OOTDs: Made by Me May. So Far.

I already posted one photo from May, in which I wore a handmade item, here at this post.  Then the crazy came, in the form of a fever that lasted four days (me, up to 103!), a Communion suit that needed completing, and a pair of dresses I needed to sew up for a post at Fabric Mart.

I still wore "me made" items, I just didn't get around to posting them here until today.  So below are a couple weeks worth of ootds all featuring handmade items.  (For more on Me Made May*, check out this blog post.)

*Ugh, hate the term "me made." It goes against every fiber of my Language Arts teaching degree.  Sigh.  I do like the idea behind it, though.  Wish it was called "made by me" May.

I didn't photograph everything with my nice camera, but I usually tried to capture all outfits here at Instagram, so there are probably a few there that you won't see here.

Okay, here goes, and in order of date worn...

Day: Saturday, May 2, 2015.

Where:  A Bar Mitzvah and a Communion Retreat.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This dress is so wonderful, I am glad I spent the time working on it last year to exactly fit my shape.  The cotton sateen has a touch of stretch and it is lined in a stretch silky knitted material.  It's like heaven in the form of a dress.  :-)

Outfit Details:  Dress, handmade (using Burda 7137); Necklace and shoes, J. Crew.

Anecdote of the Day:  The Bar Mitzvah was beautiful and I am so glad I was able to make it for at least part of the ceremony to see my friend's son participate in this very special occasion.  I then went to my son's Communion retreat to volunteer, and halfway through, I got very chilled and couldn't bend down without it hurting.  I asked everyone if they were cold too and no one else was.  My spidey sense went crazy and I suspected a fever (both boys had it earlier that week).  Little did I know it would be a four day fever that wouldn't break.  I finally had to go to urgent care on Tuesday.  I didn't have the flu, I didn't have pneumonia, and I didn't have strep.  I just had something.  Ugh.

Instagram here.

Day: Wednesday, May 7, 2015.

Where:  G Street Fabrics and School Pickup.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I feel like such a broken record, but man these handmade dresses are all so easy to wear.  I also really love these new sandals from J. Crew that were kind of a "whim" purchase.  They really are very vibrant in real life and fit well (I did size down to a 9 from my normal 9.5 since I have very narrow feet and I know the 10 would have fallen off of me).

Outfit Details:  Dress, handmade (using Simplicity A1636--may be available at Walmart, too); Malta Crackled Leather Sandals, here at  J. Crew; Cardigan, Boden; Necklace, gift.

Anecdote of the Day:  I went to G Street hoping to buy a bunch of pressing supplies I needed, like a tailor's board or a sleeve roll, but the walls in the notions department were EMPTY.  I am getting really concerned that the beloved G Street is going down, and will soon shutter its doors.  I really really hope not, as much as I love online fabric shops, I adore G Street for his selections of beautiful high end fabrics and its gorgeous selection of notions (normally).  And they have the most amazing vintage buttons for sale.

Instagram here.

Day: Sunday, May 10, 2015.

Where:  Mother's Day and some time with my Grandpa.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  My matchy match dress with my daughter (last worn Easter) was more comfortable this time around.  I have washed it since the last wear, so maybe that is why it is more comfortable.  Hmmm.

Outfit Details:  Dress, handmade (using New Look 6262); Necklace, J. Crew.

Anecdote of the Day:  So my Grandpa came to visit for a few weeks, and on Mother's Day, my dad was part of an "intermission" play at the local community theater.  We went to go see him first (where my Grandpa declared that my dad's performance was far better than the rest of the actors, lol, of course he said that), and then we headed off to a very late lunch.  Just a nice time all around.

Instagram here of Grandpa and me.
Another Instagram here of the kids and me.

Day: Monday, May 11, 2015.

Where:  Subbing Kindergarten.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This printed linen dress was perfect for the very hot and humid day that Monday was, and I felt exactly right, not too hot, and definitely not too cold. 

Outfit Details:  Dress, handmade (using Vogue 8615); Sandals, Boden; Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day:  There isn't much to say other than Kindergarten kids are a whole box of energy.  I stayed on top of the situation, but man, I always sleep well the nights I sub the little ones.

Instagram here.

Day: Tuesday, May 12, 2015.

Where:  Subbing Kindergarten.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I love this skirt, but I have to say it felt a bit short for wearing that day, though I realize it is fairly modest.  We went to church and I prefer skirts and dresses to hit right at the knee.

