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Fashion Blog (Archive): November 2003
Sunday, November 30, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
7:02 PM (Pacific)
Erm...ask Raphaelle? :)
Red jeans...I would wear blue. I love blue and red together. Or purple and red. Now I'm out of ideas. :)
I have, say, this dark blue wool sweater. It's really dark, almost black. I think it would look great with red jeans.
Purple...I don't own any purple. But I was thinking, dark purple would be pretty.
Grrrr. That's annoying, about the socks. Does the design of the socks factor into it? i.e. some socks have that narrow elastic band at the top, some don't. It would be worthwhile to figure out which style (or brand) of socks works for you.
I know the Gap ones tend to be tight...I have one pair of Gap socks and they're snug. The Target teddy bear ones...not as snug but not loose either.
The Target pima cotton ones...thinking on it, some I bought were triple roll, others just...double roll? The kind you can fold down if you want. These are not as snug as the teddy bear ones.
Then I got some before at Target, cotton ones made in Korea. These you don't fold at all, you just put them on. I don't know the name of the style. You get some sock, just not enough to actually fold. Wondering if a shorter sock would be better for you. It wouldn't be as warm though.
--J.
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
1:52 PM (Pacific)
I looooove socks. I've not bought any new ones since those stripey cashmere ones from Target. I look at the socks every time we go to Target. I'm thinking about getting some argyle ones next. I like those cashmere ones except for one thing. They have a cuff at the top and its TIGHT on one of them. I have been blessed with extremely LARGE calf muscles. It runs in my family, every female on my moms side has HUGE calves. One of the socks is so tight around my calf it cuts into my skin. I keep stretching it in hopes it will eventually stretch the elastic out some. If you have normal size calves though, it shouldn't be a problem.
I need some help, ladies. My mom gave me 3 pairs of colored jeans this weekend in brown, navy and red. I don't have any problem pairing the brown and navy up with tops but I'm kinda at a loss what to wear with the red ones. Any ideas? Besides black, white, tan?
carolm~
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
9:25 PM (Pacific)
Hey I did some shopping today. Nothing exciting though, just...socks. More socks.
I've been wearing those pima cotton Target socks for a while now. They're very comfortable and seem to wear well, so I decided to get some more. I actually need socks; I'm replacing my old Costco ones.
Being Target, most of the colors were gone. I got whatever was left in the style I wanted (triple roll) in the colors I liked, so it was 3 of the denim blue, 3 of the olive green, and 2 of the red ones...brick red I guess you could say.
Carol! I saw your socks! The striped ones with lambswool and cashmere right? They had 3 different color combinations of them. I really gave it some thought but passed. I'm an extremely poor impulse buyer. I like to think about something for a long time before buying it. Plus, I didn't get a good look at the Marshalls socks and I'd like to do that.
What is it with socks? I've been wearing black, white or grey socks for years and years. I think I'm just sick to death of it. Call it engineers' syndrome but there is some truth to not being able to match socks. I was afraid of colored socks. Now I can't abide plain black, white, cream, brown or navy socks. I just can't.
BTW--Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!
--J.
Friday, November 21, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
5:51 PM (Pacific)
It's actually the same necklace. One pic had the flash on, hence you can see the tiny glass bead detail better. The other didn't; hence the yinyang thingy didn't get whited out.
I got another one too. I've just been in this complete costume jewelry mode.
The other one has bright blue glass beads and a heart and angel design.
Dunno...I think it's the '70's flavor you get from stuff like this. I don't know how to put it. I'm tired of real jewelry. Not that I'd turn any down...*g* Just in the mood for something pretty and meaningless.
--J.
Thursday, November 20, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
10:30 AM (Pacific)
Hmmm...taupe? :) When I was growing up, any color that contained brown and grey and no one knew what to call it, was called "taupe."
The clothes sound terrific. Again there is that fashion maven thing going on. I could never think of getting anything remotely taupe and wearing orange or pink with it.
