Outside....My purdeeees!

 Silk Blouse:  Thrifted and restyled (hacked off sleeves Texas Chainsaw Style!), Pants:  Ann Taylor, Shoes:  BCBG Girls via Thrifted ($3.50....RIDICULOUS!!!!)

 Dress:  Vintage Thrifted and once again, mutilated the sleeves!  Sleeves everywhere fear me!!  Shoes:  Dana Buchman Platform Wedges via Thrifted., Belt:  Belk's

Top:  Chico's via Thrifted, Linen Shorts:  Can't remember, Shoes:  Vintage Thrifted, Necklace:  Made from an old belt.  

Looking at these pictures has me thinking I might need to wear more makeup....hmmmm...  I really do apply it in the morning, but you'd never know from these pictures!  Also, when the weather gets hot, the hair goes up.....I just can't stand that furry feeling with my hair hanging down my back.  And around here, it gets REALLY hot!  As Paula Deen would say, "Have a great weekend, YA'LL!"  I'm hittin the road with Sweet Baby!

Weekend of Fun

All thrifted. Shoes:  Nine West Stillettos

Out and about on a Saturday afternoon…..Dress:  Thrifted; Bag:  Vintage Thrifted; Shoes: Donald Pliner (gift)

Dress: Gift from Hubby: Necklace:  Self-made from belt and chain; Shoes and Belt:  Thrifted

Dress:  Vintage Thrifted; Shoes:  Thrifted (BCBG Girls); Belt:  Thrifted; Necklace:  Shop in Greenville

A few things I wore this week….

 

Made the necklace and DIY shoes with glitter toes……

Made the flower necklace out of an old belt….thrifted dress

All Thrifted, All silk…….even my brown Stuart Weitzman heels

Made the skirt out of a vintage dress….just added wide elastic waist band.

…if you were born alone on an island…

All Thrifted…..skirt-vintage and altered, top-silk, shoes-nine west, belt – TJ Maxx (not thrifted…oops!)

 

If you were born on an island, alone and never met another person; what would you think of yourself?  Would you wish your hair were different?  Would you want to be taller?  Shorter?  Thinner?  Would you consider your legs to be too big?  Would you question whether your butt was too big?  Not big enough?  Would you be cool with your curly hair?  Or would your straight hair drive you nuts? 

What about your style?  If a trunk of clothes washed ashore, what would form your likes?  Your dislikes?  Would your station in life be okay with you?  If you ate mangos everyday, would that be okay?  Would you feel wealthy or poor.  Or either actually?  Would you think you were pretty?  If a mirror were in that trunk of clothes, would the reflection please you?

The question is, if you had no one to compare yourself to, what would you think about yourself?  Consider this.  Most of our angst, body image, frustrations, fears, insecurities and even jealousies can all be traced to some kind of comparison.  We compare ourselves or our situation to someone…..anyone and then we judge ourselves by how we think we measure up in that comparison. 

Before you dismiss this, think about it.  Why do we not like something about ourselves?  Where does most of our unhappiness come from?  To what do we credit the body issues that we have?  If we never had anyone or anything to measure ourselves by, could we find or create inadequacies in ourselves?   If I were born alone on an island with no one to compare myself to, what would ever make me think that everything about myself was not normal, or not good enough? 

If I never saw a size 6, how would I know to be unhappy with my size 10?  If I never saw another human being, I wouldn’t LEARN to pick myself apart in a dissection for imperfections.   So let’s just pretend we never saw anyone else and just be tickled with the way we are!

~my BOSSY shoes (DIY)...

These shoes are so great, I even got complimented on them by an employee in a Chanel Boutique!  But alas, they've gotten a little blah.  Sooooooo, I decided to break out some upholstery tacks and bedazzle the wedge a bit....

And VOILA!!!  Finished product!  I've gotten my money's worth and more out of these shoes and now for a few bucks, and some thumb pain, I have some BOSSY shoes!!!  (A woman stopped me when I was walking to my office and said, "Oh my gosh!  I LOVE YOUR SHOES!  They are BOSSY!!!!!)  I think it fits!!!

Sometimes you idle....and sometimes.....

Of course, with the exception of the shoes, it's all thrifted!  I feel in love with the color and cut of this blouse, but it had long sleeves.  Long sleeves make me feel claustrophobic!!!  I truly, can hardly take it....so once again, I mutilated a long sleeve blouse and turned it sleeveless.  I couldn't be happier with it! If I were a car, this would be me in "neutral".  But then.....

I dug this gem out of the pile at the goodwill outlet!!!  Instant AMOUR!  I was smitten with the pattern instantly!  It was way too big so I just sewed some darts in the waistband and hiked it a little high on the waist for a vintagey look.  Wearing it with 1 of 10 men's white v-neck tees I bought at Walmart....what don't they go with?!  Vintage shoes and belt.  I felt so Summer in Italy in this en-sem!  This is Serene the auto, in overdrive with color!

Just stumbled across an amazing post this morning.  Click here to read, "Are we too competitive?"  BRILLIANT!

~Open letter to Dress Barn

Dear Dress Barn,

I've been holding this in for years and now, for the sake of my colon (I can feel it knot up every time I walk by your store), I need to let it out.  I absolutely won't shop at your store.  Any of your stores actually.  And it's not because you don't have some really lovely things.  For instance, this dress...



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This dress is adorable!  Truly!  But it has one serious flaw (as do all your items) that I simply can't overlook.
It's got a label in it that reads "Dress Barn"!!!  How can I, as a self respecting woman, wear anything that came from a BARN!?!  I don't WANT to buy my clothes from a BARN....I want to buy them from a STORE.  Just like it's not a compliment, "What wrong with you?  Raised in a BARN?"....it's not flattering to know that I'm buying my clothes from a barn.  Barns are for animals, livestock, horses, cows, and all the droppings and equipment that comes with it.  It's for shoveling hay, feeding animals, housing all sorts of leather equipment and even hoe-downs!  But it's absolutely, unequivocally, certainly NOT the place for fashionable ladies to purchase ANY of their clothes (okay, maybe a pair of chaps......), much less a DRESS!



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Does this fabulous little number look like it came out of a barn?  I would absolutely buy this....but for one problem.  I put it on and I'm feelin' all cute....then someone says to me, "Serene, you look great!  I love that jacket!!  Where did you get it?!"  And then, crestfallen and eyes averted, I have to admit and say, "I got it at Dress Barn."  Honestly, I'd be prouder to say that I dug it out of the pile at the Goodwill Outlet!

You advertise in top fashion magazines.  I see you putting your best foot forward in In Style and Lucky.  That's fabulous!  But it still doesn't change the fact that your name is Dress BARN and all the images that conjures up.  Just change the name already.  On behalf of women everywhere, please don't make us choose between finding a great deal and having to suffer the humiliation of admitting where we got it.  I feel so strongly about this, I won't even THRIFT your donated clothes!  You know why?  Because I'm a woman of principle and my principles tell me that every woman is a princess and princesses don't buy their clothes in BARNS!

I hope that you have taken this to heart.  I apologize if I have hurt your feelings, but I really needed to get this off my chest.  The health of my colon is just too important to me.

I bid you Good Day,

Serene