Tag: jacket

A Tale of Two Statement Blazers

One of the things on my fall wardrobe thrift list was a statement blazer.  My inspiration for a statement jacket was this toreador bolero number festooned with ribbons, and – surprise – I have yet to come across anything approaching that amazingness.  Instead I have found both a snakeskin print and a plaid in unexpected colors:

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Snakeskin: Isaac Mizrahi Live! (Why does that sound like a talk show? – Googles… – turns out it’s a QVC brand.  Aha.)
Plaid: Merona – It’s the same blazer I own in camel but a size smaller, which I think is actually a better fit.

The first one feels like something a Jersey snowbird would wear to the casino, while the second gives off the vibe of a school blazer featuring oddly chosen spirit colors.  Or maybe your grandpa’s sport coat ca. 1973:

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Why yes, that’s orange, pink, and green all competing on a blue background.

I think I’m more into the ugly-chic of the second one, particularly since it adds more color to my closet than the snakeskin version (see this post on needing more color in my neutral-heavy fall/winter wardrobe).  Although I don’t own any pink of the variety featured in the plaid (or any orange – at all), I DO have that snazzy green in pants!  And I definitely have lots of that blue.  I’m excited to experiment and see how it wears with the rest of  my wardrobe.

The snakeskin version is meant to be kind of a neutral topper vis-a-vis my blue and grey turtlenecks and blue/grey/colorful pants.  (If leopard can be a neutral, so can snakeskin, darnit!)  I’m not sold yet, though: it’s suuuuper soft in that unstructured blazer way I love, but the area where the side seams meet the hem pooches out a little bit (you can kind of see it in the picture) and I can’t decide if getting it tailored will be worth it.  Does anyone have an idea of how expensive that would be?  Currently the seam doesn’t continue all the way into the hem so I think it will involve more Frankensteining than I care to pay for.

 

What do you think of these “statement” blazers?  Do you own any bold, printed jackets like this, and if so, how do you style them?  If not, may I suggest the thrift store as a great way to inexpensively try out the concept?  They always have a wide range of options, from subtly interesting to downright wacky depending on how crazy you want to get.

 

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What I Wore: Flared Blue Dress + White Denim Jacket + Leopard!

It’s been awhile since I’ve done an outfit post… I’m going to chalk it up to a combination of moving most of my outfit photos to Instagram and just plain falling out of the habit.  But today – lucky you! – I shoved the camera in The Spouse’s hands and asked for a quick pic before we headed off to church.

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Dress: New York & Co., 100% cotton, thrifted – love the color and the pockets!  Fit ‘n’ flare is not my favorite silhouette, thought, so it’s my placeholder summer blue dress while I look for something a little more fitted on the skirt.  (Plus it shrunk in the wash so it’s a little shorter than I’d like.  Turns out when they say “tumble dry low” they mean LOW.)

White denim jacket: J. Crew, thrifted – perfect for air conditioned spaces but definitely a bit heavy for our outside Atlanta heat these days

Leopard print belt: J. Crew, thrifted – the perfect touch to pull it all together and put a smile on my face

Sandals: Clark’s, bought with birthday money lo these many years ago

 

I love this royal blue + white combo – how summery it looks – and the unexpected leopard that makes it interesting.  Good thing I took these pics before church since my toddler proceeded to smear sunscreen all over the dress while getting her pre-church energy out running around outside.

 

What’s your go-to summer combo?  And do you long for the return of the outfit post?  Happy to do them more frequently if y’all miss seeing them!

 

Grand Opening Finds

I talked Tuesday about how much of a circus, shopping-wise, the Goodwill Grand Opening was.  I got there about 2 hours before the doors opened to tour the store and check out the merchandise, so I had spotted a few things I was interested in, but by the time I got around to shopping, a few of them were gone (I’m looking at you, blue dresses).

However, I did nab a stellar J. Crew white denim jacket, which, while not on my current thrifting list, will serve as a great thrift upgrade for the Calvin Klein jean jacket I got on sale for $25 in college:

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The blue color means it reads decidedly casual, which limits its versatility a bit.  But more importantly, a decade and a half on it now has a tear – sad day:
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This baby, however, spruces things up considerably:

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It’s work appropriate, and a perfect layer for our Southern climate where it is sultry all summer long (starting with 90 degrees at the end of April) but we insist on air conditioning the living tar out of our interior spaces.  You better be prepared to cover up that sun dress, Sugar.

