Capes are Wonderful!

One thing I got a while back (as in...over a month ago!) is a cape. It's super cool, rather cute, and my biggest issue with it is that it's super hard to figure out what to pair it with. At some point in the past month (though it could have been in late November as well - I am not the best with time!) I figured out at least one outfit to work it into.

Cape/hair flower/tights - F21 | Bag/shoes/necklace - R21 | Dress - Nordstrom's | Cuff - thrifted
 

I really liked the combination of this. Sadly, it seems the dress is one of the very few things in my wardrobe that this cape likes. I know I'll find something else for it somewhere in the depths of my closet, yes, but it's a wee bit discouraging that it doesn't wear well with a lot of the other stuff I enjoy wearing. This dress, for example, requires several safetypins to take the neckline up to a level that can cope with an ample bust. Sigh. It's so pretty I can't get angry at it, though. Just like the cape.

Do feel free to submit cape-wearing tips to the clueless one here (me!). :) Also, does anyone have that one wardrobe piece they adore that just refuses to cooperate the way you want it to?

Sundry Outfits

This...is pretty much a shallow excuse to show off my blazer some more. I'm sorry, I'm just in love with it, now that it's cold and I'm not sweltering when I try to wear it. Clearly, the way to deal with this is to move somewhere it's about fifty degrees Fahrenheit year round. Any suggestions~?

First up, I wore this to my parent's church group thing where I got an awesome silver dish now housing some of my bracelets (because my collection's outgrown the three things I've got holding bracelets...) among other things. I love Secret Santa stuff!

Hat/Pants - F21 | Shirt - Kohl's | Blazer - thrifted | Shoes - Wet Seal | Socks - a present...
 

Next, an outfit I wore out on errands (one of which included picking up paint chips for a project that will be forthcoming |D ). I've been feeling like dressing up for errands, lately, so I'm just going with it.

Hat - Target | Blazer - thrifted | Shirt/pants - F21 | Heels - Payless
 

Still trying to decide how I feel about wearing that shirt. But I also think I need to work on my posing. xD;

Last one, wore on this past Sunday to a harp concert, which was wonderful. ^^
Flower pin/pants - F21 | Blazer - thrifted | Shirt - Kohl's | Shoes - Payless | Necklace - R21
 

Clearly, I need to find a lighter blazer for summer for as long as I'm stuck with the heat. xD

Shoes, Glorious Shoes~!

Yes, I'm talking about my favorite obsession today, just a little bit. Today, it's mostly about how to find heels you can walk COMFORTABLY in. Because they do exist - and they're not super expensive. Obviously, this is all coming from what I know as comfortable. I have a really low, almost flat, arch. If you've got a higher arch, your feet are probably WAY more finicky than mine about what shoes are comfy. (My mother has a high arch and can't wear heels at all, as they're simply too painful). There are, however, certain things that will make you more uncomfortable in a pair of shoes.

The main thing you want to think about with heels is the combination of the toe style and the heel style, because there are really good combinations, and really bad combinations.

Found at Dillard's five and a half years ago.

The above shoes are my least favorite, most uncomfortable pair of shoes ever. I only hang onto them because they're the first pair of heels I ever owned. Why do I find them so uncomfortable? They have a very narrow heel, and a peep toe. Yes, peep toes can be super fun and not uncomfortable - sometimes. I have approximately six pairs of heels with peep toes, only two of which I consider very comfortable. Just be careful with peep toes, as the heel on a pair of high heels can and will scrunch your toe up into that area. Peep toes, at least in my experience, work best with wedges or square heels.

Bought at Payless.

Another bad combination is narrow heels with slingbacks with peeptoe. Pretty, but ultimately, rather uncomfortable. Ask me about running barefoot to a choir performance sometime... Slingbacks are best paired with a wedge, as far as I'm concerned. But overall, I'm not a fan of slingbacks, and own very few of them, so do take it with a grain of salt. They take a LOT of time to break in - these didn't start approaching 'does not leave ankle blisters' until three years after I bought them.

From Payless as well.

For the record, these heels are magical and the only exception to my 'no pointy toed heels' rule. Why do I have such a rule? Well...let's just say, my mother told me horror stories about her mom's feet. Her mother wore pointy toed, narrow heeled heels every day for years, and her feet wound up deformed. Much as I like heels, I like my feet the same shape! These have surprisingly stable heels, despite how narrow they are, and my feet don't scrunch up too much in the toe, mostly thanks to me stuffing something down there to prevent that. These are, generally, a rather iffy shoe style to wear, I think - it's a lot of luck on getting the right shoe. My pair are a size higher than my usual shoes - a nine instead of an eight - which I think has a lot to do with how I can stand wearing them.

Bought at Payless. (Is this a theme...?)

Ah, platform shoes, narrow heel, round toe. To be honest, this is one of my favorite shoe combinations. Round toes are incredibly comfortable, and don't induce the panicky voice in my head to go "YOU'RE GONNA HAVE DEFORMED FEET!!!!11!!1!" The rounded toe helps balance out the pressure being shoved onto the ball of your foot by the narrow heel as well, since it keeps the toes in one place, not letting them cram into a super-narrow space. The platform, of course, balances out the height of the heel.

Also from Payless. Seriously, I have a thing for them, I think.

Square heel, round toe. Or a cone heel, round toe. Either way, you get a really comfy heel. It's very stable, easy to walk in, and still pretty. These are the kind of heels that, as a total novice to wearing and walking in heels, you can take off after eight hours and have feet that barely hurt. You're able to place more weight on the heel because it has a wider base both on and off the ground, therefore, there's a more even distribution of stress between the heel and toe areas.