Outfit Details:  Skirt, handmade (using Simplicity 1887); Top, J. Crew Factory; Sandals, Saltwater; Sunglasses, Anthropologie; Bag, Hobo, Intl.

Anecdote of the Day:  We had the May procession and living rosary at school that day.  It was awesome.  The Kindergartners even managed to pay attention the whole time!

Instagram here.

Day: Wednesday, May 13, 2015.

Where:  Subbing Kindergarten.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  The voile of the blouse is very soft and feels so nice against the skin.  Love this shirt so much. The Esska sandals are the best, very secure on the foot, and a nice, cushioned footbed.  I wish more American retailers would sell this brand.

Outfit Details:  Shirt, handmade (using vintage Simplicity 9559); Turner Pants, here at J. Crew; Sandals, Esska; Glasses, Madewell.

Anecdote of the Day:  Another day of subbing!  Not much to add to that. :-)

Instagram here.

Day: Thursday, May 14, 2015.

Where:  Subbing Kindergarten.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) For a dress that didn't take me long to sew up, it sure feels great on, and though fitted, it isn't so skintight as to be innapropriate. The J. Crew Factory version of the Malta Sandals (you saw those in green above) fit exactly like the retail version, nice and fitted in the size down from my normal 9.5.

Outfit Details:  Dress, handmade (using McCall's 6886--you'll notice the photo has the knitted version of my fabric from the Burda dress at the top of the post!); Factory Raffia Boardwalk Sandals, available here at J. Crew Factory.

Anecdote of the Day:  Last day of subbing.  I was glad to have Friday off.

Instagram here.

And for those of you curious, here is a link to my son's Communion suit review (will eventually blog about it here), a link to the Lilly Pulitzer inspired dresses I made for the Fabric Mart blog post (will also include those in an ootd post), and a link to the instagram of today's outfit (which will not be published here).

Hope you all have a great day!

Made by Me Files: Vogue 8915 (Neon Tropical Print Shift Dress) and McCall's 6875 (Enchanted Tea Party Dress).

First up will be the Vogue 8915 Neon Tropical Print Shift Dress, followed by the McCall's 6875 Enchanted Tea Party Dress.

After a few fairly intense sewing projects, I wanted a dress or skirt or top that I could easily sew up for myself, made from a summer friendly fabric.  I ended up deciding on this dress made from Vogue's 8915, which is for a simple shift dress with no facings, and no set-in sleeves.

But because I am me, I made this project take at least three times as long as it should, because I can't ever just be satisfied.  ;-)

What you see above should have taken a day *tops* to create, but with me fussing over every detail, it took me around three days of pattern alterations, choosing pattern layouts on the fabric, sewing the underlining to the main fabric, basting the pieces together for fitting, adding an invisible zipper, finishing the sewing, facing the neckline with a rayon binding instead of just turning and stitching, hemming the armholes and hem, and finally finishing off all the seams with a zigzag stitch.

Having said all that, I wouldn't do it any differently, since I quite like the end product. There are tiny things I would change in retrospect, but I think the extra time was worth it.

Side view.  Do not think for a moment this dress is meant to be anything other than a very easy dress that has little in the way of shaping.  For summer, I don't mind a fitted dress, but sometimes owning a dress that sits away from the body in a breathable fabric is even better.

The length is great, I am happy with where it fell on my body.  I think they had a pretty generous hem allowance, but at 5'8", I knew that making a 3/4" inch hem would be fine (I turned the hem up 3/8" and then again an additional 3/8" so that the linen would be fully enclosed and wouldn't ravel).

Originally my plan was to have those black leaves be at the hemline as a cool border print effect (bonus, the selvedge edge runs below it which would have meant that I could have had a touch longer hemline since I don't have to turn it up as much since the selvedge edge doesn't unravel).

I was sent this piece of fabric from Fabric Mart in one of their "craft bundles," which means the biggest piece you will receive in any bundle will be around 1.5 yards.  This one came at 1.25 yards, which would have fit round my body and been long enough to place the pattern pieces from selvedge edge to selvedge edge (or the straight of grain arrow perpendicular to the selvedge), but because of the kimono style sleeves, the pattern pieces were just a bit too wide to place them that way.  Sad!

