January 13, 2015 by gn0mel0ver

The Perfect Dress

You know I do not say that lightly. But this is it. The perfect dress. For me, anyway. It was another item I waited for a fantastic sale price on. I bought it in the spring. It nips in at the waist and then flows out into an old-fashioned dream. It is the palest of pinks which makes it more interesting than another white dress. I even purchased one for my daughter, because she loved it so much.

I knew I wanted to take pictures of this Free People Heart Dress (sold out, but similar dress in pink here) in front of an old building. I had the perfect spot in our town. It was an old building with a giant head of an 1800s woman in a flowered hat. Well, we went there the other day and guess what? The new owners painted over it! What a travesty!

When I was at my dad’s house, I knew I wanted to take the opportunity to style this dress in front of Rusty’s house.

Who is Rusty? You ask.

That is a long and short story.

Let’s go with the short version.

When my mom and dad moved into our home, they rented the property from her family. They later purchased it. Rusty kind of came with the deal.

Rusty was not related to the family. He squatted in a ramshackle old house next door to our own that was also on the property. In fact, this house is pictured in the B-movie, “Skeeters.” But that is a story for another day.

Rusty was a hobo.

For real. Although, I realize that is not a politically correct term. It is what I knew him as and I will not change it. It is meant with no offense, because Rusty rode on railroad cars and was a transient, which is how that term came about. He was the real deal and I loved him. He came and went as he pleased. The house is still full of the remains of his travels.

One day I will share with you my memories of Rusty. He died when I was almost four. But I still have fond flashes of moments with him in my mind. I called him, “Uncle Rusty.” And he was a harmless sweet man who happened to bunk on our property. I had an interesting but wonderful childhood.

I think Uncle Rusty would have liked this dress. Although, it wouldn’t have been practical.

I could never catch a train in this.

Maybe it isn’t so perfect after all.

Nah. That’s silly. I’ll just take a bus.

Did you have any interesting characters in your childhood? What is your perfect dress?

August 27, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

With A Lighter Heart

Sorry for another outfit post. I am trying to get through my summer pictures. My mom will be happy. She loves the outfit posts the most.

I could not recall the name of this dress that I purchased last year. I had originally styled it like Mary on Happily Grey, on my older blog post here, but I had wanted to try it exclusively with gold and pink this time. Make it my own.

I found the name of the dress. And it made me smile, because I had picked this dress out of my closet that day simply to ease a heavy heart.

The dress is called, “With A Light Heart Dress.” I am sure it is sold out by now because when I purchased it in 2013, it was all ready 66% off. I bet it can be found on eBay. I cannot guarantee the light heart, though (I am not linking to a similar dress because I honestly could not find one similar enough to warrant a link and I do not like to add links simply for the sake of clicks).

The necklace is Anthropologie’s Lace Flag Necklace from last year. It is surprisingly hard to find pink jewelry. I am happy I picked this up. The shoes can be found here.

It seems silly, but I was thrilled to get a compliment on this outfit earlier in the day.

A woman stopped me when I was with my son and said, “I like your son-”

And I thought to myself, She likes my son? That is odd.

But then she finished. “I like your son-dals. And your whole outfit is just so cute.”

I thanked her and soared inside, both from the compliment and the fact that my son was not being strangely commented upon.

Another silly thing is this bracelet. I love it. I purchased it from Anthropologie when it hit sale with my husband’s initial. However, it is the only piece of jewelry that has ever turned my skin green.

But I still wear it.

‘Cause green skin is kinda cool. I do like to channel my inner Hulk, after all.

Not really, but I do wear it for short periods of time because I really like the bracelet.

Have you ever had jewelry that turned your skin green? Did you still wear it? Do you compliment strangers? I try to always compliment one elderly woman every time I leave the house. One time I was in an airport and I accidentally kicked the poor lady with my shoe when I tried to tell her I loved her dress. She probably did not appreciate that compliment so much.

I hope I did not give her a green bruise.

Maybe this bracelet is compliment karma.

Or some such light hearted nonsense.

