Christmas, Doctor Who Edition 2013

Do our outfits remind you of something, or maybe someone?

That's right! My sisters and I dressed as three different Doctors. From the left, my older sister is dressed as #10 (David Tennant, probably my favorite Doctor), my younger sister is dressed as #11 (Matt Smith, her favorite), and I am dressed as #9 (Christopher Eccleston, the fantastic one-season wonder who is my second favorite).

In contrast to our (sorta) ass-kicking faces above, here we are channeling the goofy and fun aspect of the Doctor:

ON ME: Suede jacket: Ann Taylor LOFT (from many years ago) | Top: GAP | Jeans: Gloria Vanderbilt via Costco (!) | Shoes: Fluevog Qtee via Amazon

It made me happy that we all managed to get into some kind of costume. I think the casualness of our interpretations was perfect for the holidays (it wasn't Halloween or a Comic Con, after all) ... although I wish I'd worn boots rather than my admittedly-gorgeous but still-not-appropriate Mini Qtees, at least for the pic.

Anyway, here are some of my other favorite photos of the day, with lots of kiddos, yummy food, and a last look at our growing family.

Happy New Year's Eve! If you'd like some inspiration on making your New Year's resolutions, here are a few articles and video that I enjoyed:

• "Here's The Science You Can't Not Know Before Making That Ambitious New Year's Resolution" via Upworthy
• "How to Actually be Successful in Achieving Your 2014 Goals" via Good
• and "The Most Important Thing You Can Do In The New Year To Lose Weight, Get Sharper And Live Longer" via HuffPost

All thought-provoking. The takeaways? Let's make our resolutions specifically for the New Year in order to harness the power of optimism on this occasion. Instead of roaring out of the gate and being immediate-results-oriented, we should start with small steps to build strong, identity-based habits that will last throughout the year. (We won't burn out so quickly that way.) Finally? Get more sleep!

And with that, I bid farewell to the good and the bad of 2013, and look forward to a wonderful start to 2014! I wish you the same! See you in this space next year. :-)

xo, Gladys

Sewing: Oliver + S Reversible Bucket Hat, Take 2

I didn't want to end the year without one last sewing project, and thankfully this one turned out okay so I can share it with you. Really, though, it's the model who's doing all the work here.

Even if a little blurry, isn't he utterly adorable? Those cheeks say hello!

This is my godson C wearing the reversible bucket hat that I made for him as one of his Christmas presents. If it looks familiar to longtime readers, it's because I have made this hat before -- from a free Oliver + S pattern available here -- and even used the same fabric for one of the sides (his mom picked the fabrics). This time around, however, I confess that I was pretty rusty due to not having sewn anything during the second half of the year. Sorry, C! Well, he doesn't really like the hat (yet), anyway. During the photoshoot, he kept taking it off -- hence the blurriness as I scrambled to take the photos in the waning light. His mom, my older sister, tried to help ... and I just wanted to point out the Doctor Who TARDIS slippers she's wearing in a couple of the photos -- another present from yours truly!

Speaking of which, I'll post some photos of our actual Xmas celebration, which sorta had a Doctor Who theme and made me seriously happy. And then there was the delicious food. And the adorable nephews. And the fun family conversations and music. I was in heaven!

Anyway, if you celebrate, I hope you had a wonderful holiday, too!

xo, Gladys

Party Chic

It's official: I've converted both MP and E to Fluevog AND ModCloth.

We had a get-together last weekend at my house to celebrate E's recent birthday and the upcoming holidays. We planned to sing some holiday songs while E played her flute and to have some yummy wine with our potluck dinner. Of course, I had to kindly request that we all wear dresses. Even though kids and husbands were involved, it was a holiday/birthday party after all. These two immediately said yes! Which is why I love them so much. *g* And we all ended up wearing ModCloth and Fluevog, even without coordinating the specifics.

On me, far right: Dress: Trollied Dolly via ModCloth | Shoes: T.U.K. via ModCloth

MP, far left, is wearing a dress via ModCloth that was formerly in my closet but that I realized looked MUCH better on her. And she's wearing her gorgeous red Bartoli boots, her first-ever pair of Fluevogs (documented here). These two-tone red boots are simply amazing and go with almost everything!

E, meanwhile, wore the striking ModCloth dress that was her birthday present from me. This is a lovely, well-made dress with lining and a nice heavy fabric -- perfect for colder weather. It also has pockets! She bought the adorable houndstooth cat shoes from ModCloth herself. She had a very successful first purchase at ModCloth and I'm positive she's going back for more!

As for my own dress, it's one that you may remember from earlier this year, sans belt. Trollied Dolly is such a dreamy brand. Plus it's a dress that's in line with my blue obsession this fall. It goes perfectly with my Fluevog Liz maryjanes (see bottom photo below), but it also goes really well with my beige polka dot cat shoes -- same brand as E's, just a different design. The beige matches the yellowish polka dots on the dress. And check out that cat tail on the heel!

