July Retrospective & other bloopers

I have spent the past several days in grading mode and in the most comfortable clothing possible. Tonight I've worked on getting caught up with all my blog reading and then checking my spam. In the past month, my spam filter has collected over 116 messages from strange Russian blogs...some of which appear to be scraping and using my posts as writing assignments in their English classes. Hilarious!

However, in the act of deleting this junk, I inadvertently deleted 25 comments from my last post, including my replies to so many faithful readers. I am deeply sorry about this...Shea, Pam, and Reva in particular, the last to leave comments. I think I need to get up and walk away from my computer for a few hours...and do something else.

There are at least 4 looks in the collage that were never featured during the month.  At left, you'll find one of  two outtakes.  One is DH's favorite pic of the month, Terri in a tube top next to the giant tomato plant he warned me he would grow.  In April, he was imagining something 35 feet high...it is now 10 feet tall.  

Below, you'll find me in grandmother mode.  This game has provided hours of family fun, as it is something the little ones are ALWAYS better at than the grown-ups.





Come Monday, I will return to regular programming, with a month of mustards and corals.

Mystery Dress

 

Sometimes I wonder what direction my blog might take when this year of playing with a different color every month is over.  And while I have an idea or two, I doubt that my avid thrifting habits are likely to change.  Recently I've found myself pondering what it means to curate or archive a wardrobe.  I'm convinced that by the end of this year, I will have a collection of clothing that I love, that fits, and that I can remix indefinitely.  And, it will have to fit into ONE closet.  

But, curating could also mean collecting clothing for historical purposes and that was the impulse that caused me to snag this particular dress on a recent visit to a new thrift store.  The dress is nylon and has removable buttons.  I really, really like the utilitarian shirtwaist cut and it fits well, but I'm impressed that it was intended to be some sort of disposable dress, meant to be worn over something else.  My best guess is that perhaps it was a "lunch lady" dress, but truly, I'm clueless.

At left, I snapped a pic of one of the buttons.  I decided I'd offer this up for my readers to decipher.  The label reads "Frances Gee".  It cost me all of $2.99.

This post is my first contribution to a weekly meme on thrift store finds sponsored by Spunky Chateau and to another sponsored by Thriftaholics Weekly.  I know that I have many thrifters among my readers and I encourage you to participate as well.  And, if you are a new reader here, Welcome to Rags!



Now, tell me what this dress is.  Whether you can decipher it or not, do any of my readers find themselves keeping or collecting clothes for historical purposes?

Mr. Green Jeans

I had not realized until I began working on this post last night that a favorite childhood television program of mine, Captain Kangaroo, had been made into a cartoon in 80s.  The Captain came to mind because of his sidekick, Mr. Green Jeans.  For months now, I've shopped for a pair of brilliant green jeans to feature on my month of primary colors.  Of course, when I was watching this program in the early 60s, the program was filmed in black and white and the intense green of his jeans would have had to have been entirely in my imagination.  

It doesn't happen to me often, but sometimes a thrifter abandons her search for the trendy item she's shopping for in the thrifts after a few months.  I never did locate the green jeans I've searched for.  I've made do with bright yellow and red, as some of the photos below will show.

 






















Top left,  red jeans (button ups) by Levis; red striped blouse by Woolrich; jeans vest by Levis; ankle boots by Soft.  Top right,  yellow jeans by Rocky Mountain; jeans vest by Levis; ankle boots by Soft. Hair do by lake water.

Top left, copter beanie from our toybox, blue sleeveless tee by Merona; yellow jeans by Rocky Mountain; clogs by Swedish Comfort.  Top right, red jeans by Levis; striped blouse by Ralph Lauren.

Top left, umbrella from DH's stash of umbrellas; yellow crop by Strawberry Plant; tube top underneath to keep the photographer happy; blue jeans by Wrangler; clogs by Swedish Comfort.  Top right, sweat-er by Ralph Lauren; yellow jeans by Rocky Mountain.

I know that there are younger bloggers who probably wish we senior citizens would act our age, but playing with colors this bright has brought out a playful side that other colors have not.  Of course, bloggers like Suze at Miss Vinyl Ahoy, Franca at Oranges and Apples, and Helga at Helga von Trollop have known this all along.  Plus, I've color blocked for the first time in my life...and realized that I could do these bright colors indefinitely.

And if you don't remember Captain Kangaroo, perhaps this tune will jog your memory.

Any thoughts on acting one's age?

Visible Monday:

I've been snapping up knit shirt dresses as I've come across them this summer--as they remind me of the kind of thing I was wearing the year I graduated high school.  When I finally put this Tommy Hilfiger one on, I was a little worried...it was too little, but after an hour the DRESS relaxed and so did I.  I realized the bodice was cut to be form-fitting.  And it invited playing with accessories.  In this first shot, I'm sporting my only ball cap.  Across the front it reads, W-O-N.  Across the back it reads, W-E.  DH has one just like it, though his reads the opposite.  When we stand together, the caps read:  We Won. 


