2013 in outfits

At the movies, and on my birthday.

I liked you, 2013.  Yes, there were some sadness, but the year as a whole was very good.

And there were outfits.  These aren't necessarily my "best" outfits of the year...they're just the ones I took photos of.  (I don't take a lot of outfit photos, and the ones I take now end up on my Instagram.)  Looking at these photos, I realize that I wore very few items that were brand new to me.  (A quick and probably not totally accurate count: one skirt, two dresses, two pairs of shoes, and one pair of jeans.  Some socks and tights.)  Some of the things I'm wearing here I've had for several years; at least three of the dresses I've had for over a decade!  This pleases me.  Now I just need to learn to not fill up my closet with so many vintage things I never wear.  Yes, I think it will be time for a closet cleaning soon. 

At the UICA; on Record Store Day.

On the West Side; in downtown Grand Rapids.

At Honey Creek Inn; in Vienna.

In Cadillac; in the bathroom of the Amway Grand Hotel.

xo

K

transitional dressing

Andy and I went out on Saturday to see a Japanese film at the UICA and to visit our local favorite, Vertigo Music, for Record Store Day.  I had a sudden desire to wear this this pink and white embroidered skirt.  Let's call it a spring craving.  Because this spring has been the polar opposite of last spring, at least in western Michigan, and the weather has stayed pretty cold.

So the springy skirt had to be worn with tights, boots, a sweater...and my faux leopard coat.  And you know, I think this might be the best look for this skirt, ever.  Pink and leopard go together as well as pink and lipstick red do, if you ask me.

Just like handsome guys go together with pea coats.

xo

K

Geburtstag 2013

Yesterday was my 44th birthday, so Andy and I took the day off to celebrate.

We started out with the traditional beer lunch at the Winchester, one of our favorite places to eat (and drink beer) in Grand Rapids.  We prefer going for lunch, rather than dinner, because it gets very busy and loud in the evenings.  We're too old now to enjoy squinting at a menu in the dark and yelling conversation at each other, so we go there for lunch instead.  If you go, make sure you have the green chili.  This is something I haven't eaten since visiting New Mexico (way back when I lived in Colorado), and it is so good!

Mr. Handsome.

The woman who was our waitress at dinner said my hair reminded me of her grandma.  Another person might take offense at that, but not me!  I'm all about the grannies.

Last year we started the day at the Winchester, too, and then we went to the zoo and watched the capybaras swimming in their pool.  Last year it was 85 degrees on my birthday.  This year it was 20 degrees and snowing.  Ah, March in the midwest--how it laughs at us!  (I truly do prefer the winter weather to the summer weather in March; it makes more sense in Michigan.  Last year's early heat wave helped kill off all the local fruit crops.  It was a disaster.)

Topgraphical map of Michigan.

This year we headed to the Grand Rapids Public Museum to check out the Titanic exhibit, which was pretty nifty.  It told the story of the Titanic mostly through artifacts that have been excavated from the wreck.  I was surprised to see how many items had been retrieved.  The exhibit was quite well done, with ship sound effects adding to the overall effect, and quotes and stories from various passengers.  Mine and Andy's only quibble were that there were a couple clothing props used that were clearly--to us anyway--not of the era.  (One was a striped 1970s JC Penney's shirt with the tag still on it, masquerading as a shirt in an Edwardian era third class passenger's suitcase.  Yeah, kinda silly detail and it probably only bothered us due to the nature of our work...but they could at least have taken the JC Penney label off.)

Oh, and when we were about 2/3 through the exhibit, a school group came in.  The kids weren't bad or anything, but suddenly this lovely, quiet experience was chaos and noise.  I probably wouldn't have minded so much if we hadn't paid $17.00 each to see it.  (Signs of aging: grumbling about the kids, prices, noise, and lack of authenticity in a museum exhibit.  Bring on the Geritol!  I am a curmudgeon!)

This is Andy pointing out Lake Freska on the topographical map of Kent County.

