Hi to all my Gal Pals,
I am sorry this blog is so late in getting to you. If you have ever had your hardwood floors refinished you will know the conditions that I am currently living in are not the best. Between furniture and decorations being shoved into any room possible, the dust everywhere, the smell of the polish making me sick and now the painting has started, I just couldn’t get to my blog. Since the dust is about 1 foot into every kitchen cabinet, I decided to pack up most of the things that I don’t use so I have less to pack up when I move. On the plus side, it really forces you to do spring cleaning to the extreme which is great when your trying to sell a house.
Before we talk about today’s fashion concept which I love, let me tell you about a fashion trend that is happening this year that I really dislike. Maybe it is because of my age or my size but I just can’t see myself in puffy sleeves. PUFFY SLEEVES! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! The only part of my body body that isn’t puffy is my shoulders. Why not just bring back shoulder pads?! On the up side, if I were to wear puffy sleeves I could be a stand in for the Pillsbury Dough Boy. As long as I am in a complaining mood (maybe the smell of the house is getting to me) let’s talk about another fashion trend that was not meant for a woman of my age. Can you believe that bike pants are trending as everyday wear! They now come with beautiful patterns but they are still bike pants. Just what I need to bring focus to my thunder thighs. I don’t care how pretty the pattern, it would not be a pretty sight. Remember when we wore two piece leotards to exercise classes? The bottoms remind me of bike pants. That is another reason for me not to wear them. I don’t want to wear something that makes me feel guilty about not exercising enough. I am trying to get rid of the guilt in my life so I certainly do not want to carry it around with me in the form of spandex.
Now let’s talk about the fashion concept of today’s blog: wide leg pants. Here is my opinion about this current trend, if you think your legs are too skinny (I can’t relate!), too heavy (that’s me!) or just right, wide leg pants look great on most legs. We have to thank Coco Chanel for bringing this concept to the American women. She fashioned them after the pants worn by gondoliers in Venice and most of the wide leg fashion trends of the 50’s and 60’s were derived from Navy uniforms. In both of these cases the wide legs serve a more functional purpose for the men at sea but for women they are more of a fashion statement and worn by the likes of entertainers like Gwen Stefani. If I had a cute little body like Gwen’s I would wear my wide leg pants with a cropped top but I have an old body with a grandmama belly so that is out. This blog is all about hiding that belly without resorting to a body shaper. There is an advantage to wearing wide leg pants for women over 50 with weak bladders and that advantage is depicted in this quote (I love me a good quote!) “Sometimes I laugh so hard the tears run down my leg”. No one will see your tears with the looseness of the wide leg pants! Yeah! I love how the pants seem to flow behind me when I walk, hence the title of my blog.
You will notice in my pictures that I have flipped over the silhouettes from the last blog and now you get to see how I store some of my 16″ and 18″ necklaces. I have others in boxed sets on my dresser but the majority of the 110 shorter necklaces that I have are hanging up. As with my earrings, they are organized by either color, size or some common element. I also have 7 collar necklaces with 30 slides.
This leads me right into my garden picture. Nothing “flows” like the water from a water fall. I have a very small pond (approximately 700 gallons) with 6 fish and a lovely sounding waterfall at the corner of my flagstone patio. It is surrounded by garden decorations and chairs to deter the herons and egrets from eating my fish but the metal decorations also serve as the “jewelry” of the pond. You know how much I like jewelry.
You cannot see all the pond but you can see some of the decorations I have placed around it. You also can’t see the waterfall very well but if you look behind the tall plant between the two birds, the waterfall looks so natural coming out below the evergreen. If you look close, you can see the some of the decorations like the birds, the butterfly, the metal flowers and the turtle sundial. I like natural materials in the garden so most of my garden “jewelry” is made of metal. On one of the previous blogs you saw the lounge chair, that sits just to the right of the birds, where I sit and relax.
So let’s “flow” to the outfits I chose for this blog and with each picture of an outfit I also have a picture of the jewelry I wore. It is difficult to see the jewelry in the outfit pictures and I think it is important to show you how I decide what to wear to accentuate the outfit. My friend Andrea once told me that while I have nice clothes, it is the accessories I wear that really make the outfits stand out.
I was just at the cottage in Michigan and took a walk to the beach. Looking at the water inspired me to write about wide leg pants. I love the scene in a movie where the female lead walks on the beach, the light breeze blowing her hair and her clothes are billowing softly behind her as she moves. This outfit would be perfect for a scene like that because each piece is so light weight. The material of the pants is made of a silk/rayon blend and the white, sheath layered, sleeveless blouse and vest are straight polyester which means they are as light as air. Let me tell you the best part of all, the wide leg pants I am wearing throughout this blog have elastic waists. Yeah! I am not wearing shoes because I am picturing myself walking on the beach as the leading lady of my own movie. Of course when I walk on the beach I need my sunglasses ( I have 20 pairs so I can coordinate them with my outfits). Let’s talk accessories. I am wearing a peachy pink watch, pearl drop earrings, several black bangle bracelets and a beautiful necklace that I have described below.
This piece was made by a local Michigan artisan and bought in a little shop in Saugatuck, Michigan. It is made of beach glass, beads, faux pearls and pieces of wire. It looks great with the vest I wore in the previous picture.
Love this outfit! Again, you have that whole “flowing” thing going on. The pants are 100% cotton ribbed and the ribbing causes a ruffle-like hem. These pants really have wide legs even though you can’t really tell from my leg closest to the camera but you can get a better idea looking at my leg in the back. The toile type vest and the cream colored, double layered, sheath blouse with button-up sleeves are so light weight I am able to wear this in the spring and summer. I am wearing this outfit with a great pair of earrings, watch and ring that I will describe below. I am also wearing a long, black beaded necklace and the same bangle bracelets I wore in the previous picture. The flowers on the sandals are like wearing more accessories.
The earrings and watch have teeny tiny crystals in them and the ring has a teeny weeny diamond. I love how the earrings are similar but not the same. The lighting of the camera makes the crystals in the watch look like they have a bluish tinge but they are clear crystals. These accessories go so well with the toile vest. Not a great picture of the earrings because the one on the right is flipped over but you get the picture (no pun intended).
This is not so much a beach outfit but more of a seaside restaurant outfit. I love the draping on the front of this top. You probably can’t see it but each stripe is edged with gold metallic threading so I am wearing a gold metallic tank top underneath. The pants are a linen/polyester blend and the straps of the sandals match the white stripes of the top. All the jewelry except for the gold watch are described below.
The necklace is gold and white with some simple beading. It has a butterfly and flowers on it and the background looks like leaves. The dangling butterfly earrings and the leaves on the bracelet are also gold and white. The ring is large and has tiny rhinestones in the middle. Each piece was bought individually but they look like they are a set. I love costume jewelry. It is much more interesting and fun than my fine jewelry.
Well that is it for this blog. My weight has stayed the same. When we go to Michigan, we love to eat at the many restaurants within a short drive from the cottage and it is tradition to eat at Sherman’s Dairy for freshly made ice cream. Hey, I am not one to break tradition. Also, I stayed at my sister’s condo for 5 days when the floors were being refinished and she spoiled me. She made up my bed each day, walked my dog morning and evening, and provided me with wonderful meals and great snacks. I couldn’t refuse anything she offered. That would be inconsiderate.
Well, till next time, remember God loves you and so do I.
A Peek Into Pam’s Closets 