Chance Comments

It got so warm a couple of weeks ago in SF that I got spring fever and wore cropped pants and sandals -- which was awesome in the early part of the day, but freezing and miserable by the time I left work. However, it was totally worth it to have my toes out there in the breeze for one glorious morning. And hey, it was still only February at that point, and not many people in the Northern hemisphere can boast of being able to wear sandals in February. I still love you SF, even though your late February evening almost gave my toes frostbite.

You may have already seen on Sal's blog that she and Husband Mike were out here visiting for several days, during which time we pretty much packed in as many events and sights as we could possibly pack in. After they arrived in town we had lunch at the always awesome Brenda's, hit 2 great local shops, Wonderland and Jeremy's, and finished with an evening at NightLife. And that was just the first day. More on their visit to come.

Have you noticed I'm growing my hair out lately? For now it's just the bangs, but who knows where it might go from here. In the last few months I've gotten used to seeing my face with my forehead exposed, and I'm finally to the point where it looks natural to me, and possibly better. I always fancied my face as being long, and thus the forehead was something to be covered, but looking at it now I think my face is in fact quite oval. It's interesting to make this observation for the first time at age 42, especially since my belief in the notion of needing bangs dates back to a thoughtless comment from a relative when I was about 8 years old. It occurs to me how ridiculous it was to have held onto that belief for so long simply because 34 years ago someone told me I had a long face.

How have chance comments from others shaped your self image? Have you overcome those impressions or do you still hang onto them?

Shirt: Michael Stars
Vest: Cotélac
Pants: Cynthia Steffe
Sandals: Michael Kors
Bag: Foley + Corinna

Bulky

This sweater dress is a tough one to style, being so very bulky. But for the really chilly winter days, it sure does keep me nice and toasty. Here I used the vest to give it a slimmer shape, and matched my tights to the boots to elongate my legs. The boots have folded cuffs at the top, but here I flipped the cuffs up to make the boots even longer.

Dress: Banana Republic
Vest: Cotelac
Ring and bracelet: Metal Pointu
Boots: Modern Vintage

Coldish

Last week it got cold-ish for a couple of days, so I pulled my winter items out from storage. These leather pants haven't seen the light of day for quite some time, and frankly I'm starting to worry that this might be one of the only wears they get this winter. I thought they went beautifully with the blazer and boots.

I tried out some of the new shatter nail polish from OPI, and I quite like the effect. It was remarkably easy to do; you just apply it over any regular nail polish and within a few seconds it starts to crack. It doesn't even have to be applied evenly or very thick, because when the polish cracks it clumps together and becomes more opaque. Recently I read that gold nails are big for spring, and this is one trend I can certainly get on board with. It's not a huge investment, it looks good on everyone, and it's a great way to mix metals if most of your jewelry happens to be silver, as mine is. 

Blazer: Helmut Lang
Shirt: All Saints
Necklace: Manu Lizarralde
Pants: Firetrap
Boots: Brako

Making it Count

I didn't do a TON of shopping while I was in Paris, but I made the shopping I did do really count. This gorgeous leather vest was an instant must-have; I first spotted it in a shop window the first night I got into town, and although the store was closed at the time, I knew I'd eventually make my way over there when it was open. As it turned out, I came across a second store location early into my first shopping day, and I didn't waste any time making this beauty mine. 

One of the things I love about shopping in Paris is the attentiveness of the salespeople. When I tried this vest on I zipped it all the way up and tied the belt in the center, but the lady who was helping me showed me how to leave the zipper down partway and adjust the alignment of the belt just so. Thank you for increasing my chic factor, Parisian sales lady!

The ring and bracelet are also from my weekend in Paris, and I've already worn both of them several times. It's a good thing  there will be more trips to France in my near future, because I'm regretting not bringing back more items from the wonderful shop where I found them (they have some items available online, but it's not nearly as fun as bringing something home from a shop in Paris, right?). Before work sends me back to France I'll be saving my pennies for one of their amazing chunky necklaces.

Dress: Desigual
Vest: Cotélac
Skirt, tights: Noa Noa
Boots: All Black
Jewelry: Metal Pointu's