We couldn't leave the museum without a stop in my favorite room, this Victorian era specimens room, which is filled with displays of rocks, minerals, coral, skulls, and poor, creepy taxidermied animals.

It was an excellent birthday!

xo

K

spring hair

If you follow me on Twitter,  you've already might have seen a couple of these photos, but I got a much-needed haircut and a color update last week.  (For anyone in the Grand Rapids area who reads this blog: Didi at Panopoulos is the woman who does my hair, and she is absolutely fantastic!  She is also a great friend and a lot of fun.)  I love it, and I think I'll be wearing lots of gray, blues, and green with this hair color.

Andy and I went on a movie/art opening/dinner date this weekend, and I wore my heaviest coat because it was supposed to be cold.  But the sun was über bright and Colorado intense, so I ended up not so buttoned up.  You've seen all these clothes on my before in this blog.  The coat is my favorite, and that dress and those shoes get a lot of wear.  The needlepoint bag is relatively new, though.

The only vintage garment on Andy is this beautiful Harris tweed jacket.  We are always on the lookout for Harris tweed items, and find it more frequently in menswear than women's clothing, but often the jackets are bad, boxy cuts.  This one is nicely tailored and looks great on Andy.

The movie we saw was Argo and I think I've already grumbled enough about that.  We also checked out an art opening at the UICA, at which one of my favorite local music acts, the Kent County String Band, played.  I really loved the shadows cast by these silvery discs in the room where the band played.

xo

k

snow

Just some photographic proof that we did get a massive amount of snow this year.

We still have snow, but not this much.

I love it.  It makes everything feel cozy.

I need a haircut crazy badly.

xo

K

an outfit

I have the lovely Teresa of Bess Georgette to thank for this outfit post.  She does a neat segment on her blog every so often about collecting certain colors.  She recently did one on orange, which made me wonder if I had any orange clothing in my closet.  This 1960s dress with its kind of Halloween-y orange and black rose print was the only item I could come up with.  And Teresa's post reminded me I hadn't worn it in awhile, so out it came!

Andy is wearing a 1950s gray cotton/rayon blend shirt with a hidden button placket, and 1950s Florsheim oxfords.

Happy September!

xo

k

minimal bling

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend...a long weekend for those of us in the US.  Andy and I started it out with pinball, cocktails, and dinner out on Friday.  I wore this cute, new-to-me thrifted 1950s dress. 

I love this old doorway I posed in front of. 

The only flaw on this dress?  One of the little rhinestones is missing.  I love how in the 1950s just a few rhinestones were bling enough.

No bling for Andy--just the cool novelty print on this shirt.  (He has a pretty great revolving collection of men's 1940s and 1950s shirts.  I say "revolving" because he keeps selling them.  But then he finds more.)

At first glance, I always think this print has an Irish theme.  It's the green, and those little floral bits that look a little like clover.

But if you look closely, you can see they're rickshaws.  And the shirt is silk, too--I guess that's kind of blingy.

xo

K

48 things

Haven't done one of these in awhile, so when I saw it posted on fellow Michigander pretty. little. world.'s blog, I thought I'd follow suit.  Feel free to steal and answer these on your own blog, and put a link in my comments if you do, please, so I can read your answers!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 9:00 am.

2. How do you like your steak? medium

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema: Captain America.  I did it for the Armitage:

photo via RichardArmitageNet.com

4. What is your favourite TV show?  Of all time?  Probably The Wire or Deadwood.  But I also love Intelligence, Mystery, Masterpiece Theater, Game of Thrones.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?  I am still obsessed with Scotland.

Kilchurn Castle, in Loch Lomond.  Via Moyan Brenn's Flickr stream.

