Birthday coat (and dress, part two!)

Photos by Drew!

Anthropologie coat: birthday gift from Drew
1960s rhinestone bow dress: estate sale
Polka dot tights: Tabio
Purse: thrift store
Boots: Seychelles
Sequin headband: gift from my mom
Sequin gloves: gift from Drew's mom

It was such a busy weekend that I forgot to write a blog post!  Which was just fine with me . . . last week I was sick and trapped in my apartment all week, so by Friday once I started to feel better I was anxious to get out.  We did lots of low-key things like go get sushi, go to the monthly antiques/vintage clothing market (no luck!), go to this wonderful new bakery in town.  And then we went to the dance club mall yesterday because I was so behind with Christmas present shopping that I got nervous whenever I even heard a Christmas carol come on the radio.  I'm just awful in busy, crowded places, though.  In the end I decided to do all my shopping online, and I'm actually just about finished, which is nice.  It makes me excited for Christmas again!

Yesterday night we had a dinner party, so the only place we really went to was Whole Foods to go shopping.  But we did get to sneak in a blog photo shoot at Oakland Cemetery, which apparently we took blog photos at one year ago today!  Strange.  Something about the place just works for sort of holiday-themed photos . . . I think it's the Victorian feel of it, plus those magnolia trees and the newer graves with red velvet bows tied on them . . . it's strangely cheerful, which explains the extra goofy photos this time around.  Plus I was excited to take pictures of the coat I got for my birthday from Drew . . . it's that Anthropologie one that was on my wishlist before, and it's even better than I imagined it would be.  It makes every outfit look better and more glamorous, and it makes me want to wear black more often! (Why don't I?)

And here's that pink '60s dress I found at an estate sale, too.  Does it fit me that well?  Not really, but the length is so great, and the color's so perfect that I don't even mind that much.  Maybe I'll get it to a tailor eventually, but right now I'm finding that it's the perfect holiday dress. 

  

New this week . . .

1. 1970s blue mini dress . . . . . . . . . . 2. Blue peter pan mini dress

3. 1960s gingham dress and '60s cardigan . . . . . . 4. Red princess coat

5. Black nautical mini dress . . . . . . 6. Laura Ashley plaid wool dress

7. 1970s gold print dress . . . . . . . 8. 1970s cropped sweater and mini skirt

9. 1990s green party dress . . . . . . . . 10. 1960s velvet bow dress

11. Green velvet skirt, 1960s blouse, and Aquascutum tweed blazer . . .. 12. 1990s black velvet dress

13. 1950s white eyelet day dress . . . . . . 14. 1960s black wool dress

Tomboy (mostly) thrift store finds

Lately most of the things I've been buying for my closet have been from thrift stores, and most of those are sort of happy accidents--things I mean to buy for the store that I put on and just can't part with.  Don't you especially love it when a pair of shoes or style of coat or something you've been searching all the online stores for ends up popping up in the thrift store, for a tiny fraction of the U.O./Anthro/Topshop price?  Or when you find something at the thrift store that's bordering on ugly and wonderful and you're not even all that sure it will work, but it ends up being a wardrobe staple for years and years?  I'm crossing my fingers that will happen with all of these . . .

1.  '80s Tweed coat:  This was my favorite coat to wear 'till Drew got me the black coat for my birthday (more pictures coming soon, I think!), just because it's so different for me.  It's kind of shapeless and a bit '80s minimalist, and when I first saw it in a thrift store I left it behind because I wasn't too sure about it and because it was sort of expensive (for a thrift store).  Then a few days later I went to New York and really wished I had that little '80s coat to wear, just because it was so much less cutesy than the Manoush one I did bring.  I love that Manoush coat to bits, but being in New York always makes me feel extra self-conscious about being cutesy.  When I'm there I want to look a little tough and not too Southern.  

So the next time I visited the thrift store back home I went straight to the coat rack and snapped up the coat.  And it was half-off day too!  I wore it a few days only to have the inner lining rip completely out, but I just took that as a sign that it was meant for my closet rather than the store!

2.  Navy trench coat:  I found this yesterday for the store, but got it home and decided to keep it for a bit.  Does anyone else have trouble finding a perfect trench coat?  I've been looking all over--I search online and I try on tons of (always too long!) trenches at the thrift stores, and at the dance club mall I drag Drew into kind of boring stores like J. Crew and The Gap.  Well, I always find things at those stores online that I love, but for some reason the stores themselves are always downers.  I think that it might be the music they play.  My ideal trench is the traditional light tan color, kind of short, but long enough to cover the hems of short dresses and skirts--it is maybe like this one, only a little bit longer and a lot cheaper.  It's definitely not like this blue one I found.  But right now this is the closest I can find, and I do love the shape of it, and the fact that it's not as thick as most of my coats.  It will be good for abnormally warm Atlanta winter days.

