Just ‘Fur’ You

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my Gal Pals!

Valentine’s Day is the day we celebrate love. It does not necessarily need to be a day we celebrate with a sweetheart but can be a day when we spread the love to our parents, children, friends or someone we know who needs a little extra love this day. It is the day when single women can indulge in their favorite romantic movie or book and eat a box of candy (sugarless for my friends who are diabetic) or dance all night to their favorite Motown music like “My Girl” while in their favorite pajamas. Whether you are with someone else or by yourself, enjoy the day knowing you are loved by me and all women who support other women. Remember to love yourself and celebrate “You”.

Will miracles never cease! I actually posted this blog on time. Being on time is a concept that often escapes me. My family always remarks on my tardiness and I recognize this to be a personal weakness. The first step to fixing a personal problem is recognition of that problem but that is where I get stuck. It reminds me of a poster I once saw “I hate being late but I am so good at it”. I wanted to make sure that my 14th post was on the 14th of February which just happened to be on Valentine’s Day. I am sorry about the sleepy eyes in these pictures but we took these picture on the day after I went out to see a band that is still together from my high school days (looooong time ago). They used to be called Grey Stone Fox but they changed their name to Not Dead Yet. I wasn’t out too late that night but these days it takes my brain time to settle down after hearing loud music and no matter what time I go to bed the night before I am always up at 6:30 the next morning. Maxine says it well “Congratulations on reaching an age where you wake up at the same time you used to go to sleep on Saturdays”.

Enough about me, lets talk fashion. I love the look of fur! I find it classy and rich. Whenever someone wears fur, even as an accent piece, my eyes are automatically drawn to it. If you have read all my blogs, you know that I will not wear real fur. First, I can not stand the thought that an animal had to die just so I could feel pretty. Second, I am so allergic to fur that I would be sneezing, coughing and eventually not breathing (my asthma would kick in). Today faux fur looks just like real fur. Now, there are those who would argue that the chemicals used to make the faux fur are not good for our environment but I feel like sometimes we have to pick our battles when it comes to what we should or shouldn’t do to save our environment such as should we drink out of single bottles of water?

Anyway, just a little bit of history of fur in fashion. Fur has been used for warmth, durability and status symbol since earliest of times. In certain early societies it was felt that there was a transference of the strength, power, courage, skills, prowess and fertility of a particular animal to the human being that wore the fur. Also, particular animal skins or furs were reserved for the ruling and elite classes. Some barons were known to mortgage their lands to buy ermine for their wives. Furs were made much more accessible to the masses due to advancement of technologies for processing pelts. It was during the 1930’s that fur was used in abundance by designers as trim of coats, collars and cuffs. However, it was around the 1980’s that using real fur became controversial and faux fur became popular. No matter what your choice, real fur or faux fur, fashion furs continue to have staying power and because of mass production are a lot cheaper. That reminds me of a joke:

A mother and daughter are shopping together in a mall and the mother eyes an expensive fur coat. “This year”, she says, “I think I will buy my own birthday gift instead of having you and your father shop for me”. The daughter loves this idea. The mother says “I think this fur coat would be perfect for me”. The daughter protests, “But mom, some poor, dumb, helpless creature has to suffer so you can have this”. “Don’t worry, honey” the mother says, “Your father won’t get the bill for a couple of weeks”.

What you will notice in all my pictures is that when I wear faux fur, I wear very little jewelry. The fur beautifully accentuates the outfit so there is little need to wear any other accessories. That brings me to my garden design picture.

The Angel Wing Begonias are the focal point of the picture. I put a large garden ornament next to it. This unique caterpillar ornament with the beautiful large rocks as its body is almost 4 feet long yet it barely accentuates the flowers and you might give it a fleeting thought but your eyes will return quickly to the begonias. This is similar to the relationship of fur and jewelry. When worn together, the jewelry might get a fleeting glance but your eyes will be drawn quickly back to the fur. The jewelry does not enhance the outfit, the fur does. So let’s look at some outfits I put together just ‘fur’ you.

I love the trim on this hooded, faux fur coat. It feels as good as it looks. I think I got this coat for less than $200 at Carson’s and it is worth every penny. It is so warm and luxurious. I feel like royalty when I wear it. I love the hood, large cuffs and all the trim work but most of all I like the pockets. I have to have pockets on a coat. I have on brown leggings that feel so smooth and silky and a pair of patent leather wedge heels. The earrings and ring are shown below.

I wore large hoop earrings and a heart shaped topaz ring. The ring seemed appropriate for a Valentine’s Day blog. I love gold jewelry because it makes me feel rich and glamorous just like the coat I am wearing.

This sweater has a faux fur trimmed collar with faux fur pieces around the charcoal grey ribbon flowers. It closes with a tie string at the top. The ruffled hem mimics the ruffles on the cuffs of the ribbed sleeves. The pants, the sleeveless shell under the sweater and the wedge, suede shoes are all the same charcoal grey as the ribbon flowers on the sweater.

Could this ring not be more perfect for this outfit! The rhinestone in the middle is surrounded by a tightly wound charcoal black ribbon which is surrounded by a beige ribbon that flairs out from the center. Jewelry doesn’t have to be expensive, it just has to enhance the outfit. I wore these black leaf earrings to go along with the flowers on the sweater.

You know from past blogs how much I love ponchos. This one is trimmed with faux chinchilla. I am wearing it with a black turtleneck pullover top. I always like to have something around my neck because it is so long but I don’t want to wear a necklace that would compete with the fur. I remember reading a book by Nora Ephron called “I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts On Being A Woman”. She talked about how she hated her wrinkled neck and how all her women friends of her age were wearing turtleneck tops or scarves around their necks. I am very lucky that the skin is still smooth on my neck but without something around it I look like a giraffe. I am wearing a pair of black dress pants and patent leather heels. In the background you see the storage of some of my lapel pins. There are clear pockets on both sides and both the pockets and pins are arranged from smallest to largest. My other pins are in boxes because they are part of a set. All together I have 77 lapel pins.

You know from past blogs that if I am wearing an outfit with clearly defined lines, my jewelry must also have the same lines. I bought this albatross lapel pin in New Zealand after going boating and observing them in their natural habitat. The earrings are clip-ons that I bought in an antique store in Michigan. I love the geometric design and they perfectly match the colors of the outfit. The ring really enhances the lines of the Chinchilla.

Well, that is it for today. As for my diet, even with cutting out so many foods that contain sulfites I have not lost a pound. I think there are too many foods that I love that don’t contain sulfites but do contain a lot of calories. I decided one day that I was going to start an exercise program. I was so psyched to get back to Zumba. Well after one day I was in terrible pain in my thigh below my artificial hip. I could hardly walk and I am scared to try again. So as it is written on one of my dish towels “I started a new routine. Every day I do DIDDLY-SQUATS”.

That is it for this blog. Hopefully I will get the next blog out in three weeks. So for now, remember God loves you and so do I.