OOTD/Review: Mint, Mustard, and Grey. And Another Tilly.

Day: Sunday, February 15, 2015.

Where:  My house. Boring.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Again with the Turner pants.  I now own them in four colors.  They are up there with my Pure Collection tie-waist trousers (last photo, also worn with *another* Tilly Sweater**, lol) as the best pants ever.  I *do* own traditional pants, with proper closures, but it has been remarkably easier to just wear these ones instead.  (I will give a shoutout to the pants I have made since they are tailored to fit me properly, but I only have two pairs that I have made, so they don't get a bunch of wear.)

The temperature outside is 17 F.  So I am more than happy to wear the current Tilly Sweater, which was one of the sweaters I promised I would wear at this blog post.  I am very happy to report it feels great, it is keeping me warm, and is a wonderful color to wear on such a cold day (gives me the feel of early spring).


**Can Boden give some other ladies a chance at having clothing named after them?  Sophie, Tilly, Laura, Olivia...it is getting boring.  May I suggest Dina? 

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) The Nike shoes help up the score, but again, a very basic outfit for a very basic kind of a day.

Anecdote of the Day:  Mardi Gras is Tuesday, but Mr. Dina's parents leave tomorrow.  I love making gumbo, and they seem to like my version, so I will be spending the next couple of hours preparing it.

Tilly Sweater.  Size 6.  Though the carnation color seems to be getting the most attention, it is this light aqua/slightly mint color that is sold out/low stock in many sizes.  I guess they ordered more of the carnation and navy, and ordered less of this mint color.

The 6 fits awesome, hitting right at my mid-hip.  The neck doesn't constrict, and while there is little shaping in the garment, the wool is lightweight enough to be drapey and show a bit of the natural curve my body has.

This view really shoes how lovely the knit is, the scalloped design is a bit unusual, and if hand knit, would undoubtedly be over the top expensive and would have taken the craftsperson ages to complete.  Fortunately for us, a machine can do this and we benefit by getting a sweater that looks more expensive than it actually is.

You can see the dropped shoulder line here.  It is not obnoxious the way some styles have been in the past year or so (especially at J. Crew, much to Gigi's discontent), but it is still present, and if you loathe that detail, stay far away.

I think this is the best representation of the color.  The color is amazing in real life, it seems a bit snowy with a blue/green undertone in it, but the lightest of blue and green.

This is not an accurate representation of color, but I wanted to up the shadows for dimension's sake so you could see the beautiful patterning in the knit.  Also, this wool is super soft.  I am not prone to itchiness when it comes to wool, but I read that others felt like this wool was also very soft and not scratchy, so for you sensitive ladies, this may be your winning knit.


Tilly Sweater.  Navy and carnation are fully stocked.  The mint is selling well.

Okay, have a great day, will be back with one last review tomorrow night (right before the sale ends) of my last wear of the weekend.  (I will be wearing the French Knot sweater!)

OOTD/Review/Made by Me File: Pretty in Pink Rainbow/Roses.

Hi!  Happy Saturday night.  Yes, I know it is Valentine's Day.  I only ever celebrate it by dressing up in festive outfits.  With the boys of this family having their birthdays in February (well, March for Angus), Valentine's Day is WAY down on our "must do" list.  Mardi Gras gets way more attention than it, too. 

But I still have a big crush on the pretty pinks/reds/ivories of the day, so here are two outfits featuring those gorgeous hues.

Outfit one first, then (as promised in this post) the review of the Rainbow Knit sweater, and third, the outfit that also features a very recent made by me.

Day: Saturday, February 14, 2015.

Where:  Rex's Birthday Party!

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I really really love these Turner pants from J. Crew.  My husband made fun of them the first time I wore them and said no words today.  Success!  He has grown used to the pale pink elastic cuffed wonders.

The sweater was more than adequate to keep me warm, but I did make sure to layer it with this pretty tulip-printed Liberty shirt from J. Crew from a few years ago.  The Eliza coat was actually plenty cover for this morning, it is only recently that the winds have picked up and the snow has begun (it looks frightening out there, I have never seen snow blow sideways!).

Cool Factor: (3.75 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) I don't know, it is an all pink ensemble.  Granted, it is appropriate for the day, and I was at my kid's birthday party, but yeah, I don't know if I can't rate it any higher.