The caps were the only reward we gave ourselves for raising a blended family of eight ...and surviving to tell the tale.

You'll see that I tried it with my Levi's jeans vest and my Roma scarf as a belt.  I always admire women who use belts as scarves, but that is a trick I'm only just starting to try and it wasn't my favorite look with this dress.  

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I actually wore this pleated skirt and sweater to campus one day last week.  I had to go in for a day of training on a new version of the courseware I use to teach online.  This version is significantly different from my perspective...though my students will no doubt take to it like ducks to water.  Although I've been teaching online for ten years and consider myself a veteran, I sometimes wonder if I'd spent the same amount of time studying in my discipline area as I've spent learning versions of courseware, whether I could have had a PhD by now.  My apologies for the earrant bra strap--a flaw in every photo of this outfit I took.

But what could be more appropriate for this version of Visible Monday, an effort organized by Patti at NotDeadYetStyle.  This is open to all, but especially those who may wonder if they have somehow become invisible.   The more the merrier!  Join us next week.

EBEW: Tightwad Edition

When I heard about this extra July edition of EBEW, I didn't have to think very hard about what to wear.  The emphasis this time is on thrifted looks, and since everything I've worn this year is thrifted, it was a matter of selecting which of the ridiculously bright things I've been wearing this month I'd offer up.

In the summer, I am mostly a homebody, sitting in front of my computer and teaching Creative Writing and Introduction to Literature for several hours a day.  But, I ventured out into the world in this ensemble.  It was the first time all month that I could tell by the looks I got from others that perhaps I'd gone too far.  It was perfectly comfy for a day of running various errands in the big city (Kansas City), BUT the sidewise glances with nary a comment or a compliment subtly let me know that I'd finally GONE. TOO. FAR.







I am not especially critical of looks I see on anyone in public although I find it tremendously interesting to watch people and make inferences about their life circumstances (this is how fiction writers think).  I can only think of one look I have ever seen in public that I felt was over the top.  A pair of aged twin sisters were in my local Walmart in MATCHING lilac polyester pantsuits.  It was obvious that they had just come from the hairdressers and they were shopping together.   Their look was memorable to me; I trust I did not embarass them with my gawking.
 
This raises the question in my mind of how any of us is to know.  If you are experimenting with a new look and you can get beyond the initial self-consciousness, what cues tell YOU that you've somehow made a spectacle of yourself?

Heat Advisory: PhotoShop Edition

A week ago when we had returned home from our "Redneck Vacation", I took several photos in this blue Leslie Faye skirt.  We had not yet unpacked everything from our vehicle, including the tripod I usually use.  I was trying to make do with a little $2 tripod that I bought last December in a computer shop.  It seemed like a handy item--it is bendable so it can be placed in odd spots and also has a clip, so I could clip my camera in odd spots.    But the photos I shot that day were a total wash.  I intended to reshoot all of them.

 I complained about the heat on Monday, but it is getting worse rather than better...so warm, I can no longer bear to even check the heat index (115+).  In my lassitude I decided to see what I could do with bad pictures, if I did a little more editing than usual.  Typically, I only do an autocorrect and a quick crop to eliminate extraneous stuff in the photo.

In this case the photos were crooked, washed out, and the skirt did not look the vivid blue I knew that it was. 

You've seen all of these tops before, the blazer worn as a blouse was an idea I borrowed from Amandromeda at Off Broadway. The green polka dots were worn for an EBEW challenge in March. And the yellow tee and yellow belt have appeared here before. ~All thrifted.

What do you think about "enhancements" like this? The red sandals I am wearing are actually sort of a rust red in real life. Is it unethical to touch up things like contrast and saturation and ...









I've never taken a course in Photoshop and so my enhancements are pretty amateur. I had lunch today with my maid of honor from my remarriage 15 years ago. She makes her living as an agriculture/horse journalist and photographer. She told me a trick about making purple look true in photographs...it's the "vibrance" tool in Photoshop.

Tonight I have addressed 80 wedding invitations. And until I have graded all the sonnets, sestinas and villanelles in my Literature class, I won't be commenting much. But you can be assured I'll be catching up with all of you at my earliest opportunity.

Visible Monday: Watermelon and Coca Cola

We have been under a heat advisory in my neck of the woods for three days now...and we need to keep laying low until Friday when this inferno of humidity and high temperatures passes.  It tends to sap the life and creativity out of person...







Thank goodness for Visible Monday, an effort sponsored by Patti at NotDeadYet to coax those of us who worry about invisibility for whatever reason out of our shells.  This roundup of posts is open to all.  Check out the looks this week here.

