Boden: Fifties, Finsbury, and Westminster.

So this is a review/outfit of the day post.  I received the Finsbury dress about two weeks ago and fell in love with it so hard that I eagerly anticipated a night where it was cool enough for me to wear it out and about.  (Also an evening that required such a beautiful dressed-up dress.) 

The weather on Saturday night last was utter perfection, low 70s, low humidity, with just a touch of wind, AND we had church and sushi on the offer, so I knew this was exactly the right evening for the debut of this stunner.

The info on the individual pieces is in the photo, but I will definitely link to the scarf and dress in this post.

This was the outfit as it came together.  The dress without the belt, scarf, clutch, and heels looks fine, but a teeny bit boring.  Having said that, I think this is an ideal dress for a myriad of occasions...because of the plainness of the frock, not in spite of it.

Looking at these photos, I realize the George Nelson bubble lamp really fits the fifties feel of this outfit.  I love that I could have been wearing this dress as is, accessories and all, at the same time as this house was built.

Without the clutch, from the front.  As a pear shape, I love dresses like this, with a fitted bodice and very full skirt.  If I had a choice, I might have reined in the flare a tiny bit on the skirt, but as someone who has to wear spanx with at least 50% of my dresses, it feels good not to have to worry about it.

The dress is exceedingly well crafted, not a thread or stitch out of place and fully lined throughout (excepting the lower sleeve).

The zipper is on the side, if I were to talk with Johnnie myself, I would BEG him to use back zips as side zips can be a struggle to get on or off.  I think if you have a larger chest or shoulders, that side zip will be what prevents you from buying the right size of this dress (you would have to size up to get it to fit over your head and shoulders).  I know that it will be difficult to get on and off.  If me, miss "when will I get some girls" has problems with it, those of you blessed up top will be struggling for sure.

I also read that the cap sleeves felt tight on some women, so another consideration if you carry your weight in your upper torso.

The dress fits very nicely through my shoulders and upper back, but you can see where it is a touch too big in the waist.  No biggie, it doesn't look horrible, in fact, I can't even imagine anyone noticed who was around me.

I wanted to wear a slimmer belt, btw, as a larger belt would have probably been too much of a statement.  I am not saying "no" to that in the future, but it would have looked silly with the rest of the outfit as I had styled it.

The makeup that night is the way I wish my makeup would look every time I wear makeup.

Speaking of my makeup, for those of you that are curious, my Arbonne site is no longer working.  I decided the amount I needed to spend keeping it running wasn't worth it, so I have decided to go back to taking Arbonne orders through my e-mail.  If you are interested in rejoining my e-mail list for monthly specials, you can do so at dinagideon AT aim DOT com.

So do you like the Westminster silk scarf?  Isn't it purdy?  :) 

I didn't even have to pay for it (technically).  I will explain more about that later.  ;)

Close-up of the scarf.  It is all silk, and a twill fabric.  The print is very special, scenes from Westminster itself, with the buildings and the guards in their red regalia.

The fabric of the dress is a wool, with a touch of stretch.  For those of you who buy J. Crew, it is a similar feel to the Super 120s.

The color is off from the one on-line.  Instead of being a bit buttery, I would call this a green/gold.  Of course I love this particular shade of light olive, so no complaints from me.  If this is not your bag (baby), there is a charcoal and black version as well.

I really hope that they keep this style, and bring out new colors each season.  I am telling you, they make it in a mid-orange color, and I will be first in line.  :)

Posing on the sidewalk in Arlington after mass.  The dress still looks fresh and barely wrinkled.

This is such a great photo of Angus.  I cannot believe he is almost six months old!  Crazy!  He is so big, too, wearing the 9 month clothing.

So remember this post from last year, where I showed off a long cashmere cardi coat I was able to buy because I won a gift card award for being the "Boden Publisher of the Month?"  Well, it happened again!!!  I was surprised, but super happy, to find out that I won it again!  :)

This time, the $50 gift card completely covered the cost of the scarf.  And because the scarf is a British based print, I call it fate that I won the award at the same time I had been interested in purchasing this scarf.


