Tempting Wares: Running Gear

I love running. And my inner fashionista spills over into that passion also. Although, I need to think about function and not just fun colors or the latest gear.

I need a pair of sunglasses made for activities such as running. My normal, cheap sunglasses tend to slide down my nose so I have been going without. I have 4 more pounds to go until I reach my sunglass reward but I have decided on the ones I want. Meet the Oakley LBD (yes, little black dress). Fashion meets function.

And meet my future sunglasses:

And in that color too. This is the shape of my Chanel sunglasses so I know they will look good.

Of course I also found a cute tank top on Oakley.

Meet the Extrovert Tank. I love pink and orange for running. I have several items in those colors (tank, t-shirts, pants, sport bras). I just love the double straps and piping.

Lastly, I really need some running shorts that aren’t past the knee or just past the butt. Because I have a big butt and somewhat big thighs short running shorts ride up and chafe (TMI?). I wore them once and said never again. I still wear them for P90X but sadly they do not work for running.

That being said, I like compression shorts for running. It is hard to find the in-between length at stores (like Target as I love the C9 line there). I did some digging and found a couple of pairs. They are just plain but I need something shorter than over the knee for the hot summer days!

My first choice would be the Nike Tech 8″ Shorts, mostly because I love Nike’s products. I own a lot of Nike. The problem is these shorts are $54 + $8 shipping.

Then on Zappos I found a pair of Under Armour 7″ Compression Shorts. They are only $27.99 and ship for free. Now that is a deal I can get behind. I have never worn anything from Under Armour but I have heard good things about them. This may be too good of a deal to pass up.

I am not too picky about the actual length. I would think anything 5.5-6″+ would work. The 2-3″ are just too short for me. I love them but they do not love me back. :(

Tell Me: What are you currently craving for the summer? Do you collect cute active wear like I do? If so, what brand(s) do you like? Do you go for form, function, fashion or all three?

Feeling Rock N Roll

The other day I wore an outfit to work that made me feel very rock n roll.  I wanted to share it with you. Dear readers, I can take fantastic photos of scenery and other people but apparently I need to practice my self-portrait with a timer shots. These are the best I could do before giving up. Plus when taking outfit photos of myself I don’t know how to pose or smile! Put someone else behind the camera and I have no problems. I will work on this.

These pictures are so terrible. I don’t think editing can help much and it’s not worth it to watermark. LOL

 

Not going to lie, the last picture is my favorite.

I wish I had put my hair up because then you could have seen the top part of the shirt better. The ribbon that ties in the back sits apart from the sleeve. I will hopefully get you a better picture of this top next time.

Top: Gap
Pants: Express
Shoes: Steve Madden

All pieces are at lest a year or more old.

Keep Or Trash

Better late then never, huh? As promised, my new column where you help me decide which piece of clothing to keep and what to donate. If you follow my other blog you know that I have lost weight (and am still attempting to lose more/get fit). This results in clothes not fitting right. Sometimes I need a second or third opinion.

Here is my first. Please ignore the wrinkles. I work it all day at work and took these at home after 9 hours working and an hour or so commuting!

This green shirt is from Banana Republic. I feel that it is no longer fitted enough through my natural waist. I also think the sleeve is a bit of an odd length and kind of baggy.

Tell Me: Keep or Trash

All trashed items will be donated to Goodwill.

Tempting Adoration: Faith

I have found a new character whose wardrobe I absolutely love and want to own. This season on Californication Hank has found a muse named Faith (played by Maggie Grace). She has the right amount of hippy and rock n roll that I hope to achieve.

Following are four outfits that she has worn so far this season.

First a nice summer casual look. Perfect for an all day music festival.

And I love the silver cuff which makes is worn with several outfits over the season.

Have a party to go to?

The fringe vest isn’t my favorite but she removed it and had a great black, flowy-ish tank underneath.

This white dress is from earlier in the season but again, a great summer piece. This could be worn to a casual office or just bumming around town on a Saturday.