So I placed the pieces the traditional manner, with the straight of grain arrow placed how it should be, parallel to the selvedge grain, and noticed that even that way, I still didn't have enough fabric to place both pieces on the fold.  Sigh.  So I cut out the back pattern pieces as two separate pieces with a 5/8" seam at the center back so I could insert a zip.  Don't cry for me, though, since the zip is genius and makes getting in and out of this dress SO easy.  :-)  I don't know that I will ever place this pattern's back on the fold again since the zip is perfection.  (Well, okay, if it's a knit I will since a zip in a stretchy knit is overkill.)

The print looks kind of odd on the back, but it does look intentional and kind of arty, so I'll take it.

Sizing is important here, I went with a small through the shoulders, bust, and waist, but tapered out (using my hip curve ruler) to a size medium.  That still felt a touch too tight at 5/8", so I went ahead and made all my side seams below the waist at 3/8".  I was worried that I chose the wrong pattern size for my skirt, but the medium's ease was more than generous for my pear shape.  Next time I may cut an extra small in the neckline, it felt a bit big there, especially through the back neck.

Belting helps with the shape, but raises the hemline.  Since I was going to Mother's Day mass in this, I wanted to have a bit more coverage.  Will definitely belt this the next time I wear it to give it a different look.  Not going to belt it every time, because it is so comfortable without!

The pockets are fab and placed in a perfect position.  I found myself using them to place my hands all evening.  They are deep enough for a phone and keys and change if that is what you use pockets for, but I carry a bag with me at all times, so I rarely ever use my pockets for that purpose.

You can find the Tropical Riviera Linen Print fabric here--last few yards, though--and since I wasn't super sure that it wouldn't be see-through when wearing it, I underlined it with a Kaufman handkerchief linen I found at fabric.com (you can see it here).  Both fabrics are a cotton/linen blend, so they worked very nicely together.

There was a little bit of wrinkling in the skirt, but minimal compared to what I have seen in linens in the past.  The print helps disguise some of it, too.

I hand-hemmed the armhole hem.  The stitching here is attached to the underlining so it doesn't show on the main fabric.  You can see the original stitching line where I attached the underlining fabric to the main fabric.  It ended up being a great hem marking (roughly 3/8") for the armhole.

Detail of fabric and invisible zip.  You can see where the neckline looks a bit generous.  I mentioned sizing down to an extra small in the neckline next time, but I may also end up deciding to keep the small but adding darts to the upper back, which I have found help me with fit in other patterns, and also look quite posh.

You cans see the rayon seam binding I used as a "facing/support" in the neckline.  I hate wavy necklines, and I felt like if I just turned and stitched the neckline as instructed in the directions, I would have ended up with a wavy, gaping neckline, and since I find most necklines are too big on me anyway, I didn't want to exasperate this issue by not properly finishing the neckline.  Plus the orange rayon binding (vintage like these from an etsy dealer) looks really pretty with the fabric.

You can see how the zip's seam is from the selvedge, so bonus there, no need to finish those seams!

All in all, I can highly recommend this pattern, but bear in mind that if you do it my way it goes from being Very Easy Vogue to somewhere a bit less easy.

This is the dress I made for CW for Easter.  I had chosen the fabric back in December (Riley Blake's Enchanted Tea Party in Lime, here at fabric.com) specifically for Easter since it features a darling little bunny having tea with Little Red Riding Hood.  I didn't know which pattern I would use, I just knew I would make her a dress from this fabric.

After all was said and done the dress ended up being even more perfect for CW since the dress was used again for her school's Manners Tea, where her class read the play "Red Riding Hood."  Umm, hello?  Red Riding Hood was at the tea table with the bunny on her dress.  LOL.  Serendipity, people, serendipity.

The pattern I ended up using was McCall's 6875, which features two styles of  "traditional" girls dresses.  I went with the plainer version, and even after making it up made it even more plain by leaving off the hem band (would have been made from the same fabric as you see in the waistband) and by not adding a long extended tie back to the waistband.

This pattern also has a pattern for a doll dress (same size as all her American girls), but I have yet to make it.  I do have enough fabric, though.

I made this dress in a size 7 (like to size up for a bit more wear, this will fit her until she is 7 at least).  I ended up making the skirt with the size 7 length but the size 5 width since the pattern piece for the size 7 was too wide to fit on the quilting cotton's width of 44 inches.  Whatever.  The skirt was to be gathered and full, so ultimately the size matters very little, unless you really really want to gather that extra two or three inches of extra width.  I frankly am not the biggest fan of gathering, since it takes. SO. LONG, but I love the results, so I am always willing to do it.  Anyhow, you can tell the skirt is still plenty full and very gathered at the slimmer width, so I suggest you do that, too, especially if you are using a fabric whose width is under 50 inches.

