Tag

wrap

February 15, 2013

Silk Feel Paisley Pashmina Shawl / Wrap / Scarf Review

Screen Shot 2013-02-15 at 12.42.42 PM

I ended up going to a bollywood themed charity event recently and wanted a quick accessory that would add a touch of bollywood to a dressy outfit. Since I wanted something I could wear afterwards without looking like I was going to a costume party, I ended up buying a couple of these $10 paisley scarves from Amazon.com. I’m really happy with them & ended up wearing the turquoise gold one to the event (left).

These are excellent quality for the price but there are some minor imperfections on close inspection. Not anything anyone would notice while you’re wearing it though. No idea if it’s real pashmina (probably not) but the fabric feels wonderful anyway.

It can be worn as a wrap or styled as a thicker looking scarf. The fabric IS lightweight but there’s a lot there. Definitely not a summer weight.

Turq/Gold – It actually looks pretty true to the manufacturer’s photo in natural sunlight though on second look, maybe not quite as vibrant. One side has the bottom band gold, the other side has the bottom band turquoise. I got a better photo of this one than I did of the pink/turquoise one.

Turquoise Gold Silk Feel Paisley Pashmina Shawl : Wrap : Stole - 30+ Beautiful Paisley Designs From the Scarf Shop

Pink/Turquoise – the lighting in my photo could be better. It actually looks pretty true to the manufacturer’s photo in natural sunlight. One side has the bottom band pink, the other side has the bottom band turquoise.

Pink Turquoise Silk Feel Paisley Pashmina Shawl : Wrap : Stole - 30+ Beautiful Paisley Designs From the Scarf Shop

March 29, 2012

“Foiled Again” – gold foiling or gold leaf on clothes & nails

“Foiled again” get it? Ok, that would make more sense if I had previously written about gold foiling or even any kind of gold on clothes, right?

Apparently I’ve been getting into golds lately. As exhibited by both some recent clothing purchases as well as nail polish choice.

OOTD - gold foiled OOTD - gold foiled

Outfit Top to bottom (click images for a larger version):

  • Earrings: Kohl’s daisy fuentes® Gold-Tone Hammered Drop Earring Set I had removed the chain portion of the coin style earrings and they look better.
  • Tank: Talbot’s Outlet (one of my recent gold purchases) cream with gold foil streaks.
  • Wrap: Tabot’s Outlet (in the fall) it’s a heathered cream linen that’s a perfect weight for spring and fall. Very versatile.
  • Bracelet: thrifted.
  • Jeans: Walmart (shhhh … why do I end up with jeans from there?)
  • Shoes: Lauren Conrad leopard print ballet flat from Kohl’s. Loving these, they also go with a LOT.

Then there was the yoga capris I bought that had a foil leopard print pattern. This wasn’t actually on purpose. It was more because I didn’t like the pairs that had funky color tops and they didn’t have a plain black and I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket:

leopard foil on yoga capris

Close up of the leopard AND the Talbot’s tank’s gold stripes.

Then there are the nails.

Essie "A Crewed Interest" Spring 2012 color and Sally Hansen Crackle in "Antique Gold" Peachy Pink and gold

  • Three coats of Essie in “A Crewed Interest” which is a Spring 2012 color.
  • Topped with a single stripe of Sally Hansen Crackle polish in “Antique Gold”

It’s a nice subtle effect that reminds me of gold leaf. And the peachy pink is like a less sheer version of Zoya’s Lulu. That “point shoe pink / peach” I had been looking for for years and suddenly found. Repeatedly apparently.

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The gold crackle is actually a little preview of something I’m going to do a giveaway on sometime in the next month. So if you don’t normally read my blog, you might want to stay tuned by either subscribing to the rss, the emails or my twitter or youtube channels!

Are you wearing more gold lately? Is this a trend or just a weird accident that I’ve recently purchased more than one item that was gold foiled?

Next thing you know I’ll own a gold sequin mini skirt…. uhhh probably not anytime soon (though they are CUTE on other people!)

March 17, 2012

Consignment Store Clothing Haul – $20 Bag Sale

Stephen Lawrence, a local consignment store that typically carries gently worn medium – high end items, is having their bag sale March 16th & 17th 2012. $20 gets you a bag and full of end of season clothes. Whatever you could stuff into the bag was yours. I thought it was too good to pass up and I just found out that the proceeds are going our KY neighbors who lost everything in some recent tornados.

I got there promptly at 11am and was done by noon. There were no dressing rooms so you had to be able to really eyeball your size and style across a wide range of brands.

Here’s the breakdown of my bag:

  • 21 articles of clothing total
  • 3 pieces that flat out don’t fit
  • 3 pieces don’t look good on me
  • 2 pieces that are what I call pajama worthy (fit, comfy, but are not flattering)
  • 13 pieces that look good, 3 of which were pants / bottoms!

Not bad for $20!

The 3 that didn’t fit (picture below): “Banana Republic” maroon 100% silk top, “INC” maroon patterned top 100% silk, “For Joseph” lightweight darkwash 100% cotton jean trousers. The lightweight jeans were my biggest disappointment because they look bigger than the other pants I picked up that seem to have magical shrinking powers and seem 3 sizes too small when I try them on. Brand new with tags and a dark wash.  I tired them on twice because I really thought I was having a pants trying on failure moment but nope, they just plain didn’t fit.

The 3 that weren’t flattering on me (below): “Nurture” 100% Merino hunter green tank, “Koret” Black and white striped T (with some little yellow stripes), “Sigrid Olsen Sport” red thin-stripped capris.