And a close up:

And finally, something a little more rock n roll, leather pants included!

Love the side details (and there is my favorite cuff again)

Close up on front. A great color too. Silvery-blue

Leather pants!

I love the pants.

Tell Me: Do you like Faith’s style? Why or why not? What is your favorite piece pictured? Which tv character’s closet would you love to raid?

*Pictures all taken from the Californication Facebook page with the exception of the tank top/jean shorts picture which was found on IMDB.

Fashion and Style

I feel that I am pretty into fashion. I try to follow a few blogs, watch a some TV shows and read a few magazines. Since I have lost weight I am able to fit into more of my clothes and actually feel good. I have been working to put together real outfits, not just throwing on what (barely) fit.

I think how you feel about yourself is reflected in your overall look. I also think that even if you aren’t 100% if you put on something that makes you feel fabulous, you will become fabulous. I used to be the rebel and say it shouldn’t matter what you wear (I wore some crazy stuff) but as I’ve matured, it does matter. People will judge you. You may miss out on something great because you didn’t want to “conform” or “fit in” or be judged. If you want something, like a job, you need to dress the part. That doesn’t mean you have to wear what everyone else though. You need to find your own voice that fits the situation. This is an ongoing process. You will always be evolving in your style.

If you aren’t happy with your body then you need to make steps to change it. Or you can just accept it. I wasn’t ready to accept moving to the next pant size and decided to lose weight. I am much happier now. I have a way to go until my ultimate goal but I am happy and confident in myself again.

Now I am having the opposite problem… my clothes are becoming too big! One of my favorite fashion shows is What Not to Wear. It was recently been announced that this is the last year. *insert sad face here* Since I was never able to be on What Not to Wear, I have decided to do my own What Not to Wear makeover. I am not going to do it just yet but I have started tossing (donating really) items as I discover they no longer fit. I am also going to get rid of anything with a hole (that wasn’t intentional). It will be a slow process but at the end I will award myself with a shopping trip to some favorite stores, and some new places, and rebuild my wardrobe. Oh, and I haven’t determined my budget but it will not be $5,000. I just don’t have that kind of money (but am willing to take donations! LOL, jk).

In the mean time I am really trying to focus on my style. I am drawn to rock n roll/punk, hippy and vintage feeling pieces. Yes, rock n roll/punk and hippy. I have wide-ranging tastes in music as well as clothes. Some people/characters whose looks I love include: Nancy Botwin (Weeds), Faith (Maggie Grace’s character on Californication – she does the rock n roll/hippy look perfectly), Nicole Richie and Kate Hudson. I need to start pinning some of these looks. I also plan to start-up my fashion blog. I have started taking some crappy instagram pictures (my instagram is: hipchecks) of some outfits.

When I finally do my mini What Not to Wear I will make sure to get my hair done and start wearing make-up again. I have started pinning hair styles and make up looks. I also need to start wearing all the fun accessories I have. I used to wear more but now I am down to my basic ring and earrings.

I typically shop at Old Navy (but am resigning to spend no more money there because their clothes have become so cheap and fall apart after a wash), Gap, Banana, American Eagle, Kohls and Express. I like Urban Outfitters (but the quality there sometimes is lacking), Anthro, Mod Cloth and H&M.

Tell Me: If you could be on What Not to Wear, would you? Why or why not? Where do you like to shop, favorite stores (either you can afford or would shop at if you could afford it)? What style do you like? Which celebs or characters best represent that style?

Cross Posted from my other blog.

Goodbye

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I think it is time for me to retire and delete this blog. When I started this blog two years ago I thought that I would post much more regularly. I thought I’d have outfit posts. I thought I’d be able to “meet” other fashion bloggers and form a connection.

Although I read several other fashion blogs, I never really became part of the community. I tried a few times to comment and interact with a few but it seemed like there was a small group who knew each other and it is hard to break into.

