Creativity and the Garden

My mantra is to celebrate creativity. My husband, Michael, finds his creativity in his expansive garden. It's time to share one of my favorite things he has grown this year. I asked him to find me a great spicy, but not hot, radish and so he did! He grew the French Breakfast Radish and I love it!

I have chopped these up and served them as a condiment with our scrambled eggs in the morning. One evening, I even sliced them and threw them into a tofu stir fry and they were delicious. I've read that enthusiasts even spread butter and salt on them, but I haven't tried that yet. 

They are a wonderful bright pink and white with bright green foliage. We have read that the leafy part is very good for you also. 

French Breakfast Radishes grow very quickly. Pick them small because if they grow to big they become hollow in the center. Having the hollow makes me wonder what they would taste like with a little creme cheese in the center?

Seeds for the French Breakfast can probably be found at the local home store, such as Home Depot or Lowes. Michael usually orders his. His favorite online seed suppliers are Johnny's Selected Seeds and Pinetree if you would like to check them out.  

Happy gardening and creative eating. I will see you Sunday with my regular style post.

Black, White, Red and Tabby Yellow

I think you can't go wrong with stripes. When Catherine of Not Dressed Like Lamb decided to feature stripes this week, I knew I was in. This outfit was already in the works for a unit meeting of my retired teachers association. The timing was prefect.

Also, Sylvia of 40+ Style discussed how to wear white accessories and wanted to know our opinion on the matter. I think my look today makes my opinion clear. I grew up with white for the summer and never stopped appreciating its crisp look. I know some of the younger ladies have a hard time dealing with white (I did get some feedback on the 40+ community) but my attitude is if you like and feel comfortable in something, do it. If you don't, that's OK too.

I think you can see where the Tabby Yellow comes into play. We have quite a photo bomber!

My top is a 100 % cotton black and white stripped knit by Liz Claiborne. This top has been a staple in my spring/summer wardrobe for at least eight years. I have worn it with everything from blue jeans, black pants, white capris, and now bright red jeans.

These jeans are Skinnys Skinnys by Madewell and I found them on eBay. I bought my first pair from Madewell, but once I figured out my size, I was confident in purchasing a pair without trying them on. This intense red is a new color for me and I love it, at least in jeans.

Now to the white. My white wedge sandals are Clarks' Artesian (eBay). There's scallops, studs and an interesting configuration of the straps. They were a pair of shoes that I really didn't need but really needed. I already had white sandals, but nothing as neat as these. 

Next up for discussion is my Yves St. Laurent Downtown bag. This bag was a pretty big step for me. I had always wanted a better, or I guess you could say a luxury, bag. I went to Yoogi's Closet and started investigating different designers last fall. I picked an online consignment shop with a good reputation that backs up their items. Even used, these bags are not cheap and I just don't feel knowledgeable enough to spot a fake (as on eBay). I would rather save my money up a tad longer and take the safer route. Yoogi's Closet usually has a 15% sale at the end of the month on all of their "Sale" category items. That's where my bag was.

Why YSL and why white (the color is more of a winter white)?

Around 1966, I saw my first Yves St. Laurent sketch in the Sunday style section of the Kansas City Star. His lines were so simple but so beautiful. I immediately fell in love with fashion, YSL and, of course, wanted to be a fashion designer. As far as the white, I just wanted a white bag and felt it was right for me.

White does take extra care, but I know I am willing to take the time, and make sure my bag gets tender loving care. This bag makes me happy and I finally get to have something of my designing hero. Yves St. Laurent passed away June 1, 2008 and the company now has dropped the Yves and just goes by St. Laurent.

I added a modern necklace for this look.

More stripes with my bangle. I just thrifted this one about a couple of weeks ago. I also added a simple silver bangle (from my local drug store's gift shop) and a white ring that I picked up at Act II, a Kansas City consignment shop.

The Polish Story

What you see with this look is OPI's Lunch At the Delhi from their 2008 India collection, which I think is one of their more stellar efforts. I didn't even do my nails back then and certainly had never heard of OPI. I carefully scan eBay and Amazon for what I think are authentic OPI polishes and slowly add them. There is one from this collection that I will probably never have. Royal Raja Ruby is running about $45-50 dollars; a bit to rich for my blood. 

