goldenpig

I've worn this blue floral top and white jeans outfit before, but usually with a neutral colored purse (the straw Jason Wu for Target with the navy trim). Here it is with a pop of red. Also someone asked what Miss Scarlet would look like carried as a clutch, so I'm happy to oblige! Here is the old version in 3-4 with the neutral bag.

White House Black Market blue and white floral banded blouse
Paige Hidden Hills white bootcut jeans
Clarks nude wedge sandals
WHBM silver chain bracelet
Chanel red purse
Tulle navy peacoat

Here are four patterns from the Vince Camuto midi skirts. I am thinking of keeping 2, since they're 2 for $79. I have a black one already. These are all size M. Does this look like the right size? Let me know what you think of the sweater and leggings too. Thanks in advance!
1-2 thick black and white stripes
3-4 black with thin white stripes
5-6 grey with black lace
7-8 black with white animal print spots
Full disclosure, I do have a white A line skirt with similar pattern to the lace one, and two Bobeau skirts with big polka dots. But I think I could still get plenty of wear out of these--I wear skirts all the time for both MOTG and work.
1-8. Trouve corrugated hi-low sweater in XS. The S was too baggy for my tastes. I think I'm keeping unless you hate it. I need more fluid drapey toppers.
9-10. Only Mine polka dot sweater in S. This is too small, I'm returning it, but I don't think I'll be ordering the M. I have too much polka dot stuff as it is, I don't think this will get enough wear to justify keeping.
11-12. Zella capri leggings and Lysse red leggings. Also there was a white pair of capri leggings that I forgot to take a pic of. These would mostly be for wearing with my turquoise Zella jacket (#11) and under dresses for MOTG (red and white, I already have black capri leggings).

I went to try on some NAS stuff and was looking at the cobalt quilted Burberry jacket on sale ($459), but what they had in stock (M) was too big on me and it looked super casual with all those pockets on the front. They had a red S one that was not on sale ($495), but I couldn't resist trying it on. It put a smile on my face. But  with the quilted Chanel red purse, it may be too matchy matchy even for me! What do you think--should I go back to get it? ;)

My big box of NAS goodies arrived. Here are some of the things I am considering keeping. Let me know what you think of them--keep or return or try a different size.
1-4. Lafayette 148 leather jacket in vino, size 4. Some dressing room pics in 5-6 with same size jacket, but not the one I have at home. I'm wondering if the color is different between the two jackets, or whether it's just the different lighting. The size 4 is fitted and snug. I have a size 4 L148 jacket in cognac from a couple years ago that I wear a lot. I would use this as a leather blazer with the skirt and shell.
7. L148 black shell. Size 6. The 4 also fit but was tighter.
8. L148 tweed skirt. Size 6. I'm thinking I may need to try a 4, because there is some puckering at the hips. I already have a L148 tweed skirt but the color is wrong. I do already have a burgundy Halogen tweed skirt that might match (#9), which do you like better with the jacket?
10-11. L148 silk blouse in vino. Haven't had a chance to steam this. Nice or too pajama like?
12-14. Halogen black leather and ponte skirt. I would wear this with the burgundy leather jacket as shown.

Thanks for looking and commenting!

This is my usual style of WIW posting, lots of poses and detail shots and explanation of how I came up with the outfit and sources of items. Do you prefer this style of WIW posting or the terse version?

I'm still on my red purse kick, but thought I'd try to push the envelope instead of doing my usual black/white/red combo. I've always been impressed by those of you who can pull off tonal outfits. I'm not afraid of bright colors and ALGO, but for some reason tonal is very outside my comfort zone. I feel like people will think I'm colorblind and that I didn't know that my outfit colors don't match.

So here I am trying something new, but I ended up making it even more ALGO and hypermatchy. The orange-red snake blouse paired with berry snake jeans, berry and cream snake bracelet, cream and black snake shoes, tomato red purse and black leather jacket. I think it was me trying to prove that yes, I am doing this intentionally, because I matched each color with the accessories (the two halves of the bracelet match the pants and the shoes). And almost everything has a snake pattern, so they do kind of match even if the colors don't. Even the silver bracelet chain pattern echoes the silver chain of the purse.

I was going to post this morning and ask if I should leave the house like this, but then I ran out of time so I just went to work as is. Hopefully I didn't look too ridiculous! I did try a more subdued version with plain black pants and red ballet slippers (#8), but it felt so boring in comparison that I just went for it whole hog! So, whaddya think--fashion forward or hot mess? Did I give you a headache yet? ;)

Thanks for your comments and feedback!

Tahari black leather jacket
The Shirt by Rochelle Behrens orange red snake shirt
AG berry red snakeskin skinny jeans
All Black cream and black fish bow pumps
White House Black Market berry and cream snake bracelet
Chanel red purse

OK, since some of you said you prefer less verbiage and fewer pictures of each outfit, let's try the streamlined version. Do you prefer this concise style, or my usual verbose pic- and detail-heavy WIWs?
1. MOTG. Jason Wu for Target Milu T shirt and Kut Diana red skinny jeans (had to change right after when DS had a blowout on me...fortunately I also had a pair of Old Navy Rockstar red skinnies, so I was still good to go!) Max loved my cat T-shirt!
2. Work. Normally I'd wear my matching Kate Spade Florence Broadhurst Japanese Floral Austin sheath dress and purse together, but I wanted to try pairing it with my new red purse this time. (Sorry, I just realized that "Flo meets Scarlet" sounds a bit vulgar, LOL!) Do you prefer it with a pop of red, or matchy matchy as in #3?
Thanks for your comments and feedback welcome as always!

