Repurposed or Reclalimed

Yesterday, I told you that I had to rethink some of my summer clothes so that I could repurpose them for colder weather. In fact, I dubbed today's Trendy Tuesday "Repurposed or Reclaimed" in honor of my decision to go all MacGyver on my wardrobe. This dress is one of my repurposed summer items. The other day, I felt angry about stores selling so many sleeveless dresses in the winter. I can feel less angry now that I know how to circumvent this frustration. Look at me being all resourceful.

Does anyone else have an exorbitant amount of "thin" sweaters that really function very little in the winter? Essentially, they are long-sleeved tees made of sweater material. I decided to force function out of this sweater by layering it under this dress. Since the dress is too short for work, I paired it with leggings, which turned it into a tunic. Now THAT is how you wear leggings. As long as your bum is covered, you can wear leggings in public. You may not, however, enter society wearing sweatpants tucked into Uggs. In no way can you remedy that situation. It's like the ugly, unfortunate, dyspeptic sister of MC Hammer's parachute pants.

Anyway, now that I am done insulting sweatpants tucked into Uggs, allow me to show you yesterday's outfit today (spoiler: I showed you today's outfit yesterday...oops?), which you can see so clearly in these photos of the most beautiful quality.

The Look:

Dress: via thredUP // similar from F21

Sweater: Mossimo via Target // F21 options

Scarf: Francesca's 

Leggings (which are very dark jean material): New York & Co.

Booties: Crown Vintage via DSW // exact

Earrings: Target

I wore the dress this way in the summer:

The same dress this way:

The same scarf and sweater (of a different color) this way:

The sweater (and similar booties) this way:

The same sweater and booties this way:

I guess I really do love this sweater? I feel a bit terrible about calling it a tee made of sweater material. 

Rethink

If you dress up jeans on a Monday, is your outfit really casual? I love to fancify my jeans with heels and jewels, and I argue that jeans are not just for casual Fridays. I think a dark-wash trouser jean makes for a happier Monday, and who can disagree with anything that makes Monday more manageable? (No one.) I realize that my crummy photo quality leads you to believe that these pants are black, but I assure you that they are, indeed, a dark-wash jean. Could I wear black pants with this outfit? Absolutely. Sometimes, however, I envision certain items playing well with each other, and these jeans completed the look I conjured up in my cranium. 

As I finally bid a teary farewell to some of my summer tops and dresses, to which I fiercely clung for far too long, I decided that I could repurpose quite a few items for the colder months. Take this sleeveless peplum top, for example. Yes, it has no sleeves. Haha! Did I trick you with my layering prowess? I considered a button up, but the peplum is too form fitting, which means the buttons would leave a weird little shape poking through the fabric. No bueno.

I actually chose all of my outfits for the week. My morning brain will thank me for my preparation. My "why did you pick out outfits instead of doing your grad work?" brain will scold me. Such is life. Instead of reprimanding myself, I think I will eat another cupcake and watch more HGTV. Everyone needs a break, right?   

The Look:

Peplum: New York & Co. (old) // almost identical from H&M // one with sleeves from Macy's

Trouser jeans: LOFT ("Santa" bought them for me last Christmas) // LOFT  corduroy trousers

Black Tee: Marshall's (I think I shall buy more from Target) // similar from F21

Heels: Jones New York via Marshall's // similar from DSW

Necklace (new): The Limited, got it for $8 

I also wore the peplum these ways:

(I decided to wear it with the same accessories and different bottoms. Not incredibly creative, but still an effective remixing of looks. I think.)

Turnaround

This morning, I woke up tired and supremely grumpy. In the teaching profession, you cannot sneak into a cubicle and escape human contact. (Granted, on most days, I love this aspect of the job.) And then my third period walked in. That group of students amuses me every.single.day. Today, they outdid themselves. One kid told another kid (all in jest) that he looks like a chicken tender, another kid created a comic strip in which he added some bonus pictures for me (a goldfish, Nemo, and a sloth), several of us looked up pictures of sloths with human teeth, another kid is so tall that he couldn't fit under the desk during our duck, cover, and hold drill, and five kids sided with me when my intern got into a heated debate. I argued that Tiny Tim looks like a crossbreed between Weird Al Yankovic and Russell Brand.

Then, in each of my two AP classes (juniors), students thanked me for a good lesson today. I have no idea if they know how much those little thank you's brightened my day, but I plan to save them for another grumpy day.  

Thank you to my students for reminding me why I love teaching so much and turning my day around for the better. What bright, funny, sweet human beings. They make the adults of the world look like total chumps. 