I think this wraps up this one-look post. Do you wear strips? And does anyone else accent their color palette with nail polish? And then there is the big question: Do you feel comfortable wearing white as an accessory, such as shoes or a bag? 

Next week will be more white, because I am going to blog about a summer fete where we had to wear white. It was so much fun! So until then, take care. 

This week, I am linking up with Patti's Not Dead Yet Style's Visible Monday HERE, Cherie's  Style Nudge's Shoe and Tell HERE, Catherine's Not Dressed As Lamb's I will Wear What I like HERE, Color and Grace's Link Up Party HERE, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish Turning Heads Tuesday HERE,  Living On Cloud Nine's Style Perspectives HERE, High Altitude Style's Link-Up, Fashion Should Be Fun's Fun Friday Fashion Link Up HERE, Shelbee's Edge of the Week Link Up HERE and Nancy's Fancy Friday HERE.


Just for fun, one of Yves St. Laurent's 1966 sketches.

5 Days-6 Ways; Shopping My Closet

Last week, I tried a new experience. It was hectic but fun. I joined the second week of Sylvia Van De Logt's 40+ Style's Casual Style Challenge. The first week completely passed me by. I didn't realize what was going on at first. But once I did, I jumped in!

Before I even started, I made a pledge to myself that I would only shop from my closet. For the most part, this worked out fine. With one look, I did stretch things a bit. We were given the option to substitute items if needed and many ladies did (including me). So let's get started. First off, we were sent a 9 piece capsule wardrobe.  They were:

Bottoms

1. White ankle pants-I used my white White House/Black Market 
    jeans that I thrifted last summer.
2. Chinos-I used a pair of thrifted Gap chinos that I altered into a 
    slim leg-they were originally quite flared.
3. Denim skirt-I haven't wanted to wear a denim skirt since '99.
    So, I substituted with an asymmetrical Tomboy of Kansas City skirt, and  a white knee length cotton straight skirt. 

Tops

4. Printed cotton top in a bright color-I used a flowered Style and

    Company blouse from Macy's.

5. Printed bomber jacket-don't have one, don't want one so I

    did a substitution on this one. Will explain later.

6. Sheer flower blouse-This was already used in week one so although I did have something that worked, I didn't need to use it. 

7. Camisole-I used a modified camisole that had wider straps.

8. Asymmetrical top-I used a knit top that I got from my friend

    Sheree's Looks Like Carolina Boutique.  

9. White blouse-I used a 100% Linen Cherokee blouse that I 

     actually found at the Harrisonville Trade Fair--sort of a weird

     place to find a brand new blouse. 

We were given the option to add one extra piece which I did right off the bat for Day One. So here we go...................

Day One-Pair a printed blouse with a denim skirt or another owned skirt.

The added suggestions were to add wedge shoes, romantic jewelry and no more than three or four colors. I paired a 100% polyester grey and pink jersey top with a knee-length white cotton skirt. Again, this top was thrifted. Usually, this style doesn't look good on me, but I feel this top does and I wear it a lot in the summer. Where I got the skirt is a mystery to me, I can't remember.

I chose shoes of a pale leaning toward neutral: Ellen Tracy shoes and a Big Buddha Bag of the same tone (both TJ Maxx). I liked the romantic take on the jewelry and used a pearl and silver chain Stella and Dot necklace (eBay) and a pearl motif buckle shaped bangle (Adrian Kriestler Drugs) with a mother-of-pearl silver ring (TJ Maxx).

Day Two-Pair an asymmetrical top with white pants. 

I had already put this top away with my Fall/Spring clothes. The taupe top is 100% stretch rayon made in the USA. It has long sleeves but I just scrunched them up (I do that a lot).  I let the tan and white of my main pieces dictate what accessories I used. The Ann Kline perforated cork wedges (eBay) are edged with white patent leather and these led to the choice of the laser cut white Rebecca Minkoff MAC bag (eBay), My jewelry is collected from everywhere throughout the years and falls into the wood, seed and paper category. But I would like to point out my purple-rolled paper necklace. I purchased it through Project Lydia, a Fair Trade non-profit that helps women to become self-employed and independent. 

