May 13, 2013 by gn0mel0ver

Floral, Floral Everywhere…But Not A Drop To Drink

Do you want to feel completely and utterly feminine? Well, if you are a man reading this, perhaps not. If yes, than come with me. The following outfits were all purchased with my May clothing budget. The floral patterns are divine…

This dress is from Modcloth. It is called Sculpture Under The Stars Dress. Isn’t that dreamy? Modcloth has the best names for their clothes. I am wearing a medium. It is a little loose. I had high hopes for this dress. I tried it on and my heart sank. It is VERY short! This might be okay for tea parties at home with my husband (hey, don’t you have those too?), but it would never work for me in my real life. Imagine being at the grocery store: “Excuse me sir, while I pick up this apple.” Um, no. The possibilities for embarrassment…and stalking seemed endless. I was putting it back in the box, when I had an epiphany. Remember that tulle skirt I purchased for $10 from Nordstrom Rack? I slipped it on underneath. Voila! I could keep it and leave the house!

“Where for art thou?” I asked the heavens.

And from the internet (which is pretty close to heaven) this dress replied, “I am right here, my love.”

This dress. Is. Amazing. I want to wear it all of the time. I hope we stay together forever. It is called First Kiss Print Maxi Dress from Free People. I am wearing a medium. This dress has the most amazing back. It has breezy openings with buttons trailing all the way down. You will feel so sexy and regal… And maybe even a little naughty.

The dress has a lot of scrumptious material. It is silky and light. When I hold each side of the dress, I can make the material move like wings on a bird. Please do not ask me how I know this.

The only thing it is missing are pockets. Which, I guess is a good thing, because I probably would not look very ladylike running down the street with my hands in my pockets…flapping my rose printed wings.

This is my favorite. I do not know how I came up with it. Well, actually, I didn’t. The lovely Emily E. on Modcloth did. I copied her. I love her style photo.

It is called Eye for Ikebana skirt. I am wearing a medium. The best part about this skirt is it goes up to a 4X. Thank you Modcloth. You truly get it.

I adore this skirt. I come alive in this outfit. Does that make sense? The colors are so vibrant. My very being feels brighter. I paired it with a Free People top I got at the Nordstrom Rack. The reason I am wearing a belt is because the shirt is a babydoll. I love that style. It becomes a different pattern where the belt meets the shirt. I like to get multiple uses out of my items. I did not want to purchase another black and white top. I knew I could make this work. I snagged the Calvin Klein belt from Nordstrom Rack. The shoes in all three pictures are my Tracy Reese Corchorus Wedges I scooped up for $40 last year during an Anthroplogie sale.

So, have you succumbed to the floral temptation? Have the flowers woven their way into your heart? Have the vines of the fabric…

Okay! Okay! Enough! What I really want to know is: Have you purchased any floral pieces lately? I am not a shoe girl, but my heart sings to these floral Denimbloom Wedges from Anthropologie. If they ever go on sale, my feet would rejoice.

Thank you for stopping by and reading! Have a great day!

April 29, 2013 by gn0mel0ver

Recent Outfits

I was all set to post pictures of all of my pieces of clothing in my closet featuring horses on them, but never got around to taking the pictures. So, I guess that post will run in a couple of days. Until then… I snapped some pictures of some outfits worn in the last week. There is no theme. No rhyme or reason to them… Just pieces I felt like wearing.

I am wearing a Johnny Was dress I purchased recently from Nordstrom Rack. I paired it with my Anthropologie Glasswork Obi Belt. I cannot believe how well these two went together. The trim of the belt matched the trim of the dress perfectly. I love when happy accidents like that happen! The belt was almost double the price of the dress. Go figure… I am also wearing my vintage frye cowboy boots. You cannot see my earrings, but they are little round glass orbs from Anthropologie that I purchased from ebay for $10. I wore this to my son’s open house. I received a lot of compliments, which made me feel good.

I am wearing a recent popback from Anthropologie that I scored. They are the pilcro stet pants in mustard. They were originally $98 and I paid $30. The shirt is one I bought last summer from an Anthropologie sale, called Anthropologie Sealife Tunic. Here is a link so you can see what it looks like without a jacket. My earrings were a recent lovely afterthought from Target. The denim jacket was purchased over a year ago at Nordstrom Rack. My shoes are so old, I cannot remember where I purchased them. I do remember they were $7.50. They are a little big, but for that price, I can hobble around happily.

