A Cat In Paris

A Cat In Paris by clothdoll featuring lips makeup

Well, it's been quite awhile, hasn't it? Recently, ModStylist Amy from ModCloth contacted me and asked if I would like to participate in their Uniquely You campaign. I've been meaning to get back to the blog, and to check out Polyvore (would you believe this is my first attempt?), plus I adore ModCloth - so I was glad to accept. The challenge was to create an outfit based around their gorgeous When The Night Comes Dress using items from ModCloth. Additionally, everything shown is a part of their plus size collection! They've been very focused on improving their plus options as of late, which is so important because I know my fashion-loving plus size girlfriends haven't had a lot of choice. When I go shopping with my girls, it would be nice if they could have as many clothing options as I do as a straight size lady. The industry has a long way to go, but it's nice to see ModCloth making serious strides in the right direction, blazing a trail.

Anyway, my outfit is pictured above! I was inspired by upcoming holiday parties and, well, cats. Duh. Because who isn't?


Thanks for reading!

BB Dakota black dress
modcloth.com

Jack bb dakota coat
modcloth.com

Pretty Polly tight
modcloth.com

Flat shoes
modcloth.com

Betsey Johnson clutch
modcloth.com

Band ring
modcloth.com

Chain necklace
modcloth.com

Black headband
modcloth.com

Lime Crime lips makeup
modcloth.com

Baby you know it's true...

...that I haven't forgotten about my blog! And I still really love street festivals. The last post was a flashback to Roycroft Festival 2011, and this post zaps forward to Roycroft Festival 2012, which was just last weekend! But before I yammer on about the event, let's get those outfit details out of the way first:

50s vintage crop top!!!
Modcloth shorts (old)
70s vintage purse, my ultimate favorite
80s vintage sunnies
Keds
Big toothy grin

The crop top is something I was extra excited and proud to find. It was in the children's section of one of my favorite vintage haunts and it cost me $3. Since it's so short and has a label that says "Jrs." on it, it was mistaken for a little girl's blouse. But I noticed the bust darts and adult-size shoulder measurement and knew I had to make it mine, especially since this type of vintage separate is so hard to find. I've only ever found one other cropped blouse (from the 40s), and it was way too busty for me. This one fits perfectly! Also, these shorts used to sit lower on my hips, but I had them tailored to sit higher up once I realized how amazing they would look with the blouse. I liked them a lot before, but I like them much better now!

Also, I was taught never to sport a bare midriff, so I was a bit self-conscious about trying out this look at first. But after many positive comments (including from my grandmother!), I eased into it and can't wait to try other combinations. My favorite comment was from an oldish man who said my outfit reminded him of something his mother would wear in the 40s ("and that tells you how old I am, har har!").

And now for some cute things I saw at the fair...



Baby alpaca!!!!! Here he is with his mother, so you can have an idea of the cute tinyness:





This one lady had a couple of boxes of beautiful vintage textile scraps. I didn't know what I'd do with any of them, but I did find a few little treasures tucked in there that I'll share later. I do wish I'd taken a little more time to look through everything; there was a lot!



Can't go wrong with a colorful box o' bakelite. Wish it were all mine...





These polkadot(!) sunglasses were THE AWESOMEST but too rich for my blood.



I bought this hat at a local shop in town using a gift card from my mom (thanks, Mom!).



A book foretelling the existence of our cat, Cooper.



That's all for now, bye!

Photos by Dave. Thanks, love!

Forgotten Treasures

Well, hello there! It seems someone has fallen behind on her blogging, tsk tsk. I just want to be a sponge in the wintertime, soaking up what the internet has to offer instead of contributing anything. The sun has been peeking out lately, however, and with it come hints of inspiration. To get back in the swing of things, I'll be posting sets of photos taken in 2011 that have fallen by the wayside. These particular pics are from the Roycroft Festival all the way back in June, which, as I've mentioned before, is one of my favorite events of the year. It's hard to believe that in just a few short months, it'll be time to hit up the festival again!


Checking out a 50s black cotton voile cocktail dress by Gay Gibson. Only $25 and in my size - duh, I bought it.


This was the best antique/vintage jewelry booth! I really hope this lady sets up at the festival again this year. I'm a sucker for figural jewelry in particular, and she had it in spades. Here I'm inspecting a WWII-era sailor pin. I left it behind, but walked away with green bakelite hoop earrings and this celluloid scottie dog charm bracelet (thanks, Mama Pierro)!


These amazing vintage sunglasses were also at the booth. I thought they were pretty silly at the time, and I still do, but looking at this photo really makes me wish I had bought them! Maybe this year, if I'm lucky...