I need to acknowledge the other model in the photo. Bennett, our 11 year-old Black Lab wanted in the picture that day and who could tall him no. 

Day Three-Pair a denim skirt with a white blouse

Rather than a denim skirt, I chose my Tomboy Design of Kansas City's by Laura McGrew asymmetrical cotton knit skirt. It is super comfy and makes me happy. 

I paired it with the white linen blouse tied at the waist. I stayed with a denim look with some Tahari light blue linen chunky heeled sandals (TJ Maxx) and continued the blue with my Eric Javit's bag (eBay). For pops of color, I added a red and bronze necklace, a multi colored modern bracelet (both from art museum gift shops) and red Zoya Pixie Dust nail polish. I pretty much always use nail polish to complete the color palette of what I am wearing. 

Day Four-Pair a printed blouse (red was suggested) with a pair of Khaki pants. 

I ended up doing two looks for this day. The one on the left is the "official" one. I have my one and only flower printed blouse (Style and Co. at Macy's) and purchased it because of its lines. It has gathered panels and is very slenderizing. The khaki pants are from The Gap. I altered the legs after I thrifted them as mentioned.

I added my Liz Claiborne belt (have had it for 30 years), a Michael Kors straw bag, and some Liz Claiborne four-textured wedges with wood and tortoise shell jewelry.

Stalking under my handbag is JayJay, a tiger cat who just showed up and adopted us. Today he decided he needed to be an accessory for me.

The right photo is my extra look. I think anything in these two photos could be interchanged easily. I added this look because this is a red blouse 100% cotton (thrifted) as suggested. There isn't a tag in this shirt, just made in India.

I paired it with my Vera Wang for Kohls cuffed capris. The accessories include my go-everywhere hat when I don't want sun. It's been with me for 26 years. The sandals are Minnetonka from our local farm and home store, and the little cross-body camera bag has no label and has been with me for as long as the hat.

Day Five-Pair white pants and white blouse with a bomber jacket

I don't own a bomber jacket and remember that I was only shopping my closet. I had to reach pretty far back into the closet archives to even come close for this one. 

I did some research and found that my favorite bomber jackets were Asian inspired. Imagine that (I am referencing my last style post here)! I pulled a dragon-embroidered men's shirt that my daughter Rachelle bought back in the Summer of '99. She didn't want it anymore and I just couldn't let it go. I was always going to do something with it. What that something is, I still have no idea. 

For this look, I temporarily hemmed it up a lot because it's a very long shirt.  I think it makes a nice boxy jacket, but I'm not committing to that idea yet. 

With it , I paired my yet to be used white camisole and white pants and let them dictate the black and white theme for the accessories. The black, white and silver flats are by Nine West (TJ Maxx), as is the bag. The bag came from Nine West's online outlet store site. I wished I had read the measurements a bit better on this bag. It was described as a bucket bag. They should have added "...it's big enough to put oats in to feed your horse oats.."! It really is huge. The black and silver jewelry are pieces I have picked up over the years and quite frankly, sometimes I forget where I get things. We are talking a few decades of collecting. 

That covers my busy styling week. Would I do something like this again? Probably, yes. Kudos to the ladies that did both weeks. I think one was plenty for me. This was a fun problem-solving exercise. For me, that's what makes fashion fun: "I have this and what can I put it with"?, or "I am going here and what would be appropriate"? 

This is the end. But, I have another small post coming tomorrow! It's a combination of Not Dressed as Lamb's challenge for Monday and Sylvia's latest newsletter.

I hope you have enjoyed this long, long post. What's new about that, right? This one really demonstrated how I shop. I look everywhere, even at my farm and home store. I discovered thrift shopping as a hobby last summer. There's such a challenge in it. I love the hunt for a great piece, even if it means that I have to alter it a tad. Another one of my favorites is eBay but I only look for brands  I am very familiar with and I am extra careful with purchasing bags. There are so many fakes with the really popular bags. I will discuss that a little tomorrow.

Take care-well, I guess until tomorrow!