The heeled loafers are a fun neutral, not quite silver/not quite pewter, they helped ground the all pink ensemble.  So that helped.  Plus the coat is getting quite a bit of airtime from Boden over at their facebook page (they celebrate *other* bloggers, lol, example one, and example two). 

Anecdote of the Day:  Wheelchair bound, we weren't sure if Rex's birthday party at the laser tag place could still go on, but yep, they were all ADA compliant, so we were able to wheel him around in the actual games.  I sucked, though, because the loafers have a slippy bottom, and he DESPERATELY wanted me to push him up the steep ramp in the game.  He weighs a lot, as does the wheelchair, and I was slipping.  I don't even know where my brain was when I dressed this morning, hello!  I have actually played laser tag before and have worn tennis shoes, but not today.  He blames me for his poor ranking (8th out of 20?).  His daddy propelled him to a much better ranking (3rd of 20).  We now have the one example of Mr. Dina's white tennis shoes being the better option.  :-D

Rainbow Knit Sweater.  Size 6.  It features a curved hem, contrast hem, and very long sleeves (they are long on me, and I have really long arms).  The fit does get looser as you wear it, I changed out of the button-up upon returning home, and it has stretched out so that the back and front are a bit looser so the sweater is hanging a bit lower.  But is an all cotton knit sweater, so no surprise there.

Back View.  I don't have the usual horizontal lines at my mid-back the way I usually have on almost all of my tops.  That is a small feat, and I am thrilled at this fit.  And it is great the length of the sweater hits at my upper hip, which means I don't have to worry about it being too tight at my tush.

Close-up. I know there are no greens in the sweater, but I really like the tulip print with the stripes.  It just worked, somehow.

I wrote up a written review yesterday of the Rainbow Knit Sweater and I have more photos of the beautiful Eliza coat here.



Eliza Coat and Rainbow Knit Sweater.  Neither is close to selling out, but the Eliza coat can be worn now, whereas unless you will wear the Rainbow Knit sweater *now* and later, you can wait for a better price on that one.

Day: Thursday, February 12, 2015.

Where:  Rex's Valentine's Party at school and his birthday dinner.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) It is a made by me dress, Simplicity 2246, which is a Lisette pattern for shirtdresses.  I chose to make the more fitted silhouette (view a), because darn it, I can make adjustments to suit both my smaller upper body and larger lower half, so I don't have to go for the more full-skirted version.  Yes!  So on the fit side, it wears well.  I do wish I had a better time with the hem, and if it could be just an inch longer, I think I would be more comfortable with it.  My main issue with this outfit is because that night the winds came and the temps dropped to 20 F, OMG, and with the wind chill, it felt like 4 F?  I don't know, it was B-A-D.  And yeah, the Eliza, so pretty, and the rose print rayon challis, lovely, but not the right outfit for those temperatures.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) This look had its fans.  I like it on me, but it may be too twee or feminine for some.

Anecdote of the Day:  Rex is not back at school, and won't be for a couple of weeks, but we were able to arrange for him to come that day so he could see his friends, get his cast signed, exchange Valentine's cards, etc.  I was so grateful for the school for getting the classroom set up so he didn't even have to go down the stairs (the other 2nd grade teacher is on the same level as the ramp so she gave us her classroom for an hour).  It really meant the world to him, he was in such great spirits after leaving the party.

For those of you interested, you can check out more on how I made the dress (there is a lot of information for sewers there) at the Fabric Mart blog.  This was my make for the month of February, and let's just say I was pretty excited to make a festive Valentine's look for my blog post this month. 

Hope all of you have a very happy Valentine's Day!

Boden: 20% Off Outerwear and Knitwear. Till Monday!

Instead of just doing a normal "sale" announcement post, I am going to write up some brief reviews of some of the pieces that fall in this sale category that I have received from my preorders but haven't yet found the time to get around to blogging about. 

It is also so frigid and cold here this weekend that I have an excuse to wear multiple layers of clothing, so I will for sure wear the sweaters and the coats from the selection on sale and get those photos posted tomorrow and Sunday (I have my in-laws in town so they can help with childcare while I get the posts written--yay!!!).

Okay, so the deal is, as per usual, you can receive 20% off any piece of outerwear or knitwear that is part of the regular season items.  This 20% off does not apply to anything in clearance.  Sadly you are unable to stack promo codes, so the 15% off coupon (in my sidebar under the sale coupon) won't work on top of the 20% off.

