Rival Goes West: Shape Shifter Drifter

Sweater: Nine West, Kohl's

Long necklaces: So, Kohl's; Belt: Belt is Cool, Amazon

Skirt: So, Kohl's

Skirt: Wild Fable, Target

Bag: Apt. 9, Kohl's

Shape Escape Necklace

Sweater: Nine West, Kohl's

Clockwise: B Fabulous; So, Kohl's; Mixit, JCPenney; Mixit, JCPeneny; Cloud Nine, Ocean City; Delia's

Sweater: Nine West, Kohl's

Clips: Wild Fable, Target

Jeans: L'Amour by Nanette Lepore for JCPenney

Shoes: Betsey Johnson, Macy's

Top to bottom: Amrita Singh, Zulily; Mixit, JCPenney

Luv Betsey, Bocov's

This Shape Escape Necklace is the anchor of the unlikely elements of this post, namely Nine West, citrus, and Fievel.  For one thing, the necklace is teamed with one of three Nine West sweaters.  For another, it appears with a bowl of oranges.  As for the Fievel bit, you'll just have to wait.

First, Nine West.  I've long been an admirer of the beloved brand, picking up pieces over the years in places like Marshalls, ROSS, and Burlington Coat Factory, and sometimes, if on sale, Macy's.  I still remember this Nine West purple suede pouch purse that I got from Macy's back in high school.  I wish I still had it, along with my shiny purple bow purse from Delia's and my sometimes-lilac-sometimes-lavender Coolwear blouse from Macy's that changed in the light.  (Obvi, the takeaway here is that I need to keep a tighter grip on my Grimace gear.)  But back to our Nine West quest.  I was delighted when, a couple of years ago, the brand landed at Kohl's.  I stocked up on tops, skirts, shoes, and even a bag, many of which you've seen.  And along the way, I began wondering about the significance of the Nine West name.  I was pretty sure that it was a place, perhaps even a magical one.  Phoebe Buffay once said that about White Plains, NY, the birthplace of her and Rachel's new apothecary table.  So I turned to that old guru Google and found out that Nine West is the address, namely 9 West 57th St., New York, New York, where the fashion label got its start.  And I was as disappointed as Phoebe when she found out that her supposedly one-of-a-kind flea market table had been mass-produced by Pottery Barn.  Still, deep down I think I already knew that NYC was involved, even if I did insist, for some dubious reason, on believing that the West meant Wyoming or Utah. 

Now, about those oranges. This isn't my first foray into the orange orchard, although it is the first time I used fresh produce as props.  The husband's mom very generously sent us a huge crate of oranges and grapefruits for Christmas, making this staging possible.  Also, it helped ward off scurvy.

And that brings us to Fievel, that feisty cartoon mouse who, much like the American settlers, fought his way through adversity to enjoy the promised land of the West in the early '90s.  (The mouse arrived in the early '90s.  The setters made it here long before that unless you're counting the cast of Friends).  Which just goes to show that things can change when you least expect them to -- or when you most expect them to, in the case of the Nine West thing.  But wherever you roam, whether it be White Plains, Wyoming, or somewhere out there that exists only in your mind, I hope that you always feel like you're home.

And that you never have to compete with a rodent.  Or, worse yet, kill a rodent you love.