Bootcut...they sold those in the '70's. Bootcut Levi's. Back then it was a sort of moderate flare, slightly, slightly longer in the front of the leg than in back. Literally, so you could wear boots with the pants.
Now I think of it as just plain slight flare. I prefer it to true flares, which drove me nuts back in the '70's so I'd hardly care to repeat the experience.
cough I will be expecting pictures. cough
--J.
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
7:38 PM (Pacific)
Just got back from the Mexx sale! And I think I was good. I just got three sweaters and two pairs of pants. I saw lots more that I wanted but I figured I'd wait. January sales are always good and I'm trying to be reasonable with my spending. So here's what I bought and what I wanted but didn't buy...
-bought: beige pants to replace the ones that I can't get quite clean enough. These have a bit of stretch, a very slight flare to the wide-ish leg (so boot cut, then?), and they sit just bellow my belly button. What makes them special: two columns of three decorative frog closures in front. The first time I saw these pants, I knew I had to have them. It's the details that really get me...
-bought: black pants to replace the ones that are too big. These have more of a straight leg (still wide) and also sit just below my belly button. They're pure synthetic and have no extra special features other than they fit well :) Oh, and I got them in a 4. I usually need a 6 but the 6 in this style was too big. I tried another style and the 6 was too small. So what's a girl to do? Try on three different sizes? Ugh.
-bought: navy blue sporty sweater. 100% cotton with a zipper in front, a mock turtleneck collar, and light blue accents. I've been wanting a sweater like this for a while so I got it!
-bought: cream sweater. My most expensive item. 70% lambswool, 20% angora, 10% nylon. Of course, the angora means that it sheds... But I still love the fuzziness of angora wool. This one has a big huge turtleneck and here's the important detail : square snap closures in a diagonal from just under the right arm up to the edge of the left side of the collar. This sweater looks coolest with a few snaps undone at the top.
-bought: 100% cotton sweater with buttons up the right side in front. The collar is big and could technically be buttoned up but the sweater looks best left unbuttoned (only the buttons on the collar can be done or undone, the others just decorate). They say the colour is charcoal but I disagree. Put it next to grey and it looks brown. Put it next to brown and it looks grey. It's the drabbest colour I've ever seen. It's cool. Hmmm, would look great with something like orange pants. Or a pink skirt. Something bright in any case. Now I need to buy something bright :) All my brights are tops...
-not bought: tweed pants. A couple different styles available but somehow, I wasn't in the mood. Besides, I'm not sure whether I prefer to have my tweeds in pants, skirts or dresses most yet...
-not bought: grey wooly pants. They kind of felt like felt and looked verrrry cool. But I have grey pants. They're getting a bit big but I don't want another pair just yet.
-not bought: sweaters! I saw tons of gorgeous sweaters but made myself stick to the three I bought. We'll see what happens in January...
Raphaelle
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
11:46 AM (Pacific)
Is this cool or what?
High Class Cho
--J.
Friday, November 14, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
11:18 AM (Pacific)
Hummm...I really could use a good black turtleneck or two. The one I have is...eh. It's good for wearing under sweaters (which is what I'm doing today) but imo, not great enough to wear on its own.
The Target ones, likewise. Good in a pinch or under something.
Well that goes on my wish list.
Ah, jewelry. Well I have two modes. One is the expensive one, which is subdivided into Chinese and Middle Eastern.
Mind you I can't afford the expensive mode anyway, but here it is. The Chinese one is plain evil. Here you would buy 24KT gold and jade.
Mmmm...I take that back. There is a reason to buy 24KT gold. You can convert it back to money.
The Middle Eastern mode is not as evil. That would be 18KT gold. I have a few pieces in this mode... That is really what I want to buy, more 18KT gold pieces.
The costume mode is actually more fun. It's like buying cheaper makeup...since you can afford more, you can play more.
