Lately it seems I am wearing all of the colours or none - no middle ground for me! This was Thursday's outfit. Posts are a little sparser due to work overload / long days / commission deadline / full plate, but everything is all right. It's just that pesty time business! Aargh!
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| shirt: Levi's, local discount / overstock store, $4 concho belt: Gabii, TX skirt: Kische, Beyond the Rack shoes: Fluevog Mini Gorgeous, worn here |
I wouldn't usually look twice at anything (non-anatomically) heart-shaped, for fear of suddenly POOF! becoming a Precious Moments figurine inside a Thomas Kinkade painting photographed by Anne Geddes with naught to eat but Marshmallow Peeps and no music except Sharon, Lois & Bram and I would just ... I don't know, barf and die. It's a hard job holding back that avalanche of smarmy sweetness every minute because, people, I am always on the brink.
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| lint: everywhere, man |
Somehow, these hearts don't give me the creeps: I love that this belt looks to have been embossed with a leather-tooling punch, and the weight of the thing and the larger buckle-heart just slay me. It's my favourite! Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against other people loading themselves up with hearts and pink (another avalanche-rumbler for me) and looking completely awesome. Those things viscerally dramatically simply fall towards the outer edges of "not-me" style for me.
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| scarf: local discount / overstock store trench coat: Bebe, Haute Look, worn here I talk about my Beyond the Rack, Haute Look, and My Habit shopping experiences here |
Further to totally cool heart-shaped stuff, just the other day, Wendy Brandes wrote about her Diana heart jewelry. If I weren't deep into a replacement-vehicle-odyssey, let me tell you I would be having a little feeling I fondly refer to as the "Aw, DAMMIT"
Do you know that feeling?
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| scarf: local discount / overstock store total dog's breakfast of a belting job: DIY |
Here are some bloggers wearing hearts that I love: Melanie (with pink!), Audrey, Sally, Megan, and Lilli. EDITED TO ADD: Sara and Bella too! Here are a bunch more, fabulous in pink: Catherine, Ally, Sheila, Audrey, Lynne, and another Amber (who rocks her heart-topped Vivienne Westwood Lady Dragons hard).
I can just feel my dark and linty heart mellowing, y'all.
I hear 'ya about the hearts and pink, but I have fallen off the band wagon, as you have broadcasted to the world - um, as I have broadcasted. Thanks for the shout-out on this lovely post! And the other bloggers too, all wonderful.
ReplyDeleteYou are a dream in this smarmy treacly wicked black number. Your hearts are not sweet, they are throbbing, much better! I love your look, with the coat too. I often do the all-or-none thing. We love work because it makes it possible for us to have treats like blogging. Hang in there.
Ah, Melanie, you do my treacly throbber a world of good!
DeleteYour heart belt is lovely! In the 80's I wore so many heart shaped things that I've had enough for the rest of my life! That includes hearts on fabric pattern, on jewellery and in the shape of a bag. Others may look great in it, but it's not for me anymore.
ReplyDeleteSeeing you and Melanie with you belt and bag makes me smile - some people just have the imagination to wear hearts in a really cool way - so much more creatively than me! I love it!
The Fluevog shoes are amazing!
Interesting that you're a heart-convert in the opposite direction, feeling finished with them!
DeleteThanks for your kind words, but do consider not comparing / diminishing your own substantial creativity - it's something I particularly admire about you!
Thank you so much Amber, you're very sweet!
DeleteAmber, your paragraph starting with Precious Moments cracked me the f#&* up! I'm the same way about hearts and pink, but the very first thing my eye was drawn to was your belt, and my first (visceral) reaction was "COOL belt!!" (I have one of Wendy's Diana silver necklaces, and it's the only heart I've ever felt right wearing.) I also love the layering on the back of the coat; it'a an unexpected and also very cool detail.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan! The degree of over-dramatic fear and loathing in my reaction is hilarious to me as well. Yes, WendyB's Diana hearts are just out of this world - so interesting that you you have a similar take!