This week, I am linking up with Patti's Not Dead Yet Style's Visible Monday HERE, Cherie's  Style Nudge's Shoe and Tell HERE, Catherine's Not Dressed As Lamb's I will Wear What I like HERE, Color and Grace's Link Up Party HERE, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish Turning Heads Tuesday HERE, Living On Cloud Nine's Style Perspectives HERE, Sydney's Fashion Hunter's Fresh Fashion Forum HERE,   High Altitude Style's Link-Up, Fashion Should Be Fun's Fun Friday Fashion Link Up HERE, Shelbee's Edge of the Week Link Up HERE and Nancy's Fancy Friday HERE and finally July's My Refined Style.

Me, the Looking Glass and Chanel-

Last Tuesday was my first workshop as a Kansas City Blog Guild member. And what a workshop it was! Macy's of Town Center and CHANEL teamed together so we could learn about and experience the CHANEL line.

Our instructor/makeup artist, Rence, demonstrating the correct way to put on moisturizer.

I do a lot of things well, but I have always muddled through my makeup. Thanks to our makeup artist/instructor Rence, the muddle became much clearer! 

What did I learn? Heavens, where to start. First, I learned how to tight line my eyelids. It turns out that this is very important to someone with eyes like mine. I am a "double whammy" lady with hooded and extremely recessed eyes. Tight lining is the first step in making my eyes stand out better. 

CHANEL'S Tight Liner for the eyes reminds me a a good watercolor brush; soft and very responsive to the touch. This will always now be in my makeup arsenal.

Eye shadow is the second step in bringing out eyes. It's such an easy concept, but I had never thought about it. Rence demonstrated how to apply eye shadow to create a more opened eye. As an Art Teacher, I knew that light colors advance and dark colors recede. But I never translated that rule for my eye lids! 

  First, a light base color is applied to the whole eyelid. Then the darker shadow is applied on the outer third of the eye. This is so easy and makes so much sense. I am thinking if you want a crease line, make it a little higher to further open the eye up.

I don't think you need false eyelashes when you have CHANEL'S Nourishing Mascara Base and Mascara. The combination of these two make for incredible lashes. I have never seen my lashes look this great!

Le Lift before you even start. Le Lift for the eyes is an incredible creme that shows immediate effect in lessening wrinkles and bags. I saw the results on my own eyes when I was at the workshop. Until the research on second skin becomes a reality, I think this will work for me. It's expensive, but when Rence showed us how little you use, I worked the math and it comes to 27 cents a day. Not too bad, when you look at it that way (it's about $100  jar).

Members of the Kansas City Blog Guild trying out Chanel's makeup and skin care products

 
 Before I leave, I have to say something about CHANEL'S CC Cream. I regularly use CC cream and have for quite a while and have never experienced anything like Chanel's. First of all, it has a
SPF of 50. I don't think I've previously seen or at least used any that was over 30. And it just made my skin look dewy and radiant. Bottom line, I was amazed. 

I pulled this from CHANEL'S site. I afraid we didn't get any free samples of this one.

Can you tell that I had a great time? I loved this workshop and learned so much. I was not alone. I love playing with brushes to begin with and to be able to put art theory with makeup was just wonderful. I felt it was an art class for adults!

Goody Bag!

What's a workshop without a goody bag. CHANEL was generous and I have been using my CHANEL samples regularly and will make room in my budget for my favorites. As much as I love perfume, the Coco fragrance is a nice addition to my perfume collection. 

That's it for this time. I will see you next Sunday when I do my regular style post. This one was just something extra. I wanted to share my first workshop experience and these wonderful makeup and skin care products. I didn't even get into the eye shadows we tried and the lip products. Yes, they were equally wonderful also. When I was nail blogging, I always felt that the CHANEL polishes were the Holy Grail of the polish world. Now, I am thinking the same is true of their makeup and skincare line. 

It didn't seem right to have a post about makeup and skin care without showing my face.

I will add that I am wearing CHANEL's Vitalumiére Aqua in 30 Beige as my foundation and my new eyes.

