I'm Flora, Not Fauna!

Several months ago patterns were anathema to me, but having seen the error of my ways, I am making up for lost time. I hope you like this feisty floral number with its little demure front and the Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robot pattern clash at the back. I remember that at one time in the '70s almost everyone had dresses with patterns similar to this, or at least in my neck of the woods. I'm wearing the vest backwards; the front of it has gold pinstriping on the black.

Details of the outfit:

• thrifty flora dress and thrifted vest worn backwards
• black tights and thrifted stretch, wedge-heel booties
• silky dark teal blouse courtesy of O

This outfit flows wonderfully - the vesty thing flutters when I walk. I also love the silhouette. I feel like a tree. I LOOK like a tree in the first photo. I hope you like it. 

I have achieved a 200% ROI (return on investment) on this dress if I value each wearing at $1. I bought it at a vintage shop going-out-of-business sale and it was $20 for everything you could stuff into a plastic bag. Based on that calculation, this dress cost me a buck; I did everything short of haul out my vacuum seal machine to get this baby in there. It had ruffles and ribbons on it, and I would have torn them off right there in the store if needed. Thankfully, it fit and my dignity is still intact.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

When you're smiling, the whole world...

When you're smiling, the whole world...smiles with you? But what if you're smiling alone in a room? Is it like the tree falling in the woods - does it make a sound? Some say no. I say: if I'm smiling alone in a room then, YES!!, the whole world smiles too, even if they can't see me. Actually, the grins took me by surprise. I never thought I would do that in my self-portraits. When I realized what I was doing, I got all uptight again. Like Roseanne Roseannadanna (I had to look up that spelling!) says: "If it's not one thing, it's another." I had fun posing today too. I used a stepladder as a prop.

Details of the outfit:

• $10 H&M dress, very silky, feels great (hence, the smile maybe)
• Dorothy-red Hush Puppies shoes
• black tights and thrifted necklace of pretty blue flowers with rhinestones ($1)
• my ooo-la-la Gucci watch, a gift

Thanks for dropping by!

Invincible Monday!

Well, it's time for Patti's Visible Monday, but today I was feeling pretty invincible. I decided to try to overcome my fear of white coats. I've had this thrifted Armani Exchange white coat for quite a while and it was in my studio ready for a custom paint job when I decided to give it one last shot in its pristine condition and... I'm surprised I liked it! You know how some days you get a positive energy bubble around you that rubs off on everyone you meet? This was one of those days during my inspiration and style-scout walk.

I wasn't sure whether to go with black tights and black shoes or mustard tights and red shoes - I chose the black and black to ground myself and get framing with my hat and gloves, plus it makes the look a bit warmer on this chilly day, especially when I'm already chilling it with a white coat. The Chanel sunglasses were a gift, used.

Details of the outfit:

• thrifted Armani Exchange coat, $20 or so, Value Village
• knit scarf from Sears I think
• blue stretch dress from Metallicus, and lots of T-shirts under it from Metallicus (layering at 5 degrees C)
• vintage shiny black shoes with short deadly heels

That's it. I look forward to checking out all your Visible Monday looks too. Thanks, Patti, for this forum, at Not Dead Yet Style.