Bargain Hunting

As I've probably made clear in earlier posts, I love a good bargain. Sometimes I happen upon them easily. Sometimes, though, I have to work for it.

For example, this this dress...





I saw this dress a couple of months back and fell in love with it. It's cute, it's dressed up, it's comfy, and it's semi-casual. A perfect Friday dress for a office with a "no jeans" policy. The only problem? The price. I've done my best to edit out the website info, but the place I first saw it was here:




I did not want to pay $130. I love the dress. Were I not trying hard to budget, I would have paid it. But I just couldn't in good conscious.

Before you pay full price for something like that, check google. I'm serious. I googled the designer and the name of the dress, and look what came up!




Factor in that Macys.com also typically has coupon codes on the front page, I got another 25% off on top of this lower $103 price. Not to mention there's usually a free shipping or similar deal. Macy's has got your back, man!

So a dress that cost $130, I got for $77.25. I felt much better about that. And I get compliments on the dress every time I wear it. I had to let the hem down a bit. But even the $5 investment in thread and hem tape didn't come anywhere near the price from the other seller. Which would also have to have been hemmed.*

I did the same thing when I got married ... 11 1/2 years ago? YIKES! My dear friend found the perfect shoes for me (wish I had a pic, but I'm geographically separated from them right now), but they cost over $200. At that time, there was no way I could afford a $200 pair of shoes period, let alone a pair I'd only wear once. But I googled! Took sifting through 8 pages of results before I found a good hit, and snagged them for $98 bucks. With search engine optimization, and people realizing you can virtually bargain hunt so lowering their prices more often, that kind of thing is way easier today, thank goodness. Still... If never hurts to take some time to really hunt for that deal, okay?

Now go forth and find great stuff at more acceptable prices!


*Google is also handy for those websites that don't list the hem length. If you can find the dress on another site, you might just find more about how the dress fits, hem length, etc. So the original website had the hem length, while Macy's didn't. I still knew what I was in for with that short of a hem, though, and that I'd need to add an inch. For that, though, be sure you know how that designer usually works. I know that Michael Kors includes a lot of leeway in its hems, so I knew I could add an inch without a problem so long as I added some hem tape. Had I been unsure of the designer, I wouldn't have chanced receiving a dress with a 1/2 hem that I couldn't extend.

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An Experiment - So Far, Good Chemistry

So you always see those "wardrobe rental" sites online, and there's a plus-size specific one, Gwynnie Bee. I finally decided to try it out, for several reasons:
- I like clothes
- I don't have time to shop anymore
- I like lots of clothes
- I don't like to spend a ton of money
- I like so many clothes
- It seemed like a good way to try various things I wouldn't usually try, with the option to just ship 'em back for free if I don't like 'em.
- I like ALL THE CLOTHES
- It's always in my newsfeed, appealing to my love of clothes

So I signed up for a month-like free trial. Once you sign up, you go through their closet and and pick out things that look interesting. You can prioritize stuff you really like and want to try. The first three things I got - which mind you, you pick yourself during sign-up - I didn't like. They weren't on my priority list, but that was okay, I wanted to try new things. So I tried three new brands and they didn't work. It reminded me of my soul sister once saying in a dressing room, "Wow, that's you, but in a good way!" The three rejects were admittedly me, but the "me" I tried to shove into storage years ago, because it should all be good now, dammit! Anyway, I digress - I sent those pieces right back, and got three new outfits.

Here is one of the new pieces I got, and crimeny, I love it!



* Sorry for the airport bathroom pic.
** Sorry for the shoes, not what I'd usually put with these, but I'm up for a lot of walking today.

So this one is a Sandra Darren, which I've never tried before, but I'm not adding to my "YAAAAASSSSSS!!!!!" list.

Really, I love this! I was a little worried. In the pictures, the skirt looked shorter. And given my height (I am finally beginning to stop claiming 5'10", because let's be real here, I'm older and I've shrunk, so that takes some serious rounding up now), it's still a reasonable length. Right at the knee. I can totally do right at the knee!

