Leopards, and Jaguars, and Cheetahs, Oh my!

Day 3 of the 21-Day Challenge was to (drum roll, please) guess what? Mix your patterns! woo hoo — I'm getting to be a pro at this, because I think I did good. 

 dress — (thrifted)

belt — (thrifted)

cardigan — Old Navy (Old Navy)

booties — Blowfish (DSW)

bracelets (thrifted) / necklaces (raided from the toy box)

I'm sure that there's going to be an animal print at some point during this 21-day challenge, so I'm hoping that I don't regret using this outfit for pattern mixing. This was another outfit that I wore before I got laid off (on May 12, to be exact). I never posted it, so I'm glad that I'm getting a chance to use it now.

It was also a good opportunity to be Catwoman, and go "Rawr!" By the way, did you know that rawr is dinosaur speak for I Love You? Rawr is also a program for exploring gear for different characters in the World of Warcraft — a role-playing game. 

What kind of a cat print am I wearing? Leopard? Jaguar? Cheetah? What's the difference?

I can definitely rule out my dress and my belt from being a cheetah print. The spots on a cheetah are solid and evenly distributed. Whether they're a leopard print or a jaguar print is harder to tell. Jaguars and leopards both have spots that look like flowers, called rosettes. The rosettes on a jaguar have a slightly different color inside, and the rosettes on a leopard are fainter and don't usually enclose spots.

Regardless of whose spots I was wearing, all three of these are beautiful animals

Jaguar

Leopard (Image courtesy of Phillippe Rouzet)

Cheetah (Image courtesy of Tim Ellis)

Can you tell the difference between these cats?

Spanning the Globe

Day 2 of Kayla's 21-Day Challenge over at Freckles in April was to tuck it in.

"Tuck what?" you ask.

That was up to us -- you can tuck a shirt, a scarf, or even pants (into your boots, for example, or even into your socks if you're riding a bike). I decided to tuck a shirt, using an "inward full tuck." In other words, my inside shirt was completely tucked in.

tank -- Old Navy (Old Navy)

shirt -- Basic Editions (thrifted)

skirt -- Bongo (thrifted)

sandals -- Sbicca of California (freebie from a friend)

Points were lost for my tuck technique because I had to pull my shirt out of the tuck to disguise the paunch in the front. I did get full points for standing tall, however.

Before deciding on the skirt, I tried a pair of cut offs and Crocs, and it just didn't work (I was trying to look like Kayla here). An outward full tuck (outer shirt completely tucked in) was extremely uncomfortable (I could barely breathe because my shorts were too tight).

Not only that, but I also had a severe muffin top. I tried camouflaging the muffin top with an outward half tuck (one side of the outer shirt pulled out). This was somewhat better.

shorts -- cut-off jeans (thrifted and DIY)

shoes -- Crocs (thrifted)

But what do I do with this parachute of material that puffed out in the back? Is there a trick to cutting off jean shorts that I don't know about? Do the pants have to fit a certain way to avoid the parachute? Were they just too tight?

The skirt was a much better choice, don't you think?

Now for something completely different. When I hear the word "tuck," diving and gymnastics comes to mind. As a kid, I would be parked in front of the TV every Saturday afternoon, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (or was it 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.?), watching ABC's Wide World of Sports. I didn't always like the sports that were televised, but, c'mon, it was the WIDE WORLD of SPORTS, so I watched it anyway.

"Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport...
the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat...
the human drama of athletic competition...
This is ABC's Wide World of Sports!"

As I listened to Jim McKay, I'd imagine myself as a cliff diver in Acapulco, a gymnast doing a floor routine, a track star leaning across the finish line -- whatever sport happened to be featured that Saturday. I'd go down to the lake and practice diving. One time, I even pulled out my parents' record albums and tried to choreograph my somersaults and backbends to music to emulate a floor routine.

What did you imagine being as a kid?

Now head over to Freckles in April to see who tucked what. 

Since multiple items in this post were thrifted (skirt, shirt, shorts, Crocs), I'm also linking to Thursdays are for Thrifters Link Party 15, hosted by Meghan at Spunky Chateau.