Devil’s in the Details

Yesterday I was gearing up for a walk across the street to have a beer with my fella and I decided to change outfits. I wanted to go from Sunday scrub to lesser Sunday scrub. You’re with me, right? So I changed  from some baggier jeans, a random top and a pair of horrendous flip flops to some short shorts, my new cute Creepstreet top, and some leopard flats. Oh and I took my hair down and threw on my big, beautiful, gifted Barton Perreira shades, which I’ve decided are the best sunglasses on earth. Just, so you know.

Anyway, I got into this banter with my guy as we were getting ready to head out the door and he looked at me and said “You look exactly the same”. … I don’t remember the context. Point is, I sure as shit didn’t feel exactly the same and I KNOW I didn’t look it. I looked like 5% less scrubby. At least.

And so as validation I am blog posting the outfit so that I can confirm it was cuter than scuzzy jeans. I made him take all these photos as punishment for daring to compare the two outfits. I mean, CLEARLY I looked totally different and worlds better… although, to him, I’m sure I didn’t. Which fine. But still. The post is happening. Deal with it.

Here’s how I looked at him as we talked about how much different I obviously looked:

 

Here is when I made him hold open this really adorable white purse that I think I got from the clothing swap. I mean, I know I got it from the clothing swap, but I think it was my friend Laura’s. And I can’t get over the inside mirror. Or the white. Besides getting dirty easily, white is an excellent accessory color for me. Look how much he loves me:

 

Here are these shoes I bought at H & M for like, no money, but that I can only wear to the bar across the street because they give me blisters and I haven’t been willing to properly break the little fuckers in yet:

 

Here is where I was jumping back to make sure he was getting the entire outfit in his shots. The shots I was taking to further prove my point about my outfit:

And finally, here is what I put up on Instagram to continue proving my point through various social media outlets while he studiously wrote a postcard to grandma. Productive happy hour if I do say so myself. In the end I think he’d concede this outfit was completely different than the “house outfit”. Or not, but whatever. I feel better and had fun:

 

 

 

 

xoxo,

Lou

 

Goodwill Hunting

Is that the name of that movie?

Even if it’s not, it’s what I’ve been unintentionally doing. And lo and behold, unintentionally succeeding at! (In my personal opinion of course.) Except ultimately it’s done a great thing in that it’s taught me that you don’t have to be a killer fashionista to find shit at Goodwill that is just as cool as shit you would find online or at some mall. In fact there’s way less pressure because you’re spending $10 on cashmere instead of $11o.

This is important for me because, being as saddled with student loan debt as I am, spending money has always been a major commitment for me. I’ve never been a frivolous shopper for the mere fact that I literally wasn’t able to be a frivolous shopper. Unless, it turns out,  I get a decent raise and I’m at Goodwill and I’m buying stuff that doesn’t matter for the same reason that it costs the same amount of money at Goodwill as it does if I were spending it at some burrito cart the second I find myself stuck at work on a Thursday morning with a massive hangover.

Ok so let’s see.

I got a sweater I really love and that I actually think I will wear. I’ve always, ok for like 4 months I’ve struggled with that fashion “nail in the coffin” where I want to wear shit that doesn’t actually suit me. You know? I really am happiest in jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, and simple stuff like that. I suppose the key is focusing in on how to maximize that.

This sweater  seems like something I’d wear all the time. Awesome. It’s 100% cashmere and blue and has awesome buttons and was made in Scotland and I’m pretty sure I think it’s awesome, which is bound to translate well. Oh, and it cost me $10.

The print on this sweater is made of bunnies. It’s pretty cute. And always makes me pretty happy when I look at it in the middle of the day. AND it’s good for work, so sometimes that’s great as well. Oh and it was $6.

Ok. I had this backpack I really loved that I got off the free table at my last apartment. I didn’t even want a backpack. I just found one and I thought it was great so I started using it all the time. Then, when the strap on that one broke, I felt sort of lost.

This was that backpack.

Then, when my bf needed a backpack … this is a long story. Fact is … I found this cute purse for $6 at Goodwill the other day and it was awesome because … it was comfortable and cute. Just like my cat …

That’s a $10 100% cashmere crop-top I found at Goodwill. 100% cashmere cropped tops kind of confuse me, but I do think they’re cute and I will, I believe, find the perfect evening to wear this.

And more purse.

Let’s see. I also found this mug for $2. I certainly didn’t need a new mug, but … come on.

And oh shit. Speaking of tumble-upons. I decided for $5 to read Rob Lowe’s autobiography.