I have some costume earrings...I'm allergic to nickel, so, I buy stuff where you can change the wires to nickel-free findings.
I have some nice 24KT gold over sterling, filigree earrings with turquoise.
Here are some more:
The top ones are those cloisonne earrings you can get in Chinatown. In fact they did come from Chinatown. :)
The light blue stones, I have no idea what kind of stone they are. I got them at Pier One back when Pier One sold jewelry.
The gold and turquoise, same as above. The lapis lazuli, sterling silver ones badly need polishing (you can hardly tell they're silver).
This is sterling silver and garnet. I bought both chains separately, I have a box and a snake chain of different lengths.
I've got other stuff...some of it is already on the site. I got a turquoise chip choker, and a jasper and turquoise choker, from Macy's on sale. I have a couple of agate and sterling rings (they're Iranian, they have all kinds of variations on this), as well as a carnelian pendant (ditto).
I have just odd things I've collected over the years. I have a Che Guevara necklace. Yup. It's sterling silver and has the face of Che Guevara in it! I also have a hammer and sickle pin. It's great.
Lessee...and I have some "ivory" carved filigree pins. I don't think they're really ivory, I think they're carved bone. These are for my daughter.
I have some odd things from my grandmother...turquoise and silver pins. I'll have to get back into wearing them. :) I also have a mustard seed pendant. It has the thing in the Bible about having faith as a grain of mustard seed.
*whew* What else...I have a gold box chain. And a silver cross. I've meant for a long time to get a gold cross but I haven't seen one that I liked yet.
Hummm...I don't wear jewelry every day. It's like makeup. I'll get into wearing it, then I'll get out of wearing it.
About bracelets: I wear them on my left wrist. I never wear anything on my right wrist. That's when it gets in the way of whatever you're doing.
You can literally pile up bracelets on your left wrist and leave them there.
I also tend to check out the jewelry whenever I get to go shopping. Like last time, I checked out Wal-mart. I wasn't expecting to find anything, but you never know.
Before that, when I got my MAC blush, I looked at the Macy's jewelry. Nothing really. If it's not outstanding, there's no reason to buy it.
I'm still kicking myself for things I saw and didn't buy. They had this funky Union Jack pin at Macy's before. I was half-assed thinking of buying it...it was a couple of bucks really...pfffff. I passed on it. tsk! Would have been nice on a denim jacket.
What's good too...and this goes back to my 1970's roots. :) Buttons. If you can get a Marilyn Monroe button...heh heh. I still remember this guy. I had to have been fourteen or fifteen. I went to this party and this guy had a Marilyn Monroe button. I was wearing these shoes I got for five bucks at a flea market. I admired his button and he admired my shoes.
They call it vintage now but they didn't then! You'd go to some flea market or shop where they sold old clothes. I still have a black velvet dress I got from those days. (circa me age 15 or so) It's beaded on top with silver beads.
It's regular length, below the knee...another of one those five dollar things. But it looks good. I've worn it on many a highbrow occasion.
--J.
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
9:04 AM (Pacific)
Good girls for having black turtlenecks. They're such a great basic to have. I think I can say they're my all-time favourite basic. I really could live in mine. Shutting up about black turtlenecks now...
Now, the bracelets are really pretty! I can't wear bracelets though. They annoy me. I already fuss around with my ring enough, thank you very much. The one thing I could buy a lot of is necklaces but even then... I have them but never think of wearing them. I love the look but I'm such a jewelry minimalist! I lost my earrings almost a year ago and haven't really worn any since then. Do I have other pairs? Of course! I just don't wear them for some reason... I think at the end of the day, I'm the type with a few signature pieces of jewelry...
Raphaelle
Thursday, November 13, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
10:16 AM (Pacific)
I am pleased to announce our new YOOX affiliation.
A text YOOX link is now up on The Mall.
Please take a look around. If you shop YOOX, please do so through our links. A small percentage of sales made through affiliate links gets credited to us, so we can continue to do the site.
