No slouching missy!

We were in San Antonio last weekend for a wedding and while looking at the photos realized that how you stand makes a HUGE difference in how things look. (reminds me of the post by Sal about Side Views)

Here I am at the Alamo standing straight

yeah for dorky tourists!

Me starring as Miss Slouch-a-Lot earlier in the evening. Ick.

Why did I hunch over? I looks awkward, like my head is not completely attached to my neck and pouches my tummy out.

Despite my slouching, this was a great outfit and I felt really confidently dressed in it. I took a couple photos when I was trying to decide what to wear (how very Cher of me), and this is a fuzzy pic of the dress so that you see how it fits. It is kind of a magical dress that fits me just right. Usually this style of dress does nothing for me except make me look like a rectangle, but this has stretch in just the right places and is cut just for me.

The outfit was made up of a bunch of steals over the course of a couple years:
Nine West Shoes from Ross/marshalls/something like that.
Black dress from Express (via thrifting a million years ago)
Black cashmere cardigan from Theory (via goodwill)
SPARKLY buttons: Thanks Joanne Fabrics!

Seriously, I think this cost me less than $30. Proof, you don’t need money to look classy – you just need to stand up straight!

-b-

70s coed style + snow

I found this dress a couple of weeks ago (thrifted Ann Taylor)... i love that it makes me think of 70s coed away at college. I just wish there were some fallen leaves or autumnal trees I could have posed by!

I also wish I didn't stand that way: slightly turned with my arm so close to my body ...it all blends into one with the pattern and I look kinda wider than I prefer :)

If you click the photos, you can see closeups of the pattern and my sweet earrings from Erin. Check them out more in this or this post.

Here is what I wore to/from heated places. It was actually pretty chilly for me yesterday and my sweater was not enough for the actual temperatures. I know I shouldn't complain, but guess what - Houston is predicted to get snow tomorrow.


It snowed last year and was a BIG deal for us. It was only one night, so a pal and I raced downtown and went ice-skating in the park*. I've never skated in the snow before, it was really neat and I had a ridiculous amount of fun that night.

To top it off, I was on the nightly news that night starring as a giant dork. I seriously sounded like such a cornball, but I suppose it was the novelty of the whole evening. But my hat looked cute, right? I bought it from Bondagetea's etsy site last year. She has more too, check them out.

You know, that was only my fifth time to see it snow.

I've seen it snow twice in Houston, once in Orlando, once in New Mexico, and once in Colorado. Tomorrow could be big number 6! whoppee-do!

-b-

*The skate rink is obviously temperature controlled, that would never actually occur down here.

Rent the Runway

We have a wedding to attend after the new year and it's for one of my husband's college friends I've met her and she is honestly wonderful and super nice and I feel relaxed around her - but they went to a fancy private college (read: expensive) and I want to make sure that I feel comfortable by looking super-deduper fab. I feel out of place really quickly if I think that I look like the kid from the wrong side of the tracks.

So, after reading about it on Glamour magazine's webpage, I'm wondering if anyone has tried this out: http://www.renttherunway.com/?

I signed up and am cruising the website. It's not super cheap by any means, but it seems like a great idea if you have an EVENT and need a special dress.

You basically rent a fancy-pants dress that you'd probably never buy. It's a little wierd to think about renting a dress, but at the same time they have swanky brands that I can't imagine actually purchasing for one time wear. I'm thinking about trying it out, but am gun-shy.

I went through the website and two dresses got my eyes:

This is a Diane Fursteberg (sp?) that rents for $75

And this one, from Pencey also for $75

What is neat is that they let you pick out two sizes and then, if you want, you can get a "back-up" dress for $25 extra. So, I tested it out and picked the two above. To ship to Houston and rent both dresses with two sizes each for 8 days, it would cost me $150.

Okay, again, not cheap. But not totally ridiculous either.

It's an idea right now. I'm going to scour the resale shops before ordering, b/c I could also find the perfect dress for $15...

Keep your fingers crossed!

-b-