OOTDs: Festive Sparkle. And Some Plaid!

Hey, all!  I finally finished some of the recent stuff I needed to get done, including a sewing project using stretch velvet, so I can get back to posting.  I am trying here!  Maybe one day I can get back to the more regular posting I did prior to 2015.  We'll see.  :-)

The velvet dress was sewn up for the Fabric Mart blog, and it is very timely for the festive season, so if you are a sewer, or like velvet, definitely check it out.  I feel a bit like a female Oscar statue wearing it.  (In other words, I love it!)

Onto some festive sparkle!

Day: Thursday, December 25, 2015.

Where:  Christmas Dinner.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) The salt content alone would have filled an ocean (based on how fat my fingers and toes felt at the end of dinner), but dang if this outfit wasn't super easy to wear all night.  I love J. Crew for making this plaid skirt with an elastic waistband.  Now I will never tuck anything into it, but that bothers me not one bit.

Outfit Details: Sweater, Boden; Skirt, J. Crew; Shoes, J. Crew; Necklace, Madewell (they still make it, find it here).

Anecdote of the Day: Does salt make any of you all swell up the way it does me?  Maybe it's because I try really hard not to eat too many items that have it in overabundance, but when I do eat it in copious amounts, I feel it.  I hate all those cooking show comments that say "there's not enough salt, wah wah wah."  I'm always like, "dude, really, do you want to be pickled from the inside out?"

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Monday, December 7, 2015.

Where:  Meetings and writing lesson plans.  Boring.

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Again, elastic waistbands to the rescue.  These Boden pants are in ridiculous deep discount, and because normally Boden pants are just crap on me, I figured these pair would be sent back.  But because they run large, and they have room for a booty, I find them ridiculously comfortable one size down from my normal Boden size.  Yes.

Outfit Details: Sweater, Boden; Pants, Boden (Jessica Jogger here, out of stock right now, but pops back); Shoes, Boden; Necklace, Boden; Sunglasses, Ray-Ban (here, they are the Meteor style).

Anecdote of the Day: I take so long to write lesson plans.  Secret--I never had to write lesson plans formally before this. I just had them written down so that the administrators could see them if they walked in the room.  I did finally write them down for a long-term sub when I was set to have CW, but that was during a frenzy of nesting, so I hardly remember it being a pain (and I did the full year for him, too, lol).  I think I may write too much, but my assistant principal seems to like it.

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Wednesday, December 23, 2015.

Where:  Picking up the turkey from Whole Foods.

Ease of Wear: (4.75 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) The Oona skirt features an elastic waistband.  Really, I should just retitle this post "Elastic Festive."  That sounds like a song.  Hmmm.

Outfit Details: Top, J. Crew; Cardigan, Ann Taylor; Skirt, Boden (Oona Skirt here, but this color has long since sold out, but the Tamara Top features the same fabric); Shoes, J. Crew.

Anecdote of the Day: The turkey has to be ordered in advance, it costs way too much money, but man, it's a good bird.  I went in and heard people crowing that Whole Foods had sold out of the turkeys, so I felt good that I had ordered in advance, regardless of how silly my family thinks I am for doing so.  :-)

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Wednesday, December 2, 2015.

Where:  I don't remember!  Maybe Winesday since it was a Wednesday?  I know it was raining, lol.

Ease of Wear: (4.75 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Turner pants feature an elastic waistband.  And the Zoe coat is warm!  Hey!

Outfit Details: Top, J. Crew (here in stripe); Pants, J. Crew (no longer available in poly, but they have them in wool here); Coat, Boden (Zoe Coat here, review here); Scarf, J. Crew; Shoes, J. Crew.

Anecdote of the Day: Got nothing.  It was raining.  I was warm.  :-)

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Have a great day, everyone.  Glad I have some time to get some ootds here.  Now off to go visit some of my favorite blogs!  :-)

For Sale: Skirts...J. Crew/Boden.

A little while ago I put up a few skirts for sale that I no longer was wearing, for one reason or another.  I finally got to the second set of skirts and after a morning of trying on and really evaluating what suits me, I decided to sell these eleven below.

The price of the item (shipping included) is below the photo.  If the photo becomes smaller than the others and there is no price listed, the item has sold.  :-)

After a few weeks, I bring all the leftovers to the consignment shop and let them have the rest...