I changed the look I had planned to post just so I could include this juicy piece of watermelon above.  I have come across a number of bloggers this summer who has sampled what they call a "watermelon" look, combining red and green.  At right, you'll see my version.  You've seen all the pieces before--the green tee is by Faded Glory, the green gingham blouse by Orvis, the red skirt by Ralph Lauren, all thrifted.  You'll never see them in this combination again.  I think this is only the second time this summer I've knotted a shirt.  Probably should have rolled the cuffs a second time.

Shortly after snapping this pic, I ate the entire piece of watermelon above.  It was a sweet one too, though I sort of miss the seeded melons and the ensuing fun with seeing how far a person could spit one.




We have a couple of baby watermelons we are babying along in our garden.  Watermelons have a tendency to disappear from one's garden about the time they are ripe.  We even discussed the possibility of placing an alarm on ours.
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We snapped this photo in early June, before the month of primary colors began at Rags. We were in a small Kansas town for a delightful jazz concert and had a bit of time to kill before the concert began. Somehow Friday's post about tanning, with always involved a can of Tab (remember the pink can and the lone calorie), brought this old commercial to mind. Any of my readers remember this?

Fashion Memories: Tanning

Earlier this week, we headed to my mother's lake home for two days to celebrate the birthday of my future son-in-law.  In the photo at left, you see Terri trying to remain true to the color scheme of the month and seated on our sea wall prior to start of the debauchery Sunday evening.

Below, you'll see me in my swimsuit & sarong, catching the two days of rays my skin gets every summer.   The suit is 5 years old, a Nike competitive swimmer's suit that offers no support, but plenty of easy movement.  It was NOT thrifted.  The sarong was a gift from one of my daughters.

I am of northern European descent and have fair skin with a number of moles.  Over the years, these moles have been of interest to African-American acquaintances.  A dorm-mate in college exclaimed, "Girl, those will drive the guys wild!"  and a neighbor child in a former neighborhood saw the moles on my back and thought I had rocks embedded in my skin.  When I swim in lake water, fish think I'm something to nibble on.  But this heritage is no laughing matter; my paternal grandmother died too young of a fast growing skin cancer on her arm. 

During my high school years (late 60s, early 70s) I was somewhat obsessive about tanning.  If salons existed then, I didn't use them, but faithfully spent from 1-3 p.m. each day on the family's suburban patio.  I slathered myself in baby oil and turned every 15 minutes.  Some in this time period would concoct a mix that included cocoa butter.  I had a beautiful golden tan.

In college, at the end of one spring semester, a number of my dorm-mates trooped to the roof of our dorm where we thought we could safely tan topless.  I spent all of one afternoon baking, baking, baking and shaking my fist at an interested ROTC helicopter that seemed to hover overhead.  I received second degree burns for my efforts.  For several nights I slathered my skin in Noxema and lay spread-eagled on a top sheet, unable to stand the feel of any cloth against my skin.  When I did resume dressing, two nickel-sized blisters on the inside of each breast actually touched in my cleavage.  As that burn healed, I was left with a number of leathery freckles on my chest.  Observant readers will have noticed the remnants of this experience in a few of my photos.

Several years ago, a dermatologist removed the worst of these freckles.  Perhaps it was a good thing that I learned the effects of the sun so young.  For thirty years now, I don't avoid the sun, but I have never again sought it out as I did in my teen years.

My daughter and future son-in-law have tattoos and take very good care of their skin.  They shared their high SPF protection with me this vacation.  I found myself musing though about WHY I'd not been so conscientious about it in my younger days.  I started poking around for information on the history of sunblock and realized why.  I was raised on advertisements for Coppertone that featured a little girl with a puppy tugging at the rear of her suit; tanning was of a high value.  Rates of skin cancer had not yet skyrocketed to the point that the government stepped in.  From a casual reading of articles on sun-block/protectant it sounds like plenty of debate remains on the usefulness of highly-touted products. 

My mother, a red-head with a freckled complexion, has suffered from a number of falls in recent years.  At long last, this problem was addressed with prescription strength Vitamin D, something our bodies need for strong bones.  The best natural source, of course, is sunshine.  So, I take my necessary sunshine in small doses now.  My skin is haunted with strange little spots, as the ghosts of former tanning sessions surface.

What is your approach to the effects of the sun? 

And if you're interested, here is a glimpse of our "Redneck Vacation," complete with Terri planking.

On Location: Italy

I'm doing my first ever guest post today for Alessandra at her blog Mode Moods.  I met her while doing the 30 for 30 Remix last November.  I like her simple formula for blogging...and was astounded to see her one day in her wedding gown!  She had not breathed a word about this big event on her blog.  So, while she's honeymooning, I'm a stand in.  Really wish I was in Italy though.

