A Leopard Cannot Change Its Spots Stripes?

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When my husband saw this outfit he was quiet.

Not a word.

Or a peep.

Out of him.

My daughter had no such restraint. “That headband with that vest?”

“No. Just no.”

This, of course, made me giggle.

I had purchased this red and white striped wrap dress from H&M the week before when I went shopping with my daughter. I knew immediately I wanted to wear it over my Bermeja Tunic Dress (sold out, similar dress here) as a vest. It was a bargain at $5. I loved the way Shy Girl Loud Voice remixed the Bermeja Tunic Dress with her vest (I previously styled the Bermeja Tunic Dress here and here). The headband was also from H&M. I believe it was more than the dress/vest at $6. I wanted to crawl into this leopard trend with soft baby moves. It is out of my comfort zone.

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So, I took some pictures with the headband and some without.

That way everyone is happy.

Except Murphy.

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We took Murphy with us that day to get pictures, because my husband had taken Ollie for a car ride earlier in the day and left Murphy at home with me.

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After listening to Murphy crying at the door for a half an hour, I called my husband to inform him that he had broken the dog.

Murphy could not comprehend not going with Ollie.

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But Murphy hates car rides.

He gets anxious.

He loves the walks.

He is the exact opposite of Ollie, not only in looks, but in activities.

Ollie had to be carried home after his last walk.

This made it difficult for my husband because he was all ready carrying me.

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Murphy was definitely not as good as Ollie during the photo shoot. Murphy does not follow direction well. He is always on the lookout for someone who is going to come and steal all of the goldfish crackers. He has convinced himself it is going to happen and will stay up nights guarding the pantry door.

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Being in a desert surrounded by nothing but dirt and brush made him leery. He was convinced The Goldfish Thief was lurking behind every bush.

Nevermind that we did not bring any goldfish crackers on this trip. Goldfish crackers appear like magic and thieves appear more quickly than that.

It is basic dog logic. The only logic that I currently adhere to.

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My poor dog. If only he knew…

The only Goldfish Thief around them here parts…

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Was the one holding his leash.

Have you jumped on this leopard trend? Do you own anything leopard? Are you yay or nay about the headband? Don’t worry. It won’t hurt my feelings if you don’t like it. I have pretty tough skin… And cheddar cheese cracker breath.

Restyling The Bermeja Tunic Dress For The Fall

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This post really could have been called, “creating an outfit with items in your house.” I wanted to show two easy ways I have found to wear the Bermeja Tunic Dress in a different season (other post with this dress can be found here).

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If you do not own this dress, no worries, this look can be created with any ol’ white dress (similar dress here). And if you do not have a white dress, get one. That is an order. Well, unless you are a nun. Then you are all ready in an order. And you should probably skip the white dress. Black looks good on you. Love your habit.

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I wanted to show a day and night transitional look with this dress. Only, unlike other blogs that show the daytime look first (for some such odd reason being that day comes before night. But does it really?). I like to be contrary. I am doing it opposite.

Such as the opposite colors of the styling of this dress.

Nuns, I’m on to something here, I can just feel it. Don’t ya think?

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For my evening look, I pulled my hair up into a fun pony tail. Slipped on some huge turquoise chandelier earrings (old from World Market) and added a black ribbon around my waist.

I am not sure where the ribbon came from.

I was looking for my black belt.

I could not find it.

I found this ribbon stashed in my underwear drawer.

The end.

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Except this leads to many questions.

Nuns, you might want to look away now.

Such as, why was a ribbon in my underwear drawer?

Where did it come from?

Was it part of a box of chocolate?

What? You don’t hide chocolate in your underwear drawers?

Next, you will tell me you don’t keep salami in your boots. And I know that to be a lie. How could you lie in front of these nuns?

And the most important question, who ate my darn chocolate?

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I paired both looks with black tights and high heeled booties.

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For my daytime look, I simply pulled my ponytail out and undid the bow.

‘Cause I am truly a styling genius lazy heathen.

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Underneath the dress dwells my slip from Free People. I kind of hate the slip the Bermeja Tunic Dress originally came with. It was way too short to actually cover parts best left unseen with any practicality. I could not find a different white slip, so this uneven ragged edge little number got some use.

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If you are an even-hemmed kind of gal (or fella), then this look must be driving you crazy.

