WIW: To Go Christmas Tree Shopping in 80 Degree Weather

Not that I'm bitter or anything. I actually don't have space for a Christmas tree, so instead I buy a garland (made out of real fir) to go above my patio doors and hang my ornaments from. The garlands are only available from some of the local nurseries, and my mom wanted to buy a tree, so we went together in my dad's old, non air conditioned pick up truck. It being December, the lack of a/c shouldn't have been a problem, but it hit 85 F/29 C on Tuesday. :O I had checked the forecast, so I knew I needed to wear lightweight layers.

I was also trying to participate in the photo challenge, so had to come up with something based on the Alanis Morissette cover. I don't have any abstract prints, or even any of the colours except for 1 purple blouse, so I decided to use that blouse and then aim for a dark/moody colour palette and flowy clothes. The blouse is very lightweight, airy silk, and I added my only patterned trousers: stretch cotton blue ones that I just thrifted a few weeks ago. I loved them for their blue willow-esque pattern, their higher rise, and how well they fit my waist and hips. But these photos were taken at the end of the day, and they definitely grew a little, making the legs too wide and the whole trousers slouch a bit. It's not too bad from the front but that side view is a bit unfortunate. lol Clearly I need to figure out how to take in legs a bit or find a tailor; until then I'll be sure to wear a more fitted top with these and different shoes. I finished things off with this moody grey cardigan, also silk; I wear cardigans despite the heat so that my arms have some protection; I find that as long as I let them stay mainly open I still get enough of a breeze to stay fairly cool. My ideal cardigan is a crewneck, especially if I'm going to button the top button, but I'd been searching for a silk grey cardigan for ages and didn't want to leave this one behind just because of the neckline. Usually I wear it open, but the purple blouse was a trifle long for these trousers (I think when I'm wearing a top this long I need very fitted bottoms to balance it), so I thought adding an a-line shape with the cardigan would help things out a bit. It was too hot to wear 90s lace up boots so I wore clunky flats instead, because Doc Martens have pretty clunky soles!

I don't have anything approaching Alanis Morissette's awesome wavy hair, so I added dangly earrings instead. But they were tricky to see through my hair, so I pulled it up into a ponytail. This is the first time my hair's been long enough to do that since 2011, so I enjoyed it for the novelty factor! I also added a baroque feeling ring but forgot to take a pic, and at that point I was so exhausted I didn't want to think any more.

I had serious problems putting this outfit together, just like Monday, I think because the photo is so far from what I would consider my usual inspiration. Trying to participate in this challenge has made me realise how intuitive my usual dressing is, as it's taking me about 5 times longer to figure out outfits when I have an external factor. I ended up taking yesterday off from the challenge, because I was so sick of consciously *thinking* about everything and struggling with different combos, lol. I know in my outfit posts I make my process sound very analytical, but that's in retrospect; when I'm pulling clothes out in the morning it's much more by feel. Anyway, I don't think this outfit is one of my best, although I suspect it looked better in real life than the photos (flowy things are tricky to capture on camera), but it kept me cool-ish and let me wrestle with Christmas trees and garlands!

All comments and suggestions welcome. Apologies for the whiny narrative, hehe.

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12 years ago

MuseumGal

Veteran

Oh please, I wish my "misses" looked this good. The trousers are really cute and the colors are wonderful. The side view does emphasize your long torso, but I don't see that as a minus at all. Of course you had me at "long dangly earrings," not to mention purple blouse and blue print trousers.

You're so sweet MG! I don't mind the torso emphasis, but what about the trouser fit? Do the wider but still tapered/short legs in the side view look sloppy? I'm fairly laid back about conventional figure flattery stuff, but I want to make sure I don't cross the line into 'she doesn't know how clothes should fit.' (I should have spelled out my concerns in my original post!)

I think I was just so frustrated by the end of putting the outfit together I ended up with slightly irrational negative feelings towards it. I thought of you with the earrings! This is the first time I've worn long earrings in ages; when I had a pixie I preferred my little studs and with a shorter bobs earrings were invisible.

