Fashion Files and a Link Up!

Week 27!

Welcome back for this week’s edition of the Fashion Files, hosted by Amy and me! If you don’t know Amy, her blog is Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa. Well, it happened. We turned on the furnace. I think the air conditioning had been on earlier in the week, and then by the end of the week, heat was needed. Ah, you just gotta love Central Indiana in the Fall! We have had frost the last two nights. Last night (Monday), I had to run outside at 9:30 to cover my dahlias and hibiscus plant. I purely am glad my computer gives me little weather reports in the corner! I just hope this Fall lasts for several weeks. Interestingly, the leaves are just turning, but the leaves are falling. It’s been a strange summer weatherwise this year.

Let’s get this party started!

If you’re a fashion blogger, this is the place to be. It’s the day of the week where I talk about the things I wore last week and what I did as well as anything I might have bought. It’s also the place where you can tell us about what you wore, what you bought, what you wished you’d bought! Please tell your friends about our link party because we’d love to see it grow and grow! I was able to visit everyone’s posts last week except for a couple. I was told I didn’t have access. I’m pretty sure that has to do with my security settings more than anything! So, on with the show! Huzzah!

Last week’s looks…

Tuesday – I had two different “meetings” at the museum. I met up with several docents who are trained in VTS (Visual Thinking Strategies). Most of them are experts at it. There were two of us who are newbies at it. I did a beautiful piece by Shinique Smith. I was in a practice with this piece (Eye of the Storm) with another docent group a month or so ago. That conversation went in a completely different way. That’s one of the beauties of VTS…everyone can have a different perspective and still be right. Later that afternoon, I met up with the members of the Contemporary Core. We are really busy with the Giants exhibition and spent the time discussing that and how to best prepare tours and conduct gallery conversations about the art. I wore one of my favorite Kantha Bae pieces, a Rhiannon kimono, over leggings. One of the docents told me it was so much my style…very boho! I wore my neutral colored Adidas Sambas because I knew I was going to be on my feet for a long time. I do have a pair of sandals I love to wear with this kimono. They, however, have a metal piece that pushes down on one of the stress points on my Frankenfoot. They also really need to be replaced because there is hardly any cushioning left in them at all! I just need to remember what they are!

Wednesday – I didn’t have much going on this day although I did go out for lunch with my daughter. We had Mediterranean which I really like. I think that surprised her! I did need to write my Ageless Style post as well as do the photo shoot. Once I got home, I hurried up and took the photos because it was spitting rain. I wore a pair of Old Navy barrel jeans with an old Banana Republic blouse. I call this a blouse because it’s silky. I suppose others would call it a button up. I used an Instagram hack I’d seen where you leave the last few buttons undone. Then, you pull one end through the last two buttons. I’m not sure if it mattered which side you use or not.

Thursday – This was another day when I didn’t have anything on the calendar. I decided to take everything out of the island. The biggest problem I have is I’m running out of places to put things! The bed in the primary bedroom is completely covered with top drawers and other things. The other three chairs from the dining room are in there, too. I cleaned out the bottom of the pantry as well as the next two shelves. I had some cans of food in there from 2026! I need to do the top two shelves, but that will involve either a chair or a step ladder. One thing that totally freaked me out was not realizing my oldest had unscrewed the dishwasher. I was loading it, and all of a sudden, it tilted forward! I just needed to push the bottom rack in while filling the top and vice versa. Then, when I was done, push the entire dishwasher back into place. But, I’ll be thrilled when the kitchen is done. Hopefully, I picked out the right top and flooring, right? I wore an old pair of Old Navy wide leg jeans with an Old Navy tee. I have learned to tuck in that little bit of tee, and then I don’t end up with those little bitty holes where my jeans poke through the tee shirt. I like the proportions of this look much better than the flowy top over the wide legs. What do you think?

