OOTDs/Review: Millie and a Bomber.

Day: Wednesday, December 31, 2014.

Where:  I know I went somewhere, but I am drawing a blank.  I can assure you it was probably out to eat somewhere, most likely.  I *do* know I wrote this blog post that day, though.  ;-)

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Pretty nice to wear, but I am dinging this outfit for the skirt, since I can only get it on and off by putting it on OVER my head instead of stepping into it like a normal person.  The waistband fits fine at the waist but doesn't stretch enough to get over my hips when I step into the skirt.  Considering how full the skirt is, you wouldn't think that possible, but it is possible, my friends.  Now if you are less curvy on your bottom half, this won't be an issue for you, but if you are blessed with larger hips in relation to your waist, get the size for your waist, but be prepared for putting the skirt on over your head.  Hmph.

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) From what I remember, people liked this combo, especially the necklace, but honestly it is very matchy matchy and almost appears a bit crazy old lady.  (Which I don't mind, that is actually what I aspire to be!)

That said, the tunic dress on its own is very cool.  Very short, but nice looking and interesting.  Wasn't feeling the length that day.  Was feeling it back here, though.

Millie Skirt.  Size 6 L.  I did write up a review of it here, but I haven't published any photos of me wearing it until today.

The length is awesome.  Really like where it hits on my leg.  The print is fabulous, too.  I have to hand it to Mr. Boden and co., they really do a British/London print well and every incarnation it seems I fall for it.  I refuse to look up at this blog all the times I have fallen for it, but I do know the only one I returned was a Johnnie b. dress that was super short on me.  BUT I LOVED THE PRINT, dang it!

From the side you can see that is very full throughout the skirt, while the waist is fitted.  This is why I suggested that pears suck it up and order by waist size, since ordering up will only for sure guarantee a huge skirt and possibly a waist that fits too large.  Just my two cents, but I know the 8 or 10 would have been very full on my lower half.


Millie Skirt.  Good stocks on all colors, but a few sizes are sold out completely in each color.  (Especially on the smaller and larger ends.  And the longs, as well.)

Crappy quality here of outfit without jacket.  Hello, ancient smart phone!

Day: Monday, January 19, 2014.

Where:  Joann's and Harris Teeter with my stepmom.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  For as tight as these pants appear to be, thanks to a significant spandex percentage, they are so flipping comfortable.  These are stupid super sale at J. Crew for something like $25 (stretch toothpick jeans in arcade wash--size 30 tall--my usual size).  Very much worth the money.  The Nike shoes (Pre Montreal Racer) were also a very inexpensive purchase through another stupid super sale, and as I love my other waffle racers by them so much, it was a no-brainer.  Add the perfect warmth the Johnnie b. bomber jacket gave me (it is in the upper 40s today), I was perfectly happy with how easy this was to wear and run around in.

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  You all know I massively {{heart}} ladylike dresses and ballet flats and girly accessories, so this outfit is very out of my comfort zone.  I think this outfit looks cool, but I felt a bit out of my element, so to me it was only 90% cool.  ;-)

Bomber Jacket.  Size 13-14.  Johnnie b. consistently fits me size 13-14 for tops.  Every once in a while I will size up to a 15-16 if a top looks especially fitted, but usually the 13-14 fits great.  I am a size 4 or 6 or xs in most of my tops in other brands (32B bust, btw), so if you use me to compare to you when purchasing Johnnie b., bear that in mind.  I also am very short from neck to waist, so the shorter length of a Johnnie b. 13-14 doesn't affect the fit for me at all (this jacket measures 22" in length, fwiw, the 15-16 is an inch and a half longer).

You can see the sleeves are more than long enough on me, and though I am short through the torso, I have very long arms. 

These kind of pockets are difficult to sew, and they have a lovely faux leather piping at the pocket edge.  The jacket is fully lined in a deliciously slippy poly, and the fabric throughout the outer portion is a thick wool/cotton that is felted, so it is good at keeping the chill out.

All in all, this jacket is worth the full price of  $84, so its insanity price of $28 is ridiculous.  I am not even sure we are paying Boden anything to buy this, if anything they are paying us to wear it, lol.  Not quite, but $28 is a SCREAMING deal for what you receive.

The side view shows that the buttons lie nice and flat when closed.  I let my stepmom try it on (she has a 32DD bust, I believe) and it fit her fine, too.  She would look curvier from the side, but I have significant amount of ease through the bustline, so I am not surprised she can wear it, too.


Bomber Jacket.  This is a sell-out.  Only the 15-16 has healthy stocks, but at the $28 price, that could soon change, too.  I am not surprised by how well it is selling at the very low price, especially considering what you receive.

Okay that's it for me today.  I am glad I was able to get these last two clearance reviews published before the Boden "extra percentage off the sale" ends tonight.

OOTDs: Preppy Patriotism.

