Happy Halloween to all my Gal Pals!
I am dressing up as an angel and I am showing my little devil the way to Heaven. Halloween reminds me of something Aunty Acid once said that I can relate to “I’m thinking of calling in GhostBusters coz I’m convinced I live in a Haunted House. Every time I look in the freakin mirror, this old lady comes and stands in front of me and blocks out my reflection”. It happens to me all the time! I realized this blog is not only my Halloween blog but also my Thanksgiving blog. Therefore I want to talk about the greatest blessings God has given me which are family and friends. As I get older and people around me are passing away I realize the saying “You don’t know what you got until it’s gone” is so true. When I was younger I was so busy that I did not spend as much time with loved ones as I should have. I didn’t take the time to realize how much my family and friends enriched my life. So I am making up for lost time. I can’t change the past, I can only hope that those I loved knew how much I loved them before they passed on and hope that those that are still alive know how much I appreciate them. But I also realized that there are others in the world that may not be as blessed as I am and could use a helping hand. They need people in their lives who can help them survive and thrive. I made a commitment to myself that when I retired I would somehow give back to society by finding a charitable organization to join. I feel guilty about not having followed through on this commitment. I was invited to join the Lockport Women’s Club which is involved in fundraising, volunteerism and charitable giving. It sounds like a good fit for me. The reason I am putting this commitment in my blog is because I know my friends and family will keep me honest and help me to follow through. When I needed to lose weight I put the commitment to do so into my blog because I knew once I put it out there for all to see I would need to follow through. So once again I am putting my commitment to help others into this blog so I will follow through on my promise to myself. Thank you for listening and keeping me honest. I want to leave this paragraph with something Aunty Acid says “If you have the power to make someone happy DO IT! The world needs more of that”.
The title of this blog is “Short In’vest’ments” because it is about how women’s vests are a good investment. This blog will be highlighting short vests and next month I will be highlighting long vests. According to Fashion Magazine, the short vest lineage can be traced back to the 17th century when King Charles II of England introduced the garment as part of “correct dress” for men. Originally resembling a floor-length coat, later versions of vests were cut short and the attire became known as waistcoats. For much of history, the vest was made exclusively for men until it was used to subvert gender norms. Women first adopted waistcoats as a form of revolt against the French government in the late 18th century. Vests designed for women was more commonplace in the late 19th century at which time the garment became a symbol of gender non-conformity. It was during the 1920’s that women dubbed “modernists” would opt for an androgynous look by donning pieces made to be worn by wealthy men, including high collars, tailored jackets, short haircuts and vests or waistcoats. A century later, our modern fashion landscape is once again embracing the vest. A sign of prestige and class throughout history, the vest now represents the new age of gender-fluid fashion.
In the vein of Thanksgiving, my picture for this month is the harvest decorations in front of my townhouse. Every year the scene I create looks a little different. I added some new pieces and rearranged the fall items in a different way.
One of the reasons I love fall is because of the earthy colors. New this year is the scarecrow sitting on the bale of hay that I bought at the South Haven, Michigan craft show. Also, the “Hello” sign I got from a second-hand shop for $4. Such a bargain! I am not a lover of chrysanthemums so I choose to use the purple and green kale, pumpkins and gourds. However, this year I love my one chrysanthemum container that has 5 different color plants in it.
OK, let the fashion show begin!
I love animal print and it is always trending! This vest is a mixture of animal prints and plant prints. It is reversible so the quilted eggshell color of the collar is the color of the vest on the reverse side and the collar then is the animal print. It zips up the front and is fairly fitted to the torso. I paired it with a black turtleneck top and black skinny pants with a snakeskin pattern. I am wearing dark brown, lace-up boots which match the brown in the vest.
I chose an eggshell colored scarf that paired beautifully with the eggshell in the vest. The bracelet is made of metallic looking browns and silver with animal prints intermixed into it. The band of the watch is silver with a cheetah print piece around the face of the watch. I got this watch for $2 at the White Oak Library District’s fundraiser. They sold used and vintage jewelry as well as evening bags. I bought several pieces and will highlight them in all my blogs. The rings are in silver settings with one having a tiger eye stone and the other a brown topaz stone. The earrings have a very African feel and looks great with the animal print.
You know you have too many clothes when you pull something out of the closet that you bought at Chico’s over two years ago and it still has the price tags on it. According to the tags the blouse was originally $99 but was marked down to $39. I never go into Chico’s without a coupon or gift card so if you add in my Chico’s member discount I probably got this beautiful blouse for less than $30. I am glad I found it in my closet because it looks so good with this black vest with silver buttons. I paired the vest and blouse with black leggings and black heels. I will describe the pattern on the blouse with the accessories I chose to go with this outfit.
I wanted you to see an up-close picture of the blouse because it totally affected my choice of accessories for this outfit. The pattern on the blouse consists of black stripes with gold chains on which tassels are attached. I chose a short tasseled necklace and a chain necklace made of different metals of varying colors including silver, gold, rose gold, black and copper. Both the leather bracelet and watch are black and gold and the gold hoop earrings look great with this outfit. One of the rings is a simple thin band while the other is black and gold with an Asian pattern.
This sweater vest is one of my favorites. I especially like the large, olive green and black square buttons. The sweater is a black and olive green weave with a high neck collar. Because of the high neck collar I wore a simple black top with a scoop neckline. It is hard to tell from the picture but I have on black skinny jeans with over-the-knee black boots.
I paired this outfit with olive green and gold earrings and olive green and silver watch. I don’t typically like to mix my metals but if I am wearing a piece of jewelry that contains both metals I don’t mind mixing. In this case the bracelet fits the bill. The saying on the silver metal plate of the bracelet “Keep Calm and Carry On” was a motivational slogan in the UK in preparation for World War II. I think it is a good reminder for me. The chain and charm links are gold. One of the gold rings has a jade stone and the other contains a pearl which matches one of the charms of the bracelet. I got the earrings and the bracelet for $1.00 each at the library event I described earlier.
Well it is time to talk about my weight. I don’t know about you but the thing I dread the most when I go to the doctor’s office is getting on the scale. Well, that is how I felt today getting on the scale this morning. I went to Michigan for 5 days last week and acted like I could eat anything without gaining weight. Then I binged all this past week. You see, I am having lower back pain because of my sciatic nerve. When I am in pain I tend to eat comfort food all day. Now that my thyroid meds are adjusted I can no longer eat anything I want without gaining weight soI have gained 4 pounds. Because of the pain in my back I can’t exercise (You know how sad I feel about that, NOT!). I have to find a way to lose the pounds before the holidays because I love Christmas cookies. It must be my pain that is causing my defeatist attitude because I am resigned to thinking like Crabby Maxine who says “My hair is the only thing I can count on getting thinner”.
Well, until next month, remember God loves you and so do I. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
A Peek Into Pam’s Closets 