They are oversized, for sure, but I don't think they venture into "Tell that woman to pull her pants up," territory. Oversized just suits your whole aesthetic so well, plus you are very small, so you don't run the risk of looking sloppy as easily as someone larger would.

(This is something I'm actually rather hyper-aware of - boho/earth mama versus fat slob is something I have to be careful about. I'm not putting myself down, it's just a reality for larger people, both male and female.)

Prairiegirl

Member

Hi there, I am a new member and your forum post is my first Reply! I find it fascinating to read about how others go through their process of assembling an outfit, so I thought your post was interesting, not a "whiny narrative" at all. I look forward to being able to view pictures as an Active member. But what I really enjoyed about your post was the thought of dressing for 80-degree weather again, as it's currently 0 degrees where I live!

Anonymous

I really love the blue tone of your trousers with the plum/purple top. And I'm liking the proportions too. I find the fit of your trousers very agreeable to my eye Not to baggy, just right.

MG, I know exactly what you mean; thin privilege is very real. :/ All of your outfits have been boho but still tidy/trim!

Prairiegirl, welcome to the forum! (& I went to college in the middle of the praire.) I will happily take 0 degrees over 80; I'm a cold weather girl at heart. It got cooler here today though (44) so I'm happy again & my Christmas garland feels seasonally appropriate.

Diane, thanks for weighing in! As a sewist, I imagine you're a stickler for fit, so I find your comment very reassuring.

Alassë

I find it intriguing that your easily explained outfit creation process is really so intuitive that you get "thinking fatigue" trying to put it together backwards. Now you know something neat about yourself! You really do have such a fluid, integrated process of coming up with a unified whole.

I suspect my overthinking approach to wardrobe management/which clothes I buy is what makes it so easy to be intuitive in the mornings! I was surprised at how much I didn't like having to struggle/try different things/push myself, lol. So you're right: I definitely learned something from this challenge; today was really fun, but that's because I finally had an easily applicable item so I just had to build around that.

Meaning how you limit yourself to certain necklines/silhouettes/colors, right? If so, I definitely do the same thing and like it.

Yep re: the limitations! And sometimes I try new things in the fitting room, because it's far easier to be adventurous there. But I almost never actually bring anything home that doesn't fit my criteria.

rae

(website)

Heh, I sympathize about the weather. I love the colors you used here, though, very soft and elegant.

Aida

E I have a feeling that we put our outfits together similarly; it sounds analytical when we explain in retrospect, but it's by feel and mood at the time for sure. For the challenges when a particular day doesn't hit my buttons, I usually try to shoot for a feeling or even just focus on an element that I am drawn to. You might end up with something that's not as immediately tied to the inspiration but hey those are just as fun. Like the Pink Floyd cover, I just dislike wearing all black so much that that wasn't even an option for me; so I had to look at something else that was attractive in the cover (in my case the concept of "light"). I do agree that those external sources make the outfit process longer though; I also spend a good 3-5x longer on these types of outfits than usual! FWIW I think this is a fab E version of the JLP cover, with beautiful soft moody colors

Re the pants, I don't think the oversized bit is a problem at all. I DO think that they could be cuffed up just a bit higher or more tapered at the hems but I am a little bit more sticky about pant lengths than you are hehe. For these types of pants that break those rules, I would be inclined to have the rest of the outfit looking either trendier or very classic to make them look as purposeful as possible. A daintier shoe would make a big difference in this outfit, imo.

PS: I simply cannot imagine looking for an xmas tree when it's 85F though. That melts my brain a little

Jaime

Although your outfit process is very different than mine, I do enjoy reading about it and looking at your lovely outfits!

Alexandra

Another lovely outfit and I envy you the weather! Your hair looks very pretty like this and really lets your face take center stage. I love it. And also the dangly earrings.

Neel

You look so cute with your hair tied up! Love the pants too! And your thinking process tires ME out. Lol! No wonder you were tired too :D. Yesterday was the first time I couldn't sleep because I couldn't come up with a better combo for my blue festive skirt! Wth!??? So I know what you mean!

Lisa

That's a really fun print on the trousers. 80 for Christmas trees, oh my! And here I was grumbling about our oddball 60F day today.

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