OOTD: Halston Heritage and Retro Boden.

Good day, and Happy New Year, everyone!

Trying to start the new year off right by actually posting an ootd on the day I wear it, let's see how long this lasts.  LOL.  I give it a week.  ;-)

Find this darling "i heart Virginia" necklace here.  Read more about why I wanted this necklace from tru.che's etsy shop and not urban outfitters here.  I was so annoyed for tru.che that I immediately told my husband that this necklace would be a great Christmas present.  (He listened!)  I know the story of tru.che versus urban outfitters is old, but I feel like you can still show your support years in the future.

Day: Wednesday, January 1, 2014.

Where: Brunch at Louisiana Kitchen (home of the yummy Cajun martini) and my hubby's favorite comic book shop.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear) Felt great in all the pieces.  Was a bit concerned that I wouldn't fit into the Boden dress since it had been years and one full grown baby boy since I had last worn it.  All fears were quelled once I found it slipped right on without any puckering or uncomfortable pinching.  Yay!  I made it a goal to not gain weight in Mississippi (no particular goals to lose weight, though) and was glad to find that the scale showed that I had kept my goal. 

The Halston Heritage coat is sublime, made from a cashmere/wool blend and lined in silk.  I found it at Mint Condition for a LOT LOT less than it originally cost at Net-a-Porter, so woo and hoo for a pretty, unique coat that keeps me warm, too.

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) Lovely, perfectly put-together ensemble.  Bit mumsy overall to be "cool," but the coat and sunglasses help a bit.

Anecdote from the Day:  Not much to report, really.  There is this guy at the comic shop that basically hates children, especially mine, since my husband often goes in there without me, and I am the "disciplinarian" of the two of us.  Anyhow, the owner is fine and has really started to enjoy the kids, and kind of laughs about it with my hubby, but the other lovely fellow had words with me today since I chose to sit with my darling girl on the floor (in my dress and heels, natch) and *carefully* read a book about the Miyazaki's art in the film "Spirited Away."  (Tell me that's already not kind of over-the-top nerdy of us.)  Anyhow, he was like, "NO...NO!  NO!!! Please NO!"  And I just looked at him like "really, fella?"  Anyhow, we even *more carefully* looked through it, the whole time he bore his tiny little angry man eyes at us.  And then of course I *very over the top carefully* put the book back.  I am not the one for karma, but a little part of me would like to hear that he went over to see if we had inflicted any damage on the book with our pedestrian fingers (we did not, btw) and in doing so dropped the book on the floor damaging the cover.  That would have me lol-ing.  But then I remember I {heart} the owner of the shop a ton and don't wish that fiscal damage on him.  But, still.  ;-)

By the way, my husband will purchase so many comics from this shop, I am somewhat sure that this fella's salary is paid for in large part from my husband's stupidly huge comic collecting.   That in no way means I condone my children acting like crazy fools, but they were very well-behaved today ('cause Momma disciplinarian was in the house).  Ah, good times!

Okay, that's it.  You all have a great rest of your start to 2014!

OOTDs/Made by Me Files: Tangled Birthday Edition.

The ootds will be first followed by the "Tangled" made by me file (yes, it references the movie, and no, the outfit made wasn't for me).  ;-)

Day: Wednesday, September 18, 2013.

Where: CW's Birthday night with a trip to Whole Foods (Winesday), followed by her birthday dinner at El Paso Cafe. 

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This beautiful Boden dress of mine from a few years ago is comfortable, but I wasn't over the top happy that it was so wrinkled so quickly.  Maybe the last time I wore it to a stand-up party, lol, and there were no wrinkles, but more than likely I was more sensitive to it this time.  ;-)

But I could be wearing a itchy burlap sack and feel great since Winesday is so much fun.

Cool Factor: (2.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Nah, I looked exactly like what I was, a happy and proud momma of a now *five* year old girl.  Not especially cool, but the broderie on the dress is pretty and unique, and that is enough for me.  Plus there was wine...and later margaritas. 

Anecdote from the Day:  The people at the Winesday were thrilled that CW had turned five.  One of them gave her a gerbera daisy (in pink!), another gave her a VERY big cupcake decorated with flowers and leaves, etc., and one gave her two desserts from the dessert table.  She also got lots of, "ooh, look it's a princess," since CW insisted on wearing her Ariel costume to the store and then to dinner. 

Day: Friday, September 20, 2013.

Where: American Girl Store for a special birthday girl dinner followed by surprising CW with Kit, the American Girl she had been eyeing for about a year.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Oh this Anthro skirt is so comfortable, with its super soft jersey fabric and deep pockets.  The sequin tee from J. Crew was way more easy to wear than I thought it would be, but I did size up to a small, so I suspect that may have contributed.

