The Spoils: Etsy Seller Sandy a la Mode

I don't know what else to say except that I am officially obsessed with hair pins. I didn't even know that I loved them until Sandy from Sandy a la Mode debuted her Etsy store. Maybe I only love hers. Who knows!

Thankfully, I follow her twitter and jumped on these pretty little things with a quickness. God, I love them. I almost don't even want to share her Etsy store link with you because I want to hoard all the goodies for myself, but I won't, because that would be insanely rude.

Sandy a la Mode on Etsy!

OH, AND HI. After shipping, I paid $9 total. NINE DOLLARS. I feel like a criminal. A criminal with pretty pins in her hair.

Daily Outfit - Kate - 8/16/10

It's Monday. I could thus only put forth a bare minimum of effort. However, I don't feel that the result was one of those "bare minimum" looks.



It may not look like much here, but this outfit was great - comfy and flowy and sexy (love those peeptoes!) and with great accessories.



What more could a girl ask for?

Dress: thrifted, BCBG
Cardi: Target, spring 2010
Heels: Kenneth Cole, via DSW
Necklace, earrings: mi madre

Daily Outfit - Kate - 6/21/10

If you think I look unusually fresh and lively today, there's a reason.



You see, it was nearly 100* in St. Louis today, and I suspected (rightly so) that two bike rides in these surface-of-the-sun temperatures would place my skin tone somewhere past "healthy glow" and into "disgusting" territory. And let's not even talk about the bicycle grease on the leg, or the sweaty pits or the limp hair. Let's just...NOT.

So anyway. I took my outfit pictures before work today. Craziness, I know!



I'm all the time thinking, "Why don't I wear these shoes?" And then about twice a year I pull them out and put them on and within 5 minutes say "OH. THAT'S WHY."

Skirt: Marshall's, 2005
Tee: GAP outlet, summer 2008(?)
Cardigan: Target, Spring 2009
Wedges: Payless, circa 2004
Ring: booth at Maple Leaf
Earrings: MOM

Daily Outfit - Kate - 4/5/10

The fashion magazines and makeover TV shows always talk about outfits "which can take you from work to after-work drinks in two easy steps."

Well, I have simplified it even more. Behold:

1)Go to work wearing this:


2)After work, go have drinks with co-workers wearing this:


Presto change-o, it's called "no one there cares what you look like anyway."

You'll thank me later.

In other words, this outfit is actually a bit of a breakthrough for me, because it's the first time I've worn this skirt with anything but a blue tee and black cardigan. I've had it for aaaaaages and I love it, but I've always been trapped in that "this is what I wear it with" box. Which, as you may know, is an exceedingly hard box to get out of. But I have succeeded! Maybe. Sort of.

Anyway, cute + comfortable + spring-y = win in my book :-)



Tee: GAP outlet, summer 2009
Cardigan: Target, winter 2009/2010
Flats: Michelle D (Dillards), summer 2006 or 2007
Skirt: American Eagle, 2005 (I was visiting Jeff in St. Louis when I bought this - he was napping and I didn't want to just sit around his parents' house being a nuisance, so I went to the mall and bought this)
Necklace: Don't remember. Very old.
Bracelet: mumsiewumsie
Earrings: Twisted Silver

Daily Outfit - Kate - 3/24/10

I'm feeling ornery today.



Even so, I'm rather proud of this outfit. I've had this skirt since high school and I've always worn it one way - with my old teal button-down and strappy black sandals. This was the first time ever - EVER - that I've worn it with anything else. I'm branching out! And it doesn't totally suck!

Oh, and check out the belt - that's one of my Sarasota finds! I'm madly in love with the color :-)



Also, it's official. I *must* find a fair replacement for this cardigan. It's what I really wanted to wear with today's outfit, but I've gotten to the point where I "save" it more worthy days. So I wore the pictured cardigan instead, which I don't like nearly as well. ::sigh::

What do you think? Is it stupid to "save" my favorite items? Even if they're raggedy 10-year-old white cardigans?

I kinda like the tone-on-tone necklace, by the way. It added a little texture to the outfit, I think, without a whole bunch of color discordance.



Button-down: Sears, summer 2008
Cardigan: Francesca's Collections, summer 2009
Skirt: really freaking old. Originally Kohls, maybe?
Boots: Born, winter 2008/2009
Necklace: Ummm...Kohls?
Ring: MacroSun

PS>What's the verdict on boots-without-tights? Acceptable springtime wear, or kinda trashy? Hopefully the former.