DeleteAny piece of writing with "the dog's breakfast" in it has me at hello. That said, I love this black and flinty look, softened with your steely silver hearts. I'm all over WendyB's heart jewelry too, but I have a condo to buy and furnish, rats!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Patti! An evocative phrase for sure.
DeleteOn the budget - rats indeed!
Very cute. I love how the skirt flares. And the belt is special.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ally - it's a look I love.
DeleteAmber, I have the exact same heart phobia, but I love, love your belt. Plus, I'm going to style my black shirt dress in a similar fashion to yours next time I wear it. I have several metal belts saved from the 80s that my oldest tried to inherit early while she was in college, but that I reclaimed when she moved to NYC :P
ReplyDeleteThank you for the shoutout. My pink was so wrinkled looking (and I never wore pink until the last year or so). Taking outfit pics has given me the highest respect for professional stylists and the bloggers, like you, that always seem to get it right. Something is always askew, wrinkled, or not supposed to be showing in my pics.
Ha! I knew talking about this would bring other "heartless" folks out of the woodwork! Good one foiling the early-inheritance attempt too. :)
DeleteLynne, what I loved about that post (in addition to how gorgeous that fuschia colour is on you) was how it captured the fullness and celebration of your family's life in that moment - including the rumpled bits! I hear you on the outfit-photo-perfection-futility - you see my lint, and my unfortunate last photo, right? I'm generally a slightly messy person, and it is an enormous challenge to wrangle necklaces, scarves, tucking, unruly hems, and wrinkles, even with the sliver of mirror I have out in the barn for outfit photo purposes. I find it's a good opportunity to jettison my perfectionist tendencies and post the photos anyway!
you obviously know your so well, that these hearts don't skip a beat and just compliment your already wonderful outfit!! skirt is so very fabulous with that high waist! Just back from the desert to find fall well on its way here with the deck covered in leaves as we drug our suitcases in the back door last night - all desert cloths will be put away and scarves, boots and jackets will be drug out - sigh :))
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jeane, and welcome home! Good luck with the work of the wardrobe rotation, hope it reacquaints you with more "old friends."
DeleteI adore all the heart-language in these responses. :)
I too have been lovin' hearts lately- a few years ago I felt they were too sweet, now I can't get enough. Paired with black- perfect. Great outfit, Amber, and list o' loves!
ReplyDeleteAnother cool-heart-wearer! I edited to tuck a link to your fabulous shades in there. :)
DeleteThis post is just so much fun! I heart you. Sorry, I just had to say it!
ReplyDeleteConnie*
Perfect response, Connie - I heart you madly!
DeleteThose precious moments things freak me the hell out. So creepy. Have you seen the Precious Moments chapel http://www.preciousmoments.com/content.cfm/park_chapel. Creeepy.
ReplyDeleteLove the outfit and the jacket. The back of it is very interesting.
Thanks for the <3 love.
I AM FREAKED RIGHT OUT OMG ... what ... I don't even AAAAAAGH! Dude! You're my favourite.
DeleteI did stay long enough to look for a Precious Moments crucifixion, but somehow didn't find one.
Exponential heebie-jeebies!
I have the same feeling about "typical" hearts. When I did the Diana piece originally, it was because I decided to take on the challenge of creating a heart shape that didn't give me the creeps! Glad you like it!
ReplyDeleteIt absolutely worked, Wendy - incredibly successfully, and so cool to learn that was exactly your intention!
DeleteThat Connie, she's cheeky!
ReplyDeleteI had to click on all the links as I didn't know what Precious Moments are, or who Thomas Kinkade or Anne Geddes are. Marshmallows, I know. Don't like them though...
I am with you in my views of sugary cutsey sickliness. It hurts my teeth. And I am not much good with pink on me either, though it looks amazing on others. Sometimes I don't think I am good at being a girl. I don't do hearts, Hello Kitty, or long for a floofy wedding dress either.
Your belt, however, is the opposite of all the aforementioned sweetness. It looks rough and tough, a gunslinger's belt, meant for someone with a slightly battered, punch-drunk heart themselves.