This sale ends Monday night according to the site, so you have a few days to ponder your choices, and I have three days to enjoy wearing my new knitwear and hopefully keeping nice and toasty whilst doing so...

Reviews (or links to former reviews):


Rainy Day Mac. (The photo link may be bad, the affiliate has not updated this product since last fall, use this link to get to the current offerings.)  I have worn this a lot since purchasing last fall's version.  Apparently the sizing stays the same, so my review of last year's should hold true for this year's version.  Review here.


Eliza Coat.  The coat I own is from last fall, but they carried over the coat to this season, so it never even made it into clearance.  Every. time. I. wear. it. I receive compliments.  I wish it was made from thicker fabrics just for right now since it did absolutely nothing for me last night when I wore it out when the wind chill was 5 F.  BRRRR.  But I knew better, lol.  Review here.


Ingrid Coat.  This coat looks exactly the same as the one I own from Fall 2014, so I am going to guess they just changed the colors.  Review here. 


French Knot Sweater.  I bought this in a size 6.  I chose to get the ivory shade.  It is a beautiful sweater that is properly represented, color-wise, on the computer screen.  It is made from a lightweight cotton/merino wool blend, but is a bit sheer because of that.  I will absolutely have to wear nude underthings (either a cami or bra) when wearing it.  The model in the back shot is apparently wearing a blue tee under it, but it doesn't show through.  I suspect a bit of *le photoshopping*.  ;-)  I don't know if the navy is as sheer, but I imagine probably not.  It fits a bit tighter than my other sweaters from Boden, so I would say size up if you have broader shoulders or a bigger bustline.


Rainbow Knit Sweater.  I also purchased this in a size 6.  I bought the color the model is wearing at the top of this post.  I love this sweater.  It is very comfortable, with just a bit of ease, but not so much I am swimming it.  Its colors are so lovely together, I really do feel a bit like an understated rainbow in it.  The open knit (it's a cotton) is perfect on its own in the spring and possibly summer (not 'round here, though, too hot and humid), but can be worn with a shirt under in the winter for an extra layer.  The open knit is opaque enough that you can do that without looking foolish. I am so enamored that I am tempted by the other colors, but I need to exhibit restraint.


Tilly Sweater.  I chose to purchase the freshwater color in a size 6 to replace this sweater of mine that I love but is not my favorite silhouette on me.  Unfortunately it is not an exact color replacement, but it is close enough that I am satisfied (yes, I am selling the J. Crew one).  The Tilly reads as almost a light mint, but with a bit more blue in it.  It fits well in the 6, a bit big through the torso, but I like its length, which may be too short for some of you who have a longer torso.  It also features a dropper shoulder line, so definitely keep that in mind if you are not a fan.  The collar is really nice, and if the retro thing is up your alley, this will make your decision easier.  The wool is less thick than the photo would have you believe, and I think it wears better this way. 


Milano Dress.  I did a review of this one in the fall.  This is a great dress, I can see why the carried it over to the spring.  :-)  Review here.

Do you all have any favorites from the sale?  Let us know!!!

Too bad we can't buy the Wendy coat.  RIP, Wendy coat.  (Well, I think RIP...maybe she is just in witness protection.)

The sale ends Monday night.
20% Off All Knitwear, Coats, Jackets and Skiwear, Plus Free Shipping When You Spend Over $49

OOTDs: Grey Casual.

Hi, all!  Happy mid-February!  It is quite a time here in our household, what with the continued healing of Rex (it's working, yay!), his eighth birthday (today!), and Mr. Dina's bday yesterday.  I also *just* finished a rather labor-intensive sewing project involving rayon challis and a button-up shirtdress for Fabric Mart (that post will be at their blog Saturday morning).  I am definitely looking forward to a yummy margarita tonight.

Since it has been so long since I have haunted here (barring a few comments back to questions left at posts), I figured it was high time I get something written.  :-)

Very little in the way of text, since I have the birthday dinner to get to, but will add bits and pieces where needed.

Date: February 9, 2015.

Details: Tunic & Scarf, J. Crew; Leggings, Madewell; Shoes, J. Crew Factory; Glasses, Bebe.

This was the first day that I convinced Rex (in his tiny wheelchair) to go on an errand with me to the grocery store so we could pick up his medicine and some random items we needed.  I had to put Angus in the Ergo (still fits him!), and Rex and I navigated the store the best we could.  He even got the sweet fishmonger to sign his cast.  :-)

These are my *fancy* glasses.  Now that I have frames that look decent on me, I am wearing them more than I did before.  I was surprised these were from Bebe, since their clothing line is not really my style (go on and open that link, haha).