Before I start this brief (and dated, lol) outfit of the days post, I wanted to let you Boden fans know that I have put up one photo of the new Sophia Dress (seen here at this post) at my Facebook page.  It is not available to purchase online yet, but for some reason, mine was sent to me early.  I don't know when it will be available, but the moment I see it pop up, I will let you all know.  I will be doing a review of it soon, likely in the next Boden Weekly Review Roundup.

Okay, onto the outfits!

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Day: Friday, July 4, 2014.

Where: Celebrating America's birthday the usual way--BBQ and FIREWORKS!

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I thought for sure I would never get into these shorts when I first received them, they just looked so tiny.  They worked, but I still thought I shouldn't at *my age.*  Meh.  I got over myself and just wore them already on July 4 since they worked so nicely with my (ancient old school J. Crew) striped tee.  I was fine wearing the whole outfit the whole day, no extra worries that I was showing too much skin.  ;-)

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I think this outfit makes me look younger and I dig that.  The shorts, btw, are the Hummingbird Short from the J. Crew Factory store last spring.  I bought them in a ten, and that size worked well for my frame.  AudreyBella has a great review of them here. 

Anecdote from the Day:  The afternoon BBQ was at a friend's house and one of my friend's dad was there, too.  He had recently lost his mom and we got to talking about her estate and in the process he shared some great stories about her life.  It is so nice to sit down and reflect on what others have done in their lives.  What a great way to remember that we all have some kind of impact on the world, however small.  I was so glad he shared her stories with me.  Very touching!

Day: Tuesday, June 24, 2014.

Where: Did something that day...probably involved picking up one of the kids from their summer camp classes.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Another preppy Old School J. Crew outfit.  :-)  This madras jumper is either from 2006 or 2007 and really fills the void of proper preppy that seems to only be found at Vineyard Vines or Brooks Brothers these days.  The cotton stretches out a bit through the day and the style is very easy, so the whole outfit was super easy to wear.  Bit short, but nothing scandalous.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) Looks polished and preppy, and classic American.  I would say this was a winner, especially if you live anywhere where preppy is a *thing.*

Anecdote from the Day:  At 14 I had my very first date ever to Ballston Mall with a boy I met from school.  He and I didn't last (that one date was it) and we lost touch until recently.  Of course FB is great for connecting all sorts of people, including former first dates.  Anyhow his birthday was on June 24, and even though it wasn't listed on FB, I remembered from all those years ago and wished him a Happy Birthday.  I hope my freaky birthday memory didn't weird him out too much, lol.

Day: Wednesday, July 23, 2014.

Where: As lame as this sounds, I pretty much spent the day cleaning and sewing.  But at least I had a cute outfit on...

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This was brilliantly easy to wear.  The shorts are a bit large on me through the waist, so fall a bit low, making them super comfortable.  The material (hey, yo, poly, lol) doesn't wrinkle and crazily enough is more breathable than you would think they would be.  The top is made from the linen knit that J. Crew likes to use so even though it is thinner, it is very nice for hot summer weather.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I have always like turquoise and bright red together, so I like the look.  It is a lot of look, though.

I took a ten in the pleated crepe shorts, which is the opposite of what everyone else did with these shorts.  I had purchased them in a size 8 (in the navy) initially and while they fit, because of the way my thighs are, the pleats bagged open a bit.  So I repurchased them in a 10 in the red and navy, and these fit much better.  The price I paid was more than fine, btw.  (I think it was $18 a pair.)  Gigi's review of these is here.

The linen tee in anchors is like all my other J. Crew tees, it runs big, so the xs was the right size to pick, especially since this fabric stretches out.  

Anecdote from the Day:  I spent so much time going going going on our vacation to NC, SC, and GA that is was nice to have a day at home.  I feel like such an introvert purposely not going out and seeing people.

Okay, that's it for now.  Hope everyone is great!  If you have a review for the linen tee in anchors, I would love to add your link to my review.  Just let me know in the comments!

ROYGBIV: Not Really (Feeling) the Blues.

Hey, all!  On the heels of the very blue Maritime dress I wore in the last post, I am publishing another installment of my ROYGBIV series, today focused on B or Blue.

(By the way, the next post--I or Indigo--is the one I have struggled most with...is indigo a navy blue or is it a purple/blue?  If you know the answer, definitively, would you comment with the answer?  I don't want to publish a whole slew of navy outfits and then discover that the post should have included only purplish outfits.  Hmm.)

Wore this outfit about a month ago.  I normally don't bother with accessories or nicer shoes if I am just chilling at the house with the kids, but that day I just wanted to put on some extra something something.

If you open up the photo, it has the info on the pieces.

The hair was my attempt at a side bun.  I like the side bun but it is a bit fussy to keep up, about an hour after I took this photo, the bun was completely unraveled.

BTW, my hair looks really red here.  I notice it looks redder when I have a white background, so I suspect the white background throws off my camera's color.