I cannot decide if I look a little crazy in this outfit. Sometimes my idea of a fun outfit can be taken to the extreme. I purchased this Juicy Couture mini pleated skirt in purple from Nordstrom Rack recently. It was 75% off.

Here is the deal, it was the only one left. It was a size 4. I cannot breathe. I am happy to do so. I purchased the little tulle skirt I am wearing underneath it from the Nordstrom Rack clearance rack almost a year ago. It was $10, down from $50. I could not decide what I was going to do with it, but I figured I could always use it to make a mini skirt a little longer. It is lined in a black slip. This makes wearing a short skirt much more manageable.

I am wearing an Anthropologie top from last year with the skirt. It has little french bulldogs all over it. It was called Here & There Tee. The belt is a Moroccan belt from a local boutique. I am also wearing my Frye cowboy boots. The earrings are the Anthropologie ebay glass drops.

The great thing about this skirt is, it is a small enough size that my daughter can wear it. She is a size zero, so she safety pins the edges. I figured if I ever feel too old to wear it, it can become hers. My husband might think I am all ready there, because he said the following in response to seeing this outfit: “Great, all of your dreams have come true. You now look like a kindergartner.” Hmmmm… Maybe he is right, but life is too short to not have fun.

What has been your favorite outfit you have worn this week?

Thank you for stopping by and reading. I am very grateful for it.

April 18, 2013 by gn0mel0ver

Johnny Was

Let me tell you about a brand I adore: Johnny Was. It is based out of Los Angeles. The clothes are fun and very bohemian. They are also very expensive. Unfortunately, too expensive for me. However, they do have good sales. My favorite thing about this company is that it caters to women of all shapes and sizes. When I was a plus size, it was so hard to find clothes that were pretty and fun. It is refreshing to see this company embrace all women. Every woman is beautiful and we should all be able to shop where we would like to. I applaud them for understanding that.

I went to Nordstrom Rack last week. I had $40 in Nordstrom Bucks burning a hole in my pocket. I browsed the rack and noticed that they were sorely lacking in my usual size medium. But that has never stopped me and soon I had an armful of size smalls and larges. I headed eagerly to the dressing room.

I dragged my poor son with me, because my daughter was at a sleepover. When the lady showed us to a dressing room, she said, “Here you go, a nice big one for the two of you.” I told her there was no way he was going in with me and not being scarred for life. I figured he could just talk to me from outside of my fitting room door. She did even better, and let him sit in the empty dressing room next to me. That was so sweet and kind. I really appreciated it.

The woman in charge of the dressing room said to me, “Oh my gosh, you’re the Johnny Was girl!”

Now, this is slightly embarrassing. Every time I am there (usually once every 6-8 weeks) I ask if they have had a shipment come in. Because it only seems to happen once a year. She told me a shipment came in five days ago and she thought of me. But I had not left my number. They had been selling out like hotcakes. Darn! But I found three Johnny Was goodies, anyway! I ended up saving around 75% after using my rewards.

This shirt is a size small and I love it! I will wear this with my colored jeans. I paired this with my red pilcro pants from Anthropologie that I bought on sale for $32.50. The shirt has frayed pieces of fabric all over it. I love this. Maybe it looks like I got into a fight (hey,that’s my Johnny Was!), but it looks romantic to me.

This flannel embroidered shirt spoke to me. It is a size small. It is so feminine with just a hint of masculinity. I will pair it with jeans for casual days. But I wanted to try dressing it up, and the third picture showcases that. I am wearing Free People Ginger Fishtail Maxi in that picture. Which way do you like better? I cannot decide. I only own three pairs of denim jeans. I just love skirts and dresses. I feel sexy in the jeans, but I feel like myself in the skirt.

Oh no! I am wearing my belt the way my husband hates! Whatever shall I do? Love it, that’s what! I am smitten with this shirt/dress. I do not know what exactly this was supposed to be. Johnny Was runs a little big and this is a large. I automatically thought dress when I saw it hanging on the rack, but it could be a tunic. I could not resist the sweet red stitching. This was my favorite buy of the day. The second picture is what it looked like before I styled it.

