A. loves this shirt. She recently told me that should I ever wish to part with it, I should send it her direction. I bought it at the PCC swapmeet several years ago (actually I can't really remember how many years ago it was). It's got an awesome retro Mexican themed print, and cut and feel of the rayon fabric makes lots of people think it's vintage (including myself when I first encountered it), but they would be wrong - the label is modern. To go with my retro Southwest theme today, I chose an old copper cuff bracelet that belonged to my late grandmother. It's an Native American motif with thunderbirds on it. To tell the truth, I was less than enthusiastic about this piece when I inherited it almost a decade ago. I'm not a huge wearer of Native American jewelry, but this piece has grown on me, and of course it has sentimental value even if I can't actually ever remember seeing my grandmother wearing it.

R. gave me this dress.

This shirt used to be my mom's. The top button on it starts so low, that at first I though it was missing one. I had to use a surreptitiously placed safety pin to avoid unnecessary exposure. I've had this for years, but I probably haven't worn it since high school. It's wearing was well received by many today.

Happy Birthday Mr. K.!!!

It was a happy coincidence that I felt like dressing up today as it happened to be my dear friend (and regular reader of this blog) Mr. K.'s birthday. This dress is another McQ for Target creation. (I am now close to having worn everything I purchased from that particular collection). Two people today asked me if I made this, one of which was my mother. Does this mean that I am an awesome dressmaker or that Target produces some cheap looking crap?

When I first took patternmaking classes (several years ago now) I was so impressed with our lesson on flat patterning a cowl neck, that I went straight home and drafted this top. Being a beginner I just used a blouse block that I extended straight down from the natural waistline, rather than a shortened torso block. That's why this shirt has an odd inverted triangle shape and probably why I've only worn it once before today. I wish I could say I no longer make stupid pattern mistakes like this anymore, sadly this doesn't seem to be the case. Hands in pockets is clearly not the most advantageous way to show off these McQ for Target pants wouldn't you say?.

I had to go to a funeral mass today. Naturally, my first thought for a funeral is always head to toe black, but I thought that might look a bit over the top and given that I was not an intimate friend or family member of the deceased, I really didn't want to call attention to myself . I opted for grey and black instead. You have seen my top and and pants before so I'll introduce you to my scarf. It is from H&M and today it served a double purpose - keeping my top from being too low cut and, since I wasn't sure how traditional the church was going to be, an emergency head covering.

I NEVER wear high tops with shorts, but I was feeling extremely scruffy today and just wanted to be comfortable. The top is an old Hang Ten shirt from my great aunt. I have two hang ten tops like this and I love the way the shoulder seam is extended a bit at the front. This is actually me on Tuesday - I was feeling so scruffy I didn't bother changing.