Outfit Catchup

We are watching the Opening Ceremonies on TV and I'm getting ready to catch up on some outfit posting. First of all, Canada - you make such a gracious host...or hostess...I'm not sure of usage here. Go Canada!!

I love the Parade of Nations - it's always so inspiring. And it's continuous so we actually get to watch it, instead of having to constantly cut away for a billion human interest stories. (They just cut away for the oh-so-important commercials.) You know, when there are so many of "interest" stories, somehow they lose a bit of my interest. Plus sports-fan hubby gets really irritated at all the fluff. Speaking of fluff...another Lucy snow pic for you:



Some thoughts on the Parade of Nations:

• Azerbaijan has the best pants, without question. Google it. I'm sure pics will be up by the time I post this. UPDATE - click here for picture.
• Go Bermuda - Bermuda shorts for the Winter Olympics. Love it!! I realize it's the national costume, but it's still pretty cool.
• Ireland has awesome yellow-chartreuse pants. And if I were the only country separating Israel & Iran, I'd probably wear an alert color as well.
• I want the Slovenia women's green coats - GORGEOUS!
• And I want one of the US turtlenecks, too. They have to be selling those somewhere. Why miss the opportunity to make a buck?
• I'm totally digging the quilted parka/dresses that the female flag bearers are wearing. Where can I get one? I look really good in off-white. And it's that cold here.

Outfit #1 - January 25 - Nude & Black. Inspired by an article in Glamour about the color nude for spring. I loved it paired with black...and realized I could do it with last springs cotton-cashmere bouquet cardi and a black tee. Plus my Chicos slim leg jeans. I really liked this outfit. And I'll wear it lots this spring - esp with white jeans. Truthfully, it wasn't quite warm enough for the day, but I loved the colors anyway. That's why we have coats. And it was quite fab with my black Selby bag and its vachetta handles.

Other accessories - loved it with my two-tone spectator Me Too ballet flats. And I paired the duchess stone bracelet with the braided rope rose gold bracelet. Great bracelet combo - my fave JC SA raved over it when I stopped by while I was out. So naturally, I was pleased that she appreciated it.

Polyvore from January 25:


1/25/10 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Outfit #2 - January 26 - I finally got the Knox sweater jacket right (this is size M). It's the neckline that's so tricky. A crewneck is too cluttered or crowded with the high vee of the Knox, but a vneck tee is perfect underneath! I decided to play off the military feel of the Knox, so I paired with black Minnies and my black boots. I kept the rest of the accessories simple - just Tiffany heart bracelet and silver hoops.

I admit I felt kinda tough in this outfit. Oh, what a great pair of boots can do for self-confidence! Stylestance has a fun post back in the fall about the effect our shoes have on how we walk - and it's so true. I skip when I'm wearing ballet flats. But when I have on my flat riding boots, I have authority and I stand tall. Which, unfortunately just reminds me of Cartman...respect my authori-tay. But I always feel great in these boots - except for when it's slushy/snowy because I have no traction but always thing I should - ok, so maybe a bit too much confidence.

Polyvore from January 26:



1/26/10 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

One final note - HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom today! And Abraham Lincoln, of course.

Gray Cardis...with an unfortunate splash of red

I have been on such a gray kick lately. Wearing gray, looking at and sometimes purchasing gray clothes. I think it's a reflection of the weather - but not the gray of the cold. It's actually a reaction to the need for constant coats - specifically the yummy yellow Winnie coat and my much beloved workhorse, the gray hooded wool coat. I love how the yellow wakes up a simple classic outfit - and I do love gray with yellow. But other days, I love the tonal combo of pairing a gray coat with other gray pieces. I do think charcoal gray looks good on most people, and a lot of my gray does tend to the darker shades. And quite honestly, J Crew's dark charcoal is one of my all-time favorite colors - something about that particular shade works really well with the yellow tones in my skin. I realized that I had a lot of gray going on this week as I was looking back at pics, so I thought I would share the last couple of days before I get back to party prep. We're hosting our annual Christmas party tonight, so lots to do.

Starting with yesterday...Friday's outfit - This is the J Crew Knox Sweater Jacket that I posted on 2 days ago. So here I'm actually wearing it intentionally (size M). I picked up the JC striped tissue tee in the gray/white combo this week since my BR gray/white striped tee got a hole in the wash. (See? It's not just JC...) The tissue tee is in an M, like my navy one - and I believe I will enjoy it just as much as the navy one. I did get it on sale ($19.99 in store), though, so that made me happy.

Oh wow, was it windy on Friday. Wardrobe selection consisted of my opening the closet and saying "Which pair of boots do I want to wear and what do I want to wear with them?" I went with my new Chicos Ultra Slim jeans that I posted on earlier this week and my black boots. I added my Silpada pearls to finish off the neckline of the Knox.

I am still experimenting with what works best here - but I did like it with the scoopneck tee instead of a crewneck - less crowded looking to me. And next, I want to try a scarf or two. And of course, the Winnie jacket makes any outfit more fun. Plus requisite hat & scarf. Did I mention I picked up the JC Bucket Hat in store for $9.99? See...patience pays off occasionally...

Friday's Polyvore:

12/11/09-Brrrrrrr by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Thursday was a fun post-birthday day. A friend was hosting a Holiday Brunch, so I wanted to be festive - but I also wanted to stay warm. So I pulled out a Chicos cardigan from a couple of years ago - I love the faux fur trim. It makes it so cozy and just looks fab. I loved this cardi so much, I got one for my mom that Christmas. Both of which were purchased with coupon, of course. I got mine at 50% off...and it has been so worth it. You all know that I'm always cold, so this is the perfect piece to wear out in the winter with a black tank, jeans, fun shoes (or boring black flats), and some chunky but sparkly jewelry.

