When the Hair Claws Come Out

Sweater: Express; Jeans Princess Vera, Kohl's; Coat: The North Face, Sports Authority

Bag: Delia's, Dolls Kill

Skirt: Wild Fable, Dolls Kill; Tights: Isadora, Zulily; Boots Penny Loves Kenny, Amazon

Top: Bar III, Macy's

Bag: Apt. 9, Kohl's; Zigzag bangle: Strawbridge & Clothier; Chartreuse bangle: Mixit, JCPenney; Maroon bangle: Iris Apfel for INC, Macy's; Striped bangle: Target; Brown ring: Charlotte Russe; Chartreuse ring: Claire's

Hair clips: Wild Fable, Target

Mystery Necklace Number One; Neon necklace: Carole, JCPenney

Jeans: Mudd, Kohl's; Boots: Betsey Johnson, Macy's

Bag: Betsey Johnson, Amazon; Yellow bangle: Silver Linings, Ocean City; Green and orange bangles: B Fabulous; Blue bracelet: Cloud Nine, Ocean City; Rings: Seahorse Designs, Etsy

Clip: SHEIN

Plenty of Pineapples Necklace, Mystery Necklace Number Two

Next to the scrunchie, no hair accessory had a grip on the late '80s and early '90s quite like the hair clip or claw.  Once confined to the realm of hair salons, these fantastic plastic pretties topped the heavily hairsprayed tresses of trendy teens the world over.  (Well, maybe not the world over.  It would be tough to rock such an obtrusive ornament under a ski cap in Antarctica.)  And in recent years, they've made a comeback, allowing us to look, once again, like we're on the verge of a totally awesome blowout.  It's no wonder that I've taken to wearing one or two or as many clips as I can cram onto my head at a time.  Of course, collecting them is half the fun, especially when it means storing them in an era-appropriate Caboodle.  

Last weekend, for my nephew's trampoline park birthday party, I happily hauled out my rainbow-striped clip from SHEIN:

And although I stayed out of trouble -- and off the trampolines! -- I got to enjoy some '80s atmosphere in the form of a Care Bears claw machine and a larger-than-life Rubik's Cube tower.  As did the husband, who gamely posed next to the Rubik's Cubes.

Because you can't go wrong with kitsch and color and claws.  

Those '80s ladies were on to something.

Toadstool Cool: Skirts and Sweaters

Sweater and skirt: So, Kohl's

Bag: Amazon

Coat: Nine West, Kohl's

Shoes: Nine West, Marshalls

Lipstick: A Little Magic, Sephora, Kohl's

Red bangle: B Fabulous; Love bangle: Boscov's; Black and white bracelet: Mixit, JCPenney; Flamingo necklace: Ella & Elly, Zulily; Headband: INC, Macy's; Ring: Miami accessories cart; Necklace: The Tote Trove

Sweater: Jessica Simpson, Amazon; Skirt: XOXO, Macy's; Shoes: Nine West, Amazon

Colonel Cutie Necklace

Bag: Dancing Days, Banned, Modcloth; Yellow bangle: B Fabulous; Zigzag bangle: Strawbridge & Clothier; Green bracelet: Parade of Shoes; Ring: Making Waves, Ocean City

Skirt: Wild Fable, Target; Leggings: French Connection UK for Sears; Boots: Penny Loves Kenny, Amazon

Bag: Olivia Miller: JCPenney; Blue ring: Mixit, JCPenney; Brown ring: Charlotte Russe

Sweater: Volcom, Macy's

These outfits are all about the timeless -- yet eclectic and unexpected! -- combo of skirts and sweaters.  Also, a bag that looks like a mushroom.  Believe it or not, I've been waiting a year to bust it out of the accessory forest that is my closet.  Not that I wasn't wooed by its woodland whimsy (in one of these pics, I appear to be clutching it with the dreaminess of Gollum and his precious).  But there are a lot of carryalls competing in that closet.  Sometimes when I walk in, I imagine them chirping, "Choose me!  Choose me!  My dress is the prettiest!" like the mannequins in the Beverly Hills Teens cartoon my sister and I watched constantly on VHS.  (Hey, I had to balance out that Lord of the Rings reference with one from a show I actually like.)  Yet no matter how many bags I hoard, there's only one that makes me feel like Smurfette while also expressing my love for those mushroom cannisters that everyone and their mom (mine included) had back in the '70s.

So, as I always say about pizza, make mine mushroom.  It's the fungus that we want among us.

Unlike those maniac mannequins.