Realllllly pretty embroidered pillow from my dreams, left behind due to lack of space (and probably a hefty price tag).




Had to make time for a cupcake; this S'mores one was unfortunately not as good as it looked.


After the festival, I had to hit up The Dress Shop, a favorite local boutique with tons of gorgeous vintage upstairs. Just look at all those pretty dresses! It's also the headquarters of Wallflower Vintage. I tried on tons of clothes but didn't have any luck that day; the shop assistant must have loved me, ha ha... sometimes that happens, though.

Thanks for reading! I'll try to post again soon!

Brunching and Munching

We were lucky to have pretty amazing weather this fall - it's only just beginning to get wintery. These photos are from a couple of weeks ago, when Dave & I went out for delicious brunch with his sister and her husband. It was so warm, I didn't even need my sweater! All the better to show off this sweet little cat-print dress that I picked up using a gift card to H&M that I won on La Fille D'Or's blog - thanks again, Suzz! Oh, and you can't see them very well, but the cats are wearing tiny bow ties. TINY. BOW TIES. Perfection!

Dress: H&M

Sweater: from a local boutique
Wool tights: J. Crew
Bag: vintage by Morris Moskowitz
Shoes: Born

Photos by Dave

A winner is announced!

Did you know that Shiro is very good at judging contests? I woke him up from his nap so he could tell me the winner of the Shabby Apple giveaway. Who won the Boogie Woogie dress, Shiro?



Out of the 18 eligible entries, comment #14 was the winner - jenpru! Congratulations! Keep an eye on your inbox; I'll be contacting you shortly so you can claim your prize.

To everyone else, thank you for all your entries and kind words. To those of you who've chosen to follow the blog, an extra thanks for that - I hope I can keep you entertained! I had a lot of fun running this giveaway, and hope to have the opportunity to do more someday. Thanks again to the kind folks at Shabby Apple for their generosity!

The photo credit goes to Dave!

Industry

Oh, you know. Just hanging in front of an industrial wall, as fashion bloggers do. All bundled up for the fall chill. I've been wearing this jacket and these gloves all season long - they're my autumn workhorses, for sure. I forgot exactly what we did this day, but I do remember going to the bargain book outlet and snagging a couple of sweet deals, including a vintage, Bradley-style, Japanese pose doll. I forgot to take a photo of her; she has pretty violet hair and looks amazing sitting next to my kitschy poodle. Actually, Dave bought her for me, because he's sweet like that. I also bought a book about famous Siamese twins Chang and Eng, and a trashy novel about beautiful, tortured ballerinas. All in all, a pretty good haul, I think.





Trench: Priorities
Dress: Urban Outfitters, so old
Wool tights: J. Crew
Handbag: vintage, Morris Moskowitz
Boots: Industry via Modcloth
Gloves: Modcloth
Key necklace: Erica Weiner

Photos by Dave

P.S. - Don't forget that I'm still running the Shabby Apple giveaway!

Surprise - It's a Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway!

You guys, you guys, you guys! I'm so excited I hardly know what to say! I've been approached by several different magazines and companies while running this blog, but nothing's really grabbed me. If I don't believe in something, I don't post about it. When Shabby Apple contacted me to do a giveway, however, I jumped at the chance to pick out a pretty dress for you! It's not about to become giveaway central over here, but I've long been a fan of their vintage-inspired women's dresses, so I just couldn't resist. Please allow me to show some of my personal faves, so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about. If you want to know more about one of the dresses, click on the picture to magically be transported to its home:


I love, love, love this dress and just may have to get it for myself.

Classic? Check. Ladylike? Check. Insanely flipping cute? Triple check! Also, did you know that they donate 5% of their net sales to a women's charity? I think that is too awesome.

Okay, so this is the dress I chose to give away to a reader. Are you ready? Brace yourself; it's a stunner:

It's called the Boogie Woogie Dress, and I thought it was just too perfect for the upcoming holiday party season (though I'd probably try to get away with wearing it to the office, too)! I love the floral appliques on the skirt, and the jersey bodice makes it so comfy to wear.

The nitty gritty:
The winner must have a US shipping address (sorry, international buddies), and there are no exchanges for the winning dress. I'll be accepting entries until Sunday, November 13, and the winner will be randomly chosen on Monday, November 14.

So what do you have to do to win?

-You must "like" Shabby Apple on Facebook, then come back here and leave a comment telling me you did so. Don't forget to leave me your email or blog address so I can get in touch with you.

-For an extra entry, please follow my blog! Don't forget to leave a second comment to let me know.