The waistband is meant to sort of be a bit more free (you aren't supposed to topstitch it down to the bodice--I only topstitched it to the main fabric, not the lining, fwiw).  I think the deal is you would use the tie end to get the waistband to fit nice and snug, but since I wanted no tie end, I needed the waistband to fit properly from the get-go.  Figuring out how to make that work when the instructions where telling me something else was a bit of a mind-bender, but not totally out of my skill set, either.

I think it is really important to make sure the back waistband lines up properly if you choose to do what I did, since it would be really obvious if the pieces didn't line up.  I managed that, and in my first attempt with a plaid, I even managed to get the plaid's pattern to sort of line up at the seam junction.  (Not intentional, really, pure luck.  LOL.  I'll take it, though.)

Close up of the gathers, waistband, and the adorable print.

I was asked by McCall's at my Pattern Review review of this dress if I would be okay with them publishing this version of the pattern at their Facebook page, and of course I was all, "umm, yeah, of course!"  I can't believe that they noticed my version.  I am pretty excited! UPDATE: It made it on the facebook page. Yay!

BTW, if you want to try the girls pattern, I suggest going over to As Reasonable As Can Be Expected.  She has a lot of versions of this dress, and I found her work to be very helpful to me in the early stages of sewing this up.

Okay, that's it for now.  Anyone else give these patterns a go?  

My reviews of these two patterns at Pattern Review can be found here for the Vogue dress, and here for the McCall's dress.

OOTD/Review: Boden Lace Dress.

Lace Dress.  Size 8 Long.  I initially spied this beauty back during the summer preview (original post here) and even though they didn't have the garment measurements up (grr, Boden, grr), I took a chance and pre-ordered the size 8 long, hoping that it wouldn't be too tight in the hips, or (more likely as of late) too large overall, especially in the bodice.

Summer 2013 rolls out and I think, "goody, I get the dress soon."  Nope, hold on...it looks like all colors and sizes are on deep backorder, which means that all of us in love with this dress will need to hold off until mid-April, at the earliest.

Upon receiving it (exactly when they said I would receive it), I grabbed it, tried it on, did a teeny squeal of excitement, and ran out to my dad (was helping with pickup of the kids that day) to show him its gorgeousness.

My dad immediately declared it a winner.  And although I really wanted to wear it as soon as I could, I knew I had to wait for the exact right occasion, which this spring is Mother's Day.

In a surprise twist from Boden, they made the bodice just big enough (without being too large for my smaller upper body) while keeping the hips more a-line, however not sacrificing the pencil shape.  The waist is exactly right for my body, with about an inch of ease, I feel good, but also know that the waist is defined enough to highlight my curves.

The length if fab, hitting right on my mid-kneecap.

I would say that for all of you interested in this one to size for your waist, since this seems to be where the smallest measurement is, plus it is a grosgrain ribbon, which is not stretchy at all, unlike the cotton lace and cotton lining which has at least some stretch (not jersey stretch, of course, just a bit of flexibility).

I have a very high waist and the waistband sits right on it.  Usually in talls, this means I have to sacrifice the right placement for my waist in order to get the length, but this dress was not fashioned with a longer bodice (which means if you have a long torso, this dress may not work for you).

That bump there at the top of my bottom is the zipper.  Good news, it is a back zip, which means easy access as you can put the dress by stepping into it.  Bad news for my shape is that it sticks out a bit, since I suspect I may have a bit of a sway back (didn't even know what that was until I started sewing...now I see it everywhere and am very aware when the garment doesn't quite work with my particular posture).

Now that bump didn't even come close to bothering me, didn't even notice it until I was editing the photos.

Back view.  The slit is accommodating without being too high, nice for moving around.

Word about the lining, it is the same lovely yellow of the lace, so you get a whole lot of "bright" when wearing it.  I happen to love insane bright colors like this, but if you are not a fan, the dress also comes in a white and navy.

The lace is delicate, so please do take care when wearing it.  I accidentally brushed up against the wooden pew at my church and managed to snag a very small bit of thread.  Nothing is wrong with the dress since the damage was miniscule, but just wanted you all to be aware.