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  I really liked this outfit and feel like it looks decently cool.  I loved how the pieces all worked well together, both in silhouette and in color, with no one piece taking center stage.  Even the cool Ghanian-made necklace looked like a natural, even though I don't know that wooden beads and plastic sequins are meant to be next to each other.

(The necklace is from my father-in-law who has now gone to Ghana twice on mission trips.  I am very happy for him, and kind of jealous, too!  I have a lot of friends from Ghana and would love to see the country they are from.)

Anecdote from the Day:  It was exactly like you would think it would be...a five year old in an American Girl store surrounded by dolls, pink flower lamps, and little itty bitty dining pieces for the doll that comes with you to the store (we brought Caroline, her other doll).  In other words, CW was overstimulated and over the moon.

Day: Saturday, September 21, 2013.

Where: CW's birthday party.  I promise this is the last event celebrating her birthday.  I don't do much for the kids when they turn one, but five is a pretty big deal, so I definitely indulge.  I bet #10, #16, #18, and #21 will be similar.  

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I have written enough poetry about the Garnet Hill jersey dresses in the past.  I love this dress so much, if it were human, I would have a big, fat crush on it.

Cool Factor: (2.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  I have always loved resort wear and the "hostess" gown, which is what this reminds me of...a hostess gown.  But instead of being many hundreds of dollars and from Milly, it was far less.

Anecdote from the Day:  In addition to crafting a Rapunzel dress from scratch, I also had to get all the party favors and food ready for the party.  I almost did it all, but I finally had to break down and ask for help with the favor bags since I didn't have enough time to get those filled.  Thank goodness my good friend from bowling, S., and her daughter, I., helped me in my time of need.  Are any of you all like that?  You don't ask for help unless you desperately need it?  Why do we do that to ourselves?

I wrote more about the creation of this pattern ( Simplicity 2065) here at Pattern Review.  You will be able to see it for six months without joining Pattern Review, but past mid-March 2014 you won't be able to see it anymore.  Hopefully I remember to update this post with more info when that occurs.

Detail of the lace embellishment that I added to the sparkly purple tulle.  Like I mentioned over at Pattern Review, I was glad to have a walking foot on my machine because that helped me control both the velvet (the white skirt was made from that fabric) and the tulle.  Both velvet and tulle are such a pain to sew, and the walking foot keeps the fabric nice and smooth and even when sewing.

On CW.  She is holding her Rapunzel doll, natch.  :-)

Can you believe that I took out parts of the pattern because I didn't have quite enough fabric?  Yeah, I thought so...this pattern was supposed to have one additional skirt and overskirt piece, and some tulle lower sleeves.  Oh, and I was supposed to make an underskirt that would have added poofiness.  I think the dress looks more than poofy enough as is, thank you very much.

She *really* enjoyed posing.  Such a little ham.

The tank underneath is an addition since the bodice turned out to be too big.  Part of that is because I made the size 6, which is a bit big anyhow, and part of that is because I didn't add a zip to the back of the dress and had some extra ease (about 1.5 inches) added since the extra ease was supposed to be used to add the zip.  The plus side is she can wear it longer, but for now, she will have to have something under for modesty.

This is my favorite photo of her wearing the dress since it shows the full of effect of the time consuming details...the gathering of the waistband on both the tulle and velvet skirt, the application of the various trims, like the cord at the waist and sleeves, and the lace on the overskirt, and the insertion of the very puffy sleeves (setting in sleeves can be its own challenge).

Anyhow, I am glad I spent the week working on this dress, since it made her so happy and it allowed me to take on many new sewing skills that I hadn't tried before.  All in all, I would call this a success...but please, don't look to closely at the hem or the eyelets.  LOL.

Alright, that's it for now.  Thanks for reading all about my "tangled" week.  

If you are one of my readers who comes her for Boden stuff, I have a quick question for you.  How would you all feel if I created a page within my blog where comments would be allowed and you could post reviews of items you have received?  Since it would be powered through disqus, you could also add links to any photos you wearing them (photo sharing sites, facebook, etc.), which would add an extra layer to the review, if you have them.  (They aren't required, btw.)  I know that my BWRR is a big hit here at the blog, and as much as I can, I try to have it appear at least once a week, but as we know, I am very backlogged, and a page like that could help keep the reviews coming while the BWRR is written.  Once I am able to use your review in a BWRR, I would delete the comment from the page, and a fresh set of comments could be posted for the next BWRR.  Do let me know if this sounds like it work for you!

Boden Weekly Review Roundup: Baubles and Bags.

I am going to keep the blah-blah way down since there is a ton in this "week's" roundup.  (Yes, at this point I should just give it up and start naming it the Boden Monthly Review Roundup--but I hold out hope that with two kids in school and an actual nap schedule, I might go back to being a good blogger.)