Also, Shabby Apple would like to extend a 10% off coupon code for their website, valid for 30 days. Just enter "misshiccup10off" at checkout to get your discount.

Thanks, folks, and good luck!

*************This giveaway is now closed.****************

Anniversary Adventures!

These photos are a month old and making me wish for the sun so much, as well as an excuse to wear this utterly perfect dress again. After coveting t.b.a.'s S/S '11 collection all season long, and just missing out on my top-favorite ballerina dress on website after website (it kept selling out before my eyes), I decided to treat myself to my second-favorite dress from the collection - this one - when it finally went on sale on ASOS this summer. It was a bit of a splurge, but I'm glad I went for it because the dress is GORGEOUS, comfortable, and fits perfectly. It's also made of some of the nicest, softest silk I've ever felt. My one regret is that it's too short to wear for work.

Since it's a special dress, I saved it for a special occassion to wear it for the first time: my one year (paper!) anniversary with my husband. The weather was perfect, especially for late September. We went for brunch buffet at the Roycroft, which is not-so-coincidentally where we got married (followed by a brunch reception!), and were able to eat outside on their beautiful porch. Brunch comes with a complimentary beverage there - I love when that happens! I also love when my drink unintentionally matches my outfit:


Mmm, poinsettia.

We also explored their stunning gardens, where the flowers were still in full bloom:


Then we went back home and I posed to the maxx. How about a closeup of those cute, sheer insets at the shoulder and collar?








Oh, and the shoes! They're really intense AllSaints wedges purchased with a gift card I won on Keiko Lynn's blog. I LOVE them - they're super high quality, definitely amp up an outfit, and are surprisingly comfy!



Thanks for visiting, buddies!

Dress: t.b.a. via ASOS sales
Shoes: AllSaints
Bag: vintage, via my aunt & mom. Sadly, the strap bit the dust over vacation. :(

Photos by Dave. I love that guy so much!

Bargain Bounty Hunter Attack!

I wore this outfit to work last week. Ugh, work - boring! Not an exotic locale for an outfit debut at all. This look is pretty exciting to me though, because it's full of my favorite designer labels purchased at a supreme bargain (also because I think it's pretty, duh).

My mom found the top at Filene's (or was it Filene's Basement?) several years ago. The price tag proclaimed it was Prada, though the inner tag just says "Made in Italy." A little odd, especially since Filene's has a great reputation, one that is not associated with selling counterfeits or misrepresenting designers. Regardless, the top was cute and cheap so she picked it up (originally for herself, though she ended up giving it to me - thanks, Mom!). I don't suppose anyone out there recognizes it, do they?

The no-name cardi was purchased for my high school graduation, erm, over 10 years ago! It's made of knitted plastic, which adds textural interest to any outfit, but I don't wear it much because it doesn't breathe.



The spectators? Ferragamos I found on ebay several years ago for a mere $10! Including the box! Barely worn! They are some of my nicest shoes.

The skirt is the most exciting to me. I am a huge, huge Marni fan and that label is way, way out of my budget, even at 70% off or more on discount sites. I had my eye on this skirt in particular for months, swooning over it every time I saw it on The Outnet or similar. A couple of weeks ago Gilt had a final sale, and there was the skirt, one left in my size, at a price I could actually afford!!!! And now it is mine and I love it. I can't wait to wear it with short-sleeved vintage cashmere sweaters in the fall! Oh, that's soon!

So that's my extra long-winded Bargain Bounty Hunter story. I'd love to know your favorite clothing coup, sale swoop, what have you! Please leave them in the comments, and thanks very much! <3



Cardi: from high school! made of plastic!
Cami: Prada????? we'll never know!!!!
Skirt: Marni!!!!!! OMG OMG OMG
Shoes: Ferragamo, I love you

Photos by Dave , cute hubby grand supreme

Ace of Lace

I've just gotta show off this perfect little lace jacket that my sister gave to me for my birthday last month. She found it at an estate sale. It is so delicate, and has a perfect little peter pan collar and a wonderful boxy fit. I'm pretty sure it's from the 60s! I wore this to work a couple of weeks ago and felt super fancy.



I also experimented with dark nail polish. I think it counteracted the sweetness of the lace quite nicely. It's almost edgy - and I say "almost" because I figured out a long time ago that I just can't do edgy at all. Or witchy. Or cool. But I'm fine with girly, sweet, and dorky! Work whatcha got!



60s lace jacket: gift from my sister
Camisole: Urban Outfitters
Pencil skirt: American Apparel (years old now and looking a bit tired; I need to upgrade!)
Heels: Me Too

Photos by Dave