Lace Dress.  The model looks so good in it.  The yellow is not quite as bright as in this photo, but still very "happy."  :)

I think the price is high, but I can see why it is so expensive when looking at the detailing throughout, from the cotton lace and fabric to the careful way they enclosed seams and the hem.

Day: Sunday, May 12, 2013.

Where: Mother's Day Mass.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I am giving this very girly and lacy dress a whole 4 points since I could have kept wearing it all day.  I wanted to wear it at least once more before I had to take it to the cleaners (definitely dry clean), so I took it off right after the photo of the kids and me was taken.

The lace is delicate, as I mentioned above, so I deducted a point for that since you can't really *do it all* in this dress.

Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) Hmm. Lace is in, yellow is in, but this frock is probably too mumsy and conservative to be cool.  Do not care.  ;)  The invitation clutch is amazing and really is exactly the right bag for the outfit, and I think that particular piece is cool, so maybe the combo is bumped up from its inclusion?

Anecdote from the day:  My children (specifically CW) gave me a Barbie card for Mother's Day.  Inside the card was a sticker declaring me the "Best Mom Ever."  I totally wore that the entire day.  ;)

Mass was awesome, the kids were really well-behaved, and they didn't even have their coloring books or crayons with them.  I suspect they knew that since it was Mother's Day, it probably wasn't the best time for them to act up, even though they had no diversions.  (Still, those diversions don't bother me--Mr. Dina just forgot them in the car.)

I came home after getting some champagne and fresh-squeezed orange juice (mimosa, mmmm) and while the two oldest, my dad, and Mr. Dina went to a baseball game, and Angus slept, I enjoyed maybe one or two or three glasses.  ;)

Okay, that's it for now.

Happy Mother's Day, btw, to all my favorite moms and moms-to-be out there!

BTW, today marks the start of another set of trim items over at Boden.  This week there are many "high summer" items, including the Harbour Island Dress, which was one of my picks.  I believe I may be ordering that this week. 

If you use the sidebar coupon (below, as well), you will receive an additional 15% off, which equals about 32% off total.

J. Crew: A "Fabiola" Mother's Day.

Oh, I feel so very timely publishing my Mother's Day outfit two days before Father's Day.  Yes, that's me, Miss Punctuality.  :P

Anyhow, I had a really nice Mother's Day, from the beginning to the end.

A few things helped bring me to this happy place.

1. We went to church on Saturday afternoon.  My kids were awful (shocker--lol, not) and of course, because I am high strung (shocker--lol, not) I was in a foul mood after church.  But Saturday wasn't Mother's Day, Sunday was, so I was able to sleep off my anxiety that my kids will always be just that terrible in public places (I am so dire in my predictions that I can see them at 46 dropping the kneelers and cackling LOUDLY about it).

2. Mr. Dina went to the grocery store first thing and got a few items for me.  Most mommas want brunch...I told him, "nah, just get me some dry champagne, a bottle of orange/mango juice, and a grande breve latte and banana bread from Starbucks instead."  Which he did.  Yum.

3. After that Mr. Dina took the two oldest to DC to allow Angus and me an opportunity to bond.  Angus gave me the most precious gift, though, that of him sleeping for four hours so I could drink my mimosas in peace (pic of mimosa at the bottom).  Okay, I stopped after two mimosas, I still needed to you know, walk straight and all, but ahh...bliss! 

4. That evening we all went out (including with my stepmom and my dad) to my favorite Ethiopian restaurant, Meaza, for a delicious feast.  Mmm, love the food at Meaza.

So that was my recipe for a wonderful Mother's Day.  (Probably my recipe for any awesome day, really, anywhere, any time.  Even if I was traveling I would still view a day like this as pretty darn close to perfect.)  :)

If you open up the pic, you will see the info on the pieces.  :)

I did a review of the Fabiola dress in abstract leopard here, though, if you like it and want to know more on sizing (still is available though sizes are limited).

The rest of the pieces are old, old, old, though, and probably are best acquired through ebay if you like them.

I love that the Fabiola dress has pockets.  I actually use my dress pockets, but only for my hands.  Do any of you all use your pockets for actually holding things?

Hand on hip.  I felt nice in this get-up, and pretty comfortable.  I have to give J. Crew a big thumbs up for this dress design, it is at once sleek and fitted, but the tulip shaped skirt allows for the hips and thighs to have a bit of breathing room (and no spanx needed, holla!).