The Coats / Jackets (below): “Gap” red / rust colored stretch corduroy jacket in a jean jacket style, “The F.L. Collection” brown / auburn colored corduroy fitted jacket with elbow patches, “Harvé Bernard by Senard Roltzman” vibrantblue (UK blue) 70% wool, 20% nylon pea coat (I need to sew the buttons tighter) but is one of my favorites that I picked up.

The Grays (below): “Lauren by Ralph Laren” cotton shawl collar sweater which is another favorite, “Chelsea & Violet” 53% wool, 25% acrylic lightweight snap front cardigan, “Calvin Klein” 100% silk wrap front sleeveless blouse which needs a cami under it.

The Pants / Bottoms: “Talbots” cotton khakis new with tags they have a horse riding inspired look to them and are a nice thickness, “J.H. Collectibles” aqua capris, “Studio Y” brown dress shorts / capris they hit below the knee … which sounds bad but they look better on than you would think.

More layers: “Allison Daley” navy, cream and metallic gold large houndstooth jacket,  “Max Studio” black and gold (non-metallic) lightweight hoodie, “Coldwater Creek” navy lace button up shirt with three quarter length sleeves.

The Sleepers & Tank: “Ann Taylor” long sleeve scoop neck t-shirt in a deep pink or pinky plum, “Evie” 55% silk, 20% viscos, 20% nylon, tank in a green apple / light lime color which will be great under things but not by itself, “Olo” periwinkle zip up fuzzy jacket (I knew when I bought this that it would be a sleep item.)

 

Did I have a process? Yes, but I didn’t have any idea what that would be before I was inside:

  • 1st I glanced at the shoes and decided not to bother with them because they took up so much space in the bag (and I wasn’t seeing any that immediately screamed my name.)
  • then onto the pants because they didn’t seem to have as much in my size range as other sizes. I wanted to pick over them before other people.
    1. I picked out anything I thought I might like and held it
    2. reviewed them on the hangers
    3. put anything back I thought would flat out not fit or really wasn’t quite what I had thought it was at first glance
    4. removed the tags to put in the pink plastic bags on the walls per the employees instructions
    5. removed the garment from the hanger and neatly folded it and placed in the bag.
  • then onto the tops and repeat steps 1-5 for both large and medium tops (they had a variety of brands so I look through both because some brands run small and some brands don’t.)
  • then I still had some space left in the bag so I glanced at the shoes again, not seeing anything in my size, and headed off to the room with the jackets and coats. Since jackets and coats take up a lot of space and because they can be tried on over things I went ahead and tried on quite a few but there were still no mirrors so I held onto those I wasn’t sure of until I was done and repeated steps 1-5 again. The blue coat had gone immediately into my bag after being tried on.
  • Bag is full, pay my $20 cash and leave happy. I know I at least have a new coat. 🙂

My favorites of the bunch are a vibrant UK blue coat, a Ralph Lauren grey shawl collar sweater, and the fact I actually have three new pairs of bottoms.

Have you ever participated in a bag sale? What did you think and is it common for them to not have dressing rooms? Do you have a plan of action going in in order to get the best deals?

April 3, 2011

Beaded leather wrap bracelets

I’ve been bookmarking some lovely photos of beaded bracelets recently …

{ image via Jak & Jil }

 

{ image via Good Life for Less }

{ image via Triple Max Tons }

… so I decided to make my own. These aren’t the long wrapped versions, just two single bracelets (was a little impatient):

I’m calling these practice bracelets since I do still want a longer version. Also love the one with the flower fastener.

DIY Instructions in the comments here: http://www.how-to-make-jewelry.com/how-to-create-a-beaded-leather-wrap-bracelet.html

January 25, 2011

DIY drapey wrap vest : semi-fail

Recently I bought a wrap sweater from Victoria’s Secret. I love the options and ways it can be worn but the fabric has been horrendous. I got the Cotton & Cashmere Shadow Stripe Wrap which they no longer carry. Basically a little of:

I have gotten a few good wears out of the sweater but it pills, heavily. But it’s black so it’s less noticeable. I would have returned it if I had spent the original $60 price. However it was discounted and then I had a $10 off coupon so I only spent about $16 for the sweater and a scarf including shipping. Not worth the wasted time (and an awesome deal really.)

What I’ve learned however is that that sweater is basically a giant rectangle plus sleeves. Which got me thinking, why not make my own quick drape-y sweater vest? I had some men’s undershirts that I thought would be perfect fabric (there’s not much knit fabric to choose from locally for some reason) and it was at least a good test run.

Why I think it failed:

  1. color block? Eee. I think it would look better as a single color
  2. it’s a vest so you’re going to see the color of your sleeves too (another reason to do this single color)
  3. a little too short in the “wings” – maybe another 1/2 yard to a yard
  4. a little too long top to bottom, the VS version was shorter which looks better

I should have simply measured the VS wrap to start with (which is by the way about 31″x87″.)

I will be trying this again soon. The men’s undershirts were I think about $10-$12 for a 4pack (Hanes Men’s Sleeveless 4 Pack Rib Knit or Fruit of the Loom Men’s 4-Pack A-Shirts. 2XL gets you a fair amount of fabric to play with.) If I can find some knit fabric locally it would be faster and no-sew so I’ll be checking that out.

Or I might buy some from fabric.com. I haven’t bought fabric off the internet yet and missing that step of touching it before buying will be odd. Maybe one of these though.