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