Bold patterns, electric colors

Sometimes you just have to wear a bold coral print and pair it with a neon-colored clutch. For me, that sometimes was yesterday. I love the shape of this dress because it reminds me of the 1960s -- okay, it reminds me of Joan from Mad Men -- but the pattern is so fun and modern.
To not overwhelm the coral-neon green color scheme I was rocking, I wore a white cardigan and (of course) my new black wedges. I stayed bold but simple with coral lipstick and a gold chain necklace that worked with the dress's boat neck.
I bought this Kate Spade purse at the Outlets and because it has a small, almost invisible black mark from a color transfer, it was marked down to $30. Amazing.
Dress: Adrianna Papell, Nordstrom's

Purse: Kate Spade, Kate Spade Outlet

Cardigan: Thrifted, Value Village, Vancouver, Tommy Hilfiger

Shoes: Target

(probably belt worn as) Necklace: Saturday Morning Market, Etown
Look at the adorable lining! Polka dots! It's inspiring me to dress in the slightly-off primary colors of coral, neon green, and navy all the time. xoxo Anna Rae

The Right Place at the Right Time

This outfit has two themes: serendipity and 'screw you April showers'. Aside from the ruffle overload of the cardigan and top, (which has layers of sheer black ruffles that are not quite visible in the photos) the stars of my look were two fortunate finds in the form of shoes and a bag.

The finds? A brand new Kate Spade bag and my trusty and equally miraculous haircalf leopard wedges. The bag was an inadvertent discovery at Winners on a detour through the purse aisle on my way to the bathmat section. I espied the patent bow (again sadly hard to see in the photos) out of the corner of my eye and couldn't believe my luck. It stylishly fits a laptop and a whole stack of essays to mark. The bag has a tiny scratch on the back, so I politely asked for a discount, which I was granted. When it comes to markdowns, I find that a polite request is hardly every refused.

The wedges were purchased several years ago at the Kenneth Cole outlet. I had loved them in a shoe store in Vancouver all season, but didn't buy them because of the price and a wedge that was red rather than black, making less versatile. The following summer I found them at the outlet in my size and with a black wedge at 80% off. Success! Even if I am someday able to afford retail prices, I don't think anything can live up to the thrill of a great discount deal.

Bag: Kate Spade "Amelia Bon Vivant," Winners

Wedges: Kenneth Cole, Kenneth Cole Outlet

Jeans: Paige Premium, Fab Kerrisdale

Blouse: Club Monaco

Cardigan: J Crew

Necklace: Vintage, my Grandfather's

Come Fly Away

Going to a summer wedding on Vancouver Island required a few key acessories:wedges so I didn't sink into the grass,

A flower in my hair to match the dress,

And a DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver Flightplane. I might have been somewhat less than graceful climbing into the plane in my party dress, but I never shy away from overdressing!

Dress: Ann Taylor, Ebay

Shoes: Ellen Tracy, Winners

Bag: Vintage, Goldie's Oldies (in Penticton and now sadly closed)

Flower: Vintage Millinary, Etsy

Float Plane: DeHavilland Beaver, Harbour Air

Chocolate Chip Pancakes.

Let us first discuss how INCREDIBLY awkward I find it to take pictures of my face. I know it's like beating a dead horse, but really, it's just so much easier to post pictures of the rest of my body, because let's face (ha) the facts and realize that we're posting our clothes on this site. So really, it's no big loss for you. Maybe someday you'll see a clear picture of my face. Maybe. If you're lucky. Or, when Anna and I are in the same country sometime soon, we'll take a picture together and I'll feel much less doofy.
So this morning I met my friend Meg (she's adorable. Her style is so preppy and polished (in the best way!) and it's just so effortless!) for breakfast at a local establishment called The Dor-Stop. If you're from around Pittsburgh and you haven't eaten there, please do. I don't even like pancakes but their chocolate chip pancakes were a.ma.zing. They were just the right amount of cakey, yet still fluffy. Perfection. Mmm, my mouth is watering just blogging about them. (Hello, Pavlov, you're salivating dogs (Libby) are calling and they want their dignity back.) The Dor-Stop was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, so it's totally legit.

Now, moving on, you can all probably tell that Anna is much more into fashion than I am by reading our posts. I tell stories about pancakes, she talks about the placement of belts. The bottom line is, if I like it I wear it. I was tempted to wear another belt today actually, but then thought I would give you guys a break. I can't bore you in the first week, now can I? I included the picture above so that you could make sure that I still had feet and wore shoes. It bothers me if you don't know what shoes I'm wearing because I could totally be cheating and wearing slippers and you guys would never know! (Note to self: Wear slippers someday and just don't post any pictures from the knee down. Yes, that's a perfect plan. Nobody will know.)
Along with what Anna said in a previous post, at the risk of sounding like I'm bragging, I'm in love with my bag. That's why I wanted to get a close up of it. I got it when I was studying in Italy but I'm only mentioning this because of how good of a deal it was. This bag cost 10 euro in Florence - when I studied there, that was like the equivalent of $12.50. $12.50! Insane! And it's so versatile. I guess the one other aspect of my outfit I'd like to mention (oh! quick tangent. This is my black blazer which is identical to the gray one I wore the other day. I told you all I'd be posting it sometime soon!) but I like to call these my diaper shorts. They're bunched at the top, but fit more nicely than real diapers do I guess. (I'm not for certain about the fit of diapers, but I guess I'll find out in May when my little niece is born and comes out ready to have her diaper changed and demanding pretty shoes to wear. Of course I'll spoil her and fulfill both requests.)

Other than that, I like my outfit. A creepy guy at the ATM complimented me on it, so if that doesn't solidify my fashion awesomeness today, I don't know what does. Unless Auntie Donna complains about my blue tights like she did with Anna....

Until Tomorrow. Libby

Shoes: Madden Girl

Tights: Gap

Shorts: BCBG

Shirt: Old Navy

Blazer: Gap

Ring: Aerie

Bag: Random Leather Market (Florence, Italy)