I got two other pieces that were brands I've never tried before. You'll get pics of those later on workdays. This baby came on vacation with me because it's comfy and cute and all the things. Not that the others weren't, but I only have so much room in my suitcase, and very specific looks in mind for this trip. I'll try to do more pics as the week goes on, but I am on vacation, folks!

I'm still going to wear this one some Friday, though. And I'm probably not sending this one back to Gwynnie Bee, I think they made a sale.

Oh yes - If you like what they send, you can buy it at a reduced price. So that's nice! Plus you have access to their "retired from circulation" pieces for a reduced price if you're a member. They do all the dry cleaning before you get it. So if the idea of wearing something someone else has worn before squicks you out, this is probably better, actually, that what 50 other people have tried on in a dressing room (I always wash those before wearing, because that does skeeve me out).

So, two successes - a new brand, and a new mode of shopping!

What a good day!

Wait, "good???" Hell, I'm on vacation now, what a GREAT DAY!!!!!!

(Did I mention I'm on vacation? Cause I am. WOO HOO!!!)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Summer Special

You might get a couple of posts this morning because I have spare time, and I want to use it telling people about fabulous things! Because I'm that way.

First, I've been talking about dressing for hot weather. Well, here's another great hot weather find.





This cool little yellow shift dress is current on sale for under $17(!!!!!) from simplybe.com! And if you aren't a yellow fan, they also still have it in navy.

I totally think, though, that y'all should try yellow. It's a very underrated color, and works on more people than you'd think. Especially this nice bright yellow. Kind of like green - the pale greens don't work on everyone, but a nice, vibrant green usually does.

I just put it with a long necklace I've had for years (that's a PEAR! Isn't that cute?) and nude wedge Cole Haan's, and yay, I'm ready for the hot blazing day!

That said, I'm wearing this to work, so I'm also taking a white, pin-stripe jacket I bought 2-3 years ago.





This jacket is long-unavailable, but a nice, white and tailored jacket looks great with this dress (since the dress is less tailored, you definitely want the jacket to take up the slack for the more "I'm a business person!" moments). However, Simply Be has this crisp white jacket, which would look great with the dress, methinks.

Added bonus - I also wore this dress and jacket combo earlier this summer, but with a black belt instead of a necklace (not good to over-accessorize), and black pumps. I'll try to recapture that magic day sometime, because it gives the outfit just a slightly different, but more polished look. I just wasn't in a belt mood for outfit-trotting-out number 2.

Long story short? Summer's hot, but you can be cool.

I think I was too tired to really make that last sentence work. Dammit, come on coffee, help me write more goodsly!

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Semi-Sick Day

Like a lot of folks, I have migraines.  While I don’t have as many triggers as I used to, I still have several – dehydration, going too long without eating, lack of sleep, overheating, barometric pressure changes.

I have a point.  I promise.

Today it rained like crazy, after days of crappy and humid heat, followed by two sunny, mild days. So guess what happened.

Thankfully it was a weekday – if it’d happened on a weekend, I would have slept through the initial warning signs too far to recover.  As it was, I slept through the auras, but I woke up while it was still just “pain over the right eye.”  So with a migraine pill, a bottle of propel, plenty of caffeine, and some salt (I hate pickles for breakfast, don’t judge), I managed to head off the full-bore deal.

Why should you care?  Because it directly impacted my sartorial choices for today.  You see, like I’ve alluded to in previous posts, I use clothing for lots of reasons – as an armor, to reflect my mood, to gain respect … Today, it was a costume.  If I dressed crisp and bright and happy, I’d be more likely to act like I was crisp and bright and happy.

And hence, we get this:

As an added bonus, since it’s almost Independence Day, I look extra patriotic!  Woo hoo!

I started building around the pants.  Because whose mood isn’t brightened by red pants?  These are the Kady fit ankle pants from Eloquii.  They are comfy and fit quite nicely. Which again, is a helluva mood brightener.

With red pants, though, you want the rest of the colors to be low key.  So I went with a white, sleeveless, overlay blouse, also from Eloquii.

The jacket?  An out-of-circulation denim blazer I’ve had in the closet for years.

I like the blouse more than I hate my arms, so here's a jacket-less photo.

Anyway, put it with a pair of low-heeled blue wedges similar to the denim blazer color, and boom. Mic drop. Done.