To top off the perfection of the day, my own personal holy grail was achieved.  My children actually posed for a picture and looked sweet, smiley, and adorable.  (Angus slept again, for the fifth time that day.)  :)

CW and Rex are even in their favorite mini Boden pieces, CW in a frock from last year and Rex in the Rough Appliqué T-shirt from this year.

I wish I could start every day with a mimosa made from extra dry Korbel and orange/mango juice.  I give major props to Mr. Dina, btw.  He doesn't drink alcohol at all (!!!) and yet managed to get the perfect champagne for me, it was exactly the right dry taste with lots of flavor, too.  (I was at the grocery store two days later and the guys who stock the shelves in wine and beer noticed that I was choosing that champagne and complimented me on my choice--I told them my hubby had gotten it for me for Mother's Day and they were all, "that's a good man.")

A "Fabiola" Mother's Day. by dinagideon featuring patent handbags

Above is the polyvore of the outfit.

If you had to define your perfect day, what would your recipe be?  Would you involve champagne, too?  ;)

Have a wonderful Friday!!!

J. Crew: If It Came Back Today, Would You Wear It? (Mother's Day Edition.)

Hi, everyone! Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone is having a lovely one, whether you are a mom, a daughter, a sister, a husband, a son, a brother, etc. :) Since I didn't grow up with a mom (she was alive, just not in my life until well into my adulthood), I have many people I celebrate on Mother's Day...including my dad. So there you go. Just putting that PSA out there...think outside the box when it comes to celebrating the generosity of people who choose to raise other people.

Okay, so it has been forever since I did a "Would You Wear It if It J. Crew Made It Today" post. I figured you all would understand my inability to get my act together and get one of these out there within the past two month, lol.  (Oh, and on that note, happy seven weeks, Angus!)

So I decided to go through my collection of J. Crew catalogs to find "mother/child" images, and amazingly they were kind of hard to find. There are a few out there, but I must be thinking of crewcuts catalogs when I think of child-centered images. (BTW, crewcuts catalogs don't have the parents, I thought they did, but I was mistaken.)

There are more than the two that I found, but I didn't have the energy to sort through all the catalogs. :) I think it will be fine, though.

Neither of the images I found are super old, but they are both from enough long ago that I figure they can be under the microscope of "would I ever wear that again?"

This image shows what I assume is the "mom" figure model, and the cutie pie "daughter" figure model (she has aged out of crewcuts, btw, haven't seen her in a while) posing on a deserted road in Iceland.  Now, since I had been in Iceland in 1998, I was all into this catalog.  I loved seeing the barren, treeless landscapes and the clever ways they chose to shoot the natural scenery (the cover is the best--its image is next).

*BTW, it is hard for me to suspend disbelief in these sort of images...the model is super young and the girl is at least 8, making me think, "yeah, that's supposed to be her mom, but all I can see is a much older sister."  Anyone else think that too?

Here's the thing...would I wear the outfits portrayed in the pages today (in the winter, clearly, not literally today)?  For the most part the answer is a resounding yes.  This catalog is from the Holiday 2008 catalog and J. Crew really was putting out some fab pieces, including Borge Gaveri handbags, gorgeous, well made coats, and some beyond adorable heels (Alessias, yum) which means I easily understood why a whole community would have grown out of this brand.

This outfit the model wears is a bit layered, but not messy.  The only thing I personally would do differently is tuck in my tee-shirt and not wear that skull cap (I would probably try to find a wool cloche).

I actually own the coat, and love it.  It is really pretty and classic.  The fabric has a slight peppery look to it (looks like a pepper shaker was shaken over the fabric) that reminds me a lot of fabrics they use on mid-century modern furniture.

I really would love for CW to have the jacket pictured on the daughter, but maybe I will luck out and find it one day on ebay (unless one of you all have one laying around).

 And there it is, the amazing photo of the already stunning Icelandic landscape.  I want to be there.

Okay, since Mother's Day is in summer for most of us, I thought it more appropriate to choose an image with summer clothing. 

This model "mom" is the same model from Iceland, but they let her natural hair fly and aren't covering her up as much (she goes really bare on the cover, oh, my, check it out next).  I don't know if the model "daughter" is the same as the one above, but I don't think so, she looks enough different that I think not.  I do know this model is named Bella and used to be all over the crewcuts catalog, along with her brother Roman (they did a spread on their Christmas wish list in one of the holiday catalogs from last year which is how I know their names).  Bella is like the model daughter above in that she is no longer in the catalogs (she is probably old enough to really "model" now).