Finsbury Wool Dress.  Lovely on its own, but you can see how there is a lot of potential for accessorizing here.


Westminster Silk Scarf.  Vanessa!!! We love you.  :)  Her makeup looks really good with the outfit. 

Okay, all, that's it!  Have any of you tried either item and have some thoughts about either of them?

Have a great night!

P.S.  Don't forget, tonight is the last night of the 25% off September Favourites sale over at Boden.

Jaipur Perfect Shirt and a Mystery Gingham Shirt...Plus a Little Sunshine (Award, That Is)!

I did NOT buy either of these two shirts, but honestly, I was tempted. If they go on sale, ever, I *might* pick one or both of them up. But at full price, no way, Jose.


First up is the Jaipur Perfect shirt. This is on-line and retails full price at $88.00. That is a chunk of change for a shirt I am only somewhat interested in.

I wore it in a size 6, and it fit well. The only reason those last two buttons are unbuttoned is because I was in too much of a hurry to do them all up. Lazy! :)

I found this to be a BEAUTIFUL pattern, and in real life, it has a stunning mix of off-white, lilac, and a deep rose color. What bugged me was how transparent this top was...seems if you have a lighter-colored top, it would make sense to use a thicker fabric than silk-cotton, but who am I to judge? It is way more transparent than the sunshine peonies top, for reference. This will bug a lot of you, I have a feeling.

I did appreciate that the pattern lined up. That shows a nice amount of care went into the creation of this shirt.


Next up is the in-store only color of purple in the gingham shirt. I really REALLY liked this top layered over the tank and with the collar turned up, but I felt like for $69.50 I would need to love it both opened and closed. And I definitely did not. Had this top been $40, I could have swallowed that cost for a top I only wear open and with the collar popped. Not for almost $30 more.


See! I am like a big ole block when it is buttoned-up. NO way, Jose, double time. :)

I am wearing a size 6, very comfy, but no definition through the waist.

I doubt I would be able to get this on-sale. For one, I rarely get to the store and it is in store only, and two, I think this is an insanely popular blouse and will be sold out well before it goes on sale. But if any of you ladies ever in the future get tired of yours and want to sell me in EUC shape, then drop me an e-mail. Thank you from 2011!


Last, but certainly not least, I received an amazingly cute blog award from two sweety-pies, Suzy and Peggy. Their blogs are sunshine to me, so I really am honored to have been honored by them.

If I follow your blog, you have won this award. Seriously. I have something like 100 blogs I follow and every single one of you all bring me joy whenever you publish a post. So thank you, and I expect to see at least some of you accept this award (I doubt, though, that my favorite mid-century modern architecture blogs will be accepting them--LOL). :)

Have a great day. I have two outfits created from a tank and a pair of shoes to show off later today!

Devoted to the Crystal Devoté Necklace...

Up first, before I get into my utter devotion to the (in my humble opinion) beautiful Crystal devoté necklace from J. Crew's Spring 2010 collection, I wanted to tell you all about something cool that has happened for this blog (and some of my other blog friends)...there is a very neat website devoted to shopping called become.com and it has a few blog off-shoots, including a blog called Carnival of Shopping. Every week (on a Wednesday), they write-up in their post about blogs that consumers and interested people can check out if they have specific needs and/or desires. Well, my blog and GingerSnap's blog were listed in today's blog write-up, as was Roxy's Effortless Anthropologie! YAY!!! So go check it out...I found some neat blogs by looking through their archives, and plan to keep reading so I can see what else is out there in blog-land!

Now, for the much anticipated review of the Crystal devoté necklace...aka "J. Crew's nefarious plot to make anyone who buys it look like they have spent their money stupidly." No, I just kid. But based on many (MANY) reactions to the fact that I (horror) spent near full-price on this (well 20% off) bauble...I have now renamed it for this post at least. After this post I will be calling it my "sweet starburst devotion," because that is what I am...devoted to my devoté.