My son was so sweet that day. We headed over to Five Guys for hamburgers when we were done shopping. He had to get my drink for me and grab the peanuts. He got the order for us when it was called. He is turning into such a little gentleman, just like his daddy. He melted my heart that day. I almost felt guilty for dragging him to a clothing store. Almost.

We did play Monster Hunter together when we got home. And then we watched “Say Yes to the Dress.”… Yep, traumatic day. Good thing there were brownies.

So, which was your favorite Johnny Was piece? Do you now have some sort of “Johnny” song stuck in your head? Me too! Mine is the Poe version.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by to read this little blog! I appreciate it.

March 25, 2013 by gn0mel0ver

Finding Good Deals

Last week, I showcased a selection of pretty but rather expensive dresses. Today we’ll talk about bargain outfits. About 2/3 of my wardrobe are sale finds. The following outfits I put together for less than $120, head to toe.

Here are some of my tips for scoring the best deals:

1.) Don’t be vain. I do not know if it is losing a ton of weight, but I never let a size tag dictate if I will wear something. I always check the sales racks in all of the sizes. Who knows? It might have gotten to clearance, because it fits oddly. I wear a medium, but I check the small, medium and large racks. The item might be marked as a large, but fit like a medium. The true size large women have passed it up, because it was too small. The same holds true for smaller sizes. It could be a great find and you can always belt it.

2.) Think about tailoring. Nordstrom Rack gives you a yearly $100 free tailoring budget with their card. You do not have to have bought your clothes from there! Their debit card is linked directly to your checking account and you can earn rewards for your bargains. Double score!

3.) Be persistent. If you love something, but want it for a better price, keep checking up on it. Subscribe to blogs that will keep you posted on the sales at your favorite stores. I love effortlessanthropologie.blogspot.com for all of my Anthropologie tips.

4.). Do not be afraid of used clothing. Some of my very favorite purchases have been from lovely ladies on ebay selling their “old” clothing. As long as it states the condition of the clothes, I have no problem snagging their pieces for a steal. Just get them cleaned! If you have ever stayed in a hotel, you have slept in sheets a stranger has slept in. It is the same concept.

5.) Finally, if you really love something, it is okay to splurge (as long as you can afford to do so).

I am wearing a shirtdress from Nordstrom Rack, that again was in a different size than I would normally wear. It is a size small. It was marked down from $88 to $13. I just tucked it into an old clearance Anthropologie skirt (that’s the beauty of a “shirt”dress) that I bought for $40, 5 years ago. I paired it with some simple flats given to me from a sweet friend. The earrings are from H&M. I think they were $2. Total price for outfit: $55

Modcloth has a deal every couple of months, where you pay them $15, pick a size and they send you a random piece of clothing. They call it “Stylish Surprise.” It is a nonreturnable item. You never know what you are going to get. I got really lucky and scored with this Ikat dress they sent me. I find Modcloth runs small, so this is a large.

My husband and I had a disagreement about this dress. He hates the placement of the belt. I cannot say I am a huge fan, either. But that is where the waist is elasticized. And I happen to love the black and white pattern. Before this picture was taken, there was a huge fashion meltdown. It went like this:

“I have never seen anyone wear a belt like that before.”

“Why is your belt so high? I have never seen a belt worn that high before.”

Good times!

I paired the ikat dress with a belt from Anthropologie, $22.50. I am also wearing vintage boots, $50. The earrings are from Anthropologie (can you tell they are my favorite?), $32. Total price for outfit: $119.50

I bought this dress at the Nordstrom Rack (are you sensing a pattern?). It is Free People Denim Shirtdress. I think it retailed for $168. I paid $25.80. It is a large, but I belted it. I paired it with a Calvin Klein belt also from the rack for $25. I am wearing my old Ralph Lauren boots I bought 10 years ago for $100. I only buy $8 leggings from Target. The necklace is $45 (with shipping) from Simplylivly on Etsy. Total cost: $203.80. Yes, this is way over, but I wanted to show my dress score! : )

Do you have a favorite bargain tip? What has been your best score?

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

Nordstrom Rack

Floral, Floral Everywhere…But Not A Drop To Drink

Recent Outfits

Johnny Was

Finding Good Deals