Take care, 

 

The Elegant Haori

Years ago, I was hunting for a Kimono on eBay. After developing a  Japanese Kimono unit for my 5th grade art students, I thought it would be nice to have a genuine Kimono to show them. It's not that I lacked an abundance of reference materials already: a PowerPoint, handouts of Kimono motifs I had put together, part of an Obi sash and samples of vintage Kimono silk. I tend to go overboard and thought the Kimono would be a nice touch.

After seeing the prices of the Kimonos I liked, I decided that my students were doing just fine with what they had; however, a couple of Haoris caught my eye. I was in love and the prices were right, so I had to have a least one (which over the years has lead to three).

So, what is a Haori? A Haori was worn over the Kimono for extra warmth. Both the Haori and its lining are typically silk. It is used in Western wear as an elegant addition to one's wardrobe. That's me all over and I have worn Haoris to art openings and the ballet.

When I wear a Haori, I try to keep the under layer a single color. In this look, I have added black slim pants from Mango and a black sequin tank top that I picked up at our local farm and home store. Yes, you read it right. You never know where you are going to find style!

A challenge with the Haori is finding a bag that works. With the longer sleeves, I feel cross-over or shoulder bags don't work.  You could wear a small crossover the same color of you pants and top under the Haori, but I think it is easier to just work with a clutch. I have my perfect little clutch in the above photo. It's a wonderful little art deco inspired vintage metal bag from Rodo of Italy. But the obvious snafu is that my smart phone won't fit in it. I have considered hand stitching a pocket to the inside of my Haori to accommodate my phone and will probably add this in the future.

I keep my jewelry simple. This stone piece reminds me of a Japanese brush painting and was a lucky thrift shop find. My earrings are Asian inspired and are some of the pieces that I have picked up at Museum gift shops.

I did a still life because it is hard to see my shoes, which are black textured D'Orsay sandals and face it, I just like doing still-lifes. You can also see that my bag does have a chain so it doesn't always have to be a clutch. I also wanted to point out my Black Onyx bracelet. My daughter Rachelle made it for me as a birthday present and those kinds of things always become my favorites.

Zero Waste

A popular subject on some of the podcasts that I listen to is the Zero Waste movement. Books are written on the subject and a few designers strive to create zero waste designs. There is a good episode from American Fashion Podcast that is a great introduction to this movement. It is 089 Zero Waste Fashion For the Gold. I highly recommend it. 

Where am I going with this? I am trying to make the point that traditional Japanese garments have always been zero waste designs. Every bit of fabric is used in the garment. I have scanned a page from my book Make Your Own Japanese Clothes by John Marshall to demonstrate the point

I've owned this book long before there was eBay. Little did I know when I bought it that in the future I could easily get original garments from Japan. This book is still published and can be purchased through Amazon.
 

The Polish

This part probably should be called "My Life With Zoya," because that seems to be all that I have been wearing lately. This week is no different. I'm wearing one of Zoya's Pixie Dusts, Miranda. Miranda is a deep pink. The Miranda that you are looking at is layered on top of Zoya's Aster and the result is a darker violet leaning pink. That's why I love this polish thing!

This is it for today. I hope you enjoyed my modern take on wearing a traditional piece of clothing. With shipping, a Haori will run you about $25 and takes about two to three weeks to get. I think that price is amazing and I don't mind the wait. It you do the eBay thing, just type in Kimono or Haori and they will pop up. Happy shopping and take care.

Today, I am linking up with Patti's Not Dead Yet Style's Visible Monday HERE, Cherie's  Style Nudge's Shoe and Tell HERE, Catherine's Not Dressed As Lamb's I will Wear What I like HERE, Color and Grace's Link Up Party HERE, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish Turning Heads Tuesday HERE, Shopping My Closet's Style Me Wednesday HERE, Living On Cloud Nine's Style Perspectives HERE, Sydney's Fashion Hunter's Fresh Fashion Forum HERE,   High Altitude Style's Link-Up, Fashion Should Be Fun's Fun Friday Fashion Link Up HERE and Style Diary By Osy's Friday Link Up Party HERE.

P.S. Here's the bag I carried with it last time. It's another Rodo and I can only use it with warmer weather, but I can get everything in it.
Until next time...