Fall From Space: Celestial Reasonings

Dress: So, Kohl's

Boots: Penny Loves Kenny, Amazon

Top: So, Kohl's

Bag: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Bangles: B Fabulous; Ring: Mixit, JCPenney

Fabulous Felt Autumn Elegance Barrette

Dress: Jessica Simpson, Amazon

Choker and barrettes: Kohl's

Ring: Mixit, JCPenney; Bag: Privileged, Zulily; Boots: Penny Loves Kenny, Amazon; Tights: HUE, Amazon

Skirt: Rewind, Kohl's

Bag: Mellow World, Kohl's; Ring: Charlotte Russe; Red and yellow bangles: B Fabulous; Zigzag bangle: Strawbridge & Clothier; Green bangle: Burlington Coat Factory

Shoes: Chase & Chloe, Zulily; Tights: HUE, Zulily

Top: LC Lauren Conard, Kohl's

Now that we're into November, it's finally starting to feel like fall.  And not just because it's cooler and leaves are actually falling from the trees.  But because Halloween is behind us, with Thanksgiving just around the corner.  So, wearing gold and boots and leaf-themed things feels less like a bit and more like real life.  I even busted out last year's Thanksgiving dress and made a new leaf barrette complete with a crescent moon.  And you know what?  It turns out that autumn, although not my usual cup of tea, is very colorful.  And also very nice.  

 

Harvest Moon Barrette Brooch

So, welcome fall!  I'm finally happy that you're here.

I'll miss you come December when I'm dragged, kicking and screaming, into Christmas.

A Big Bench and Some Not So Little House on the Prairie Dresses

Top: Self Esteem, Macy's; Skirt: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Shoes: Impo, DSW

Bag: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Ring: Making Waves, Ocean City; Barrettes: Goody, Target; Necklace: The Tote Trove; Sunglasses: Wild Fable, Target; Embellished bangle: Now-defunct mall boutique, Blue bangle: So, Kohl's; Yellow and red bangles: B Fabulous; Pink bangle: Say What, Zulily

Socks (because everything else gets billing below!): St. John's Bay, JCPenney

Skirt: Modcloth

Top: Derek Heart, Macy's (now with blue and green tissue paper!)

Boots: JustFab; Bag: Nine West, Ross; Purple Potpourri Necklace; Belt: Belt is Cool, Amazon; Sunglasses: Target; Arm warmers: Gifted; Purple flower barrette: Claire's; Rings: Express; Blue flower barrette: Gifted

Dress: POPSUGAR, Kohl's

Bag: Apt. 9, Kohl's; Bangles: B Fabulous; Maple Mix Barrette Brooch; Saguaro Central Necklace; Belt: Belt is Cool, Amazon; Ring: Charlotte Russe

Top: Jessica Simpson Collection, Belk

Shoes: Jessica Simpson Collection, DSW

Boots: Apt. 9, Kohl's

Zigzag bangle: Strawbridge & Clothier, Mint bangle: Decree, JCPenney; Floral bangle: JCPenney; Yellow bangle: Silver Linings, Ocean City; Red bangle: XOXO, Ross; Rings: Mixit, JCPenney; Bag: Delia's

Dress: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Llama Mama Necklace, Other necklaces: The Tote Trove; Belt: Belt is Cool, Amazon

Bag: Dolls Kill

Belts: Belt is Cool, Amazon; Yellow bangles: B Fabulous; Fuchsia bangle: Mixit, JCPenney; Blue ring: Delia's

Fabulous Felt Cactus Barrette, Fabulous Felt Sweet Strawberries Barrette

Dress: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

As you can see, I've finally, (insert groan-slash-drum-cymbal-sound), fallen for fall.  I started out in sandals and ended up in boots.  Just yesterday, I was getting dressed to go out to buy beads when I realized that the purple LC Lauren Conrad dress I'd planned to wear (and that'd been waiting in my closet all summer) would be little comfort against the cool air.  No matter; I just layered my trusty black and white pin dot turtleneck underneath it!  It too is from Kohl's, and I've had it for fifteen years.  I distinctly remember buying it along with two pairs of l.e.i. jeans (who else had those?), one red, one royal blue.  The jeans are long gone, but the turtleneck remains a true blue outfit saver.  

Anyway, autumn often means prairie skirts and dresses, and I had fun making the most of both.  It was also good to finally bust out two unworn Jessica Simpson pieces, namely a top I ordered from Belk's and shoes I got free from DSW.  Well, they were free in the sense that I used my Rakuten rewards to buy them.  Which isn't really free, since I had to spend to get the rewards in the first place.  Still, it was nice to slip on the patchwork-print peau de soie pumps with my green POPSUGAR dress knowing that they were a "gift" I got for shopping. 

And now that I've babbled on about my wardrobe ad nauseum, it's time to explain what I'm sitting on.  It's a bench -- complete with sliding doors for storage -- that the husband made for a customer!  He's since moved it from our office to its new home, and the customer was so impressed that she thought the husband bought it.  I was a little affronted by that and said I should've taken video of him slaving away at it so we could send it to her.  But the husband felt no need to provide such proof.  A calm soul through and through, he just took the compliment.    

I'm sure Pa Ingalls would've done the same.