So why am I devoted?


Here goes why:
1. I like the retro look. The starbursts remind me of a necklace that my grandmothers would have worn in the 50s and 60s to make their outfits sing.
2. I happen to think the ribbon looks fun, like a bit of spun sugar enveloping the chains and glass beads. I also know that they can easily be removed by a simple "snip, snip" of the scissors.
3. The weight is not too heavy, although I can see why many would be worried about that.
4. The size is lovely...can be worn with many types of necklines...like the silk tiered-cami (shown above), turtlenecks, under button-downs, etc.
5. The crystal colored version is by far my fave. I can't say I can recommend the black version, as I think the black beads are very jarring in this necklace. But to each his own, and if you love the black beaded version, more power. (I am all about people enjoying what they enjoy...)

The price is a bit much, but based on all the haters of this particular bit of jewelry, I believe this will make it to the sale racks. I believe the crystal colored one will sell out first, and the black beaded version will linger.

I am glad I bought it when I did, near full price or no...I love it that much. And that is okay, because it is my neck it is on, not yours. ;) But if you love it, find it here.

And because it is me, I actually wore the necklace outside. Yes, outside. People besides my family spied the necklace. And, get this. Not one single person fell over at the fact that I wore it! No, contrarily, I got many compliments on it. Imagine.

Okay, enough sarcasm. :)

Catalog Inpiration...with a Twist! by dinagideon featuring J Crew

I wore it with the outfit pictured in the polyvore set above. The tie-front cardigan is so yummy and warm, and because it was a "winter warm" day (yay), I used it as outerwear. The novelty was not lost...I miss our normal (read: not so cold) DC winters.


Sizes:
Cardigan: Size Small.
Top: Size 6.
Pants: Size 8.
Shoes: Size 9.

I did this look because I had seen a similar image in the October 2009 catalog (see the polyvore--tiny image is in there), and fell in love with how nicely the tiered cami and tie-front cardi worked together. Plus the model looked super-pretty in the outfit.


And of course, no real My Superfluities outfit post would be complete without baby CW hamming it up. And there she is...in her version of the "mommy outfit." (I did this, as an homage to the prior night's Project Runway--Thursday, February 18th, 2010 episode--seems to have worked, maybe not as "fashionista," but certainly well enough.)

You all have a great afternoon. Remember, too, that I still ADORE all of you even if you HATE the Crystal devoté necklace. But...here is my message of the day...try out the things you may think won't work...because sometimes they just might. Step out of that comfort zone. ;)

Polyvore's Love Letters...

Untitled by dinagideon featuring J Crew

You all--get this--I was mentioned in Polyvore's blog in their February 19th Polyvore Love Letters-Blog Roundup. I thought, maybe, just maybe, something was up because I kept having this polyvore set of mine faved by all these random (yet incredibly sweet) people. Well, it keeps happening, so today, after the 16th fave (one of my all-time highest number of faves for a set), I clicked over to the Polyvore blog and saw that my set had been written up! (I knew to look at the blog because HeidiG. had one of her polyvore sets on the blog...it has always been my little dream to have one of my sets appear over there!)

Because I have been so insanely busy with Rex's birthday party, having Mr. Dina's parents in town, and the ever-fab DC JCA group get-together on Saturday night, this bit of "awesome" totally bypassed me!

It is a total surprise and makes me so happy! Whee! :)

More today, promise...I have an upcoming post in which I am wearing the tiered silk cami in papaya under the tie-front cashmere cardigan with the Crystal Devote necklace (yes, the one being discussed right now over at JCA).

Talk soon.

2010--Let's Start with an Award and a Look Back...