So would I wear this outfit?  This one is eh, maybe not, but not because of the styling.  I personally dislike linen pants because they wrinkle so terribly, and I don't really like that necklace, but I know many JCAs who love it.  The stripe popover is cute, but again, not really my thing. 

However, if those were cotton pants, a Liberty print shirt, and another necklace, I would likely say yes...no real over the top craziness on Jenna Lyon's part here, just simple, easy, preppy styling.  (And considering this is from the summer of 2009, right before really crazy styling started, it seems it was a last Nantucket themed, seersucker loving, prep gasp on J. Crew's part, too.)

Oh, yeah, Momma (chortle, "Momma"), you bare it all.  She may have a bandeau bikini top on...but maybe Momma had some mimosas and said, "screw it, we're going skinny dipping."

Okay, that's all.  I ask of you now...would you wear it?  Extra points if you "bare" whether or not you would wear the one featured on the July 2009 cover.  ;)

Mother's Day...

Although ubiquitous, I feel I needed to have a Mother's Day post, even if it is only a post for me (and for mothers out there who feel similar)! :)

There are times I look at you both, Rex and CW, and I just desperately wish that I could grow up with you and be a peer of yours. You both are so much fun, so sweet, so smile-y, I KNOW without a doubt you both would be amazing to hang out with...

And then I remember...I needed to grow up and be a product of mothering (or fathering, in my case) myself to be the sort of person who would be capable of raising children who would be the kind of kids other people want to be around.

So even though I won't grow up with you, you both are the proof that good things exist in this world, and it comes from the passion only parents ever understand. So to that end, I thank you, Dad, for raising me to be the sort of mother that has allowed both Rex and CW to shine.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

So this is What Mother's Day Looked Like this Year!

If you have spent anytime at Polyvore this week, you have seen my outfit for Mother's Day. Somehow it was one of the most "popular" this week because it hung out in the "popular" section of the various groups I published it to. Well, yay!

I actually loved wearing this outfit last Sunday. It was AMAZINGLY gorgeous here. In this area we typically go from yucky, cool, rainy weather to HOT AND HUMID overnight. If we are lucky we squeeze in two or three days of perfection. That was what we had last Sunday. It was 75 degrees and sunny. I think God was blessing all us moms in the DC area. So, thank you, God...we totally appreciated it!

Here is the polyvore:


Mother's Day 2009! by dinagideon featuring J Crew Clothing



Here is the full-length. I am standing next to my brother. We are at my church. Peter and I and my dad have been going to this church since I was 10. I even went to grade school here. One day maybe my own kids can go here (we are still members). I would even love to teach here one day. We'll see! :)

I loved this outfit because it was the right amount of color, fabric, and accessories for the day. The one warning I have is about the shoes. Rex decided to sit on the poor sandals and the turtle fell off. Sad! They are not put on the sandals quite in the same way as the starfish from the other Miss Trish of Capri for Target sandals I own. So I have had to buy some heavy-duty glue to place the turtle back on...

The dress is older, from last year J. Crew. It is very comfy. I bought a medium because I wanted it to fit longer. It is like wearing a really long polo shirt.

The necklace is the very pretty vintage daffodil necklace made by DianaP. The dress was the perfect backdrop for the necklace. I received a million compliments on the necklace from people last Sunday!!! (DianaP.--you have yourself a great idea here...)


Here I am with the kids in Bethesda. After church we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Louisiana Kitchen (which replaced Louisiana Express when it closed). The current Louisiana Kitchen is in a different location but serves almost the same menu. If you LOVE Cajun food, this is the best place to get it in this area. It is very similar to the food you can find in the New Orleans area. Mmmm. I do spend quite a bit of time down there as that is where Mr. Dina is from (actually SW Mississippi--but pretty darn close). Our favorite restaurant in New Orleans is Mother's and although Louisiana Kitchen doesn't have the menu of Mother's, it is almost as good!

After Louisiana Express, we went and explored the Bethesda Arts Show. We even ended up buying an original piece of art...a 3D Robot Face (it is too hard to explain--I'll just have to get a pic up at some point).

All in all, a great day!

You all have a great Sunday, too!