No, I didn't get into wedges, or booties, or any of the other zillion shoe areas. ;) That would be because I'm planning on turning this into a series.

Tell me what you think, and your favorite shoe styles, in the comments! I love hearing from people. :)

The Beaver State

Yes, I'm FINALLY getting around to my Oregon pictures. Aren't you proud of me? Part of the delay was paring down pictures of various things, and part of it was that I'm a terrible person and forgot to get pictures of my outfits. (Too busy taking pictures of weird things, I guess...) I recently got time to shoot the outfits I didn't get pictures of, at least.

The first day started with a way too early series of catching trains and buses to the airport. Pretty sure that I've never been on so many different forms of transportation in one day before - car, train, bus, airplane, train again, car. And I got to reprise it when I went home (though that was more car, train, airplane, car, at least!)

Beret - thrifted | Sweater - The Limited | Shirt - Kohl's | Pants - F21 | Boots - Charlotte Russe
 

For the first day, we didn't really do much. We went out to eat, I got to creep on Reed's campus for the first time ever (their library is to die for!) and register to see some classes I wouldn't have gotten to see on my official day there.

Does this look like a typical college campus to you?

Or this?

And yet, this IS a college campus. It is perfect.
The second day, I sat in on a rather small Russian class (about six people) - two girls in it had pink hair, which was awesome! - and a Chinese class so full they were split into TWO classrooms. I had a lot of fun in those classes, and definitely want to study them both in college. Especially Russian - it's so much fun!
(There is also a valid reason I'm not listing the pants and boots multiple times - let's just say, I literally wore them almost every day. Traveled with just a carry on, basically).

Hat - Reed's Bookstore | Sweater - I...don't remember right now | Shirt - Ralph Lauren
 

Seriously, that Panda hat didn't leave my head till I found something even better at the Saturday Market the next day, aka SATURDAY. I fell in love with the Saturday Market; it was gorgeous and amazing and everything was wonderful. Minus the protesting religious group, but honestly, it was loud enough I didn't even know they were there till I saw signs. I don't remember what they were protesting, by now. After the Saturday Market, we stopped by Occupy Portland, which had supposedly been going to do demonstrations that day. They didn't, sadly, due to the rain. I was highly disappointed, because I wanted to be at one in person, and I also kind of wanted to interview someone involved in them so I had even more stuff to contribute in my Government class, but most people seemed to be lurking in their tents due to the rain.

Hat - Reed's Bookstore | Sweater - dun remember right now >>; | Skirt - F21 | Purse - WalMart (it functioned as storage for all my clothes too!)

This was how I learned that I shouldn't have this sweater buttoned up... It just looks bad. Especially if I've been sitting beforehand. :/ Anyhow, the thing in the bag was an awesome present for one of my cousins. He's eight and highly intelligent. He also gets way less attention than he wants from the 'rents, because baby sis MAKES you pay attention to her, and baby bro has issues. He really likes the various older relations, though, since the sibs are usually keeping up with their favored parent. If I had favorite cousins, I think he'd be my favorite.

Sunday, I spent the night at Reed. There were firedancers (they have a CLUB of them!!!!) and various other awesome things, and I was talking with some of the other prospies I was with until two in the morning. Sadly, two of the ones I was talking with didn't make it in (seriously, I'm really sad about this, I thought they were totally awesome and really wanted to be in classes with them! not that I'm in yet >>;;  NEED TO SUBMIT!) End of story; it was bloody epic being at Reed.

Hat - vendor whose name I didn't catch | Sweater - Idk | Shirt - F21
 

The final day, I went to one class, then had to head off to the airport. I wore the same exact outfit as on day one, but with my new, wonderful, pawed, panda hat.

Some random shots of the overall trips...



Tomorrow, I plan on talking about shoes, so do come back!
(Also, if anyone from Reed reads this, HI!)
Anyone been on interesting trips lately? Other people prospy-ing at other colleges? I'm curious!

Fantabulous Friday

Yes, I'm back! Finals have all been finished, I'm on a glorious break for two weeks, and I found a place that sells a bunch of my favorite makeup brand, NYX. Everything is wonderful, okay? And I've come back at the end of the week, so you get a Fantabulous post of several weeks worth of Pinteresting finds. (Pinterest was my stress reliever during study sessions, have I mentioned?)

From here.
I love love LOVE anything Mary Jane styled. And this...this is my biggest Mary Jane obsession yet.
From here.
This is just the best tiny bookshelf ever.
From here.
I love these galaxy printed jeans. They're a subtle print, but very pretty.
From here.
Maybe it's because I broke my tail bone a while back and, well, tailbone breaks don't really fully heal ever, but this picture makes me really nostalgic for when I could bend backwards at least ninety degrees. (Never got this far, though...)
From here.
Kat Dennings is just plain awesome, seriously.
From here.
This is incredibly true.
From here.
I love this diy, and may use it for a present.
From here.
There are no words for how epic these are.
From here.
Is it terrible that I do believe this would be a deal-breaker for me? It's just, Harry Potter was my entire childhood. It's pretty much where I derive a lot of my beliefs about the way people should be, and my understanding of how to handle people who aren't.
From here.
Steampunk Rapunzel... I love this so, so, so much.
From here.
What I spent my non-pinterest, non-study time doing.
From here.
Who is this girl? How is her hair so long? How long IS it actually?
No source found.
Beautiful, simply beautiful.
From here.
Is this not one of the most adorable puppies EVER?
From here.
Gonna be testing this work out out, soon enough.

Hope you enjoy! What were your favorite things this week?
(ps: come back next week...I'm going to talk about shoes. ;) )