This blog never really got off the ground. I never got good at self-portraits. I have a point & shoot, not a dslr. I don’t have a tri-pod or remote. I don’t have someone who can take the pictures for me.

My style has devolved. I feel like I only get dressed because I have to. I no longer feel I can devote time and energy to a blog about fashion and style because I do not feel the same love for fashion as I used to.

And so for all these reasons I am ending this blog. I plan to still write every now and then on my other blog and who knows… maybe I will post some fashion/style things on there.

Leopard, Silver and Studs. Oh my!

I didn’t get good pictures but I just had to share my favorite outfit from this week. I took these with my cell phone in my office at work so they aren’t the best. Someday I hope to get my t3i dsl plus a tripod in order to take real outfit pictures. :)

I threw this outfit together because 1) I wanted to wear my favorite booties and 2) I had either these cropped pants or a couple of skirts in my closet (everything else is in a pile on the guest room bed waiting to be folded & put away).

Let’s see if I can remember where everything is from…

Cardigan: Kohl’s
Top: I think this is from Kohl’s. I believe it is the “Elle” brand from a few years ago
Pants: Gap. I love the slight pinstripe. And even though I have short legs, I love the crop to show off the shoes!
Shoes: Ash – ordered from Last Call

The shoes are a tad too large but they were out of 7.5 and I had to have them. I put in a heel gripper and it seems to have helped. I could not pass on these shoes for under $100.

I didn’t wear anything but my everyday ring & earrings. I think the outfit spoke well on its own.

Hippy Saturday

Today I was feeling very hippy-esq so I went with it. Turns out American Eagle supplies me with most of my hippy clothes. Everything but my shoes in this outfit comes from American Eagle, shorts, top and both bracelets. I really need to work on finding new places to shop…

This is what I wore to meet friends for our Saturday morning coffee. Relaxed, casual and perfect for a Saturday morning here. And yes, I am wearing a tank top. And no, I was not cold. ;)

Where it’s from…
Tank Top, Shorts & Bracelets: American Eagle
Earrings: Charming Charlie
Shoes: The Gap

Since I wore my hair up I went with long earrings. I also tried out my Urban Decay Naked 2 palette  It’s not bad. I forgot my eye primer and you definitely need it with Urban Decay.

Do you ever get in the mood to dress head to toe in a “style”? If so, what was your inspiration? That is all I got… I don’t have much to say.

Work Day Look

Earlier this week I wanted to wear my black sequin skirt because when is there ever an occasion to wear it? I thought, “why not wear it to work?” So I designed an outfit around it, making my other pieces more casual so it’s not screaming, “SEQUINS!”

Oh, and don’t mind the crappy pictures. I got home and found out my camera battery was completely dead, like would not even turn on. I didn’t want to wait for the battery to charge so I just used my phone. Bear with me. :)

Let’s see where I got everything from…
Necklace: American Eagle
Bracelet: I think Kohl’s?
Tshirt: The Gap
Skirt: Kohl’s
Shoes: Target

I love clearance. I think everything I am wearing was on clearance when I bought it. I thought the tshirt and oxford shoes would definitely help dress down the skirt. I hadn’t yet worn the necklace so I thought it would work well with the tshirt. And that bracelet is one of my favorites. It gets worn allllll the time.

What do you think? How would you style a black sequin skirt for work?

Funny thing, I wore black sequin heels the next day. haha

The End of an Era

Last Sunday marked the last episode of Weeds. With the show over, there will be no more Nancy Botwin outfits to share.  After 8 seasons we have to say goodbye to Nancy and her evolving wardrobe of low-cut tops and short skirts. No more sexy dresses. No more Nancy.

Here are a few departing shots from the last episode (as always, found on the Weeds Facebook page).

First a few pics from Episode 11*:

And here are the outfit shots from episode 12*:

Which one is your favorite? I am partial to the deep plunge dress in navy with the red shoes. Sexy and great color combination.

I will need to find a new female tv character to obsess over. Any suggestions?

 

*All photos from the Weeds facebook page