Teal Appeal

I thought I'd change up the photos a bit and offer a different background for this outfit. These were taken at my mom's front porch. We were waiting to go to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory for my new sister-in-law's birthday. (By the way, I had the shrimp scampi -- which I can wholeheartedly recommend -- and some Godiva chocolate and vanilla bean cheesecakes. Yum!)

Dress: Peppermint via ModCloth; Tights: (can't remember); Boots: Fluevog Dawson City (GetUp family); Necklace: Gift from family in the Philippines

From the lace mesh bodice and faux-pearl buttons to the cinched elastic waist and deep pockets, this dress really makes me happy. It's short for even a shorty like me, which makes it perfect for fall as I can wear tights as much as I want. The material is rather thin, but it's polyester so it should keep me somewhat warm in cooler weather. Aren't the colors and floral-leaf pattern perfect for fall as well? (Thanks for putting it on sale, ModCloth!)

Now I wasn't sure what color tights to wear with this dress. I could have gone for tonal neutrals all the way, and indeed I had a pair of Blowfish flats in mind for such an outfit. But today I wanted to snazzy it up a bit given that I was going to a birthday dinner for one of my favorite people (who also happens to be a very stylish lady). I almost randomly chose the teal/blue tights and then realized that my Dawson City boots would be a near-perfect match, thus lengthening my legs. And as I've learned, I can't underestimate the power of leg-lengthening looks. (Or another way to think of it is that I must make sure to avoid leg-shortening looks.)

But then I came across the problem of tying in the teal with the upper portion of my outfit. My hubby suggested a necklace rather than a bracelet (smart man), but I didn't have anything that quite matched. This necklace is one of my favorite pieces, and it does match the boot color nicely (and if my tights had been more green and less blue, it would have been better), but its overall tone/mood/whatever wasn't quite what I was looking for. Oh well.

Again, more fabulous Fluevogs! It was the deep teal color of these ankle boots that drew me in. They were marketed as "Petrol Blue" but they're more green to me than the name suggests. The smallest size of the GetUp family (US size 6) is slightly large for my feet, but they're perfect for wearing socks and tights. Very comfortable, as expected of "Vogs."

Here are a couple of photos taken after the dinner. In the candid, that's a container of milk I'm holding for the kid. And we found a cute spot of autumn decor to take a mommy-and-son photo. I love being cheek-to-cheek with my baby!

And finally, one last photo of my photographer -- my handsome husband. Thanks, darling!

xo, Gladys