July 21, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Late Summer Love Dress

I know it is not really “late summer” yet. I would say we are smack dab in the middle of summer as far as time plotting goes. However, Late Summer Love is the name of this dress and since I spent ~~hours~~ minutes staring at these outfit pictures trying to come up with a title and nothing came to me. Well, we went with the name of the dress. And when I say “we”, I mean “I”. Just like when I say “late summer” I mean “middle summer”. Unless I actually mean late summer but at that point I would probably call it early fall.

We are a walking contradiction.

For instance, sometimes I will have to layer something underneath a short dress or I feel naked. Other times, I will leave the house in a dress my husband mistook for a shirt.

I do not know why some pieces of clothing garner different rules than others. It is a conundrum.

This is off topic (if we were ever really on one), but my son calls this pose my chicken pose. That makes me laugh. Or rather squawk.

We took these pictures the other day at my daddy’s apiary. In the second picture above this one, you can see some old hives. I grew up wandering these paths.

I love this picture. It is probably my favorite outfit picture my husband has ever taken. I am not sure why. But it is such a candid shot, because I did not know my husband had started shooting. I like that I am fixing my gnome. It reminds me of being a little girl on that very road.

Although my mother never would have let me wear a dress that short.

My husband agrees with her.

I will pair this dress with leggings, tights and maybe even jeans in the wintertime.

Back to my son’s earlier observation: What would happen if I made it to the other side of this road?

Whatever the answer, I hope I could get there without flashing anybody.

I love the lilac tones in this dress mixed with the yellow. I purchased this dress with my birthday discount and a gift card while it is on sale.

And although it is short, it has really cool sleeves.

That is important.

‘Cause when you’re marching to your own beat, it’s nice to be able to do it with a little flare, regardless of the name of the season or the stance of your pose.

Do you have odd rules about clothes? Do you ever contradict yourself?

I do not know why I do. Squawk!

July 15, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Embroidered Doll Dress

I have something I want to say.

“I LOVE THIS DRESS!!!”

Sorry, that was slightly unnecessary. But it is true.

I do.

In, fact, I cannot seem to stop staring at the gorgeous embroidery. As demonstrated in my accidental pose above. It just makes me so happy. I had patiently waited for a sale on the Embroidered Peasant Doll Dress, and when it reached more than 60% off, I asked for it for my birthday.

It is short.

In fact, when my husband took these pictures, he exclaimed, “that dress is RE-E-E-A-A-ALLY short!”

This is coming from the guy that never notices if the entire back of my dress is unbuttoned. I knew it had to be a little too short if he was making a proclamation. I tried not to flashback to all of the bending and reaching I did at the grocery store in the dress, the day before. All of this to say, from this point on I will now be wearing a slip under this dress.

Modesty: it’s ~~a virtue~~ a necessity at my ~~age~~ exercise level.

Anyway, I wish I had gotten a close up shot of the neckline. It has little red stitching with the blue.

In the last two photos, I have a hidden little gnome on my person.

It happens.

However, on the ride home, my husband informed me that my gnome bore an uncanny resemblance to my nemesis…

Elf On The Shelf.

And now he is back in my house. And he is surrounded by his multitude of brothers, because he came in a pack.

And I am trying to not freak the freak out.

Maybe I need to go look at this dress again.

Ahhhhh, here we go. Isn’t that embroidery lovely? It definitely does not in any way remind me of creepy little dudes in red.

And that Scalloped Monogram Bracelet is now on sale at Anthropologie. I own one with my initial and one with my husband’s.

Don’t worry.

I’m simply spinning.

I am not running away in terror.

But I will be watching my back… Just in case.

What do you do about dresses that are too short? Do you wear them anyway? Or do you pair them with pants or a slip? I think this will be cute with tights in the winter, but what color should I wear?

*these photos were edited using the App Afterlife’s Meadow Filter.

P.S. * I shared this on The Pleated Poppy!

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

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The Perfect Dress

With A Lighter Heart

Late Summer Love Dress

Embroidered Doll Dress