Well, I guess not quite.  The collar of this blouse just screams for something fun, doesn’t it?

I can’t find this necklace online anymore either, but here is the gist- It’s a statement necklace without an overpowering statement.  The gold sparkly part with the subtle color of the “gems” still gives some substance without being overwhelming.

So I may not have felt well today, but I good ‘nuff costumed up to have a good, productive work day.

After all, as much as I want to feel crisp and bright and happy, I don't want to feel overwhelmed.  

Hot Weather Sucks

So, we're in blazing summer now.  Even though I'm a summer baby, summer and I do not completely get along.  I'm a wimp when it comes to heat.  But barring a move to the Antarctic, I'm gonna have to deal.

It's hard to look professional when you look like you're doing a riff on Ted Stryker landing in Airplane!  So when it hits triple degree heat, you want short sleeves, light cottons, etc.

So here's a sampling of how I've been coping.

The Whimsy Wrap Dress from Kiyonna.com. Paired with the Solar Orbit Necklace from Thinkgeek.com (because I'm a geek, in case you'd somehow missed the obvious signals, but it's subtle geek - I mean, it's a nice, colorful necklace, right?).  And Ardent pumps from Aerosoles.com.  Comfy, light material, professional.  Love it.

Here's I've got a long-sleeved, tie-neck shirt from Eloquii.com, but it's a comfy, light cotton.  Not hot at all. I paired it with a nice navy pencil skirt from Simplybe.com's career wear section. With once again, shoes from Aeorsoles. 

I didn't do a lot with jewelry on this one - with the tie neck, I didn't need a necklace, so I just did earrings.  Cute earrings!  Unfortunately, I can't link them because I don't remember when or where I got them.  Bah!

Anyway, shifting on - Black can be hot in the heat of the summer, but it can still look nice. Unfortunately, these specific pieces aren't available anymore - this is an old Joanna Hope peplum top from Simplybe.com, and an old Lord & Taylor printed pencil skirt.  The top is a light jersey and the skirt cotton, so it still stays relatively cool.

  Finally, let's shift one last time.

Both pieces are from Eloquii.com.  The white cotton tie-waist blouse is, naturally, light and airy and comfy.  The textured blue column skirt is just awesome.  Both pieces are simple, but just detailed enough to not be boring.    

Huh.  and I just realized, I did a LOT of blue in this post, so I'm going to throw one more in after all to mix it up a bit.  And this mixes it about as much as it can possibly mix it...

The dress is a Suzi Chin for Maggy Boutique I picked up on clearance a few years ago.  The asymmetrical cut waist, and all the bright colors - Yeah, it's loud, but it's summer!  And it's fun!  And I totally wore it on a Friday, because that's when you can be most fun at work in the summer, if you don't have any crazy meetings.  The shoes, by the way, are Uggs.  I swear.  Uggs.  Who knew they made sandals, and who knew they'd be cute?  They're the Char two-piece sandal, if you're interested.

One more thing?  My legs are typically just one shade off of chalk-white.  They're embarrassing.  I can even be sunburned horribly on my arms and back, and my legs will be all, "no thanks, we enjoy our ghostly pallor and creating uncomfortable complexion dichotomies, so yeah, go away sun."  And they throw up some kind of incredibly complex and heretofore unknown to man sun-blocker so effective scientists are still trying to reformulate it 44 years after its discovery.  (Did I take that joke too far?  Oh well.)  So this day, I tried out Sally Hansen leg makeup.  It works!  And it didn't rub off on anything, but still washed off with just soap and water later.  Good stuff.

I'll try to not let so much time pass before my next post.  I'm also going to try to find a better mirror (or at least clean this one), so bear with me.

Business Travel Part 4 – Time To Go Home

So you almost didn’t get a picture today, because I overslept by an hour, packed my hotel room in a flurry, hopped in a cab thinking I’d be 5 minutes late for my morning meeting and … Apparently the metro is closed in DC. Did y’all know that? I didn’t. You can imagine was the uptick in motor traffic was like then.

Thankfully, when I showed up at 9:25, everyone was understanding, and I wasn’t even the last person there. Doesn’t that automatically make it better? It should. Someone codify that.

