I don't usually take photos on my days off, because inevitably the outfit is either a rehash of the previous day or a rehearsal for the next.  Today, however I was quite pleased with how my hair was looking and wanted to document it (sadly the angle of my head here is not really showing off the 'do to full advantage).
There's not much else to say about the outfit except that my mother and I both own this same black turtleneck.  It's very useful, but not as cozy as one would expect as it is 100% cotton.

Hello readers!  Please forgive me for my unreliable postings.  It seems I don't have any problem taking pictures or writing up posts, but somehow the simple act of uploading photos from my camera causes all sorts of procrastination.
Tonight I discovered for myself the joys of cuffing the sleeves of a blazer.  It's something I see done all the time at work (I would say more often than not any blazer we sell is going to merchandized with it's sleeves cuffed), I had just never tried it out for myself.  I think this is probably because most of my blazers are bracelet or 3/4 length and so never really need it.  This Topshop blazer, however, covers a good portion of my hand and clearly benefits from the treatment.  Also on display here we have a Banana Republic sweater and UO necklace.

Once again, I was on the verge of getting rid of this sweater when a hipster coworker of mine admired it and even went so far as to inquire as to the store I had purchased it from.  The other thing that keeps me from donating it is remembering how badly I wanted it back in high school (I don't normally put items on hold at stores, but if memory serves, this is one such item).  When things come into my life easily, I feel I can just as easily let them go.  When I have to put more effort into obtaining them, I feel more obligated to hold onto them.  And so it would seem that this sweater will be held onto for awhile longer.

The draft title of this one was "blah".  Maybe that was because of the pose I have chosen to adopt here, I don't know.  For whatever reason, even though we have some perfectly respectable garments here (Rodarte for Target sweater; Temperley for Target T-shirt), they have somehow failed to become more than the sum of their parts.

The way I frequently put together an outfit is by seeing two articles of clothing laying together in a heap and thinking "That could work".  I think putting together interesting clothing combinations is a matter of trial and error.  Two articles may look fantastic together in my head, but many times once I get them on the proportions will be all wrong or something else will be off and we are back at square one.  But that's just me, perhaps everyone else can pick out an outfit worthy of Scott Schuman in two seconds flat.  Anyway, I am quite pleased with today's look which originated with me reaching into the depths of one of my sweater drawers and finding these two lovelies sitting on top of each other.

Literally a cheesecake shot here (actually more of a cheese danish shot) proposed by coworker and Garment Thread friend Mr. K

A rainy day in LA

 I have a soft spot for these sort of partially chopped photos, but for those of you who prefer to see the full outfit, I give you this:

Incidentally, it's amazing how sunny it looks in these pictures - I assure you that it was raining the proverbial cats and dogs.  I chose to wear these UO rain boots that I bought this time last year for traveling to Belfast.  Mr B. teased me for wearing wellingtons on the street, but I think they're fantastic - my feet were toasty and I positively relished jumping in the puddles.

some pictures of the garment thread HQ

I got it into my head that instead of taking a picture of my outfit today, I would take some pictures of my house.  How one furnishes one's abode is just as much an expression of oneself as what one chooses to wear on any given day and fashion magazines are forever taking us into the houses of the fashionable.  Hence I found it very easy to justify this decision.  

 The crafting library

some shoes

The foyer

More Stripe Clashing

Oh this is such a stupid picture, and the flash does nothing for one's complexion.  Nevertheless, I wanted you to get the full effect of the stripe on stripe and for that I will valiantly put up with less than flattering portraits.

Stripes for a casual Sunday.

Just a little detail of the owls on this shirt that I picked up cheap at work over the holiday season.  Apologies for the picture.  I am fully aware that I have been known to pose like this on purpose, but in this case, I was actually watching TV whilst blogging.  Ah the joys of multitasking.

For the last few months I kept coming across this sweater every time I was digging through "the bins".  I knew that I didn't want to give it away, and yet it is not a sweater that is appropriate for everyday.  It's on the see through side making it impossible to wear to work without a) inviting inappropriate comment (at one job) and b) just looking plain trashy (at the other).  Don't get me wrong, with the right undergarments the see through top has it's place, however one must consider carefully where that place is.  Anyway, I recently purchased this fox tank to be used as an undershirt and it was just the thing to make this ensemble respectable.

“a new dress doesn’t get you anywhere; it’s the life you’re living in the dress, & the sort of life you had lived before, & what you will do in it later.”  - diana vreeland

word.

Apparently green is the new orange this year, which is perhaps why this old Target sweater seemed very appealing this morning when I spotted it in my chest of drawers.  Isn't fashion a funny thing in that way.  As much as we want or think we are immune to such things, it creeps into our subconscious and makes us believe that appearing in public in a bra top is an acceptable thing.