One of my resolutions is to get on top of any awards that are given to me from other bloggers. It is a really nice thing, and while I take every single award seriously, I find if I don't get to it RIGHT AWAY, it falls through the cracks. NO MORE!!! :) Thank you to the wonderful Eleanor, et. al, over at the very cool Shopping the Closet blog for their interest in me and my blog. So sweet, and your words about my blog and my kids were just perfect as a pick-me-up this week. :)

So here goes:

1. For all my goings on about being a native of Northern Virginia (as much as any of us can claim it), I was born elsewhere, in a small town in California. Yes, teeny-tiny. The big time there every year is a carnival and parade they have in June. It is an absolutely stunning place, really close to the ocean, and the people are super-friendly, but it is not typical CA. It is more typical Missouri than anything else. Definitely nothing like Northern Virginia. My relatives are all still there, so I do get to go back, but it isn't my home and hasn't been for a really long time.

2. I also lived in Germany as a small child. I learned German and English at the same time, which bizarrely makes me "bilingual." Supposedly if you learn two languages that early in life you never lose either language, you just fall out of practice. What's even weirder is I will sometimes think of a German word for a word, instead of the English word. I also dream in German, too. And when I was in the Netherlands, Dutch sounded very interesting to me, because it is a combo of English and German...or at least that is what I think it sounds like.

3. I HATE driving. Like DETEST it. I will only drive if I really have to, or if I have someone in the car for me to focus my attention on (while keeping my eyes on the road). I used TO LOVE driving, but slowly, and surely, the aggression of this area's drivers (not necessarily natives of this area, there are a lot of transplants who came here after college) chipped away at my patience, and now I try to either have others drive me or I walk. Isn't that terrible?

4. You all have already heard about my BIG OLE Don Henley crush, but I didn't tell you that I found Phil Collins cute, have I? Yeah, I know. There are others. I will wait till the next "spill your guts" award to tell you more of these oddball crushes I have had.

5. I am attracted to shiny things, just like a magpie.

6. I love my kids, clearly, but I don't really have a saint's patience, so sometimes when I get exasperated with them, I put them in their cribs, walk away, and take 5 whole minutes to collect myself. It has made a world of difference. At first I got really upset at myself, but then I started reading that other mom's do this too, and I felt better. So here I am to tell you all that if you are mom, it is okay to do similar. (I don't leave the house, I literally just go into the next room and wash my face or something...)

7. I am keeping the ruffled Carly dress. I said I was going to return it to keep the money, but my husband says my legs look nice in the dress and says that if the dress makes me feel good, then I need to keep it!!! YAY! Love it!!! :) Plus, he loves LEGOS. Teehee.

Now it's your turn...I am tagging:

1. HeidiG. at Head to Toe with Heidi, my girl numero uno!

2. Drewablank at This, That, and What Not...I miss seeing her and this blog allows me to connect with her at least a bit!!!

3. Slastena at About All and Nothing At All...SWAK to a new mom, I obviously was there when I started my blog, and she was there for me back then...

4. Ema at My Closet, My Baby, and I...such a cutie with a great sense of style!

and in honor of her 1 year blogoversary:

5. Chanel Fashionista at Chanel Fashionista...this isn't because I won a gift today, but to say thank you for a great year!!! :) But thank you for the gift, so very cool!!!

There are so many others, and I love to spread the wealth, so the next time I win an award, I will nominate a whole new crowd of blogs.

Now, let's move onto the Year Behind Us, aka 2009:

I started this blog on January 15, 2009, when I was four months postpartum. It is January 1, 2010, today, and I am now 16 months postpartum. Heehee.

In that time, my style, my body, and my life have changed for the better, completely due to this blog.

I am going to give you an overview of my "style transformation" as I like to call it in a bit, but I want you all to know that as of today I am THREE pounds away from my goal weight. YAY! So over the last nearly twelve months I have lost nearly 25 pounds of baby weight (that doesn't include what I lost before I started this blog).