And there. I guess I’ve gone and successfully summed up a trip to Goodwill with me. All for like … $39.

xoxo, Lou

Work Shmirk, I Wanna Talk About Style

I have been on quite the blogging hiatus lately. I think because I used to do the majority of my blogging at work since I was able to shirk responsibility for a couple of hours while also getting all my shit done and looking ever the stellar employee. Plus they paid me crap wages so I could easily justify doing my own thing when I wanted. I know that is a terrible justification, but whatever. Fact is, I finally got up the guts to ask for more money and responsibility and they actually gave it to me, so I felt obligated to get super serious for awhile, but I guess that’s now worn off since this morning all I wanted to do was blog and here I am.

It all started when I received my order confirmation from Urban Outfitter where my lovely big brother and sister-in-law gifted me with a $75 gift card as a birthday present. He said he was going to buy me a really nice bottle of whiskey, but his wife advised him otherwise, and said the gift of shopping was likely to be a bigger hit. I say whiskey and shopping go hand in hand, but it was no trouble for me to supply my own booze since two other people gifted me with whiskey. Guess these people got my number.

Anyhow. I get this order confirmation, right? And it was really distracting for me because up to now, I never really thought I had a style, but slowly and surely I see one developing and I’m not mad about it. I did all my shopping online and only stuck to sale items and all in all spent $132. Let’s take a look at what I bought, shall we?

Pants

I’ve been obsessed with these BDG high-rise pants. I tried them on in-store and they fit me like a dream. And they don’t come in bullshit 2, 4, 6 sizes, which my homegirl Crystal pointed out is a load of crap.  So, because I can get this perfect 27/30 sizing, I have been buying them in every color under the sun. I have green, red, and now, Mustard!

They are available with two different inseams, so shorter girls like me can enjoy a high waste without having to get the extra model-tall fabric hemmed off. And I love the color and I know they fit and they went from $60 to $30 as they sat in my shopping cart waiting for me to purchase them, which is when I decided my buyer’s anxiety maybe isn’t such a bad thing.

Seriously. I would get drunk on wine and online shop so often that I’m pretty sure I changed the contents of that cart probably, oh … 7 times. I think though, as this blog illustrates, that I came out with a perfect set of items. I mean, if I do say so myself.

With that said, moving on.

Top

I’ve been pretty obsessed with horses my entire life. I’m hard pressed to turn down horse-themed items, but it’s not always easy to avoid looking like a child while doing it. This shirt fixed the problem for me though and at $15 I had to indulge.

Oh and look. I can wear it with my green jeans!

I cannot find pictures of the back of this that I can steal off the interwebs, so just trust me and go see how sexy it is in back:

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=26191551&parentid=SEARCH+RESULTS

I could for sure show side-boob in this if I wanted. And I love the braid detailing. So cute. And I get to have wild mustangs running across my chest so it’s a win-win as far as I can tell.

I also bought this other top because it’s described online as a “breezy, lightweight knit tank” and at the time I was wearing just that very type of top tucked in to my high-waisted red jeans thinking, fuck yeah! I want another “breezy, lightweight knit tank” to wear under sweaters and bonus points for being sexy in back, business in front.

Now if only I could find some plum pants …

Shoes

My moccasins have taken a beating over the last year because I wear them so obsessively. I’m wearing them right now in fact. Urban had some on sale. Actually, they had a lot on sale. So maybe this trend is fading out and wearing Minnetonka’s will go back to being something I associate with my childhood in Minnesota. But hey, I’m glad so many people were exposed to how cute and comfy these shoes are. I spruced up my basics with a little beading.

$35 of guaranteed wear. I will probably wear these so much that they will actually end up being worth like $535 worth of wear. So, overall I’d say it was a solid purchase on my part.

Accessories

I haven’t been carrying purses much of late. Instead, I’ve been making really excellent use of an adorable backpack I found on the Free Table at my old apartment. God bless free tables, amirite? The only purse I consistently use is this one, which was a hand-me-down from my big sis. I had been eyeing this thing from the moment she bought it:

Because it’s awesome. But sometimes I don’t want a purse, or backpack, and I can’t put shit in my pockets because I would for sure get drunk and lose everything, so I bought this!

It’s Pendleton so the Portlander in me is really happy. And it’s fucking cute. And practical. And everything I ever wanted for $25.

And finally, to round out my purchase, I bought this glass because it makes me smile every time I see it and I really love all my dopey Urban Outfitter pint glasses. For $8 I was pretty sure I could keep that collection going.

I mean, I just hear Jeff Bridges so clearly in my head as I read that and it really does make my day a little brighter. I can’t wait to drink millions of beers out of that glass.

And that’s it! Pretty solid, right? And altogether, pretty cohesive, yeah? I was surprised that my drunk online shopping excursion #7 yielded such results.

Especially because I was SUPER tempted just say fuck it and apply $75 toward this $300 coat from a French brand I am newly obsessed with. I’m going to tell you all about them next post so get ready to lust after some stupidly expensive clothing.

With that, I think I’m back on the blogging wagon so see you again soon!

xoxo, Lou