--J.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
5:33 PM (Pacific)
Heh heh...
It's gorgeous. I think the genius of it...a sort of Indian genius...is that the beads were most likely created from odd pieces of scrap glass. I mean the idea is to take stuff that other people throw away, and create something beautiful.
--J.
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
8:11 PM (Pacific)
That's what I like about Wal-mart. They are similar to Woolworths. Quite close actually.
I was there today, I could easily spend hours just looking around at everything. They had thigh high fishnet stockings, socks for a buck (okay they were not good socks so I didn't buy any), lots and lots of cotton children's tights, Betty Boop clothes...I couldn't find one I liked. I wanted a Betty Boop hoodie but the one they had was blah.
What I did buy were these bracelets. They're all glass, made in India...costume jewelry no doubt...but really beautiful all the same.
The brown one cost slightly less than $6, the others slightly less than $5. They also had necklaces but the necklaces were not nearly as good as the bracelets unfortunately so I didn't get any.
--J.
Monday, November 10, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
11:01 AM (Pacific)
That sounds great!
I have seen the Land's End stuff at Sears...it is good. Maybe I'll check 'em out sometime...I have to go out there soon anyway. :)
--J.
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
8:14 AM (Pacific)
Well, guess what I bought this weekend?
You got it.....a black turtleneck! Its not even a mock-neck, its a real live turtleneck. :)
Sears now carries some LandsEnd clothing in their stores. I decided "what the hay" and tried one on. I'd have tried a mock on if they'd have had one in black. I was very impressed with the turtleneck, so impressed that I went ahead and bought it. Its the only non-choking t-neck I've ever had.
I also bought a pair of LandsEnd Sport Knit pants. They are advertised as being as comfy as sweats but nicer looking. True. They are. I like them more than my sweatpants. They aren't anywhere near as bulky, now, they aren't QUITE as warm as the sweats but they look so much trimmer. I would not be ashamed to wear these out in public.
Now, the black pants with the black turtleneck is a really good base combo. It makes me look skinny. Its a little too bohemian alone, but wearing something over the top of it looks good. My red/black flannel shirt looks fabu over this. My new cream sweater looks good with the pants. Even my longsleeve NASCAR tee looks good with the pants. I may end up buying another pair of pants. They are that good.
Saturday, November 08, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
5:15 PM (Pacific)
lol Guess what. In honor of you lot, I have dug out the black turtleneck.
And...it's not all that. It's not entirely crap, but it's not to die for, either.
The price was good and the size right, so I bought it in a hurry and it's been sitting buried beneath shirts for months.
Hummm...it's not even a turtleneck. It's a mock-neck. It's comfortable though, I can't complain. Probably slightly better than the Target ones...guess I'll find out when I wash it anyway.
I'm wearing it with this lambswool Gap sweater I have. That is one solution to the wool/pilling issue. Lambswool doesn't pill. In fact I've washed these sweaters a few times in the washing machine (they do shrink, be forewarned) and they're still pristine.
They're not quite as warm as regular wool sweaters though. For today, the weight is about right.
--J.
Friday, November 07, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
5:26 PM (Pacific)
"Ask the Mathematician." I used to do that, actually, when I was a programming student. You'd look around for a mathematician to have handy.
I'm okay at doing 15% because it's the standard amount to tip in restaurants. I do the same thing, 10% of total tab plus half of that (the 5%).
Buuuuut, 3 * 10%. I still find it easier to do 70% of base price--though I think I will be using the x * 10% trick somewhere. :)
I do have 1 black cotton turtleneck. I haven't actually worn it yet. I am on again, off again, in love with turtlenecks.
Hmmm...fur coats are not popular on this side of the country, but I think they still are on the East Coast. It's hard to sell people the idea of wearing one here because it never gets that cold. i.e. all the Californians who sacrifice their love of fur, are putting you on.