3.  '70s paisley shirt:  One thing I realized this Fall is that I had only one or two button-up, kind of menswear-ish shirts, so when I found this one in a thrift store I knew I had to keep it.  It looks boring, but it has a great shape, honest!  A few weeks back I think I wore it three days in a row.

4.  Black oxfords:  I looked all over for a pair like this and was just about to buy a new pair of oxfords that were sort of expensive and not exactly what I was looking for when I found these on Ebay, for about one-third the price.  I don't know what I did before I had shoes like these!  I'm usually self-conscious in flats, but not these . . . they have a way of making outfits look a bit more pulled-together somehow and they make dresses and even cutesy coats look fairly tomboy.  

Inspiration: Tomboy Style!

Photo from Teen Vogue, via The Fashion Spot.

Remember how a few weeks ago I wore a sort of tomboy outfit and went on about how I was inspired by menswear style, only to go straight back to talking about and wearing frilly, girly dresses?  I hate how fickle my style is . . . I'd love to be able to pick a look and stick with it, but no matter.  It's fun to wear a frilly dress one day and a tweed blazer the next, and--who knows--maybe one day a pair of pants?  I still have to get around to putting together a decent outfit with the pair I bought a few weeks ago.  

So I think I'll just keep on taking those baby steps towards wearing full-on menswear.  Things like bowties and oxford shoes aren't so scary when you can wear them with little corduroy skirts and simple dresses (who else keeps stalking the A.P.C. website for the sales?).  And right now I'm kicking myself for leaving behind a perfect little tweed blazer in a thrift store today, especially whenever I look at that last street style shot below.  

1. Anthropologie Cabled Cardigan . . . . . 2. U.O. Lark & Wolff Corduroy Skirt . . . . 3. Monki pants . . . . 4. U.O. wingtips . . . . 5. Mini Market bowtie . . . . 6. A.P.C. NY Bag

Photo from Copenhagen Street Style . . . . . . . . . . Photo from The Streethearts

Orton Plantation (and my birthday dress!)

Photos by Drew (thanks a million!!)

Dress: 1385
'90s blouse and purse: thrift stores
Tights: Target
Shoes: Dolce Vita

Before we left for North Carolina one of Drew's friends told us that we needed to go see Orton Plantation, so we got up extra early yesterday to make a stop there before heading back to Atlanta, and I put on my birthday dress for some blog photos.  Oh dear, it was early, and we were both kind of out of it, but it was hard not to get excited as we pulled into the long path that led to the place, completely surrounded by great big, Spanish-moss covered trees.  After you pass the avenue of trees you suddenly find yourself on a tiny road with jungle-like marshes on each side--signs tell you to stay in your car for your safety!  Drew told me it was because of the alligators, and I didn't really believe him at first, but I think it's true.  We felt like we were in Florida again.

The plantation itself is a strange sort of place--beautiful, and a little bit unexpected.  The main part of the house was built in the 1700s, with additions built on later in the 1800s and early 1900s, and it really looks like a traditional antebellum plantation . . . big and white, with great big columns and gardens everywhere.  It looks like the kind of place you'd find in the Georgia countryside, only when you reach the end of the carefully laid out garden paths you start to feel like you're in the jungle again, and the palm trees and marshes and sandy paths would definitely be out of place in the plantations here around Atlanta.  Also I don't think I've seen plantations quite so old around here . . . It was fascinating to read a little bit about the history of Orton, to see the little Colonial graveyard, or the centuries-old rice fields that look out onto the water.  Mostly I think it just makes me want to do some more North Carolina exploring.  

Greetings from North Carolina!

Thanks for all your holiday and birthday well-wishing!  I ended up having a terrific time at Drew's family's house at their house in North Carolina, though unlike our Christmas here last year it was actually cold this time!  Seriously, most of my family was in Northern Illinois (Galena!) for Thanksgiving, and I don't think it was all that much colder there!  Well, maybe a little.  It was lots of fun.  We ate lots of desserts (pumpkin pie and cheesecake and these amazing birthday cupcakes) and drank eggnog-spiked coffee and rum-spiked eggnog, and then tonight we watched a parade of boats lit up with Christmas lights!  I wore the coat Drew got me for my birthday--well, I'll show better pictures of it later, along with my birthday dress.  Hope you all had a lovely holiday/weekend!

New this week . . .

1. 1960s Anne Fogarty wiggle dress . . . . . . . . . . . 2. 1960s red velvet dress 

3. 1960s pink bow party dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. 1960s yellow lace mini dress

5. 1960s green wool jumper . . . . . . . . . 6. Cream lace blouse, grey pleated skirt, and Bruno Magli heels

7. 1960s white lace trimmed dress . . . . . . . . . 8. 1930s reworked mini dress