WOOO. PeaceBang was seriously frumpy at church on Sunday. I don’t know why I even have this skirt in my closet. God knows I rail against flowy skirts on here often enough. Practice what you preach, PB! Burn those flowy skirts!!
There is no excuse for this look. It ages me by 20 years, for one thing. Well, this is why a photo record of images is helpful: we can check in on ourselves and ask, “Is this the image I want to project? Does this attire communicate who I am, what I hope to be able to offer, and does it feel connected to 2013?”
Oh hell, no, it does not. I hated the whole outfit as soon as I got it on:
The hair is aging. The black blazer is aging. The skirt is from the Frump Collection. The shoes with the outfit are also frumpy (although potentially cute if styled another way). The pearls are tragic.
I swapped the pearls out for a pink quartz pendant and different earrings. A skotch less tragic, but not much. I look presentable, dressed up, and perfectly respectable. But I do not feel good in my clothes. I do not feel that they express who I am. The effect is one of darkness, heaviness and age. Just not me.
Live and learn. The fight against frump is ongoing, my darlings. That skirt is going right into the giveaway pile.
I do have to say that the entire ensemble is vaguely suggestive of a grande dame headed off to the opera or something. The pearls plus the hair style, I think, combined with the black-on-black and the textured jacket – I can’t tell what it is but it looks kind of bulky. [It’s cotton eyelet. It’s bulky. – PB]
If I had all those pieces in my closet and knew I wasn’t going shopping any time soon, I’d put a different color cami with the skirt, or put the textured black jacket with a solid color bottom in either a light neutral (gray?) or a jewel tone with a smooth texture.
And I, personally, would use the pearls to tie back my improvised window treatments because I am so not a pearls person. Your mileage of course may vary.
This is an honest question, not an attempt to be obnoxious, I swear: I notice a tiny bit of cleavage. It would be okay at an academic lecture podium, is it okay in a pulpit? [I’m laughing, because you’re so cute. I promise I’m not offended by your notice of a bit o’ cleavage. A few things. First, I often have a bit of cleavage because it’s a major challenge to NOT, but I’m always doing Cleavage Management in the form of lifting shirt straps and using double stick fashion tape. In this case, I was so covered up from neck to ankle that I wanted to show a bit of skin just to look alive, but I promise that there was no intention to participate in a Festival of Inappropriate Sharing. That camisole is VERY old and may be too small. Thanks for noticing. It’s just one of many things wrong with this outfit! – PB]
I have a skirt like that – and a blazer – I keep it for the occasional Jewish Orthodox function that I am invited to. That ‘s what I was reminded of – you’d have been a knockout there – I look mousy in my outfit – you look grande dame but as you said ” not you”.
thank you for sharing a photo of an outfit that you weren’t crazy about, and didn’t feel 100% you in, so the rest of us could deconstruct it with you and learn from it.
something I felt good in this week – fall came to LA, and I got these boots at my friend Jackie’s store: http://www.alternativeoutfitters.com/report-signature-acer-black-vegan-booties.aspx.
They are vegan (yay animals!), pretty comfortable (I walked about a mile in them yesterday), and look good with dark jeans, cardigan or jacket.
There must be a theory of frump relativity or something. Because while I do see the grande dame-ishness and can certainly accept your own discomfort with this ensemble, it wouldn’t put you in the naughty corner for me. I wouldn’t be putting a black band over your eyes. I wouldn’t even tell Peacebang on you. 😉
I am pairing down my closet as my body shape shifts through healthier eating and some weight reduction. I looked at your ensemble and had to look twice that it was you. I LOVE how you are not afraid to poke fun at yourself and encourage us to do the same (to ourselves, not to you :-))
I appreciate that you point out what you don’t like. I love that own that it’s “not you”. I am in need of some new foundation pieces like camisoles and tank tops to wear under cardigans…and I will be rocking that term…”but is it me? Is it really ME?”
As always, you are awesome!
If you had a bright bold necklace closer to your neck, perhaps your hair in higher updo, and something that brightened your hips to midsection more—like a belt or sashy scarf—this would look less like an Italian senora in mourning. But it’s just fine.
It has taken me 30 years to see that the long flowing skirts I liked, because I could get away with wearing no hose with my boots, made me look older. They were particularly bad because I had great legs. They’re still great but I don’t want to draw attention to the new wrinkle above each knee. And I’ve developed an allergy to nylon.