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:

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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

Fall Array

Last week, E, MP, and I miraculously managed to once-again go out of town for a fun hangout, though this time with kids. We drove to Valencia and visited some shops at the big mall there. Here we are at Banana Republic, having too much fun with a very well-dressed, albeit headless, male mannequin. You'll notice that, once again, it's all about BLUE for me! (I did, however, purchase a very lovely orange-and-gray striped cardigan on sale.)

Dress: via ModCloth | Scarf: unknown | Boots: Fluevog Discovery (exact ON SALE 40% off)

E is wearing her new Fluevog boots with one of the dresses from my closet. She fills out the dress so much better than I ever did, and it looks great with her coloring. The reds really stand out, and catch the deep mahogany tones of her hair. This is a lovely fall ensemble. When I first saw her, with that braided updo and sophisticated makeup, I thought she looked like a Golden-Age Hollywood star!

I have no idea what brands MP is wearing, but I love the whole outfit. Very refreshing but also warm enough for the cooler weather. It's a great transitional outfit, combining spring colors with fall textures. And those jeans look damn good on her. :-)

Top: Comme Toi via ModCloth | Jeans: GAP | Shoes: Fluevog Promise (exact)

Here I am staring lovingly at my blue shoes. I know, two outfits in a row with these shoes. But did you notice that 1) this is actually my third outfit post in a row that features blue shoes, and 2) I got a haircut? (Extra brownie points if you noticed the second, since this photo doesn't show the cut that well.) I really like the top, which I got from ModCloth's recent end-of-summer sale. The bright cobalt color and interesting sleeves save it from looking like a plain t-shirt. And I do like the material, which is a nice, thick, stretchy cotton that doesn't cling too closely. I have to say, though, I'm very glad that I've been doing yoga the past few months; otherwise I probably would have shelved the top for a while. Don't my man(nequin) and I look good together with our blue outfits? ;-)

Cobalt Wool Coat at Banana Republic

Speaking of cobalt blue, we tried on an AMAZING cobalt blue jacket/coat that looked good on all three of us. It looked even better all zipped up. And Banana is having a 40% off sale (in stores and online) that ends TODAY. I'd be sorely tempted if I hadn't just bought new shoes. If you want to add gorgeous color to a neutral winter wardrobe, I suggest getting this jacket (and then please send me a photo so I can live vicariously through you!).

xo, Gladys

Blue and Blush

Dress: Ya Los Angeles via ModCloth | Cardi: GAP | Shoes: Fluevog Promise (exact)

If my color obsession in fall 2011 was purple, and green in fall 2012, then it's certainly blue this time around. I couldn't resist buying these shoes when they came out in the spring. I also recently purchased the TARDIS blue Rubens maryjanes from Fluevog (I just finished making my last layaway payment! Now I have to figure out the perfect holiday outfit to go with the new shoes. :-) Of course I'm drooling over other blue shoes, but I'm going to have to stop for now.

I've had this dress for about two years, but this is the first time I've pulled it out in over a year. Rest assured that I'll be pulling out more blue clothes from closet this fall! The dress is quite flattering with the elastic-cinched waist, but the spaghetti straps make it necessary to wear strapless undergarments if I want to wear it bare-shouldered. Since I don't like strapless bras, I'm thankful that it's cardigan season.

Aren't the shoes just awesome and lovely? I really love the blue leather (it almost looks textured with the stippling on it), and the cutout "f"s are really cool. I'm so glad I decided to splurge when I did. They were great in the spring and now they're transitioning smoothly into my fall outfits.

xo, Gladys

Fluevog Visit with Friends

I went on a Fluevog run over the weekend with two of my favorite women on the planet. MP and E joined me on my visit to the L.A. store, where we hung out with amazing Fluevog "dealers" Kate and Anthony for a couple of shoegasmic hours. This was big for the three of us, because it was the first time we'd been able to go out together sans kids in a very long time. Even dealing with L.A. traffic and parking couldn't undermine our excitement. You don't know how much it takes to schedule an outing like this! Finding reliable and inexpensive (i.e., free family!) care for our kids is a big headache. But it happened and it was SO WORTH IT. We had a blast. After Fluevogs, we went down the street on Melrose to a delicious Asian fusion restaurant called Pingtung, then we hit Koreatown for some seriously-good boba tea before going home. Aside from the driving and parking, it was heavenly -- but luck was on our side even for the parking! Such a fun afternoon/night.

On me (right): Top: Ellison Ellison Ellison via ModCloth | Jumper: Ezra via ModCloth | Tights: Worthington | Shoes: Fluevog Guide (exact)

So what's funny about our outfits is that the other ladies are wearing my clothes -- or, rather, their clothes now. I was incredibly happy to be able to find new loving homes for many of my garments. For a long time, I'd been meaning to go through the jungle of my closet and ruthlessly thin out my collection. It was shameful to me how many clothes I'd hoarded. Clothes that simply don't look good on my body shape. Clothes that don't fit well and never will. Clothes that do fit but will rarely if ever see the light of day again because they're not really my style (anymore). Our outing gave me the impetus to finally go through my closet. We found an afternoon when we could all hang out together (with kids, of course) so the two ladies could try on the clothes and see which ones they'd want to keep.

