Galaxy Graveyard: Good Bones

Top: Allegra K, Amazon; Tights: Michaels

Creepy Crescent Necklace

Smithville

Top belt: Amazon; Bottom belt: Wild Fable, Target

Smithville

Barrettes: Leopard: Burlington Coat Factory; Rhinestones: INC, Macy's

Skeleton: Target

Bag: Betsey Johnson, Macy's

Tabletop décor: Michaels

Here they are, my poet blouse and moon belts, the perfect storm of celestial style and '90s nostalgia.  Also, my newly made Creepy Crescent Necklace.  It's a look that I like to think of as ninety percent The Nanny and ten percent The Craft.  You know, if The Craft was a cartoon.

That said, no Halloween scene is complete without skeletons.  Some of the ones you see here are mine, some are at Smithville.  We took Char Bar there for the first time this past weekend.  The husband half-carried, half-held her in one of those harnesses because he was afraid that the stroller would roll over too many rocks and disturb her.  At first, her eyes were glued to the decorations and people.  Then she fell asleep.  Still, it was an A+ autumn outing.  

Absolutely no bones about it.

City Pretty: In Good Company

Skirt: H&M

Green and yellow bangles: B Fabulous; Red bangle: XOXO, Ross; Blue bangle, So, Kohl's; Pink bangle: Silver Linings, Ocean City; Ring: Wet Seal

Top: Self Esteem, Macy's

Saguaro Stripe Barrette Brooch

Top: New York & Company

Skirt: Amazon

Bow: Carole, JCPenney; Blue bracelet: Cloud Nine, Ocean City; Maroon bangle: Iris Apfel for INC, Macy's; Red bangle: B Fabulous; Yellow ring: Making Waves, Ocean City; Red ring: Nordstrom; Brown ring: Charlotte Russe; Belt: Hand-me-down from my mom

Top: New York & Company

Skirt: Material Girl, Macy's

Checkerboard Cherry Barrette Brooch

Shoes: 2 Lips Too, JCPenney

Bag: Current Mood, Dolls Kill

 

Top: New York & Company

When the husband took this first pic of me, he said that I looked like The Nanny on an acid trip.  And even though I don't condone drug use, I couldn't help but laugh.  Because the striped cravat blouse, rainbow cactus brooch, and poufy hair did indeed remind me of the Flashy Girl from Flushing if she were under the influence.  Which makes sense because all three blouses in this lineup are from (to me, anyway) Queens-themed New York & Company.

It wasn't until last spring that I started shopping there in earnest.  I couldn't believe that I hadn't started sooner.  They have so many affordable, brightly colored, polyester tops -- my favorite kind!  Best of all, my new shirts inspired me to make some new barrette brooches.  The Saguaro Stripe one started out as Striped Swallow but never quite took flight: 

The southwestern style worked better, I think.  I love the idea of a black cactus against a rainbow, a kind of stylized version of what the desert might look like at sunset.  

Then there's Checkerboard Cherry, which is pure '80s.

And here they all are together, the for-sale ones and the just-for-me doppelgangers, in -- what else? -- checkerboard formation: 

It's all a little magically messy and messily magical.  In other words, as perfectly imperfect as Topher Grace riding off into the sunset with Scarlett Johansson.

Which means that I'm, ahem, in good company.

All About Clothes

A peek into my wardrobe. Frighteningly enough, this isn't all of it . . .

Every now and then I stumble upon someone who pushes the fashion envelope even further than I do, making my little Technicolor heart swell with pride. Katie of the blog "What Katie Wore" is one such fearless fashionista. During 2009, she wore a different (and may I add inspiring) outfit every day. Her boyfriend took the pictures and wrote the blog (what would we girls do without our bfs?). For the past week he's been posting pictures of their readers in - what else? - their favorite outfits. I'm honored to report that I was included, decked out in my Tote Trove finest. Check it out here (the pictures are in alphabetical order according to name):

http://www.whatkatiewore.com/2010/01/16/what-you-wore-the-sixth-installment/comment-page-1/#comment-7389

Looking at Katie's and the readers' outfits got me thinking about all the fictional characters who've rocked fierce fashion in recent years. Here are a few (in no particular order) who would shine on a blog like Katie's:

Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City
Fran Fine, The Nanny
Betty Saurez, Ugly Betty
Elle Woods, Legally Blonde
Rebecca Bloomwood, Confessions of a Shopaholic
Romy & Michelle (Who cares about their last names?), Romy and Michele's High School Reunion