Anyhow, there is a diminishing discount on right now, and I wrote about it this morning over at this post.  Remember, all discounts are on current season items only, clearance items are not part of the sale. 

Regular Boden:

Flowerburst Necklace.  To see other views of it with the outfit, go to my post from yesterday.

I think this necklace is a love/hate piece.  Based on the reviews on-line, there are a lot of women who despise this item.  I am not one of them, and I think it has its charms.

It is a rather large necklace, in a very distinctive style, so it is not an ideal piece of jewelry if you are not a fan of statement jewels.  And if you think this version is a lot of look, imagine what the more colorful pieces look like in real life (this is the gold/pewter colorway).

Anyhow, I wear my statement necklaces all the time, so this was a no-brainer purchase for me, but I get it if it just isn't you.


Flowerburst Necklace.  All colors still available.  Surprised?  ;-)

Evie Bag.  I did write a quickie mini-review way back when, but I wanted to make sure you all saw some closeups of this awesome purse.

The navy color is true to shade on the Boden website, and is constructed from a pebbled leather for its main body, and a suede leather for the flap.  I like the contrast in textures, but if given the option would have preferred all pebbled leather since I have toddlers and suede is fussy.

It wasn't a deal breaker, and so far so good, but I do have to be careful with the suede, so it isn't the best mom on the go bag out there.

The flap closure is different, I quite like the dual magnetic snaps, but if you overfill the bag, the closures will easily pop open.  Guess that is an incentive to carry only what you need, huh?

It comes with long straps that you can hook onto the D-rings there at the side, but I don't care for crossbody bags, so I have detached them and stored them.  I have so many of these long leather pieces that I could probably make belts out of them with my sewing machine.  Maybe when I get better sewing skills I will.  ;-)

Inside of the bag is lined in a fun striped cotton.  There is also a pocket for a cell phone and a zip pocket for extra security for more priceless items, like your id and credit cards (sometimes I don't carry a wallet if I am going out for only a few hours).

Really blurry view of the strap.  Sorry about that.

I love the size for me, so many retailers lately have been focused on either really tiny bags or really BIG bags, so it is lovely to have purse that is at that sweet spot of just big enough.

CC also had written a quickie review at a blog post, in which she says:
I do also have the Evie bag in Navy - and I agree, it's a purse, bigger than a clutch, but not a big "hobo" bag. ( I think it will fit a Kindle, I have to check that out, though*). There are just times when you need something more than a clutch.

*It does hold a kindle.  Never leave the home without mine!


Evie Bag.  The navy, red, and brown colors are selling better than the yellow.  You could probably wait to get the yellow at a better price than at the current diminishing discount price.


Ponte Roma Trousers.  Reviewed by Lou here at this blog post.


Honeycomb Stitch Sweater.  Lou declares her love for these sweaters (jumpers!) here at this review.


Metropolitan Bag.  This is a winner in the black color for Lou.  The online reviewers agree with her, too!

Skinny Ankle Skimmer Jeans.  Liz looks lovely in these on trend jeans.  :-)


Velvet Trim Hoody.  The comfy factor is upped while wearing this yummy zip-up (Liz shows us just how comfy it can be).


Daisy Jacquard Dress.  I wore it recently to a wedding, and to church, and a beautiful TV personality named Holly Willoughby wore it on her show, too.  Maybe the coral will sell, finally?

So who is Holly Willoughby, btw?  


Military Wool Jacket.  I did a fairly in-depth review of this wool winner here at this blog post.  You won't see this piece on me again until November, at least.  It is a warm wool jacket, much too hot for us here in VA until winter starts.


Alice Lace Top.  A piece of clothing from Boden's fall line that I can wear now and not suffocate in, lol.  I wore it and reviewed it here at this blog post.




Elise Top, Merino Jumper, and Must Have Tee.
Avery 12/VAMom wrote some quickie reviews a while back at a blog post, just in case you missed them, here they are:
Elise Top - really liked the fabric and collar but the ivory was too sheer;
Merino jumper in bright pink - wild about it, love it;
Must-have tee - is my most favorite. Might get a duplicate so I won't be heartbroken when the first one eventually breaks under constant use.

CLEARANCE ITEMS:
ShOpeRach wrote some reviews of some Boden summer pieces here at this blog post and at this blog post.  :-)

Reminder:  Avril of School Gate Style is going to be hosting a Boden Winter Shopping Party on October 3, 2013.  Definitely sign up to attend if you will be anywhere near Belfast, N. Ireland, that day.  If I were able, I would go in a heartbeat.  I look forward to seeing her photos and reviews from that party, too (hint, hint, Avril!).

Thanks again to all my blog friends for the reviews!!!

Okay, that's it!  Below is a link to the diminishing discount sale.  Happy (sale) shopping!