Momma, Oooo ooo ooo ooo *cue Queen instrumentals*

One of my juniors had never heard "Bohemian Rhapsody," so I had to rectify that little situation for a whole six minutes. Total teachable moment, no?

So, one of the many reasons I love fall and winter? I have a pretty awesome boot collection. 

Today's pair of boots is compliments of my Momma. 

As you can see, her taste in footwear kicks ass. 

She buys shoes (usually boots) that she really likes but finds out they disagree with her ankle, so I adopt a new pair of shoes. Considering I love her taste in shoes (especially boots), I will never pass up an opportunity to take on another pair of hand-me-down shoes.

People kept stopping me to compliment my boots, and I obviously told them that Momma gave them to me, to which one person responded, "Your MOM picked those out? She has good taste in shoes. Those are sexy."

Thanks, Momma! 

The Outfit:

Boots: From Momma :)

Cardigan: LOFT

Blouse: Old Navy

Pants: Simply Vera via Kohl's

Necklace: Can't remember

P.S. Third-day hair? WHAT IS UP? I am killing it with the third day hair.

Meet Blue. He barks at all things. Including leaves. And rocks. And perhaps his own shadow.

This shot is for Momma, who took these photos, by the way :)

The Details:

Occasion: Casual day teaching

Comments: I love this color combination. I love this outfit. I felt a little edgy. And I'm down with edgy. Maybe I could have belted something or whatever, but I thought loose up top was better with skinny jeans. Right? 

What article of clothing makes you most excited for fall/winter? Do tell! 

Fake lace.

The amount of tragedy that inundates our country (and all countries), at a disturbingly quicker rate, forces so many of us to reevaluate our humanity and the humanity of our compatriots. Maybe the rate has not increased but rather our awareness of it? Social media outlets allow us instant access to all of this information, so we are never without constant reminders of tragedy. It pains me every time I read about another shooting and it pains me every time I listen to people debate the gun issue (versus the "how to make humans better humans" discussion.) For those of you still in the dark, a gunman killed thirteen people and injured at least three others at D.C.'s Navy Yard. Too much sadness for our collective heart to hold. 

As a result, I must remind myself of the beauty within the darkness. Today, one of my students graciously offered to make online flashcards for his classmates to use. He and several classmates brimmed with excitement, chattering about all of the ways I could use Quizlet in my classroom. They created an account for me and showed me how to use it. 

These teenagers illuminate the darkness. There is hope. There really is.  

Today's outfit is quite beautiful, too. In a vain, "everybody come see how good I look" kind of way. 

Go get ya some.

My shirt has a lace print, but it's not actually lace. Tricky tricky.

The Outfit:

Shirt: New York & Co. (couldn't find it online)

Skirt: American Eagle Outlet (similar)

Shoes: Marc Fischer via Macy's

Belt: Came with a dress

Necklace: New York & Co.

The Details:

Occasion: Classroom (teaching, obviously)

Comfort Rating: 10

Comments: I love this shirt; I wish I could've found it for you online! (It's not very old at all. Not even a month old, so maybe you can find it in the store?) I am so happy I bought this skirt in gray and wine. By far two of my favorite sartorial purchases of the year. I especially love the pleats because they disguise/resist wrinkles. Plus, they keep the skirt from hugging too tightly. I really am in love with the color of this skirt. It's not right to be such a lovely color; it's making all of the other colors jealous. 

I previously wore the skirt this way. I wore its charcoal gray counterpart this way and this way. 

How might you style it? I'd love to hear (er, read?) the ways. 

The skinny on my skinnies

I own a lot of work pants. The problem with about ten pairs is that they don't look good with flats and heels. In fact, I struggle to find any shoes that go well with them. (I bought most of them years ago, and I bought them solely because I liked the color and the price.)

I decided to keep the pants because I thought I might have an epiphany about how to wear them. And an epiphany I had. I realized that the only part of these pants that annoyed me was the cut. Plus, every time I hunted for the same colors in a fit that I liked, I came up empty. Enter my epiphany. I did a little search on Pinterest for "making skinny pants." (Feel free to peruse my DIY Fashion board here.) Note: I could have taken these pants to a tailor, but that was money I did not want to spend. I also like learning new things :)

For these pants, I read this tutorial and this one. However, after my troubles, I viewed this video, which comes from this blog. I like her method much better. Plus, she explains how to avoid some of the same problems I ran into while on my adventure of pant fixing.

I'm not going to provide you a tutorial because these work just fine, but I'll tell you some tips (from a novice) and materials.

Necessary materials: seam ripper, sewing scissors, pins, chalk/fabric marker, and sewing machine.

Tips:

• Do NOT cut your pants until you've tried them on with the new stitching. For the first leg I did, I couldn't squeeze my calf into the pants. I needed my handy seam ripper to fix that mistake. 
• If you don't have a fabric marker, chalk works just fine. You moms out there probably have sidewalk chalk just chilling in your house. (One tutorial recommends a Sharpie. If you use the first two tutorials, I do not recommend Sharpie because it can get on the pants you're using as a pattern, which is another reason I suggest the video.) 
• Read both tutorials and watch the video before you begin. 
• I completely finished one leg before the other, which I thought was good because I could measure the unfinished leg against the finished one. I sort of used the finished leg as a pattern for the other one. It helped me keep them identical. 
• If you don't want to sew and have a good tailor, they can do this for you :) 

pant leg comparison in my seemingly yellow hallway...

My pseudo emo look 

Originally, I had "charcoal straight/skinny work pants (must have belt loops)" on my closet holes list. I now can cross that item off the list without having spent any money. Win! 

The shirt is recent and from Old Navy. The heels are NOT recent and are Aerosoles from Marshall's. 

Once we sell this house and I don't have to worry constantly about not making messes, I will move on to my pair of brown work pants. I think I'll go for more of a straight leg with those. 

I hope this post prevents you from donating/selling a pair of pants just because you dislike the bottom half of your bottoms :)

I can't drink wine, so I'll wear it.

I can't stop buying maxi skirts for the following reasons:

1. I don't have to shave if I wear them.

2. They're not pants.

3. The waistline forgives.

4. I can dress them up...or down.

5. I can sleep in them (tested that one out on Saturday--pure, comfortable success).

Jeff agreed to take my picture because I posed with the deck steps he recently rebuilt. 

Yes, we still have to stain the whole deck and one random board is brown, but they sure are beautiful. 

Clothing Homes:

Skirt: American Eagle Outlet (closest I could find at AE)

Sandals: Pink & Pepper via Marshall's (cute Steve Madden option)

Bag: It's Kenneth Cole Reaction via Boscov's for $35! (nice from Amazon)

Top: Old Navy (close, inexpensive option from Old Navy)

Belt: Express (I believe)

Occasion: Cousin's birthday party

When: 4:30-?

Where: Indoors

Comfort Rating: 10/10 (despite the belt)

Comments: I tried the shirt tied in a knot, but that didn't work for this skirt. It landed at an odd spot above the skirt. I tried leaving the shirt loose, but it made it me look too boxy.  

I tucked it in, but it didn't look pulled together until I added the belt.

Restyling Options: For work, I'd throw on my khaki and white polka dot cardigan or my plaid blazer. 

If it were a little bit chillier, I'd throw on a jean jacket.

If it were winter time, I'd replace the sandals with flats and throw on a leather jacket. 

Pinspiration: 

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P.S. Linking up with FundayMonday.