You look fabulous as the Woman in Black, mysterious and chic and shadowy. Now stop dragging my heart around! xxxx
Oh, Curtise, sorry to put you through all that - hope you're able to shake off the sickly-sweet in a hurry! It may be helpful to break or throw something.
DeleteI don't think the problem is with your (and my) relative goodness-at-it at all, but with how our culture constructs the idea of being a girl, the messages about what being a girl is or means and the very specific and limited vision of that interpretation. I think our queasiness and side-eyes are very telling. It's not us, lovely, but we are sure made to feel that way!
And your heart-words are especially superior - thank you!
Thank you for the shout-out, Amber - that's one of my favourite pink-themed outfits in the past several months (and that's what I wore for my Best Passport Picture Ever!).
ReplyDeleteI love all this black - the hearts keep you from looking too Dread Pirate Roberts. Something about the toughness of the leather and the hammered design on the silver. Love.
I have two pairs of Fluevog Minis: a Mary Jane style and pair of boots. I'll be wearing both in October! Can't wait!
Thanks, Sheila! Your outfit was especially outstanding, and congrats on the passport glamour shot, which is near impossible anymore, impressive!
DeleteThough Dread Pirate Roberts is a great character, I am relieved to evoke rather than imitate, whew!
I look forward to your Minis!
I do like the occasional pink heart, but I am with you on the precious moments. Love this outfit and that belt is, WOW! I adore anything remotely western and this fits the bill. The rest of your outfit is wonderful too. The detail on the trench makes it perfect.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debbi! I share your love of Western elements.
DeleteI'd been looking for a trench coat with this shape for several years - had tried on a very, very similar Guess one at an outlet store which was just too tight in the shoulders. :( I wish this one was slightly higher quality, but I really enjoy it.
I know the feeling! Sweet looks can be so contagious, even "dark girls" gotta swoon sometimes. I think the the tough metal helps keep the sweet hearts in balance. I still have a pink/white/brown tank that I can't give up because it reminds me of neapolitan ice cream.
ReplyDeleteIt's busy times all around! Hope you're taking it as easy as you can. Remember to stop and do something relaxing for yourself each day, even if it's just a cuppa hot tea.
Darkly swooning over Neapolitan ice cream! :) Delicious! In the meantime, you are so right, a tea with fresh lemon and ginger is just the ticket. Thanks for the reminder, Megan Mae!
DeleteYou are totally rocking the head-to-toe black, with the metal hearts. As the weather gets cooler I automatically reach for the black section of my closet.
ReplyDeleteYour second paragraph was genius! I do admit to having a perverse attraction to marshmallow peeps, but it's strictly visual, not to eat.
Maybe it's the cooling-off in combination with the busy-busy which is siphoning off the colour, neat observation!
DeleteI know, Peeps are actually kind of fascinating!
Amber, I am so inspired to pull out all of my BLACK. I read a while ago that black was a NO-NO for blogging but the truth is, I wear it A LOT and LOVE IT!!!! I love your black threads.
ReplyDeleteIt is almost bedtime. Think I will wear black to bed. Wait. I don't have any black pajamas. :-)
A no-no for blogging, really? Huh! Makes me want to do it more, lol. The only challenge is capturing the details as a time-strapped, inconsistent-only-sometime-just-lucky photographer.
DeleteI am honoured to inspire, black-clothing-wearers unite and celebrate!
Thanks for the (double) mention, Amber! *curtsy* I love your all-black outfit and the silver heart belt is a most excellent contrast to the black. Haha, I was given a Precious Moments bible as a kid and I ended up drawing alll over those silly pictures inside.
ReplyDeleteI'd say we are drawn to similar aesthetics, Audrey! I'm a big fan of your style. I also can't think of other figures which would beg so desperately for defacement! Your genius started early, I see.
DeletePrecious moments eeewww. Although I am a sucker for Hello Kitty and some pink... and hearts, of course... I literally wear them on my sleeve :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for linking me up on your post!
xx
The way you're able to carry off pink and hearts and Hello Kitty (I recall your great earphones!) as super-interesting, edgy, and stylish is go great, Sara!
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