I did once have a funny incident at a friend's house where her dog was very weirded out by the sweater - usually Cody was my best buddy, but he slunk around the perimeter of the room for quite a while until he figured out it was me. Lucy had no problem, but she did see me put it on, so maybe that made a difference.

Given the outside temps and the wind, I chose a JC tissue turtle in dark charcoal (M again) instead of the usual tank, and then paired it with my black Minnies tucked into black boots. Between the fur collar and the boots, I did feel a bit bad-a$$, like I could pretty much take on the world. And oh, how warm I was. I am going to experiment with this cardi over some of my (many) black dresses for Christmas eve - I hope one of them will work so I can be festive and warm. If I find one that works, I'm sure I'll post it here.

Thursday's Polyvore:


12/10/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Ok, now here's the promised splash of red. When I was at JC on Wednesday picking up the above-mentioned gray striped tee, I did fall into the Crewlade. Oh I know better. I know I don't usually love Essie polishes. But sure enough, I grabbed a bottle of Russian Roulette sitting by the counter, thinking that there was enough orange in it to maybe work. And here are the results:

Hmmmm....maybe I've been doing too many light and dark colors for the past few...years, but this was just way too bright for me. Or just not at all the right color or what I wanted. I had applied Thurs night...and took off Fri afternoon and applied another color. If E wants me to keep this one for her, I might. Otherwise, I'll offer it up to the DC JCAs at our next outing to see if anyone wants it.

An Even "Skinnier" Alternative, plus Pics of the Knox

As I have mentioned time and again, I am a big fan of Chico's jeans. Even at JC, I find the waistband is too low plus too big leading to muffin top plus big gape at the back. Sure, I could get jeans tailored, but I'd rather find a pair that fits really well to start with. I blogged about the Chico's Platinum Denim Slim Leg Jeans a couple of months ago. And I have been loving them...but when I ordered, they no longer had the blue washes in the 35" inseam, so I just grabbed the regular inseam in store and have been wearing them cuffed with flats or tucked into boots.

New Find - even skinnier jeans from Chico's. I'll admit right up front that I was bold enough to try these because (1) they actually had my size - 0.5 - in the 35" inseam in the "Rinse Wash" - now of course, they are sold out and (2) I had a 50% any item if purchase is $50+ - usually the threshold is $100 - so I got these for half price. Behold..Chico's Platinum Denim Ultra Slim Leg Jean ($69). I think even my sister would be impressed at how skinny these jeans are.

Speaking of my sister - a huge Happy Birthday to my twin & birthday-mate. I can't think of anyone I'd rather share a birthday with, other than Donny Osmond, which we do - and when we were 10 years old, that was just so cool. And since I can't sleep, it's 2:34 am, which is about 2 minutes after you arrived, and 1 minute before I did. Those blissful 3 minutes when our mom thought she would only have to deal with 1 baby. Ah, the days before ultrasound...

Back to the jeans...I am very happy with the fit. I like the higher waistband because it kinda holds everything in so there's no muffin top or gaping. I do realize that on some, this waist would be too high, but on my rectangular form, it works. I took a size 0.5, which is supposed to equate to a 6 (yeah, whatever), but I find in their stretchy jeans & pants, it's best to size down because they will stretch out.

I still need to experiment with which tops work best. A long cardi is kind of a no-brainer. I had on the tango top with a long sleeve tee layered underneath and just wasn't feeling it this morning. The biggest pitfall to avoid is the Stacy & Clinton ice cream cone effect, aka ICE. (ICE where the top part of your bottom half is really wide, and your pants narrow down to really skinny at the bottom - your ankles may look tiny by comparison...but your behind - by comparison - looks huge. ICE is best managed through trouser or straight cuts.) But I think these are workable by choosing the right top half. And even if I only wear these with long sweaters & tees, hey, they were under $40 - so I'm not complaining.

Yesterday, I opted for my BR Michelle-twin, a white open neck painter tee and then piled on some gold/sparkly necklaces including the should-have-picked-one-that-doesn't-snag twisted crystal with my dangling crystal shapes bracelet. Simple, yes...but it really suited my mind frame and you know the drill - toss on the yellow Winnie coat and the outfit goes to fab immediately.

Polyvore for today:


12/8/09 - What I really wore... by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Items in this set:
Women's Merino Sweaters & Cardigans - J.Crew, $88
Women's knits & tees - textured knits - Open crewneck painter tee -..., $30
Head to Toe with Heidi: Winnie Love
Chico's - Platinum Denim Ultra Slim Leg Jean, $69
Mossimo® Desta Ballet Flats - Black : Target, $20

And on the subject of charcoal sweaters...melissa molasses asked for an IRL pic of the J Crew Knox sweater jacket (#18172, orig $132, curr $49.99 in store). This sweater is sold out online, but still pops back. Most stores seem to have a number of them back in the sale section. I stalked this one for a while, waiting for the price to drop.

I haven't yet gotten a pic when I've worn it as an actual outfit - but here's the pic from just after purchase. Love the sweater - very warm. It's a very tight knit, so it's less likely to snag. And (not pictured) even though it's double breasted, it still looks very cute open. I was paging through the JC Oct catalog and the model was wearing it open...but I can't quite remember what else she had on though.

I took an M. It's not tight, but I feel like it's streamlined enough to not be boxy. The sleeves are plenty long. You could consider sizing down in this, depending on your shoulders. I think the sweater is very versatile and plan to wear it a lot this winter. The only thing that I'm still working on is the best neckwear when the sweater is closed. A regular "shirt" would be great. But I feel like it needs something extra when wearing with a tee - but I haven't figured out which necklace works well, or if a scarf might be better. In fact, the last time I wore it, that was vexing me, so I just wore it open. Ah well, plenty of time to experiment.