Question for you bra experts. Pre-pregnancy I was fitted to be a 32DD. I have been wearing nursing bras (size M) since I delievered, but they're not as flattering because they are less supportive (no underwire) and the inner pad slides around and is difficult to keep in place. I also have an underwire nursing bra, but it doesn't feel like the right size (36C, so there's some extra unfilled volume in the cup up top). That was the best of the sizes they carry at Pea in the Pod, they don't have a lot of non-standard sizes. I find that I was not really using the nursing features of the bras anyways (I would just push it up instead of unclipping it), so I decided to go back to Nordstrom to find some regular bras at NAS. I had a fitting and she ended up putting me back into my pre-pregnancy size, 32DD. I tried a 34D and that was very similar fit in the cup and a little more comfy/stretchy, but she said the band was too loose (was on the middle instead of the last one) and that it would stretch out too much. I tried 32DDD but there was extra room in the cup. So I ended up buying the 32DD but am seriously scratching my head and wondering if I bought the wrong size. How can I be nursing yet be the same size as I was before? I feel like I'm bigger, and my old button down shirts are gaping more. So why did I end up with the same size? It would be more convenient for me so I could keep the bras after I stop nursing, but I'm wondering if I need to buy a bigger size. I wore the 32DD bra yesterday and found that I needed to unclip the bra at the back to pump, like it was too fitted to slide up and down. So should I go back for the 34D or stick with the 32DD? Confusing!

BTW, these are the two styles that fit the best on me at NAS:
Natori Hidden Glamour
Chantelle Intimates Basic Invisible Memory Foam T shirt bra
And these are the two nursing bra styles I have from Pea in the Pod:
Demi Underwire
Seamless Racerback

Ok, I have been debating whether or not to post these pics because they are so embarrassing, but then I figured we could all learn something from this, so here we go. As an apple, I have a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with my belly. That all changed during my second and third trimester of pregnancy, when I was able to finally flaunt my belly and celebrate its sheer bigness! But now that I'm not pregnant anymore, I feel like I have to hide it again. I'm still about 8-10 lb over my pre-pregnancy weight, but I can fit back into most of my old clothes again. People are always commenting on how I don't look like I just had a baby 4 months ago, but they don't realize it's because of the way I dress. I've been working extra hard to hide it (although I'm too lazy/busy to work extra hard to get back into shape, LOL!).

I ordered this seahorse maxi dress for my upcoming party, but it was awful on me. I looked 4 months pregnant instead of 4 months postpartum (see #1 for the full faux preggo effect!). I would have loved to have worn this dress while I was pregnant. I kind of wish I was still pregnant so I could celebrate my belly instead of trying to conceal it all the time. Waah, I miss having an huge tummy. When I first got pregnant, I was so afraid of having to dress my bump, but now I feel like it was so much easier when I had a big one. Isn't that bizarre? Do any apples really love their belly and apple-ness or is it always something to minimize and "work with"? I'm not fat or body dysmorphic, I just have a (relatively compared to the rest of me) big tummy and now I don't have any excuse for it anymore.

Anyways, onto the lesson. I had posted something similar about draping for apples a year ago, using this dress as an example. I wore it today (#4), and yes, it still works very well for my shape even though I'm a few pounds up. What is the difference between the empire dress in 1-3 and the one in 4? They're very similar but the red one has a lot more draping and a side knot. Let me know if you can analyze the difference further, but as far as I can tell, cut and draping make all the difference between looking elegant and enceinte!

Thanks for your comments and for indulging me in my apple pity party. OK, back to chin up and carry on!

I'm experimenting with different looks using the same red purse. Today's style may not look that radical, but is new to me--monochromatic head to toe and no patterns at all (except the tile bracelet and quilting on the purse). What do you think? I've got that darn 80's schmaltzy song (Lady in Red) running in my head...brings back bad memories of junior high dances where the girls were all on one side of the room and the boys on the other and if you were slow dancing it was shuffling awkwardly to this song. ;)

BTW this dress is my favorite dress for apples--it hides everything!

Ralph Lauren red dress from TJ Maxx

Tommy Bahama red bracelet

WHBM red necklace

Chanel red purse

Clarks red pumps (I need a brighter red pair of pumps!)

ETA: Added a pic of me with the kids at soccer--I went there after work. It's official--I've turned into my mom (she was always overdressed for everything!)

I found this undersea pattern dress on eBay. It has jellyfish, seahorses and other fish on it. I'm thinking of wearing this for my upcoming birthday party--DD and I are having a combined birthday party for my 40th and her 6th, and she wanted an Ariel princess party, so we're doing an undersea theme. The seahorse maxi came and went back already because the empire waist maxi made me look pregnant again! The pictures are too embarrassing to post. 

So I tried this shift style instead. This dress is pretty thin and looks like a knockoff (the tag says Moschino Cheap & Chic, but it came from Asia) but it fits the theme perfectly so I couldn't resist. What do you think--OK to wear or keep looking? I can't really return it since it came from eBay. Should I wear with black or white leggings, and full length or capri length? It's too short for me to wear on its own.