I do technically have some variation of dark strawberry blonde hair (if I never went in the sun it would always be this color), but it doesn't ever look this red in real life.  Only photos.  ;)

Added the Brompton clutch to see if it worked with the outfit.  I like it, but would probably not use it in real life (remember I was just at home, no need for a bag).  I would probably bring out a yellow bag to play off the yellow in the scarf.

I wore this dress to go out to sushi for Mother's Day with my brother.  He always takes me out for Mother's Day, which I think is completely unnecessary, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

This is the Starlet Knit Dress from Garnet Hill, and like I expected, it is made incredibly well and is very flattering.  It is a jersey knit fabric and definitely felt comfortable and cool.  I took it in a small.

The dress even has pockets, which I liked.  Most jersey dresses don't come with pockets, so this is a nice bonus.

The first photo cut off my legs, so I had my hubby retake the photo later than night.  As you can see the dress is not wrinkled and may even look better three hours later.

The Greta Suede wedges I am wearing are one of my best purchases of 2011.  I think I got them for $40 on super sale in September and I have found that I am wearing them a lot this summer.  If you can find a pair on ebay, definitely think about picking up a pair if you have a need for a pair of dressy casual heels.

Mr. Roy G. Biv...Not Feeling the Blues. by dinagideon featuring glitter jewelry

Above is the polyvore.

Okay this one is from a long while ago, April 10 to be exact.  This means I was 16 days postpartum.  Those are maternity cords, btw.

I like mixing this shade of blue and bright red, as evidenced by how many times I do it (with the Riviera shirt dress and the Maritime dress, for instance).

Bits of this outfit are...J. Crew Factory (Sweatshirt), Tzuri Gueta (necklace), Duo Maternity (cords), Shoes (J. Crew), and earrings (J. Crew).

Anyhow, I may have gone out to dinner in this outfit, but nothing more than Five Guys or McDonalds.

Still any reason I have to wear my Tzuri Gueta necklace, I will wear it.  ;)

I love my fedora!

This was worn around and about one day with the fam.  The blue is technically in the top's print, but it is hard to tell, so open up the photo for proof.

This outfit was also postpartum, but I was a bit more out of the woods (so to speak) at 5 weeks past the birth...

Fedora and top (may have cost all of 8 dollars): J. Crew Factory.
Pants: Talbot's.
Sandals: Loft.

Can't resist adding in this photo of Angus from last Monday.  Here is my little man, perched on his blue boppy throne in his blue seersucker overalls.  This one is making the rounds amongst my facebook friends and family.  One of them even suggested that Angus looks like a king awaiting his supplicants.  LOL.  ;)

Okay, that's all for tonight.  Hope everyone has a happy rest of your Monday.

Winter Wardrobe: Day Two.

Hi, all!  I made it through another day of hanging with my elementary school homies...grade 3-5! 

Anyhow, I actually planned today's outfit as opposed to yesterday's, but what I didn't think about is that I am going to make these girls think I LOVE stripes.  Yesterday's outfit was pink with silver stripes, today's is black with silver stripes, and tomorrow's is white with navy stripes.  I think Thursday I have a solid dress, so that is in the clear.

*****

Well, I just give the bleep up.  I literally wrote a fairly involved blog post and the darn thing was just eaten up by the computer (except the intro paragraphs above).  I HATE not having my computer.  I absolutely loathe this teeny-tiny, "let's eat all of dinagideon's hard work up," dumb, *@###-ing computer.  I am just about to cry.  There was a review of the Alpine boots in it, and a rather extensive look at this new necklace I wore today, plus some info on my next post on the Boden Weekly Review Roundup, AND. it. is. all. gone.

I am going to bed.  I will show the pics, I will show the polyvore and I will fill in the blanks on this post when I get over my anger.  (I get angry, you all, it just. takes. a. lot. to get me there.  GRRRRRR.)

You all have a great night.  My Aspire One ACER computer?  I hope you have nightmares, you beast.

Dress: J. Crew Alex Sweater Dress, Size Medium.

Leggings: Madewell Convertible, Size Medium.

Boots: J. Crew Alpine Boots, Size 9.  I will do a review, I promise.  Just not now.  Sob.

Side shot of Gus riding high.  Any of you mommas out there have a belly ride this high?  Seems a bit ridiculous, in my opinion.

I had spent two or three paragraphs explaining how I discovered this jewelry designer in Paris, and how my hunt took on epic proportions once I got back home to find his necklaces here, but alas, it must have not been meant to be.  For what it's worth, it is designed by Tzuri Gueta, and he truly is an artist.  The beads are silicone (!!!) and the cording is silk.  Very unusual, and definitely a statement, especially in this lovely blue/red combo.

Winter Wardrobe: Day Two. by dinagideon featuring stirrup pants

Above is the polyvore, where you can find more info on the individual pieces, including the necklace.

Reminder, Boden did some second cuts on their items in their winter sale.  I explained it more in depth at this post.

;)  I will be back in a better mood tomorrow.  Promise.