Week 17!

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. I don’t know about you, but I am more than ready for fall. I’m pretty sure Amy will disagree with me, but these hot temperatures and high humidity are not my friend! My bushes are all looking really like they agree. My hibiscus bush looked like a million bucks before the hail storm. That storm ripped its leaves to shreds, but it came back in a way. It’s droopy with the afternoon sun which leads me to wonder if it’s not more a shade loving creature. It’s blooming like crazy even though the blooms only last for one day. Boy, howdy, is our grass green though! Between the rain we got and the irrigation system, it looks pretty daggone good. Of course, that also means I have to mow it. The mowers (we live in an HOA community) come on Wednesday, but we’d be making hay if we left it. The places where the guys had to dig, though, are the home to crab grass. I hate crab grass as much as Nigel hates dandelions (love them).

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 have been lax in checking out the link party simply because it hasn’t worked for me for a while. I promise to get to your posts as often as I can. I apologize for that because I really do appreciate you linking up. I know how much work it is to link up. For example, my son set the security on my laptop some sorta way so link parties don’t even show up. There is no button at all…not even on my own posts! I have to toggle back and forth between my laptop and iPad to link up as well as to look at people who have linked up on my posts. When I try to get him to understand, his eyes just glaze over sorta like mine do when he starts talking about gigabytes and megabytes and all that!

Last week’s looks…

Tuesday – I had a hair appointment so I didn’t bother to do my hair. I really don’t see the point of it when I know she’s just going to wash and cut it. I’ve been on Minoxidil now for about two months. I don’t necessarily see anything as far as the hair on my head. Well, that’s not entirely true. My eyelashes are definitely growing, especially my bottom ones. I haven’t had any noticeable ones there in years. Unfortunately, my facial hair is also growing! I knew that was a side effect. I was thinking mustache and beard kinda facial hair. This is all over my face and very fine. No one would even notice except me, but it’s encouraging that, perhaps, the same is going on on top of my head! I’m wearing a pair of Old Navy pants I had ordered earlier this summer. I inadvertently had them sent to my youngest son’s house! He kept forgetting to bring them over. The eyelet blouse is from last summer at Old Navy.

Wednesday – Well, as you can see I now have bangs (fringe for my UK friends) again! My stylist didn’t think my hair had thinned that much, but she could tell it was a bit thinner. She convinced me adding bangs would help hide all that real estate between my hairline and my eyes! I went to the museum in the afternoon to practice my Feedback tour with one of my docent besties. She is amazing! One of the legacy docents came along and gave us some guidance. One of the things she said is something I have to keep telling myself: We are all different and have different ways of giving tours. Different doesn’t mean better or worse. It just means different. So, I’m going to try to remember that as my tour approaches. I wore these fun dotted pants from Gudrun Sjödén with an old, old sleeveless top from Talbots, and a Nic + Zoe cardigan. I really like the dots and stripes in this subtle (or not so subtle) pattern mixing.

Thursday – I had a VTS (Visual Thinking Tour) today. I decided to give my “I wonder what she’s thinking” tour. This one is about what the model in the painting is thinking as she’s posing. I started off with about 15 people but gradually lost some. VTS tours aren’t for everyone, and I recognize that. If you go to a museum and want a tour with the docent giving you information about the painting and artist, VTS tours are probably not for you. The whole point is to look closely at the art and have a conversation about it. I really love this strategy and find myself using some of the questions when I’m doing Gallery Conversations. In theory, I loved this outfit. It’s a Gudrun Sjödén dress that I stalked until it went on sale. When I received it, it was a titch too small in the bust. You can see there’s a seam right above the boobs. I exchanged it for the medium which is a titch too big. I love the print and the silk/cotton fabric. But, gosh, doesn’t it look like a maternity dress? I wonder if a belt would help. I wouldn’t have to wear a slip, but it seems kinda boring then. I just need to play with it more.

Friday – Nigel had a physical therapy appointment in the afternoon so I spent the morning working on the blog. Let’s be honest, I spend part of every day working on blogging, whether it’s creating a new post, responding to comments on my posts, or reading and commenting on others’ blogs. Nigel only has half hour sessions so I just sit in the waiting room. The facility is new and in the middle of a big semi-empty field. There’s a new Meijer there, but I’m not a fan of Meijer…sorry, not sorry! I usually read and comment on blog posts on my phone if I can. I don’t know my passwords for some platforms so I’m somewhat limited in that. This is one of the fun little dresses I got from Tulip Clothing. That bottom layer has some lace in it, but you can’t really see it in the photo. Friday night, I went to bed rather early (for me).

