Saturday, July 16, 2011

A Wack-a-Doodle Day

shorts -- Fabulosity (J. C. Penny)
shirt -- Adrianna Papéll (freebie from Freecycle -- yes, I am a scavenger)
shoes -- Chuck Taylor All Star (Zappos)

So, I warned you that my Day 3 of the Summer Trends Fashion Challenge was bad. And now here's the proof -- the proof is in the pictures (but not in the pudding). This is bad -- I mean, really, really bad. I both look and feel completely and utterly ridiculous. I can't think of anywhere that I would actually wear this outfit, except for maybe to a Halloween Party, and even then I don't know what I would tell people what I was dressed up as. 




In case you don't remember (or can't tell by my wack-a-doodle outfit), Day 3 of the challenge was Sparkle for Day. The top half of me was sparkles and my bottom half was day.

Let's break this disaster down, shall we? (Don't I sound like Gracey over at Fashion For Giants? You need to stop by her blog and say Hello if you haven't already.)

Anyway, my top half and my bottom half are each fine on their own, but together? No ifs, ands, or buts -- it is a disaster. I may have been able to wear the sequined top as a day look, but it probably should have been paired with a pretty flowy summer skirt. My shorts (capris, or as Doreen at Northeast Chic calls them -- weird pant-like things) and Chucks were also fine ON THEIR OWN, but again, maybe I should have paired them with a much looser top.(On a side note, these shorts are really comfortable, but I haven't quite figured out how to wear them so that they look good on me. I bought them last year when I decided that I needed to have more color in my wardrobe. I don't regret that decision, but I'd love to figure out how to make them work.)

One trick that I did in this outfit, which I would definitely use again, was to use a bandeau (growing up, I always called these things tube tops) underneath my sequined top to make it a little longer. My shorts were a little low, so when I just had the top on -- it exposed way too much of my belly fat for me to be comfortable. Being 53 years old, I am well beyond the belly-baring age! I tried to wear a camisole, but it was just too bulky (for the top and for the heat), and I didn't like having three sets of straps on my shoulders to worry about. So, I just slid the bandeau down around my waist, and voilà!






The top is really quite pretty. The woman who gave it to me said she got it for a New Year's Eve party, but then felt it was too low cut to wear.

Score!
One last note -- I wore sparkles to work one day over the winter. And I don't know why, but I also wore my Chucks on that day too. I don't know what it is about sparkles and Chucks, but for whatever reason I seem to like the way they go together. I don't think that I succeeded all that well on that day either, but what the heck ... that's one of the reasons why I'm doing this blog. You can see more of those pictures here.


Once again, I want to thank Megan and Keely for sponsoring the Summer Trends Fashion Challenge. It's definitely been a great way to get out of my rut of wearing boxer shorts and t-shirts. Head on over to Megan Mae Daily and find out who else was crazy brave enough to wear sparkles for day.


6 comments:

  1. I wear sparkles for day all the time! I have several sequin tanks that I love to pair with pretty much everything. And have you seen my sparkly Chucks?!!

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  2. I do like the sparkles better in the winter. But I do like the green short with the sparkles. Perhaps a ballet flat would have tied them together better?

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  3. I actually like the work version of this outfit better!

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  4. I love the shorts. They are the perfect length. Its tough to do the trends sometimes if you arent feeling it--I'm gonna check it out tho.

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  5. I love both outfits. I think the first outfit would be great with a stylish hoodie. Chuck taylors can do no wrong in my book. I adore them. I wish I could bring to life the jacket I'm mentally picturing with that first outfit.

    I think the second outfit is so rock'n'roll. I would have worn that in highschool (before my Rave/Techno girl phase). I was obsessed with blazers, jeans and chucks. The sparkle top is a great piece to keep things feminine.

    And free stuff? Score! About the shorts - I bought these really cool sweatpant-y shorts from Goodwill awhile back. The key to shorts like that is just to put on some confidence and wear 'em. Not every outfit needs to put a body towards being tallthinhourglass. I would love to see those with a striped tee (my vote's for navy) with some flats or ankle boots.

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  6. Hee, thank you for the shout out! And I love the sequin top and think sliding the bandeau down to cover your belly was brilliant. I've got a vintage sequin top that is also cropped and I've been struggling with how to wear it - I'm definitely going to try the tube top idea (that's what we called them too).

    Also, love the idea of chucks and sparkles together - it's the perfect juxtaposition without trying too hard.

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Thanks for reading. Honest opinions and constructive criticism are always welcome.

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