But I am not, nor have I ever been an exact measurement sort of gal.

Not level headed.

Nor even tempered.

I will have nun of that.

My point being, you can wear any slip underneath this dress and it will be fine.

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Speaking of grabbing things from around the house.

Yes, we were speaking of such things.

Keep up. These voices in my head don’t just speak to themselves.

I loved the chandelier earrings that I wore with this dress and I really, really wanted a turquoise beaded bracelet to pair with them. But I do not own a turquoise beaded bracelet. However, I do own a vintage turquoise beaded sweater clip (I will have a post coming up soon about sweater clips. They are awesome). I just clasped it together at the ends around my wrist and it created a bracelet.

Nuns, take note. I made a bracelet in less than one second with my own hands.

It is a miracle.

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Not as miraculous as this scenery. If we were not completely trespassing, I would have stayed longer. But isn’t it beautiful? Truly worth some jail time.

Besides, I just confessed.

To a nun.

I’m all good now.

I’m a pretty calm rebel.

Probably because nobody cared.

The owners saw us and just waved. ‘Cause they must have known about my miraculous bracelet. Those types of achievements get around.

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Not that I am bragging. Wouldn’t dream of it. Besides, that is not my favorite sin.

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You have a favorite sin?

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Yep. Shhhhhhh. Don’t tell the nuns. I don’t make a habit of committing it.

On purpose.

With regularity.

Accidentally.

Every day.

So, what is it? Greed? Gluttony? Envy? Lust? Wrath? Sloth (Oi)? Pride?

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Sorry. I’ll never tell.

You can’t get it out of me.

It would take a miracle.

Bermeja Tunic Dress

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You would think a girl whose favorite novel being entitled, “Name of the Wind”, would be more interested in names than I am. Blame it on having the most popular name of my generation. A common name. And you will start to see the reasoning behind my conditioning. A name might be what is given to you, but the words you have earned by which your name is described to others, are your own.

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Lately, I have become more intrigued by the names of things. I think it also has to do with naming blog title posts each and every day. Do I give the post a funny name? A punny name? One that makes me smile? Or do I stick to what the search engines want and keep it boring and simple? I try to do both.

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This dress has the name Bermeja Tunic Dress. I decided to look the word “Bermeja” up. Imagine my surprise in discovering that the name of this dress is controversial. Historical. Quite interesting.

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Bermeja is a tiny island in the Gulf of Mexico. Or was a tiny island in the Gulf of Mexico. Or might or might not have been a tiny island in the Gulf of Mexico. Nobody knows. Because either it disappeared or it simply never existed.

There are many theories about the island. I found my information on Lonely Planet. You can click there if you wish to learn more.

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The reason this is even more interesting to me is because on the day these pictures were taken, I wore my Holy Holey Girdle. Yes, you read that right. I will have to do a post on it sometime.

Well, this dress ended up being shorter than expected and we ended up having to edit Holy Holey Girdle out of two pictures. This led me to feel many mixed emotions. I have never edited a picture before by erasing a flaw in it. I want to be true to myself. But I also don’t want Holy Holey Girdle to get all of the attention.

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It is kind of addicting. This fixing of one’s flaws. I am not going to say this will be the last time I do that. In fact, I will say, that will definitely not be the last time I do that. But in an effort to be real, I will share an unedited picture on tomorrow’s Keepin’ It Real” post, complete with a glimpse of Holy Holey Girdle.

‘Cause if it is about names. The truth in names. Then I want my name to be a real island. Of truth. Even if the truth can get ugly. At least it won’t sink with the weight of lies.

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Paired with the dress, are my new Tarara Gladiator Sandals from Anthropologie (they are almost all sold out, but other stores have them. Bloomingdale’s has them here). Tarara is a small town in Cuba. In New Zealand, Tarara means fast talker (source: Wikipedia).

These sandal boots were made for talkin’…

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Had you ever heard of Bermeja before? What are your thoughts on names?

*The bracelets and necklaces are a mish mash of older pieces (similar bracelet here) and Forever 21’s Globetrotter Beaded Cuffs. The turquoise necklace is from Simply Livly on Etsy and the other necklaces are old layering necklaces from Anthropologie (similar here).

* I shared this on The Pleated Poppy!