I’m finding some of my favorite Summer blouses a little hard to jacket, are you? I have tons of blouses, and they all looked great with my Stevie sweater, but that is far too thin for Fall, and I am really having to try on lots of jackets before I find the right jacket for the right blouse lately. But I am not buying all new blouses for Fall, not in Dallas. Right now it’s in the 50s in the morning and after the sun sets. Whoop-a-dee-do. Am I right? Not that big of a deal. (Dear Fall, try harder. XOXO, EJ)
I have a pair of wicked awesome Doc Martin ankle boots and I have been trying for a YEAR or so now to break them in and cannot. I think it might be a flaw in the shoes. The left shoes rubs the inside of my foot raw where the zipper hits, and the right rubs my heel. I tried them on again today and am conflicted as to what to do. They don’t seem to want to give in to being comfortable. But I’m not sure I feel right selling them to Buffalo Exchange, where they will trick some other girl into thinking she can tame them. Thoughts?
You can’t even see my feet anyway, because of all the leaves. My landlord is not big on raking them and to be honest I don’t so much care. I don’t really get leaves. I mean, you can use a blower, and then blow them into the street, where they will blow into your neighbor’s yard or even back into your own. You can bag them , in plastic bags which just does NOT make sense to me because then you have these leaves, which will be back to being dirt before you know it, but they are in plastic bags, which will be dirt….never. In SOME places I guess you can burn them, which is divine because, yay!, fire, and they smell amazing. But other than that, none of the common ways I’ve seen people deal with them makes sense. / tangent.
Jacket, Forever XXI
Blouse, Target
Pants, Target
Booties, Blowfish via Zappos
Bag, STEVE by Steve Madden
Talon Necklace, Talonalia
Turquoise necklace, self made
Earrings, deconstructed from a pair of Forever XXI earrings.
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15 comments:
This post made me LOL hardcore. Ah ha ha.
The reason that those of us in other climates put leaves into bags is that, if you don't rake them and it snows on top of them, they will totally kill your lawn. So you're lucky not to have to deal with that! We also have places here that recycle/mulch them so it's not as ridiculous as just throwing them out.
/tangent
I am so sorry that your leggings faded! Huge bummer. You must've done a great job dying them because I can't tell any difference!
I really like that long necklace--did you make it? I wish you had a close up!
mayhaps you can find some good jackets at a thrift store! i got some good ones last week at Savers!
go go gadget denim leggings!!
Hi,
I've been reading and enjoying your blog for a few months but this is my first comment, so, hello! As for the docs, I have a pair that was a tough and spirit-testing break in but mink oil really helped to soften the leather. I hope this helps! Also, as for the fear of donating a problem garment to someone else...I sometimes have that when I donate to the thrift shop but you really can't know whether they will hurt someone else. Maybe someone with a slightly different foot size/shape/level of foot pickiness will come along and love her new comfy shoes! :-)
Oh BOO! I hate when things you love fade... all clothes should be fade proof.
Well, if it makes you feel better I think this outfit is amazing; and everytime you were that jacket I love it more and more. :)
xoxo
Amy
thebargainhunterextraordinaire.blogspot.com
have you tried moleskin for the shoes? It won't fix the "break in" problem, but it will add a layer of padding on your feet/tender spots. You can find it in the foot care section of walmart or target....I think it's made by Dr. Scholls. It is basically a soft pad roll with sticky on one side, which you cut to fit and you slap it on your foot where you need extra comfort. Sounds weird, but works. (I think it works since the padding is on your skin vs. the padding you can add to shoes...) I had to get some for an awesome but uncomfortable pair of heals I won't give up on!
Hey! I think i have that same jacket in olive green. I almost wore it today, decided it didn't match, and put it back. Darn, now I kinda wish I'd wore it!
I'm going to dye some jeans tonight - wish me luck this is my first time with jeans.
-b-
Sorry to hear about your jeggings fading! Did you try straight black dye? It will dye the cotton, but not the spandex (I assume there is spandex in them), so you won't get black pants, but they will be very dark. (Like these turned out after I dyed them black.)
Your rant was hilarious! Love it.
Oh and love that jacket. Give the docs to someone with smaller feet maybe>
Much as I normally enjoy your blog, this post was top-notch, from the title to the leaf rant. Also, I have suggestions! Who'da thunk I could offer aid in a fashion sitch?
Try going to a cobbler or old school shoe dept. (like Dillard's or JC Penney) and asking for a wooden foot/shoe form a size (or half-size, if they make them) larger than the shoe. Leave it in for a couple of hours each night while you're watching TV or whatever. That should stretch the leather out for you without ruining the form or function of the shoe.
As to leaves, you can buy biodegradable leaf bags online that are made of cornstarch or paper. Not that that's going to make you want to start raking (seriously...boring), but at least it's out there if you ever get an itch to do it.
Leaves must go lest they kill your grass. No grass means more opportunity for muddy paws in the house!
I get twitchy when I see leaves bagged up in plastic. We get the (very inexpensive) paper lawn refuse bags form Home Depot for all our foliage waste. At least that way the whole thing can break down.
Hi there! Mutual friend Jen just pointed me toward your blog. This is exactly the kind of stuff I like to read about - I'm trying to do the same thing, since losing my job: working with what I've got.
I love this look. And I am with you on that Trickery we call Texas weathery. I pretty much have gotten away with heavy sweaters the past few winters!
And that jacket/purse...loves it!
I agree with everything in this post. Leaves are stupid, but here in New York they are put into brown bags, and at least those decompose at some point in their lives. I'm also having the worst time deciding what to do some my summer blouses. I hate to think that I have items in my closet that will only get worn a few times a year, so I'm determined to make them work. I have the same jacket and have had some good luck using that!
Docs are notorious for being really difficult to break in, and then you have to wear them regularly to KEEP them broken in. A trip to the cobbler to give them a stretch might be in order. Between wears, you may want to keep wooden shoe stretchers inside them, and hit 'em every so often with mink oil. They ARE really comfy once properly broken, though, and they last forever.
I don't get the leaf blowing/raking/bagging thing either, but then again, I also don't get why people clear out perfectly nice looking, no-maintenance native plants and replace them with grass that almost never looks good without many hours' worth of mowing and gobs of chemicals dumped on it.
Re leaves -
* Right, if you bag them (either in paper or plastic) and they're picked up with the trash, they sit in a landfill, which is essentially a large hole in the ground lined with a giant trash liner and they're useless and never go "back to the earth"
* They're really good for gardens or compost piles to use as "browns" to layer over your food scraps.
* I just participated in a project in NYC called NY Leaves -
http://nycleaves.org/2009/10/10/home/
and my pictures from the event are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jessecoug/tags/615garden/
...so while they kill grass, they're good for other natural areas!
Also, I love that you can get away with summer shirts and jackets during fall. I'm jealous.
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