The Look:

Sweater: Target

Scarf (crumb catcher): Made by my Momma

Skirt: Francesca's (this thing has seriously made its rounds)

Booties (new with thredUP money!): Crown Vintage via DSW (exact--they are comfy!)

Want more of this skirt?

Linking up again for the first time in a long time with The Pleated Poppy

I'll make you feel better.

Take a good, long look at my blazer, its color so reminiscent of Pepto Bismol that it will surely cure all of your maladies. This morning, I wondered whether or not the blazer screamed pink so loudly that I should sloooowly return it to the closet and replace it with its cobalt brother. I chose to wear it loudly and proudly. Luckily for this blazer, I received so many compliments on it that I decided it makes people feel joy, not blind. 

This past weekend, Dad and I spent two days planning out and buying materials for my master closet. We finally came up with a game plan. I now need to stain the pieces he had a chance to cut. One day this week, he'll come back so that we can finish what we started. (Don't worry. I will take pictures and overshare with you.) If only the weekend lasted juuuust a bit longer. However, the fact that I saw my brother, my niece, my sister-in-law (not my brother's wife, but my husband's sister), my nephew, and my dad leaves me feeling ready to take this week by the hand and frolic my way to next weekend.  

The Look:

Blazer: NY & Co. (old) // similar 1 // Blush Version

Pants: Express // exact

Sweater (that you can barely see): The Limited

Scarf: Gap via thredUP // similar

Heels: J.Crew Factory Sylvia wedge // exact

 Please enjoy this picture of my fur babies enjoying their bed made of leaves.

 Also, two weeks later, after six coats of paint on the ceiling and three coats of paint on the walls/trim, our master bedroom is no longer blue. (Okay, one of the closets is still blue, but I need a break from the madness.) We now have cove moulding (similar to but a bit different from crown moulding), gray walls, and CURTAINS (no more nakedness for the backyard to see). I still need matching lampshades, a suitable dresser, a comforter that properly fits the bed, and an actual headboard, but progress is all I seek at this point.  

Lost

For quite some time now, I have hunted for khaki pants that do not make me feel like a Target employee. Granted, Target is the place of dreams and I know it better than my new house, so that wouldn't be terrible; however, my job eats up the majority of my life. I do not need another place of employment, but I digress.

As I began pulling curtains and clothes I piled (seemingly at random) in a laundry basket I never used during that entire year of living in an apartment, I found a short-sleeved, black button up, one of the several items on my clothing wishlist. Whaaaat? I found a dress I felt forlorn about because I thought I donated it. Hello, cute dress! We meet again! At the very bottom of the pile, I found these pants. They fit like a dream. I know the cuff came a bit undone near my heel, which means I must have placed them in the basket as a reminder to fix the cuff, but I clearly disregarded this reminder.

I wore them all day without a problem, but I do plan to fix the cuff before wearing them again.

It was like an early Christmas. I got my khaki pants without having to spend a dime. Maybe I should go play the lottery on this luck?

The Look:

Necklace: J.Crew Factory

Button up: LOFT (very similar)

Cardigan: Target (exact)

Burgundy heels: Aerosoles (exact on sale)

Pants: The Limited (they're Drew cut, but they fit like the Exact Stretch!)

Too much time

Last night, I chose an outfit for today, and did I go with that outfit? Not at all. Instead, I spent too much time in my closet thinking and rethinking my outfit. And for what? We are off of school for Election Day, so my outfit only matters for graduate class and errands. Anyway, last time I put on too many layers and nearly fell into a sweaty heap in Target. I am not choosing that same path today. Vest and a lighter sweater it is. At this point, I would rather freeze than sweat. Who's with me? 

The Look:

Sweater: Target

Pants: Gap

Boots: b.o.c via DSW

Vest: Under Armor

Scarf: Calvin Klein via DSW

Knees

When I saw Ginny in her knee socks and Brynn in hers, I knew I had to break mine out for the season, and 40 degree weather seemed an appropriate time. What is it about socks peering over the top of boots that I love so much? I wish I knew. However, my mind is quite the enigma, even to me. Maybe it channels the likes of the ladies from Clueless, one of my favorite 90s movies? Who knows. Anyway, I piled on the layers this morning because we have professional development, which means I won't have 30 hot-breathed teenagers warming up my room.

The Look:

Cardigan: Express (last year)

Button up: Old Navy 

Jeans: The Limited

Boots: Etienne Aigner via Macy's several years ago

Boot socks: Simply Vera via Kohl's (Momma bought them for me.)