom.com, www.garaytreasures.com, www.stylelixir.com, www.shelbeeontheedge.com, www.colorandgrace.com and www.tuckerupblogspot.com.

Have a great day, and do the Charleston if you have a chance!!!

23 Skidoo

On one of the holidays, we were watching a Downton Abbey marathon, and both Doc and I agreed that the ladies' dresses were gorgeous. So I went on Amazon (where they have everything) and found a pattern for a 1923 Tango Dress.

I decided to make View A, since it is the daytime version of the dress, and I rarely go out tango dancing at night. :) The night version just adds a deeper train at the back and some sashes down the back as well.

So I went to Jenny's Fabrics and got a medium weight poplin. It drapes nicely. Satin charmeuse would have been perfect, but sewing with satin requires some finesse. Even though I am a very experienced seamstress, satin is always a challenge.

Very few notions were needed - no zipper, since the column style dresses slip over your head.

Here is the layout. It took 4 yards of fabric - the skirt has an enormous sweep.

Here is the bodice right before I tackled all the whipstitching - there was a lot of hand sewing required.

And here is the finished product. I will wear it later this week, after the rain stops.

And what did I wear for this final rainy day? A brown sweater dress with gold lurex trim, made by Passport.

This gave me the chance to wear my brown suede boots with the gold chain trim.

On top of it all, I wore an animal print long cardigan by Charter Club.

My usual two necklaces also got added to the mix. The shorter one is citrine and the longer one is a costume piece.

And that's all, except for the links:

www.beautybymissl.com, www.clairejustineoxox.com, www.colorandgrace.com, www.notdeadyetstyle.com, www.stylenudge.com, www.pinksole.com, and www.northwestblonde.com

See you all later!!!

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

We had a break from the Noah's Ark volume rain yesterday afternoon, but it was dang chilly. Then, when I woke up this morning, it was raining again. We are supposed to get a nice sunny break on Saturday afternoon, and then 2 or 3 more days of rain. The "big" storm is supposed to hit Monday.

Enough of the forecast. Here is what I wore yesterday:

This is a skirt made by Studio G. I love all the coral colors edged in chocolate brown. On top, I have a tweed blazer with orange embroidery by the front pocket flap and on the back shoulder. It's from So, which I think you can get at Kohl's.

I wore two rose gold necklaces that were my mom's. The shorter one has tiny pave diamonds, and the longer one is a gift that I gave my mom one mother's day.

I wore my Neiman Marcus tan suede pumps with the brown smooth leather detailing. There is also a sliver of gold on the inside of the heel. I had been ignoring these, since I thought they were painful, but I wore them all day yesterday with no problems, so maybe I was just having a foot problem the last time I wore them.

Then, onto today:

I am wearing a pinstriped blazer by True Meaning. I will show the details in a bit.

Underneath, my trusty Calvin Klein black slinky knit jumpsuit.

This is the front of the blazer. It has sequins all around the waistline, and then some trailing up the front and the back.

Here's a closer look at the front.

And here's a closer look at the back.

I wore two necklaces again - one short and one long.

The shorter one is the chocolate and clear diamond teardrop that I wore the other day.

The longer one is a diamond heart on a French lace chain. It is super sparkly, so I could not get a picture of it without glare.

On my right arm, two gold bracelets, and a black cabochon costume ring.

On my left arm, a stretchy crystal bracelet from Saks, and my yellow gold wedding set.

So that brings us to our links for today:

www.eleganceandmommyhood.blogspot.com, www.highlatitudestyle.com, www.mixmatchfashion.com, www.colorandgrace.com, www.stylelixir.com, www.fashionshouldbefun.com, www.shelbeeontheedge.com, and wwwrachelthehat.com

Have a great day and see you (in the sunshine, I hope) tomorrow!!!