Rule 1: Always clash your stripes

I really hate this picture, which is perhaps why I have taken my sweet time in posting it.  Such frumpiness!  Today, a gentleman asked me if I was from San Francisco and then told me that the colours I was wearing reminded him of the hippie days in Haight Ashbury.   Somehow that made me feel even frumpier.  Here is a much better outfit incorporating the sweater.

I like this picture of me here on my lunch break, but I'm afraid it doesn't really give one a good idea at all of what I'm actually wearing. 

(an update of my nails as they chip away into a state of disrepute)

vulpes vulpes

So far this year most of what I've been wearing are things that I've owned forever (or at least things I owned at the time of the last wardrobe project).  We are now entering into new territory.
You may recognize this T-shirt from a certain store.  It comes in several colourways, but this fox one is undoubtably our most popular and keeps selling out every time we restock it.  I am told by the people who tell us these sort of things, that the fox is the animal of the moment (knocking the owl off it's perch as it were).  All I can say about this is "Hooray" - now I have a chance to stock up on some vulpine related gear.  I love foxes and I feel an almost proprietorial interest in the species having spent my later teenage years playing in a sort of fox related punk band.

As you can see, my photography skills have not really improved over the last four years.  I spent far too long here trying to get the lighting right and the colours to look accurate and I think at this point the frustration is showing.  Let's talk about the outfit shall we.  The pink top is from Zara, green sweater as before, and the necklace is one of a growing number of "statement necklaces" I am acquiring from work.

This is my Cruella DeVille coat.  I have always thought of it as such and it was confirmed for me tonight by my Aunt S. when I turned up at her house and she exclaimed "You look like Cruella DeVille!!!".  I suppose I should've gotten rid of this coat long ago.  It's of the worst sort of fake fur, but I think that's what gives it a sort of punkyness that I love.  Now that I have joined the "woman of a certain age" category, perhaps I should give up this sort of sartorial shenanigans, but for the moment I think I can still pull this off without looking too ridiculous.

Hmm . . . I will have to do a little research in the archives on this one as I seem to recall wearing the exact same outfit  during the first wardrobe project.  These jeans are relatively new, so I guess it's not the "exact" same outfit.

What we have here is actually an outfit in transition.  In the earlier part of the morning, I had been traipsing around one of Los Angeles' myriad flea markets - hence the Converse.  Later I headed out to work at a certain store so I changed into one of their sweaters under the ubiquitous warm coat.  Sometime between those two events, this picture got snapped and as such it's not really a proper representation of what I wore to either place.

Here is the aforementioned green sweater I was telling you about.  It used to belong to my mother and I had always dated it to the 1980's.  I have since found out that it is actually about a decade older and was bought for her during her college days by my ever stylish great aunt. My mom talks about having a skirt that "went" with it, though my understanding is that it didn't actually have a matching skirt, but rather she had a plaid one that picked up on the green of the sweater.

I don't usually indulge in the whole nail art thing.  Not that I am against it in principle, but more because  I am extremely lazy.  Not even about the painting of the nails per se, but rather the taking off of the old and chipped polish (and I do so dislike the look of old chipped polish).  These nails here are just at the point of unacceptability, but as my outfit for the day was a variation on this one, and as I have said I don't usually go in for this sort of thing, I thought I'd document them.

Some days I don't have anything to say about my clothes.  Today is such a day, they'll just have to speak for themselves.

6am and on my way to work here.  It is very cold in my house these days, so I find myself either "sunbathing" on the back deck (with large sunglasses and a larger brimmed hat pulled down over my face) or bundled up in big coats like this one.
I tracked this stupid coat halfway across Europe.  Saw it first in Barcelona, but at the advise of one of my more jetsetting companions was told to wait til we got to Andorra where I could buy it tax free.  Well, it was either not to be found in Andorra or significantly more expensive (can't remember which - alas how the years do fly), so back in Spain I scoured all the Zaras I could find to no avail.  Ended up buying it back in Belfast at the most expensive price yet, but by that time I considered that the coat must be had at any cost (well not quite any cost, I believe it was around £70 - a small fortune for me).

I hate the cold.  Mr B. laughs at this because LA is nowhere near as cold as NI, but I don't care.  For me, there exists a very narrow band of temperature acceptability.  Be it Belfast or Burbank, cold is cold.  I have been alternating between this sweater and a similar green one (which you will no doubt see posted here soon) all Winter.  It used to belong to my great aunt (who incidentally has just promised me a mother load of clothing she is getting rid of, though at this point I think I have probably already inherited all the good stuff).