The Nail Files - You're "Aragon"-na Love It

Here's the picture of what I was wearing on Friday. Quiz - What is green in the outfit?

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Give up? My toenails. Ok, it's not that green of a green...it is rather dark, and quite frankly, this was the best I could do to get the color.

OPI Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow, from the Fall 2009 Coleccion de Espana. ("Discover this dark emerald before it says adios") I love this color. Fun, fun, fun fall color. I actually put Tickle My France-y back on my fingers as I just wasn't sure I was ready for dark tips, but as soon as I did my pedi, I sighed and thought "wow, this would kick a== on the fingers". Eh, maybe next time.

Interestingly enough, I have been seeing green polish everywhere. Allure actually cited this specific shade as their Color of the Moment in the September Issue. I also saw green polishes in People StyleWatch and Marie Claire (and haven't even made it through all the September mags yet). See Suzi's Beauty Blog for her comments on it. (That's Suzi Weingarten, the creator of OPI, in her Aug 13 entry "Green is the New Black".) This particular one, as dark as it is, would be a good "starter" green since it skews closer to black, so it's not as much of an in your face green.

Coverage was pretty good. And you know I love the OPI formula + brush. I will admit that I actually didn't remove my prior pedi because I was way lazy, so I just slapped on 2 coats of Aragon and a top coat. I wonder if the color would read as a little more green on a bare nail. I'm sure I'll figure that one out soon, because I will be wearing it a LOT this fall and winter. And Christmas? Oh yeah, right in the holiday spirit with the green nails. If my mom is reading this, she is probably rolling her eyes - I did get her to do a pedi with the Essie Looking for Love pale lavender, but that's as far as she'll go into wacky territory - she is *not* a fan of the dark colors. Speaking of holidays, know of anyone going as the Swamp Creature for Halloween, the first coat of Aragon would be perfect - it's a great streaky swampy green with just 1 coat.

Back to the outfit - yep, it's the posture dress from ATL. Always stand up straight! (We should do that anyway.) Plus black sandals, stud earrings, and this cute little bracelet that I made a few years ago on a Moms Night Out. My first and probably last foray into jewelry making, but I love the colors of it, it's got a fun little cha-cha thing going and....now I can clip it to Polyvore. The only downside is that, given my very amateur beading skills at the time (and, um, now), the twists on the pin-things is not the greatest and it occasionally catches on things - so, much like the good old twisted crystal necklace, it's best not to wear it with a sweater.

Polyvore from Friday:


Wearing 8/21/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

And speaking of Polyvore, somehow I lucked into being featured on the Polyvore blog again, just below "How to Pack for a Winter Mediterranean Cruise" - I wish - but useful info, check that one out, too. Thanks, Polyvore!

Day Dresses

I'd like to talk about day dresses. It seems like a bit of an old-fashioned term. But I do love me some day dresses. Pre-kids, I loved skirts and dresses. Then the babies arrived and well...most clothing has to past the floor test, wherein you need to be able to sit on a floor with your legs out and change a kid in the middle without revealing too much. So, the skirts & dresses took a mostly backseat for a number of years. (And I never got the moms who could change a diaper kneeling - but maybe that's too awkward for me since I'm tall, I don't know.)

I think dresses are so easy. 1 piece and you're done. I always feel so put together in a dress. Just add a few accessories. My friend, Laura, went on a cruise in May and packed nothing but dresses - they are so easy to dress up and down. (and they pack small, too!) I love sweater dresses n the winter...but that's another post. This is summer dressing, people!

But I want to talk about day dresses. Not sundresses - which I love - but casual-ish summer dresses that have a bit more coverage when it's not 85 degrees in the shade. So I don't need quite as much sunscreen when I walk outside. So I don't necessarily have to bundle up for a run to the grocery store. (See Summerilla's post here - so true, so true.) And while sundresses aren't that hard to find, day dresses seem difficult. Especially in knit (and you know how I love my knits).

My first summer day dress, which I have posted before, is the J Crew pique striped dress from Spring 2007. Which they were still making this dress! It was perfect for an easy weekend day. My dad was up to spend the night before flying out of BWI to visit his sister, who lives in Hawaii but is visiting a friend in Nevada. We all went out to dinner at Red Robin - his & the kiddies' favorite. Sandals and some simple jewelry and I was good to go. I threw on a long black cardi later for dinner since I always freeze dining out. I wanted to go with a color, but couldn't find a color that worked for me with the black & white.

Polyvore for Saturday:

Wearing Today-7/11/09 by HeidiGblog featuring Diane von Furstenberg

Another summer day dress - Today, I wore my newest Ann Taylor Loft dress, the Sleeveless Dress with Front Twist (which only shows up online if you click from Polyvore). This was one of my finds in my I Love the Loft post. Granted this isn't as covered as some day dresses, but as far as I'm concerned, if you can wear a regular bra with it, it qualifies. And notice the accessories...yeah, just about the same. Boring me, whatever...it works.

My new name for this is the Posture Dress. I will admit I had second thoughts about the dress when I tried it on again, wondering if the bust area was a bit, ahem vacant. But I had already mistakenly tossed the receipt and I just didn't feel like dealing with the hassle of that, so I donned the dress and wandered downstairs to get 2 honest opinions from the kiddies. They both gave it a thumbs up, so it stays. The key is good posture here. If you slouch, the dress is way baggy in the bust area. If you stand up straight, as we all know you should, it works fine. So...ta da...the Posture Dress. And if you really don't know how to stand up straight properly, check out Tim Gunn's Guide to Style book - his description of correct posture is entertaining, endearing, and spot on (of course...it's Tim Gunn, duh) And when I pulled it up, I saw he has a 2009 boxed calendar - 365 tips. How did I miss that? Totally going on my Christmas list next year! (the 2010 version, natch)

Polyvore for today:

Wearing Today - 7/13/09 by HeidiGblog featuring Unisa shoes

Blog note - it's a crazy week with some work deadlines and getting ready for E's birthday party on Saturday, so although I am up and running, my posting this week will be limited. Bear with me, please.

What are your favorite dresses for daytime? Or are you anti-dress? Speak up!