Having fun with our posing. I love everything about this pic except MY HAIR. Ugh.

Shoes: Fluevog Liz (Kitschy Kitschy Boom Boom family)

We had a great night. We made music, drank delicious sweet wine (Stella Rosa, anyone?) and ate amazing veggie lasagna thanks to E, and managed to squeeze in a photo shoot while the kids ran around the rest of the house and watched a movie. Special thanks go to my hubby for accompanying us on the piano and taking the photos, and to E's hubby for watching the kids.

Hope you all have a happy holiday season!!

xo, Gladys

1940s Femme

I was kind of in love with what I wore to my husband's company 1940s-theme holiday party:

Coat with belt: Cherry Koko via Amazon | Dress: Collectif via ModCloth | Tights: ? | Shoes: Fluevog Rubens (Baroque family)

I actually had my hair done by a professional that day. My usual hairstylist went into labor (!), so I was lucky to get her friend, Kim, as a replacement. Using a flat iron, Kim worked curls into my hair like had never been done before. It was fun to watch the magic happen as she sprayed, curled, teased, brushed, and pinned. I was really thrilled with how she managed to turn my short bob into this:

Below is an iPhone pic of me at the event, with my coat open to show a peek of my dress. Only about a quarter to maybe a third of the attendees dressed to the theme, but it was fun to people-watch. I wish we could have gotten photos of the outfit during the day. This year, we were busy for most of the day so we didn't have a lot of time to pretty ourselves up. By the time we were dressed, dark had fallen and we were running half an hour late. (Another thing I wish is that the party had been more fun. Sigh. Most of my husband's coworkers that I knew left the company this part year, and the others didn't bother to attend this year, so we hung out with new people. Unless there's a fantastic incentive to attend next year, we might just skip it. It was fun to dress up, but we could have dressed up and hung out with our friends instead. I would have danced the night away for sure.)

xo, Gladys

Holiday Dress Shopping

Happy December! For those who celebrated, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Coming up soon is my husband's company holiday party. There's actually a theme this year -- the 1940s. How fun! When I found out last month, I immediately thought of going to ModCloth to drool over their vintage-style dresses. And given the fact that I already knew which shoes I'd be wearing (the blue Fluevog Rubens -- currently 30% off until the end of this week! with code CMSHOE30 at checkout), I purchased a couple of blue dresses to try on:

Garden Dreaming dress (only size 12 UK left)

Demure All I Want dress -- currently 30% off, lucky you! (make sure to see Details regarding sizing; this dress runs large)

Sorry about the blurriness. These photos were taken with indoor lighting at night. Aren't the shoes adorable?!

What do you think? My husband and friends voted for the second dress because the shape and longer length match the 1940s better. I was pleasantly surprised when I tried it on; it has a great drape and also a flattering v-cut back. But I couldn't let go of the first dress, which I thought had better-quality fabric and construction; I loved its shape, its warm wool blend, and the brightly-colored butterfly embroidery on the skirt. Well, after consulting with my husband and friends (who loved both dresses as well), I decided to keep it, too, so I can wear it for our Xmas house party or to another party this winter. I'll post again on each dress when I've had a chance to take them out!

Here's a bonus shot of another pair of GORGEOUS blue shoes -- very comfy too, I highly recommend -- that have entered my life because of my current obsession with blue. I wore these on the day of the recent 50th anniversary of the Doctor Who TV series (did you see the awesome anniversary episode, "The Day of the Doctor"?!) ... which also turned out to be the same day as my wedding anniversary. Eleven years, baby! :-)

Fluevog Amie in blue snake (only at Amazon, currently 30% OFF until the end of this week with code CMSHOE30 at checkout). Size up at least 1/2 size on these beautiful shoes!

xo, Gladys

Back in Purple

Dress: Patagonia | Cardigan: GAP | Tights: Hue via Macy's | Boots: Fluevog PRI (Radio family)

I wore this to volunteer at my son's kindergarten class. No doubt about it, I am WAY overdressed when I volunteer! But dressing up is fun, and I don't have regular opportunities to do it. This outfit came together in my head very quickly, mostly because I basically took it out for a test drive two years ago when I paired the cardigan and boots with a plaid skirt. I like this outfit much better, however. The dress is both comfy and well-made (as all Patagonia items are) with an interesting neckline, and the added texture and pattern of the tights were the perfect way to finish the whole thing.