I have not found a solution to the pilling issue either. I tend to just sort of pinch them off but it's not efficient.
Carol: hey! That sweater sounds beautiful. :)
This weekend I will switch my clothes over. I have sweaters, I just have to organize them.
--J.
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
1:36 PM (Pacific)
I bought myself this gorgeous cotton fisherman-type sweater. Its lovely. I've been wanting one for a long time. I found it at Kohls for 16$. Its just a few shades off of white, roll neck. Its so comfy and cozy. It also looks good with jeans or black slacks. Its a really good cream color. I've got fair skin and dark brown hair so the creamy white is very flattering.
Black turtlenecks. Now thats a good idea. Except I'd have to get mock t-necks, regular ones make me feel all chokey. I'll have to keep my eyes out for those. Nothing like a black top with jeans to make me feel skinny!
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
11:36 AM (Pacific)
Yup verrry useful. Especially when the climate you live in has 6-month long Winters. Ok, maybe more like 4-5 months. It gets cold, rainy, icy, and snowy in November. Then it snows. December, January, February, March, it snows. Starts melting in April. Unless you get a freak snowstorm. Guess where I live... You know, that reminds me of some magazine features. On the one hand, you get these features about naked legs in Winter (tights are "out" some years). Say what? On the other hand, you get these features about dressing up for the cold. I've read things as ludicrous as "a wool coat won't cut it, you need fur or down". Ummmm, I wear a wool coat all Winter and I don't get cold! If you're going for some fun in the snow, sure break out the Sorel boots and the heavy duty snow clothes but if you're just in the city, you DON'T need the Sorel boots and fur coat!
Back to sweaters. I'm actually not always a fan of wool. It's itchy and it can pill. Nothing makes a sweater look old like pills. Acrylic is bad for that. Actually it's the worst. Too bad too because it's so comfy and warm. I've never had pilling problems with cotton sweaters. Only thing is, they don't give the same warm and fuzzy feeling that wool can give. So what do I do? I buy lots of cotton sweaters, some wool, some acrylic. The wool and acrylic ones get replaced often. I need to get something to get rid of pills. Those little shaver things don't work...
I have a sleevless sweater with some angora wool in it (70% I think). It's a nice mauvey almost white colour. It's meant to be a fancy Christmas top. Problem with this sweater: it's sleeveless so you freeze your arms off but if it's warm enough for your arms not to fall off like icicles, you're boiling hot and sweating under the sweater. And it leaves hairs all over the place! Oh, and it does pill. I still like it though :)
Oh, do you have a black turtleneck? A cotton one (because of the pilling thing). Slim-fitting. A black turtleneck is SOOOOO useful. It's elegant and effortless. It's worth it to spend a wee bit more to have a good one that'll last a good while and look really good. Mine was 25$CAN which, while not the type of bargains you're able to find, is a perfectly reasonable price for a turtleneck. I would have paid up to 35$CAN for one...
By the way, you do some impressive bargain shopping. I'm very bad at it. But I try:)
Oh, trick for calculating discounts. Say you have 30% off (pretty easy one). Just do 3 x 10%. 10% is the easiest of all. So let's say you have something that's 24$ (trying to make it harder). 10% would be 2.40$. Easy, right? Just divide by ten. Ok, so that's close to 2.50$. 3 times that is 7.50$. If you want to be anal, just remove the 30 extra cents and you have 7.20$. Which is closer to about 7$. So take that away from 24$ and you get 17$ (one thing that helps me with the subtraction is to think of it as looking for the missing term in an addition). To be exact, 16.80$.
It takes practice to do it in your head but you get good at it fast. I practice with adding 15% taxes. With 15%, it gets kind of trickier. On the same 24$, you'd have your 10% which is 2.40$. Since 15% is 10% + 5% and 5% is half of 10%, all you need to do is add half off 2.40$. So 5% would be 1.20$ and 15% would be 3.60$. I've impressed a cashier once by pulling out the exact amount with taxes from my wallet before she has even told me. Mental arithmetic is very fun once you get the hang of it. There are more tricks like this but this is the fashion blog. Not the geeky mathematician blog :)
Raphaelle who hopes noone found the math stuff condescending. I just enjoy explaining stuff :)
Thursday, November 06, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
12:30 PM (Pacific)
Hummm...sweaters are always useful.