Friday – OK, Jodie, don’t read this, K? I had put off my visit to the dentist for almost an entire year. I usually go every four months due to my gum retention and bone loss. A couple of things had happened at my last visit that didn’t sit well with me. I like the dentist a lot. He’s very personable and takes his time explaining things. The problem is he doesn’t own the practice. It’s owned by a big company so the staff has had a huge and ongoing turnaround. I really liked the hygienist who cleaned my teeth for years. She had reduced her hours to just Fridays so I always scheduled my appointments on Fridays. The last time I’d gone in, she was not there. In fact, I didn’t recognize anyone other than the dentist. Another thing was the hygienist said AI looked at my X-rays and said they were good. It’s not that I’m anti-AI though I’m not a fan, either. It was more that I want the human beings looking at my teeth! This time, the hygienist actually introduced herself to me and explained how they use AI. After that, I felt much better. The dentist came in after she’d cleaned my teeth, checked the mobility of my front lower teeth, and said everything was stable, considering my bone loss. We talked for a bit about that, and he told me to just keep doing whatever I’m doing. I also wear Essix retainers at night because I have bruxism. My current ones are growing brittle and have small cracks in them. I ended up with an appointment to have new ones made as well as going back in four months. One would think on this day I would have dressed with clothing as armor. One would be wrong! I wore a pair of Old Navy straight leg jeans with a new sweater from Loft. I know, I know! Here I am cleaning out my closet, and I buy a new sweater. But, I had rewards about to expire as well as my birthday discount. It’s very soft, and I just couldn’t resist the print. My hair was actually hairing! I’ve actually found a concoction of products that gives me volume. And, I really do think the minoxidil is beginning to work.

Saturday – I was both looking forward to this day and dreading it. In fact, I was dreading it so much, I had a nightmare about having a group of kids who made a huge mess and wouldn’t behave! I was participating in a Gallery Explorer “tour” which involves a bit of VTS. This is for 5-10 year olds and their adults. The woman who runs the program explains what is going to happen during the time. We all go to the specified galleries, and the kids and their adults explore the galleries with a little direction. I wandered around, talking with the kids and their people. When it was time for me, I had chosen this really cool vase. It’s very tall and has a couple of creatures twisting around on it. There really isn’t any color on it at all. I have to tell you those two (yes, only two) kids had a blast answering my questions. Then, their people joined in on the fun! There was a lot of laughter and looking closer at the art. I had found another vase the artist had done except this one was in color. I showed them that after we were done talking about our vase. The kids (and their people) thought it was really cool and compared it to the one in front of them. I ended up just loving the whole experience as I hope they did, too. I wasn’t sure if I’d be sitting on the floor or not, so I wore these culottes from Gudrun Sjödén with an orange Old Navy tee and a very old plum colored Talbots cardigan. I experimented with buttoning the cardigan, but I decided it looked good staying open. I have worn these culottes before in the spring and summer with sandals, but I love the way they look with boots!

Sunday – Nigel and I went to the mall so I could do some returning of items. Remember that corduroy dress from last week? Remember how I’d ordered the same dress because Talbots had a humongous sale the next day? Well, I returned both dresses because of that daggone princess seam. I don’t consider myself well endowed in the chest area nor do I think I’m small chested. I don’t, however, want to draw attention to where my nipples are. Those seams were like bright flashing neon lights, screaming, “Hey, check me out!” I had also ordered two pairs of trousers and returned those. Then, I had ordered (and forgot I’d ordered) two of the wrap ballet tops from Athleta during a recent sale. I tried everything but standing on my head to get them to work right. I just had to finally admit defeat and return them. But, I had a blast at J Jill and bought several things (see below). Nigel walked into the mall with his cane. He sits at Nordstrom and waits for me. I park nearby so I can get to him easily, but he surprised me by walking across the street and getting in the car! It’s so nice to see him gaining confidence with walking. I’m just being cautiously optimistic at this point! I wore a J Jill corduroy duster and slim Old Navy jeans. That striped tee has been on the cutting block so many times, and I always keep it. The colors are just so different from anything in my closet, but, for some reason, I keep it! I got so many compliments on the two brooches, too.

Monday – We had an All Docent Meeting this morning. We’ve had a bit of turnaround in staffing so two new staff members were introduced. One of the curators also spoke about his career and how he looks at art. The head of security told us all about her department (which is the biggest in the museum), and she showed us protocols for bad weather and fire. I remember watching the videos, but it’s always a good thing to re-visit those things. The museum, itself, was closed so I couldn’t visit the gift shop or even grab a Diet Coke. It’s kinda weird being in the museum when it’s closed. I’d love for them to host a “Night at the Museum” for docents! I’d definitely stay overnight…just not where the older works are! Here I am again in those Old Navy wide leg jeans. I told you I was going to experiment with making them work, right? I wore a linen tee from Banana Republic with my new pomegranate print merino cardigan from Garnet Hill. I wasn’t going to tuck the tee in, but I didn’t want any of those little holes. I also didn’t want to do the funky little tuck so I tucked the tee in all the way around. That was kinda boring. So, I added this thin Brighton belt I bought in the early aughts to define my waist a bit. I think I’m getting there with the wide leg jeans, my friends!