6. What did you have for breakfast? bacon, egg and cheese sandwich with potatoes

7. What is your favorite food?  bacon cheeseburgers, french fries, linguine carbonara, cobb salads, goat cheese, avocado, mushrooms

8. Foods you dislike? fish, I'm afraid.  I'll try anything, but fish and I just generally aren't friends.

9. Favorite place to eat? Slow's BBQ in Detroit

10. Favorite dressing? blue cheese

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? a Toyota Corolla or a Ford truck

12. What are your favorite clothes? vintage dresses, cashmere sweaters, boots, plaid

Take the High Road, British Vogue, September 2008.  Via Fashionising.com.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Scotland, England, Iceland, Italy, Spain, Germany...

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? it's 3/4 full of a delicious cocktail

15. Where would you want to retire? I'll never retire.

16. Favorite time of day? dusk

17. Where were you born? St. Louis

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? basketball, though I rarely do anymore.

19. What is your favorite fragrance? pipe tobacco, pine trees, vetiver, coffee...and this: 

20. What is your favorite face cream? Weleda Almond

21. Favorite baby/kids products? I don't have kids, so I'll say any product that keeps them quiet when I'm around.

22. People watcher? Yes!

23. Are you a morning or night person? Night.

24. Do you have any pets? Lucy the dog.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? nope.  Oh wait, since I'm posting this on Monday, the exciting news is that Richard Armitage turns 40 today.  Happy birthday, Richard!

26. What did you want to be when you were little? a boy, an ice cream shop owner, an actress

27. What is your favorite memory?  Here's a couple: swimming in the Long Island Sound with friends one night over a decade ago; the time Andy drove to NYC to surprise me.

28. Are you a cat or dog person? dogs

29. Are you married? no, but I am very attached

30. Always wear your seat belt? yes.

31. Been in a car accident? yes, but when I was too little to really remember it.

32. Any pet peeves? text-speak, poor grammar, pajamas in public

33. Favorite pizza toppings? goat cheese, mushrooms

34. Favorite flower? Flowers are lovely, but I can't say I really have a favorite.  I love the scent of lavender.

35. Favorite ice cream? chocolate, coffee

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? White Castle, when I can get 'em.  Not a fast food fan anymore, though.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Zero.

38. From whom did you get your last email? Jessica.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? I'd rather max it out on travel, food, and drink.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? This is kind of pathetic, but I lay down on my bed and read for an hour in the middle of the day twice last week.

41. Like your job? I do.  In fact, I love it!

42. Broccoli? Yes.

43. What was your favorite vacation? My trip to Prague.  Or my two southern road trips.

A canal in Prague.  Photo by JannK, from her Flickrstream.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Andy

45. What are you listening to right now? Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service

46. What is your favorite color? gray

47. How many tattoos do you have? Zero

48. coffee drinker? bigtime

xo

K

fruit of the loom

When I hear "Fruit of the Loom" I think of guys in apple and grape costumes, selling men's underwear on TV.  But Fruit of the Loom also made cute dresses back in the day, like this 1950s floral print day dress.  (I don't know what's up with the weird light in this photo.  Andy wanted to take the photo here because of the pretty backdrop.)  I'm also wearing a vintage pink moonglow bracelet, and a less-vintage red plastic rose bead Tarina Tarantino bracelet.

You can see the print and details a bit better here, though I took the below photos in my living room this morning, in the dim light of an overcast sky, so they also aren't ideal.

xo
K

calico, yo

So...calico and rickrack. Makes me feel a bit country gal. I do love the pockets.

I'm not really that into floral prints, though I have lots of them. They're hard to avoid if you wear vintage. I like that this one is a darker print.

Work progresses on The Pyramid Scheme, where I'll be seeing Guided by Voices later this month. Loving Jeff VandenBerg's artwork on the sign.

This is a reminder to myself that Auchentoshan scotch is delicious. When you don't have a smartphone, you take a picture. I'm guessing the number of scotch whiskey drinkers reading this blog is low, but anyway: the Auchentoshan was delicious--mild, sweet, and reminded me of old, polished wood furniture (a theme running through my favorite drinks lately).

xo

K