Detail of the tights

And of course some love for the boots (once again), one of my top 5 favorite Fluevogs, even with the blemish on the left boot (I think I bought it that way). They're easy to dress up or down, they hug my feet just the way I like, and they're excellent for fall weather -- at least in Southern California. I'm sure you'll see these here again. :-)

A note on the photography: I used a remote and tripod for these photos (my son pressed the button on the remote for me, sweet thing), but I'm not that great with self-portraits, hence the off-center images. Sorry about that -- still working on my skillz.

xo, Gladys

Sockdreams Feature

On me and E: Modcloth dresses | Sockdreams socks and tights | Fluevog boots and maryjanes

This is a week old now but I just wanted to share that one of my recent blog posts was featured on the Sockdreams Tumblr blog!! Both E and I are wearing Sockdreams items in the photo above. (Plus I hadn't realized how well our outfits coordinated with each other that day given the mustard colors in our dresses.) So very exciting!

xo, Gladys

Fancy Floral

Dress: Emily and Fin via ModCloth | Tights: GAP | Shoes: Fluevog Qtee (Mini family)

Pockets!

Triptych

Back detail

The gorgeous Fluevog shoes

This dress is so flattering and pretty. There are a few clothing brands that I like to keep an eye on, and I'm definitely a fan of Emily and Fin designs. (Other faves are Trollied Dolly and Tulle.) I had the delightful surprise of learning that my burgundy ankle-strap Fluevog Qtees were a great match with the dress (though not a perfect match, which people say is a good thing). Such a fun outfit! I wore it to my mom's birthday dinner over the weekend, and while I felt a little overdressed, I did feel very fancy and smiley all night. I didn't get to wear the dress during the summer like I'd planned, but since the fall weather has been quite mild, even a little spring-y, my mom's birthday at a semi-fancy restaurant was a good opportunity to wear it out. (No one in my life got married this year; otherwise this would have been my #1 choice for a wedding.) I'm so glad I finally got to put it on for an evening out! Next time I'd love to dance in it. :-)

xo, Gladys

Dark Mustard and Navy + Sale PSA! [ENDED]

Dress: Lowie via ModCloth | Ravenclaw rugby knee socks: Sockdreams | Boots: Fluevog Volunteer (Prepare family)

Detail

Dress: via ModCloth | Tights: Sockdreams | Maryjanes: Fluevog Luxon (20% off on Amazon)

Skirt: Old Navy | Boots: Fluevog Bartoli (Operetta family)

MP isn't in this one because she was running late and we didn't have a photographer to take pix of all of us.

Blame it on the upcoming holiday season, on the absolute fun we had the last time, or on the fact that we love to dress up and leave our kids behind for a few hours, but our mutual love of Fluevogs once again led us -- me and my dear friends E and MP -- to the Melrose store last weekend. This time it was for MP, and yes, she did get her second pair of Fluevogs! But more on that later.

I love the dress I'm wearing, which is 100% cotton, lined, and made for cool weather. (The only thing I don't like about the dress is how it squishes my chest area; I think better undergarments are in order.) However, I hadn't worn it in over a year because I wasn't able to fit into it this past winter and spring (late 2012 - early 2013). Thanks to yoga and Zumba, though, I can just squeeze into it again, even with the extra muscle on my arms and shoulders. Hallelujah! This is one of those "just in case" dresses you keep in your closet -- just in case you can fit into it again one day. I loved it so much I couldn't let it go when I did my last closet clean-out.

Speaking of which, the dress that E is wearing and the skirt that MP is wearing were both mine until recently. While I think both items are lovely, they look so much better on E and MP, don't you think? This wasn't a case of the clothes not fitting me; but rather they were clothes that I knew were better suited for other bodies and other tastes than mine. MP simply loves plaid skirts, especially warm ones. And E looks amazing in tea dresses (such dresses don't flatter my quarterback shoulders lol).

Here are some views of the dress from the back, courtesy of E's candid shots on her iPhone:

At the counter with dealer Anthony paying for something very special!

Falling in love with the burgundy Elizabeths (ok, I confess, this was posed.)

So what was that something special? Well, these AMAZING blue embroidered oxfords:

Not only are the shoes TARDIS blue leather, but they're one of a kind -- at least, they're only available at the Melrose store, and there's only one pair per size. I simply couldn't let these get away ... so I put my size on layaway. :-))) I really am obsessed with blue shoes this season, aren't I? Well, can you blame me? Anthony brought them to my attention because they match the navy blue details on my dress, but of course the dealers know how in love I am with the blue leathers at Fluevog this Fall. If you want your own blue Sight oxfords, you need to call the Melrose store!