In between…

You know what I’m going to write, right? I’m still knitting those little squares (really more rectangular). I really need to get to work on that other sweater. I need to find the pattern first because I’m pretty sure I’m at the point where I need to do some decreasing on the sleeve I’m currently knitting. It ends in a ribbed cuff. Then, I’ll start the other sleeve. I like knitting both sleeves at once, but this pattern wasn’t one I knew how to do that. We finished “Five Star Weekend,” and I have to say it was just meh to me. I think it was because the lead was Jennifer Garner. I don’t have any beef with her, but I did keep expecting her to say, “What’s in your wallet?” She just didn’t seem fully invested in the role. It was like she was playing at acting the character. But, the character isn’t fully invested in her current life, either, so maybe she was spot on, and it’s just me. We are also watching “War” on HBO. It’s one of those shows that have episodes released weekly. Ordinarily, we don’t watch those kinds of shows as we like to just binge episode after episode. That sounds bad…we don’t watch several episodes at a time unless they’re only 30 minutes long. But, we finished that episode last night (Sunday) so I’m not sure what we’ll watch starting Monday. I’ve been busy winterizing the outside under Nigel’s tutelage. Our youngest son came over and undid one of the hoses (I was twisting the wrong thing). He then blew them out with this blower thing Nigel has. I will just have to move one into the garage and the other onto the porch. I need to figure out what plants I want to try to winter over and figure out how to do that. Our garage may look like a greenhouse this winter! But, honestly? I’m a little done with watering plants. My Boston and Kimberley ferns are still going strong. That means I’ll have to water them from the sink in the garage now that the hoses are unhooked. I’m waiting on the Poetry and Painting tour as, apparently, some information needs to be gathered for that. I have already met all my requirements at the museum for the year. I’ve got several days away, and I know I’m going to miss it like crazy. It’s my happy place, my respite. I really need to spend a long, long time in Giants in order to put together a tour. We have themes for tours, but I’ve been toying around with another one. It came to me last night right before I fell asleep. Of course, that means I can’t remember what it was! It will come to me…probably tonight when I’m falling asleep!

Purchases…

I did buy two wigs! One color is lilac haze, and I love it! It’s very hard to find that color because everyone else loves it, too! I’m wearing it in a couple of the last few outfits. I also bought the grey version of the pure white wig I have. I am getting so much joy out of…well…being a different person with these wigs. They give me this confidence my bio hair hasn’t given me in ages. So, J Jill…well, they were running 30% off everything, and for your birthday, you get 20% off. I bought a dress (surprise, surprise), a really cool suede belt, a pair of jeans, and a sweater as well as two necklaces and a bracelet. With the discounts, my bill was almost half off. I know it would seem like 30% plus 20% equals 50% off, but it doesn’t work that way. They take the 30% off first. Then, they take the 20% off. Look at it this way. Say I’m spending $100. Thirty percent off would leave me with $70, right? Then, take 20% off of that which leaves you at $56. So, it may seem like it should be half off, but it really isn’t. But, I got some steals! Then, I went to Kendra Scott and bought this heavy chain necklace. It has a toggle closure which I love. What makes it so cool is that you can make it a Y-necklace if you’d like. It also comes with four charms you can wear in any configuration. They are all reversible, too. It was a bit spendy, but I got it for half off with my birthday discount! I surely do love those discounts though my wallet doesn’t necessarily! You know what I haven’t been buying? Shoes!!! I think wigs have replaced shoes! Hahaha!

What to link up…

Please link up your favorite fashion posts, old and new. Please take the time to visit some of the other bloggers. I’m sure they would appreciate it, and please let them know you are visiting from our link up! I really do thank Amy for being my co-host! Feel free to show us what you’ve been wearing, what you’ve bought, returned, or just thought about. Maybe you could share something you’d love to have but never will for whatever reason. You can tell us…we’ll understand. Tell us about your shopping habits. Do you enjoy thrifting, reselling, or online shopping? Just write a post about fashion of any kind. You could even do a review of an awards show. There are always awards shows, it seems! And, remember, even if you’re a movie reviewer, a baking blog, a book lovers blog, a blog that’s anything but fashion, I’m betting you get dressed. Snap a photo, write a little about it, and link it up! You really don’t have to dress up, either…take a look at my Sunday outfit! Thanks, my friends, for linking up and spreading the news!

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