I need to bring mine upstairs actually...in theory, I'm supposed to have summer clothes downstairs now and winter clothes upstairs. I used to switch them out and now I just feel lazy.
Well I think the key to sweaters is to get wool ones rather than blends. Okay I am not an angora sweater gal... I love the idea of something cute and fuzzy but what I end up wearing are regular wool sweaters. :)
I dunno...I think if it's done properly, clothing can be a good investment. Well there are two kinds of clothing--expensive, durable and classic, and cheap, fun and throwaway.
The expensive & durable are cheaper over the long run. But I think a mix is best.
I went to Target the other day...mmm. When did Target become so expensive? They're selling $30 semi-precious stone pendants now. Heh heh...they had some chocolate cord miniskirts...the olive ones were gone...but the sizes were all off.
They had some long plaid skirts that I thought were intriguing. The quality was no good but I liked the idea of a long plaid skirt.
I'll have to get some tights one of these days. I don't like wearing synthetic ones, and it's hard to find cotton. I barely found some cotton ones for my daughter. Good news--?--they're made in China. Meaning they will probably have some for adults soon at a good price.
What was the point of this reverie? Oh yeah. The one thing I would have bought at Target, was a cotton long-sleeved turtleneck top for $6. $6 is okay. Not the best-best cotton turtleneck top but for that price I could buy several, they would last me a few years too. They're handy to wear on their own or under something else like a sweater or one of my men's plaid shirts. :)
The one thing that stopped me was that I have a lot of long-sleeved cotton tops now, I don't actually need new ones. If I did though that's how I'd buy them--good-enough quality, low price, quantity.
I did the same thing with tank tops a few years back and I'm still wearing them. And before that I had a bunch of sleeveless cotton mock turtleneck tops for around four bucks a pop.
Reminds me...when I was in Washington. One of the men's shops had a big sweater sale. Everything was ten dollars...they had silk ones, cotton ones, some wool ones I think, all sorts. We all went out there...me, the DH, a couple brothers-in-law...and bought, bought, bought. We bought everything that was good. I still have the sweaters from that period.
This one is 80% silk, 20% cotton. It's the dressiest of the lot.
What I mean is that I don't see anything wrong with opportunity buying. If the price is right--you're a mathematician so I'll bet you can figure the discount in your head :)--I'm half-assed okay at doing that. If it's 30% off, at least I know enough to calculate 70% of the base price. :)
If the price is right and the quality is good, then I say it's good to go. Get lots.
i.e. there will be times in your life later on when you don't buy clothes that often anymore. You'll be too busy buying kids' clothes. :) That's when you can still wear your original classic, durable stuff, and pad it out with cheap, throwaway stuff.
--J
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
3:01 PM (Pacific)
Woohoo! I just got a card for a private Mexx sale soon! The day after my birthday actually. I went to Mexx last Saturday and drooled over the sweaters AND I just recently updated my clothes wishlist. I'll be getting 30% off regular price items and 15% off sale items. Someone'll be getting new sweaters! I'll be on the lookout for sweaters with special details like funky collars or buttons up the side. Colour-wise, I want pastels like pink, straw, and green. Black, cream, red, beiges, greys are always good too. I also need new camel or beige pants and new black pants (they've gotten too big again). I'd love pinstripe pants and tweed pants too. We'll see. If I can find one, I'll be getting a long-sleeved, crisp, white shirt. Stretch, please. I may get a cute top too. I saw some nice see-through ones and Asian inspired ones. I might get one. Shoot me if I get more than that :)
Raphaelle
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