Saturday – My docent bestie had her feedback evaluation this day. I decided to be a true guest and dressed down. I didn’t even wear my docent lanyard because I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself. She absolutely blew it out of the water! I knew she would…she has that unflappable, even keeled personality which I don’t have! She used a tablet to enhance her tour, and it was just amazing! Congrats, P! You’re one of the best! I wore a pair of Loft jeans, an Old Navy floral tee, and a Kantha Bae Short Spellbound kimono.

Sunday – I spent the entire day working on my Style Imitating Art blog post. I had picked an obscure artist and quickly learned obscure doesn’t mean no information! I try to get as much information as I can and blend it all together for my post. These SIA posts as well as the Songful Style posts take me hours because of all the research. I wrangled with my wig a bit, too. I really wish it didn’t have an much of that dark chocolate brown surrounding my face. It didn’t look like that on the website. I’m learning the ins and outs of wearing a wig with this one. I did learn how to move a part, and now I’m going to work on doing something about the floppy sides. A friend messaged me and said do not cut bangs! I figured that would be fairly easy, but she said it never comes out well! I don’t know that I want to spend the money to have my stylist do anything with it. I think I’ll just consider it my learning tool! I do like the wig as a whole and am considering ordering a grey one. I’m wearing a Gudrun Sjödén dress in brown tones. I loved the way Nancy looked in her autumn colors so I decided to channel my inner Nancy! I would consider this a three season, maybe even four season dress. It’s a light cotton dress. With a slip and tights, it could easily go into fall and winter. And, yes, I have it in another color!

Monday – The hair is hairing today! I have this daggone cowlick on the right hand side of my hairline in the front. It has always been a problem. Now that my hair is so thin there, I try to camouflage it with more volume in the bangs. My stylist would say it’s too 80s, but, trust me, I didn’t wear my hair like this in the 80s! Nigel had a physical therapy appointment. We got there early so I was able to run a couple of errands before he was finished. Brownsburg isn’t necessarily a big town although the population is huge compared to my hometown. But, navigating it is a nightmare because I don’t think they’ve ever had a city planner on staff. I used to think city planners were a waste of tax dollars. I now believe towns and cities definitely need them in order not to create the mess that is Brownsburg! There are stoplights here, there, and everywhere unless you’re on some of the country roads in which case there are roundabouts here, there, and everywhere. All that to say, I had to do some backtracking to get back to the P/T facility. Yes, this is another Gudrun Sjödén dress in a different colorway. I wore the other, brighter version on the blog last week.

In between…

I’ve gotten two squares of my Christmas blanket knitted. I may tink the one because I’m pretty sure I didn’t use the chart correctly. I think I kept starting from the right which is completely wrong. I am knitting that particular one right now. When I’m finished I can compare them to see how badly off the first one is. It’s supposed to be four elves, but I can’t even see that on the chart. As y’all know, I’ve recently been gifted two wigs. Both are lace front. I just know from watching “RuPaul’s Drag Race” that lace front wigs are better than hard fronts. The thing is you have to trim the lace. I’ve trimmed the lace on the first one, but the other one has a whole lot of lace. I really don’t want to mess that one up as it’s human hair. So, I’m kinda considering the first synthetic/human hair mix one the one to experience the ups and downs of wearing a wig. I have to admit it’s a different sensation when you’re not used to a lot of weight on your head. I’ve been looking at other wigs in grey from other retailers. If I’m going to embrace the wig life, I’m going to buy wigs that match me rather than trying to pretend I’m blonde or brunette. Does that make sense since I’m buying fake hair anyway? Hahaha!!! I don’t know…blonde is close to grey, right? What do you think?

In other news…

Nigel has discovered these long-term car chases on YouTube. They go on for at least an hour, and there’s seldom an end to them. They just stop. It’s kinda scary when you consider how easily someone could get hurt in these chases. It makes me stop and think any time I’m on a highway! These are all in California. I read somewhere that Kias are the number one car getting stolen. After listening to these videos, I’d have to agree. it seems like they’re all either Kias or Mercedes!

Purchases…

I didn’t really shop the NSale other than buying my granddaughter a pair of sneakers. They started doing these daily deals on beauty so I did end up buying some of my favorite Laura Mercier setting powder. I don’t think I bought anything else this past week other than groceries! Wait, did I buy the Miz Mooz black Freyas this past week or the week before? I honestly love these flats so much, and they are so comfortable right out of the box. Oh, and I did take advantage of the Bauble Bar sale. I bought an ear cuff because a friend told me people our age run the risk of cauliflower ear if they get their upper ears pierced. The way my luck has been running the last few years, that would happen to me. I also bought a couple of bead necklaces. I did get some coupons for Swiffer WetJets and other Swiffer products. Since we’re looking at a major upgrade in the kitchen, I’m thinking about buying one of those sweeper/mop combos. Any thoughts on those?

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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