Casual Fall outfit 2020 (Bargain Style)

It’s been a year since I posted an outfit. How time flies… in the midst of a world pandemic when your country is pulling apart at the seams. But you still have to get dressed and it doesn’t hurt to have a little fun with it. After a summer of tank tops & shorts, I’m ready for Fall variety.

I  put this together to run a (safe) errand the other day. The centerpiece is a charcoal-colored, 3/4 sleeve unstructured New York & Company Comfort Zone jacket. I’ve had this super soft, cotton spandex jacket I found at a thrift store for a number of years but somehow either missed the season for wearing it – the 3/4 sleeves limit it – or wasn’t sure how best to use it. As I’ve thinned my clothes, it has stayed & I’ve been determined to figure it out now.

It has this adorable lining even though it doesn’t show when wearing; the inside of the pockets is lined too (I pulled one out).

The inner sleeves are ruched with elastic

The jacket looked terrific with this deep red, sleeveless Forever21 top (another thrift find) BUT I wanted to wear black leggings & found that while this pretty top is butt-covering in length, it rode up as I moved around. It’s no fun to actually plan to spend your time in public yanking on your clothes.😐

Instead I wore a long black camisole and and broke up the dark monotony with colorful accents: a gorgeous secondhand scarf, boots, jewelry.

The basic outfit just right for a sunny but cool October day

This is the easiest way to tie a long scarf. Fold it in half and pull the ends through the loop. You can adjust it snug or loose from there.

These U.S. made Sloggers “Midsummer Black” rain boots (purchased from Amazon)  suited the weather and paired well with the scarf colors. Sloggers have many beautiful designs but I love this one enough to have bought it twice.

I wore a chunky cuff bracelet – both yard sale finds – on each wrist.

See how they pick up the scarf colors.

I made the dangly earrings & got the Avon ring secondhand years ago.

Just for fun, here’s how the deep red top could work with jeans & boots.

With charcoal colored ankle boots

Or tall black boots

Wooden man couture

There’s a particular kind of man, usually older but not always, who dresses like Pinocchio. I see this with some regularity and wonder why. It’s not a good look.

If you buy them the occasion will come?

My lifestyle does not call for a lot of pretty shoes. But I like pretty shoes! It’d been awhile since I owned a pair of undeniably feminine, lady-like shoes. I saw these – beautiful, low-heeled, sparkly sandals – for an excellent price on Amazon and decided to go ahead. I’m not really sure where I’m going to where them, in a pandemic no less, but in the vein of “If you build it they will come” (Field of Dreams), I figure “If you buy it the occasion will come.”😊

“Curly Girl” hair update

Lately I’ve been a little bored with things, like my clothes, jewelry, and hair. I needed to mix things up a bit. I’ve been “culling” my clothes & jewelry and adding a few new things. Last year I tried to grow my hair to two feet just to see if I – solidly in middle age – could. I came close! But now I want change.

I’ve written before about the curly girl method, a way of taking care of anything from wavy to spiral curl hair. The gist of it is to stop using shampoos with sudsy-making chemicals and to condition the hell out of it. Curly hair is dry hair. And – rather than weigh hair down as I used to fear – conditioner in fact brings out the curl.

About a week ago I cut layers into my hair and took a couple inches off the length. This is it today, after leaving in regular conditioner (I’ve been experimenting with mixing conditioner and water in a sprayer and spritzing that thoroughly through my hair as a leave-in). I follow that with hand “scrunching” and air drying. I took these pictures earlier today. I am really liking having my “curly girl” hair again.

Free clothes from the clothing swap

Last March I posted about free clothes I got at a women’s clothing swap. The local yoga studio hosted it and it was welcome to anyone (not just customers/practitioners) and I had an excellent, fruitful time. I really like the idea of women gathering for a swap; the comradery is fun and it’s more personal than simply dropping your unwanted clothes off somewhere (which I still do frequently). At the time the owner said she planned to do it again in September but when September came and went I thought maybe the idea had fallen by the wayside. I’d started putting (nicer) things for another swap aside immediately after the last one and had a full bag.  Happily, the owner advertised on a community Facebook group that another swap was scheduled for this past Friday evening. Since I had plenty of notice, I went through my clothes again and filled another bag to share. I have come to think of my wardrobe as something I both curate and cull.

This swap wasn’t as well-attended as the one in Spring and there weren’t quite so many clothes but I still did very nicely for myself. Here’s my group shot, including a pair of red gloves.

 

Here’s a pair of New York & Company low-rise, slim jeans (a brand I’d never buy at full-price), Athleta pants (I’d never heard of the brand but that’s the fun of second-hand clothes be it at a swap, a thrift store or a rummage sale; you see things you might never otherwise), and a pair of linen pants with interesting pocket details at the top and sides.

 

Here’s a trio of cover-ups. The gorgeous blue/green one is Hard Tail, yet another brand I have never heard (googling shows it to be a fairly expensive US company), the pink/salmon sweater is Banana Republic, and the I’m-not-really-sure-what-color-that-is (tan? charcoal? a shade of green?) sweater is Wind River, another unfamiliar brand.

 

This little dress is made by Om Zappy, which may have been a funky little store in Seattle – all I found online was Yelp reviews and a website that is no longer. I think I could wear it with tights or over leggings or jeans. I don’t typically wear collared blouses but this New York & Company 7th Avenue blouse looked good on me so I figured I’d try it – that’s the beauty of free.

 

Lastly, here’s athletic wear.  It’s easy to fall into a trap of wearing dark clothes in winter but I try to make sure I bring in bursts of color. The first is snug on me so I’ll wear it as a top. The middle one is thick and cozy. And I can always use black tank-tops.