Please e-mail me at dinagideon AT aim DOT com for more info, etc.
 

Watercolor Garden Pencil Skirt.  SOLD.

Wool Double Serge Pencil Skirt, Bronzed Ochre or Honey Glaze, don't remember.  SOLD.

Palmilla Lace Pencil Skirt. SOLD.  Never worn, just reviewed for blog.  Sigh.  From the J. Crew Collection. (RARE.)

Dolce Tweed Mini.  $60 shipped.  (RARE.)  I love this skirt, but it is so short on me...I held onto it for a while, but then I found this fabric and decided I could make a similar skirt from that fabric and let this one go to someone who can handle shorter lengths better!

Mini Wallpaper Cotton Sateen Mini from the factory.  $20 shipped.

Gingham Mini Skirt with Embroidered Dragonflies.  $25 shipped. This is majorly old school J. Crew...the 8 fits a bit closer to a current 6.  (RARE.)

 Detail of Dragonfly.

Porcini Mushroom Button Front Mini.  $25 Shipped.  (RARE.)

Lime Green Floral Full Skirt.  PENDING at $20.  Also a fairly rare old school J. Crew skirt.

Blue Gingham Skirt.  PENDING at $25 Shipped.  This one was never worn, as evidenced by the wrap on the buttons.  I tried to make it work for my frame but that scale of gingham and my lower half--no way, Jose.

Eyelet front metallic pleat skirt.  This one was bought for a song, so I will sell it for a song.  It's a great skirt, but not really working my wardrobe anymore.  $20 shipped.

Dandelion Embroidered Ribbon Trim cotton skirt.  I believe this is an 8L, or UK 12L.  I will check and post it tomorrow, but if you think you want it, e-mail me so I can have your name.

I received an idea from a comment on the last post on how I could make this for me so it fit me better, and with that, I knew I could give it up to someone who it would suit better.  :-)

$35 shipped.

For Sale: Boden and J. Crew Skirts. by dinagideon featuring J.Crew

Polyvore above. (Been so long since I have used polyvore--it's lost its luster, or am I the only one who feels this way?)

Okay, that's it, definitely e-mail me if you are interested.  If you don't hear from me right away, I will e-mail back, hand on heart. 

OOTE: Jade, Gold, and a Sprinkle of Coral.

Gotta love a wonky picture on a wall.

Day: Saturday, June 22, 2013.

Where:  75th Anniversary Gala Dinner and Mass.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Yummy and easy fitting, I would be hard-pressed to find an evening wear piece more comfortable than this lovely silk dress from Anthropologie (Flickering Slip Dress).  I had purchased this while pregnant in 2011 and never did find an occasion to wear it until I realized I needed something summer appropriate and dressy.

Because I had to go to mass before the gala, I knew that I needed a cover of some sort, and this gold jacket from J. Crew was exactly the right shade and structure to complement the dress.  I had found this dress on ebay years ago for a song, if I am remembering correctly this jacket was fairly expensive when it was first rolled out by the Crew back in Holiday 2007.  I couldn't find the info on it in my *very quick* internet search, but I did find this photo.  If I have a moment later, I will look at the catalog and update this post.

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  The outfit is pretty cool, even if it was worn for a Catholic Church's anniversary, which in some circles of cool would be the uncoolest event ever.  Don't care since I think the fact that the church is that old is pretty darn awesome.  ;-)

Didn't think about it while dressing, but the colors of the church are represented in my outfit.  For the 50th anniversary (which occurred while I was in school there--same one my kids go to, btw), they repainted and redecorated the interior of the church in jade, gold, and burgundy.  You can see photos of the interior here at this post.  I think I must have subconsciously worn the color combo to honor the church.

Anecdote from the day:  The table we sat at for the dinner had other fans of the drink at it, and one of the men had even snuck in a bottle of Scotch whisky.  OMG, that's a good man there.  He had little wee drams with him, one for each of us, and proceeded to pour shots from the bottle for all of us.  I usually don't love whisky, in fact I only drink it to join in toasts, etc., but this time the whisky was delicious, tasted a bit of the peat bog the distillery is located near, and since the smell of peat burning in the Scottish countryside is one of my favorite scents ever (no, I am not kidding), I was immediately in love with the drink.  This man was my best friend for the evening.