My life, well, clearly I enjoy spending time writing on blogs. I have two substantive blogs, and two other more utilitarian blogs (one for polyvore and one for selling clothing). I have learned in this year that not everyone is going to like me, not everyone is going to like my clothing choices, and not everyone is nice (that was really hard for me to understand). But I did also learn that there is a great amount of amazing folks out there...and I am fortunate enough to have most of my blog audience be these really awesome folks. You all humble me daily when you turn out to cheer me on, talk with me about really random stuff, appreciate our shared obsessions with J. Crew or Boden, and be my best bloggie friends ever. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.
My style? I started this seriously only thinking three or maybe four people would want to talk with me about my style. My early blog followers (Maggy, swak for being one of the very earliest) really really kept me going. Fashion on this postpartum body was very hard to find...some days I was SQUEEZING into something and feeling terrible about it. But then by spending time over at other blogs and seeing what others had to offer, I found some pretty darn awesome looks. There were some clunkers along the way (HeidiG., lame outfit???) but the vast majority were just somewhere in between, perfect mom on the go wear...not mom jeans territory, but you know, this mom is giving it some effort today.

But who does a let's start the New Year post with just "okay?" Nope, not me.

Here are my FAVORITE looks from this year. (I don't have the photos, many are stored in my external hard drive, so you will have to click over to see my choices...plus that keeps it mysterious.) :)

1. 1/15/09--First outfit ever, and even though I was 25 pounds heavier, I think I did a nice job of finding an outfit that looked good with my momma curves. (Featuring the Merino Wave Cardigan.) Oh, and, my goodness, CW IS SO TINY!!!

2. 2/1/09--The day I really played with color. Bright, saturated yellow with a tomato red turned out to be a nice combo. Plus my hair is the winter red, and I now think I like my winter red. (Which is taking longer to appear this year.) (Featuring the amazing Sybil Double Cloth Coat.)

3. 2/12/09--Shimmery in February. I wore this to dinner with my husband and babies. I had lost some weight and I was thrilled by how well the outfit turned out. Still am... (Featuring the Maggie Peacock Jacket.)

4. 3/8/09--Teals and Browns make a nice combo, who knew? (Featuring the merino snow leopard Tartine cardigan.)

5. 3/27/09--Florals and Citron are good colors for my skin tone. I am not sure this was my most popular outfit, but I like the way I looked in it. (Featuring and Ann Taylor Loft Floral Print Top.) Rex's fashion? Hmm... :P

6. 4/30/09--The Cerise Pants (the bright red ones) come out to play. They are bright, but they work with the mix of grey and white. (Featuring the Cerise pants, heehee.)

7. 5/5/09--Tonal Olive...worn to a movie. Wasn't sure but I liked it. Got back from the movies and something like 20 of you had commented you loved it. SCORE!!! :) (Featuring the Olive Victoria Cami.)

8. 6/4/09--Very controversial but this is the ruffled cotton sateen dress in dark mushroom. I liked it and so did many of you...but this may be one of the first time I realized not everyone likes what I feel comfortable with...one of many to come. Smile. I do want to point out that I feel confident that this is a good look for me, and I feel like that is HUGE. (Featuring the Ruffled Cotton Sateen Dress...natch.)

9. 6/11/09--The day I wore some Boden. Love the tunic, love the citron and brown combo. Still love them and will wear the same pieces next year, regardless if they may be a bit loose. :) There are always tailors. (Featuring the silk tunic from Boden.)

10. 9/7/09--I liked the looks from the summer, but I didn't LOVE LOVE them enough to make this list. So onto September I go. This was the day I showed the outfit that I wore to go to the White House in...with my fabulous bloggie friends. Very ladies who lunch, this get-up. (Featuring the Twist Sash Dress.)

11. 10/2/09--Ooh, purple and yellow. Yes, the perfect pencil skirt in plum...nuff said. :) (Featuring the perfect pencil skirt in plum.)

12. 10/7/09--This was the post on the amazing on-line personal shopper I have. She found this dress for me, and when I got it, it felt like I had met my clothing soul-mate. (Featuring the shimmer paisley lawn dress.)

13. 12/3/09--I felt like a Parisian lady in this get-up. (Featuring the vintage tiered fleur top.)

14. 12/12/09--Oh, these pastels plus a punch of yellow? Lovely. (Featuring the Winnie Coat.)

That is all for now. And here is to a whole new Year. Thank you, all. ;)