And I kid. I’m a professional, but oversleeping and being late like that (I typically build in plenty of time for DC traffic, which would have saved me here) was pretty unprofessional. So I apologized (and meant it – that part’s important), and then got down to business so I could minimize my disruption as much as possible.

There, professional, non-sartorial advice today. You’re welcome.

Now back to this blog's intent … Here’s my travel-day, business meeting dress.




Not knowing I’d oversleep (which makes dresses handy), but knowing I’d have packing, cab ride, meeting, meeting, cab ride, airport sitting, airplane sitting, driving home … I wanted comfortable. In other words, it was not a suit-wearing day. Not that suits can’t be comfortable, but there’s just a natural uprightness I feel when I wear them, like I costumed to be a badass.. But these were informal meetings and there was a lot of “active” time. It was another comfy dress day. I don’t know why, but dresses can just be infinitely more comfortable than a suit on a plane. Of course, I still bring a jacket (not in the picture because I didn’t need it), because you never know what meeting rooms and planes are gonna do temperature wise. Doesn’t matter if it’s June, plan for layering.

If you went to the link, you already know that this is another Eloquii. I’m kind of in love with Eloquii right now. You can find career wear that’s got just enough edge to stand out (but not inappropriately so) in a fairly conservative industry. Remember this post? Also an Eloquii. Plus, they have a lot of great sales, which does not suck at all.

The cut of this dress is actually pretty simple, and very comfy. The tie waist gives it the right amount of shape. And I never tie tie-waists too tight, because then I not only get uncomfortable (which defeats the purpose), but I also look kinda ridiculous. It’s a relaxed professional look, don’t make it tight and stodgy!

So there ya have it! I’ll take a couple of days respite now to get my act back together (and see if I can seek out a new selfie stick so I don’t end up posting a ton of bathroom pics, because that just seems gross), and more posts next week!


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Business Travel Part 3 - Yeah, I Don't Blend In

Today was a very sociable day, and a picture day. Seriously, so many pictures, some expected and some not.  I may even end up in a very respected industry magazine, which for a geek like me, will rank up there just below the time I received a thank you credit in a book in the same line as my favorite economist. And ... yes, I should should stop with that line of geekdom now.

Anyway, knowing some of the pictures were coming, I wanted to be sleek, but still comfy. And of course, again, I needed something that packed well.

Today, I went with a nice gray wool.  A light wool, though, so I didn't look ridiculous in June.  I have an Eloquii suit that really, truly, did the trick today.

My picture (I really need to up my detailed selfie game) doesn't do the jacket justice, so here, go to this link and have a closer looksy.  Now on the website, the model didn't turn the collar down.  Of course, it looks awesome on her.  She's a model, so duh.  I did turn the collar and lapels down, because I wanted to bring some more attention to the blouse and my "I could be a 1950s housewife and rock it, but I choose not to" pearls.  Were I wearing a more staid blouse, I would have popped the collar like a good 1980s frat boy and worn it like on the website.  Damned if this jacket doesn't work really well both ways.  It's a great, tailored cut, and the almost peplum-like detailing where you'd expect pockets is visually interesting in a good way.  

The matching skirt for the jacket is here, by the way.  

And Eloquii is doing a 30% off sale with a promo code (on the website), so check stuff out, the work wear is solid enough to be professional, non-standard enough not to get stodgy, and very well tailored.  

The blouse, alas, is long gone from sale racks unless you find it on ebay.  Which is a pity.  It's just a simple chevron Jones New York tank I picked up on clearance a few years ago, but the thing is so comfortable and so well cut, it deserved a bit of highlighting in the ensemble.   Plus, because it's almost jersey-like but 95% polyester, I don't think it's possible to wrinkle it on the wrinkliest day of the year with an electrified wrinkling machine (to paraphrase Homer Simpson, which I probably do too often).  

Anyway, total effect, if I do say so myself, is professional, solid, sleek (especially with my still-kinda-new-but-already-beloved-bangs), and eye catching.  

I mean really.  With my height and stature, I ain't blending into any crowds.  I may as well make the most of it.