Yes, the photo of my brother and me above shows that we may have enjoyed ourselves a bit.  Some of the other guests enjoyed themselves even more.  Hee.  ;-)

Okay, that's it for now...Boden should have their new line up and ready to go sometime later today, I think.  My affiliate site has no coupons, etc., available right now, which makes me think that there will be something on offer soon enough.  Will definitely keep you all updated. 

J. Crew/Boden: EUC Clothing for Sale!

Hey, all, lots of excellent used condition clothing for sale here.  I am going to dispense with too much talky-talk, but here are the basics...

1. I accept paypal at my e-mail dinagideon AT aim DOT com.

2. Because I am headed to the consignment store on Tuesday, please let me know no later than Tuesday morning at 10 am if you would like one of these items.  (10 am Eastern time, of course, since that's where these clothes are.)  After Tuesday, I suspect the vast majority of these will be in the hands of Mint Condition, my local store.

3. Shipping is not included, and is a flat rate to the United States, $5 for one or two items, however if you buy 3 or more items, I will ship the items for free.  If you are in Canada or elsewhere, I can ship the items to you, but cannot offer free shipping, nor can I offer a flat rate for the items.  If you decide you would like something and you don't live in the US, I will contact the post office to let you know what the shipping would be for your items.

4. I am around a lot, but there are times when I have to step away from the computer, so if I don't email right away, know that I will honor first come, first serve, so email me if you would like something.  I will try to be quick in my replies.

5. If I can, I will update this post with info on the pieces, like the name that J. Crew or Boden gave it, and if I have time, I will also attempt to link to a post where I wore the piece, so you can see it on a real body and not just dressmaker dummy Dina.  ;-)

J. Crew:

1. Sunshine Peony Button-Up, Size 8, $15. (ON HOLD.)

2. Convertible Sleeve Button-Up, Size M, $10, from 2007.

3. FACTORY Dotted Popover, Size XS, $15. (ON HOLD.)

4. FACTORY Snow Leopard Button-Up, Size S, $10. (ON HOLD.)

5. Checked Button-Up, Size M, $10, from 2006.

6. Pink Paisley Button-Up, Size Petite 8, $15. (ON HOLD.)

7. Swiss Dot and Raw Silk Bib Popover, Size 10, $20. (ON HOLD.)

8. Peach Silk Henley Popover, Size 8, $20. (ON HOLD.)

9. COLLECTION Animal Print Silk Tank (with silk lining), Size 6, $20. (ON HOLD.)

10. COLLECTION Jacquard Tank, Size 8, $20.

11. COLLECTION Annette Blouse (Honey Glaze color), Size 10, $20.

12. Space-Dyed Shirt, Size XS, $10.

13. Lavender Oxford Shorts, Size 8, $10.

14. Olive Jersey Drapey Dress with Tie, Size S, $15. (SOLD.)

Boden:

1. Bronze Cord Pocket Dress, Size UK 12R, US 8R, $30. (ON HOLD.)

2. Mod Print Jeweled Tunic, Size UK 10, US 6, $30.

3. Floral Dress, Size UK 12R, US 8R, $30. (ON HOLD.)

4. Henley Tee, Size UK 10, US 6, $5. (ON HOLD.)

5. Floral Henley Popover, Size UK 12, US 8, $10.

6. Hotchpotch Ruffle Neckline Tank, Size UK 12, US 8, $10.

7. Daisy Print Tank with Ribbon Detail, Size UK 12, US 8, $10.

8. Notch Neck Blouse with Tie Detail, Size UK 10, US 6, $15.

9. NWOT (Boden doesn't do tags) Wool Skater Skirt from Fall 2012, Black, Size UK 10L, US 6L, $50.  I will put a photo of it up in a while, since I do need to eat dinner... 

Okay, that's it.  :-)

P.S. For you Boden fans, tonight is the last night of the Boden Preview 20% off with free ship and returns (use code PRV3), and the new line should officially roll out tomorrow morning at regular old Boden USA.  I placed my order yesterday, and it said most items were in stock already, so I anticipate receiving quite a few of them over the next week or two.

I don't know what the % off will be during the "regular" season, but I do recall last season, very early on, a lot of items being part of the "Spring Trim," which was about 25% off.  No way to tell what will be reduced early on in the season, but I pretty much guarantee anything that has a pink checkmark "low stock" box will not be in the trim, since that means the item is already proving popular.

Have a great night!