 

I also found this lovely top, which, while unlined and probably not stellar quality, put a smile on my face.  The bold colors and the plump little birds just make you want to sing, no?

A photo posted by LeahLW (@thriftshopchic) on


The sleeves are long (to the beginning of the elbow) and fitted, which is a different and cool detail, and the shoulders fit great, but the rest of the top is sort of swingy – much larger down below.  I’m debating whether to have it tailored to a more boxy silhouette (a la this top).  Having the armholes altered will probably cost a pretty penny… curse my lack of sewing skills!  If I can’t make it work tailored, I very well may hang it against the back of my closet as wall art.

 

Last but not least, The Grouchy Ladybug, a childhood favorite, in toddler-friendly board book form:

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We probably own 10x my child’s weight in children’s books.

 

What delicious finds have you discovered in thrift stores lately?

 

Winter Capsule Wardrobe Update, Part 3: Tops

Part the Third—and final! (Part 1 and Part 2.)

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Today: Tops/Blazers.

I did not buy any new shirts, per se.

But I did buy a new sweater.  And replaced an old blazer with one I like better.  (See: thrift upgrade.)

The Harvé Benard blazer from my winter capsule wardrobe video?  It looked chic but also kind of stiff…too corporate with most of my less-serious stuff.  For example:

A photo posted by LeahLW (@thriftshopchic) on

What are those sassy top & skirt doing with that starched blazer??       So I found something with more give, more softness—oh, and the ability to move my shoulders with complete freedom instead of feeling like Tommy Boy: IMG_3101 It’s wool, it’s knit, and I need to remove a few pills.  Perfect!   It just looks more comfortable, more friendly, no? IMG_3092 Definitely more me.   I figured this out by thinking about what I love about my other go-to blazer, the one for which I actually reach on a regular basis: 

A photo posted by LeahLW (@thriftshopchic) on


Soft, has give, feels good on.

Glad that upgrade has been thrifted.  Sorry, Harvé Benard.  It wasn’t you….okay, well, it was.  Maybe next time.

 

I haven’t been as jazzed about the blue/grey/coral/white sweater as I thought I would.  I sort of make myself put it on like you eat All Bran—because it’s good for you.  The pattern is fun and they are good colors but it doesn’t feel very dynamic with non-jean work pants.

Here, me and sweater in happier days:

A photo posted by LeahLW (@thriftshopchic) on

 

Really I’m just not in love with any of my sweaters except my grey leopard print.

So I nabbed this one whilst heading to the cash register at the Goodwill with a few houseware-related purchases:

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Wearing the pants I just ambivalized in yesterday’s post…

 

Not in love with this sweater either but slightly more excited to wear it.

 

What I’m learning here is that I SHOULD NOT BUY SOMETHING UNLESS I LOVE IT.

Because eventually mediocre attraction to a piece of clothing will out, and you’ll find yourself thrust right back into the cycle of “I need something BETTER in my closet”—the very merry-go-round from which I was trying to disembark in the first place.

DO NOT BUY UNLESS YOU LOVE sounds so simple, and really is the whole point of a capsule wardrobe.  So you’d think I would’ve avoided this problem in the beginning by following my own capsule-building rules.

But I think I was worried about having enough—enough tops/pants, enough combinations, enough variety.  Surely two skirts will exponentially multiply the versatility of my capsule wardrobe??

 

Living with an attitude of scarcity over abundance never leads to happiness in other areas of my life; rationalizing and catering to all my fears about “enough” leaves me dissatisfied in a way that loving (smaller amounts of) what I have doesn’t.

So maybe in the next week or two I will try an experiment in radical wardrobe love and get rid of every winter item I don’t THRILL to put on.  I’ll just embrace the feeling of sartorial (hopefully not actual) nakedness and, I bet, discover I can live just fine with only things I love.

 

What about you?  Do you have tips for/stories about stepping off the cliff and only owning what you LOVE?  Scroll down to comment!