The Miracle | Sight oxfords aren't available at Fluevog stores in any other color either. The whole style was nixed by Mr. Fluevog for his stores -- but NOT at other retailers. They're available at Amazon in black. Here's the big PSA: This weekend, they as well as almost ALL other Fluevogs are on sale for 20% off for Veteran's Day holiday through Tuesday, November 11. Seriously, Fluevogs in classic colors that will probably NEVER go on sale at Fluevog stores -- the Elizabeth, the Liz, the Viv, the Qtee, the Promise, the Sandra, the Arabella, the Amie -- are 20% off with free shipping. Good luck finding your sizes and happy shopping! There are some blue faux-snake skin Amie's calling my name. :-)

By the way, here's a link to the men's styles on Amazon.

xo, Gladys

Early Halloween Costumes

This Halloween season is very unlike last year's. My son still hasn't made a final decision on what he wants to be, and I'm not slaving over sewing costumes from scratch this time around. But! I think we've found a couple of good ideas that we'll probably use for the day-of next week!

The monthly contra dance that we attend was last Saturday, and costumes were encouraged in honor of the holiday month. Almost everyone came dressed as something, and it was fun to see what people came up with. (One glaring exception was my husband, who didn't even bother to wear an orange shirt like he'd done in the past. Oy. But at least he came to dance!) I had spent the previous week looking through old photos on my computer, trying to transfer them to an external hard drive so that I could free up some space on my increasingly-slow laptop. I saw that I had worn this pink-and-white confection of a dress a couple of years ago for another costume party one summer, and it gave me the idea to turn myself into a doll. (Sooo original, I know.)

Dress: Tara Starlet via Amazon | Tights: Sockdreams | Shoes: oooold Steve Madden

You probably can't tell very well, but I drew large eyelashes on my eyelids with an eyeliner. The pink cheek blush was face paint provided by E and applied by MP in the church bathroom. (I had a semi-bright red lipstick on earlier in the evening.) I love the effect! Too bad I didn't have a wig, too, maybe Raggedy Ann red hair. Though I think the clincher was the white tights. If I hadn't had those, this look would have fallen flat. As it was, I got a lot of compliments from the other dancers, male and female, old and young alike. :-) The major advantage to the outfit? It was perfectly comfortable to dance in.

As for my little guy, for about a week I had the idea to get him some nerdy plastic glasses so we could turn him into Clark Kent. He already had a Superman shirt that he wears casually. Add a button-down and nice pants and PRESTO! Super easy Halloween costume. The trouble was that he didn't want to wear any of it. Sigh. It was touch-and-go for about half an hour before the dance, but we managed to bribe/finagle/threaten him into wearing the outfit. And what the heck was the problem? Isn't the effect adorable? Kids!

We got the glasses from Party City.

The line dancers. My kid didn't have a partner -- Daddy had asked first -- so he shadowed me.

So here are the ladies all dressed up! MP, I believe, was going with a mashup-1960s/1970s-mod(ish) theme. With the glasses, she looked like a hot teacher! lol (She said she would have worn contacts but her eyes were not in the mood that night.) And E went with a pirate theme this time around -- a fabulous excuse to wear her gorgeous new Fluevog boots! They both look fantastic.

Land ahoy!

I really liked this profile shot of E! I made her pose like that even though it cracked her up. One last look at those boots (which by the way are ON SALE)!! Thanks to E for providing the photos in this post from her iPhone. (My iPhone is an older model and the photos came out way too dark.)

xo, Gladys

PSA: Fluevog Boots Sale on Amazon [ENDED]

Amazon is killing me with all of these Fluevog sales! I did buy from their previous sale, so my wallet is quaking in fear. The current one is another great deal: 25% off their boots over $100, including previously-discounted boots. There are 38 styles available in women's, and 13 in men's.

You'll need to enter the promo code BOOTSFAM during checkout.

If you're concerned about sizing, there are sizing reviews of many of these pairs (mostly the women's shoes) at my other blog, For the Love of Vogs. Do a search for the boot name at the site and hopefully you'll get at least one hit. Happy shopping!

The list of women's Fluevog boots on sale:

* * *

The list of men's Fluevog boots on sale:

xo, Gladys

Tricky Blue

Fourth blue(ish) outfit in a row, and counting.

Dress with belt: Apt 9 via Kohl's | Cardi: GAP Maternity | Tights: Kohl's | Shoes: Fluevog Erika via Amazon (black/ivory still available at Fluevog)

I'm kind of irritated with these photos, simply because the colors are off. We took pictures in the late afternoon, so there wasn't enough sunlight to get the correct hue of the dress and shoes. And unfortunately I don't have the right image software to fix the problem. The dress and shoes look straight-up blue here, but in real life they have a lot more green in them. Fluevog called the shoes "cobalt," but I'd say they're a very dark aqua (and the dress matched the shoe color pretty closely). The photo below of the shoes is a little closer to life.

I've waxed poetic about these shoes before. My feelings haven't changed. I wore this outfit to volunteer for a couple of hours at my kiddo's kindergarten class, and almost all the adults I came in contact with immediately noticed and complimented the shoes, including the teacher and the school principal, no less. :-) Comfort, beauty, and style ... the essence of a Fluevog! [/end waxing]

xo, Gladys