MP is wearing a dress that you may remember from almost two years ago, and it looks so much better on her!! And E is wearing a top that I fell in love with -- it's delicate and lovely and feels wonderful on your skin -- but that I've NEVER worn. It was on my "What to Wear this Summer" list and I tried, I really did, but it just didn't work. Given the shape of my shoulders and upper arms, the top made me look like a balloon, especially since it's shapeless at the waist. On her, though? Wow. And with that gorgeous princess hair, so many guys kept eyeing her as we drove and walked in L.A.! It made me and MP giggle because it was so awesome. It's like, when a dear friend you love finally feels as beautiful as she really is, it is a wonder to witness it.

Slightly different poses

A fun candid

I couldn't figure out which shoes to wear with the outfit. Below were the two finalists. What do you think? Did I choose the right one?

With the Fluevog Giulias (exact)

With the Fluevog Guides

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Our Time at the Melrose Store

This was the first time E had visited Fluevog or tried on their shoes. She'd seen my collection over the years, of course, and loved the shoes, but she wasn't ready to try them on until this fall. Until she was happy with the results of her healthier eating and regular workouts, she didn't want to buy any new clothes or shoes. The plan was to lose all the excess weight she'd gained from having three kids, and woohoo she did it! She looks amazing. MP and I demanded that she leave her beautiful long hair down for this excursion, and you can see why. :-)

PSA: Fluevog Sale on Amazon! [ENDED]

I JUST found out about this sale on Fluevogs and lots of other brands (and handbags) at Amazon, and I had to share immediately because I don't know how long the sale will last. It's a whopping 30% off the newest Fall styles of Fluevogs, some of which probably won't go on sale during the January winter sale. If you're worried about your size running out (like I am, since they don't make many in the smallest and the largest sizes), this might be a good time to invest. I have a feeling I will, but I'm going to sleep on it ... hopefully the sale won't be over tomorrow!

You'll need to enter the promo code 30OFF100 during checkout.

The list of 32 women's Fluevog styles on sale is here (or click on the photo).

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The 10 men's Fluevog styles are here (or click on the photo).

xo, Gladys

Misty Purple and Jewel Toned Stripes

Dress: Ladakh via ModCloth | Shoes: Fluevog Angela (7th Heaven family)

The requisite hands-in-pocket photo, just to show you the dress has pockets :-)

There are more photos in this post than strictly necessary, but as I've noted before, I tend to post more photos when I especially like the outfit, simple as it is. I like both the dress and shoes very much. I blogged about the dress earlier this year in the spring, but the current photos are more true to life in terms of the colors. Last spring, we took the photos in harsh sunlight; this time around, the midday light was milder and thus better for photographing. (Also, I don't have my hands in my pockets in all of these photos like I did in the spring pix!)

I paired the dress with my new-ish Fluevogs, the Angela maryjanes (which I've also blogged about previously). I love how well they match, the purples, grays, and blacks. The purple and gray stripes on the dress aren't solid, but more like heather lavender and heather gray, which echo the swirly purple-and-gray of the shoes. It's a sufficiently-different look than when I wore the dress with my burgundy Fluevog Mini heels, and indeed wearing flats toned down the dressiness, which is exactly what I wanted.

I wore the outfit to my twin nephews' first birthday party last weekend. Aren't they delicious?? The theme of the party was Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which is sooooo perfect because my nephews are big eaters! And my sister-in-law hand-sewed those adorable personalized t-shirts. So cool!

It was a lot of fun, and OMG there was so much food. I definitely overdosed on carbs and sugar, which I'm still paying for this week. Yikes. (If anyone ever tells you that sugar and carbs aren't addictive substances, either they haven't really thought that carefully about it or they're lying! Or maybe they're one of the few lucky people on the planet who really don't like sweet things. lol)

And here's a last photo of the painted frog on my forearm. There was a face-painter at the party who looked a little bored, so I went over to get painted. But since I didn't want the paint on my face, my arm was a good substitute. I almost got a panda, but I thought this froggy was fun, even though from far away it looked like an old tattoo. The littles thought it was cool, though. :-)

xo, Gladys

Multicolor Chevron

Top: Newbury Kustom via ModCloth | Jeans: GAP outlet | Shoes: Fluevog Amie via Amazon

I really dig this top. It's another item I got during ModCloth's last 70% off sale! It was fun to wear when I volunteered at my son's kindergarten class for a few hours. It wasn't too dressy, and I appreciated the way it didn't cling to my curves but still looked slim. I noticed that the kids' eyes were really drawn to the print, too. I can't blame them. :-) I only wish I'd worn a less-baggy pair of jeans or pants. But still, it was a solid outfit that definitely fit the purpose.

xo, Gladys