Date: December 14, 2014.

Details: Top & Pants, J. Crew; Shoes, Urban Outfitters.

I went pre-bowling that day.  The whole time I noticed there was this boy (probably 20 years old), walking around and kind of looking at me.  Based on how well he was bowling, I figured it was because he was just horrified at my bowling.  Well, no, turns out he may have been sweet on me, because as I was leaving he asked me so nicely, "are you leaving?"  And then proceeded to converse with me for a long time.  Or he was just really lonely.  Or he wanted to push me for info on how this woman could be just that bad at bowling.  Hahahahaha.

Date: December 16, 2014.

Details: Sweater, crewcuts (size 16); pants & necklace, J. Crew; boots, Vince Camuto.

I was substitute teaching that day. ;-)

Date: December 17, 2014.

Details: Coat, Boden (here); Pants, Pure Collection; Sweater, Wal-Mart; Shoes, J. Crew.

Another day of subbing!  I have to say, considering this sweater is from Wal-Mart, it's pretty darn cute and fun.  A bit sheer, but nothing horrible.  Definitely 100% acrylic.  LOL.

Date: January 4, 2015.

Details: Top & Pants, J. Crew; Necklace &; Shoes, Boden.

Don't remember anything from this day, but I remember really liking this outfit.

Okay, you all have a great day!!!  Should be back soon, less going on for the rest of the month (thank goodness).

Boden: New Spring Items for 2015 in Today's Rollout!

Martha Dress--very pretty!

Okay, so I know Boden has been doing these mini rollouts for a couple of years now, but I still can't get used to this system.  I understand they want to be more "American," and appeal to a wider audience, but I so prefer the old rollouts of four per year, plus maybe an extra one for party wear at the holiday season.

But, eh, clearly it's working for them, so I just need to move on already.

There are lovely items to be had from today's rollout, and I *think* I remember seeing them in preview time, but they were not my cup of tea, so I think I glossed over them.  There are only a few that pique my interest now, but not enough to go and buy them, you know?  Maybe eventually, but not right now.

Anyhow, the affiliate has a 15% off with free ship promo going right now, and I have included that coupon at the bottom of this post and in the sidebar if you are interested.

Here are a few items that I think look worth a second look:

Martha Dress.  Like my beloved Notch Neck Dresses of the past (see here for an example of one of many in my closet), this is composed of a heavier weight cotton blend in bright, punchy colors and a fun print.  I kind of dig seeing Miss Mona, model extradonaire, in a "fun" dress.  LOL.  So editorial.

Alana Top.  This one is different than anything I have seen from them before, but they didn't try too hard to be someone they weren't in creating it, either.  Very pretty and great for multi-seasonal use.  It is a viscose woven, so maybe size up to keep away the creeping effects of washes (this fabric is notorious for shrinking).

Carmen Pant.  For those of you tired of skinny jeans and want a pair of full-legged trousers, Carmen is a great option.  It is a linen/cotton/elastane blend, so it should be a bit more wrinkle resistant than just 100% linen, but will be nice and cool in summer.  This pant would look awesome with the Alana top pictured above it. 

Here we have proof that Boden is trying to be "new" J. Crew and not "old school" J. Crew:

Skinny Minnie Pants.  For crying out loud, Boden, couldn't you have at least called your knock off Minnie/Pixie pants something other than Minnie?  Like maybe called them Fiona or Larissa or something?

Lara Heel.  I know these aren't the most "new" J. Crew looking items in the world, but these are a far cry from what Boden typically offers.  They're cute, but I have a pair just like these from J. Crew from four, maybe five years ago?

Proof that Boden is not trying to impersonate J. Crew, at all, unless it is J. Crew, circa 1987, on drugs:

Wendy Coat.  If I was named Wendy, I would be mighty ticked right now.  This is some explosion of Miami Vice pastel colors in a psychedelic version of a clown coat.  Wow.  Boden.  Wow. 

Actually, if I really REALLY REALLY wanted to emulate the fine men of Pink Floyd, circa 1968, I would buy this coat and tell people that was what I was trying to do.  I would keep the photo of them from that year in my dark navy pocket and pull it out to show people I wasn't completely insane.

Okay, that's all for now.  Thoughts?  Especially on the Wendy coat?  LOL.