Blue and Gold brocade

Ah, New Years Eve and the last Monday of 2012. It just seems hard to believe that another year has flown by in the blink of an eye. Our evening will be a quiet one spent at home and if we are lucky we might be awake at midnight to greet the new year.  

I purchased some new boots from Amazon this past week with some money I got for Christmas. On Christmas day, my sister was wearing these boots in black. She had purchased them from a local boutique for $160. I hoped to find them for less and after some searching, I found them on Amazon for $40. I ended up getting both the taupe and black since they were such a good price.

For today's outfit, I combined the taupe boots with pattern and shine in gold and blue. I started out with the pants tucked into the boots but I was unsure if I really liked it so I ended up untucking them. It is hard for me to find anything pants that are tight enough through the calves to tuck in boots. Plus-side skinny or jeggings are not made for those of us with smaller calves (although mine aren't that tiny!)



Image From Amazon.com



Jacket: Chico's
Blouse: Dillards
Jeans: Wit & Wisdom via Nordstrom
 Boots: Very Volatile via Amazon
 

It is hard to see the pattern on the pants, but it is a large brocade pattern. Because I had so much pattern going on, I decided to go with minimal accessories. I have had this bracelet and matching earrings for a long time and haven't worn it much. It is so beautiful that I am kind of afraid to wear it and risk damaging it. It went so perfectly with this outfit that I had to get it out.

Stanley Hagler NYC/Ian St. Gellar

 

 I wish you all a very Happy New Year. Thank you for joining me on my style journey through my retirement. I am so thankful for being a part of this wonderful blogging community. I am always in awe of all the creativity and style that is shared on Visible Monday and every other day. You are all amazing and inspiring. Thank you for being here. Please visit Not Dead Yet Style for the last Visible Monday of 2012.

Cream and Gray

I have been going back and forth trying to decide whether or not to post today. With the news of what happened in Newtown on Friday I feel so sad and a bit overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.  What a horrific tragedy. My heart goes out to all who lost a loved one and to those whose innocence has been forever lost.

My outfit for today is rather muted in gray and cream. I need to get the pants hemmed, but I did not want to wait to wear them, so I turned the hems up. I remember years ago I never had to hem pants. Now I almost always have to unless the pants are "ankle" pants in which case they fit me like perfectly.

I decide to use rather feminine accessories so I went with what I think is the ultimate feminine accessory - pearls.

Friday evening we took Harry to the dog park. It was the first time at a dog park for us and it was fun even though it was cold and windy. It was fun to see all the dogs running and sniffing. (I don't think Harry much appreciated the two neutered males who thought he needed to be humped.) While we were watching them, a lady sitting on a bench with me remarked that there was a much larger than Harry black Lab who should be arriving soon. Imagine her surprise when the huge Lab, Rex, turned out to be smaller than Harry! He is a big dude. When we got him we were told he was a smaller Airedale and was full grown. Ha! We love him regardless.

On another subject, I am going to remove the ability to comment anonymously for a while. I have been getting a lot of spam anon comments. I wanted people to be able to comment easily even if they don't have a Google account. Unfortunately the few ruin things for the many. I apologize if this inconveniences anyone (except you spammers!)

Please join all the wonderful bloggers who share their beauty on this Visible Monday linkup.

Black and blue on Monday

Happy Monday to you all. First, I would like to apologize for not commenting on blogs this past week. I am afflicted with vascular headaches and occasionally I have them for days on end. This past week was one of those occasions. Consequently, I did not spend much time on the computer. I am hoping that this week I will have more time to view all of my favorite blogs.

I am not sure why, but lately I have been wearing a lot of black. My outfit for today consists of black, white, and accents of blue in scarves. I wanted to show two different scarves with the same outfit. I ended up wearing the more vivid blue one in the second photo. 

I love the jacket I am wearing. It is a very soft leather with a patent snake print on it purchased several years ago from Chico's. This scarf is from Brightly Twisted, a Michigan company. The scarves are dyed and manufactured in the USA from imported fabric.  Each scarf is uniquely beautiful. (I am not affiliated with the company in any way and purchased the scarf myself.)

Harry decided to perform a 'stuffinectomy' on his ball toy. Stuffin' was flyin' for a while.

Leather Jacket: Chico's
Blouse: Chico's
Pants: Chico's Floral Lace
Scarf: Brightly Twisted
Shoes: FSNY
 

The second scarf I wore is one I purchased from Marshall's. It has a beautiful cobalt, black, and gray print. It's a very light weight chiffon and is very easy to style. I have been obsessed with scarves and wearing them most every day. A scarf can take a plain outfit to chic and polished. It is a great way for someone who lives a very casual life to jazz up almost any outfit.

Please visit Not Dead Yet Style for Visible Monday and Bon Bon Rose Girls for Monday Mingle.

What a Retired Boomer Wears on a Casual Day

I am always in awe of the fabulous outfits that my fellow bloggers create. There are so many with unique, elegant, quirky, artistic, or classic style that I adore seeing every day.  I am not sure that my outfit for today's Visible Monday is really even blogworthy. I have found that the longer I am retired, the less likely I am to dress to the nines. I still try to dress nicely, but my reality is much different than those of you who are still in the work force. Today's outfit illustrates that new reality. It was far too warm for a jacket (we had a record high yesterday) and we only went to the grocery store, so my fanciest accessory was a scarf.

Shirt: Lauren
Jeans: Chico;s
Shoes: Boutique 9
Scarf: Next

I did wear a scarf on my wrist as well as around my neck. I have seen several bloggers wear a wrist scarf and I decided to try it as well. I don't think I will do it again because it is too difficult to keep it dry when I wash my hands. Cute, but impractical.

No Harry photo today because he was too busy watching a squirrel to be bothered with us.  

I hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy today's linkups for Visible Monday and Monday Mingle.