I hope to belatedly edit this post with my yellow entry for EBEW later today, but in the meantime, check on the Feminist Fashion Bloggers as they consider the intersection of Fashion and Class.

Yellow jeans by Rocky Mountain--thrifted
White tee "We Can Do It"--thrifted, .99
Boots by Soft--thrifted

Visible Monday: on Location

At long last, I am adding a look of my own to the Visible Monday meme at NotDeadYet.  This is open to anyone who wants to test their visibility and link up to others who are also testing those boundaries.

I wore this last Monday as part of my month of primary colors.  The skirt is woven material, with bits of almost every bright color.  On this day, I wore it with a simple blue tee and flip-flops.  And, yes, I was working--I graded 25 papers that day, sitting in front of my computer at my dining room table.  Though my students may never see me, it does wonders to bother dressing!

Saturday, we attended the Great Midwest Balloon Fest.  In keeping with the color scheme of the month, I slipped on this Banana Republic skirt, a simple blue tee, and the flip-flops agains.  But notice how the outfit morphs over the course of the day--as the day crept toward 100 degree temperatures.

Sometimes a different background can make an outfit pop, but on this day and in these temperatures, my tee was sweat through the back.  Luckily, I'd found a summer top in a thrift we'd shopped earlier in the day.  And though I look a bit bedraggled in this last look, it was the first time I've ever used a thrift for emergency dressing.  The three variations on the outfit show us something about the wearability of an outfit.  Sometimes the look I have on when I snap the photo for the blog can morph completely in a day's time.


The weather wasn't cooperating with the festival.  For much of the afternoon, gigantic kites filled the sky.  Wind gusts were such that the balloons could not safely go up.  In the meantime, we watched this parasailer.

And drank lemonade and munched on corn on the cob from this junk food stand.  I was hot and grumpy enough that I was ready to head home, but at dusk a few of the balloons began to inflate.

Above you'll see one the shaped balloons, "When Pigs Fly" and in the distance "Humpty Dumpty."  The balloons have a weird beauty at dusk as their propane torches fire.

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 I am at an undisclosed location, working on a computer that does not "remember me,"  so while my commenting may be slow in the next few days, I will be in touch soon.

Blogging Blunders

About once a month, I take a peak at the stats page for my blog.  This page gives me all sorts of useful information, like what other sites may be driving traffic to Rags, what internet browser my readers use, what time of day that traffic is heaviest, where in the world my readers come from, and what posts have been most popular.

Mater at Materfamilias Writes made a discovery this week that entire posts of hers were being scraped and reposted without permission elsewhere on the net.  Veshoevius wrote a fairly comprehensive post about this months ago and what a blogger could to about it.  She mentioned Rags as one of the blogs she was acquainted with that had been scraped.

Even more interesting to me are the search terms people have used that might bring them to Rags.  Last fall one of my more popular posts was one simply entitled "Witches?" around the time that the Christine O'Donnell story was raging in the news.  The post was a simple one, showing me in jeans and posed with a broom, explaining a form of exercise I practice.  I am certain it was not this early post that drew people to my blog; it was media hounds looking for more dirt on O'Donell.

This past month, two of the search terms were "Sassy Sisters:  Nude Heel edition" and "Black Hole Bloggers".  I pondered for a moment...and then it hit me like a ton of bricks.  It wasn't fellow fashion bloggers looking for my incisive commentary on these things; it was people doing searches for what they hoped were titillating pornographic images.  I nearly threw up.  One of these posts featured two of my daughters.  And though they were fully clothed, I felt nauseous that I had in any way "pimped" my own daughters.

I have quite a stockpile of photos of my daughters that I had hoped to use in future posts.  We've had FUN doing the photo shoots...and they have wondered why I haven't featured them lately.  I explained the situation to them.  As I've pondered this during the week, I've come to the conclusion that it is not the photos but the words I have used to described the post that brought these "inquiring eyes" to my blog.  So, I am taking a deep breath here and posting a pic of each daughter today.  If there is ANY word in this post that carries a connotation I have not previously thought of, would my readers point it out to me?

This is my oldest M. who scored this Gap dress on a grand thrifting expedition over the 4th.  She found the shoes by Fioni too. 

The expedition blew the thrifting budget for the month of June and yet, I was pleasantly surprised when the girls pitched in and together paid the ticket on MY loot for the day.

M. is likely to make more appearances at Rags in upcoming months as she returns to the midwest to attend school.

 P. found her "hippie" top on a prior thrifting expedition in March.  We tend to do these thrifting expeditions quarterly and with lunch and a drink or two, it makes for a fun day out. 

I love the swirl of colors in the top, but that word "hippie" has all sorts of connotations.  My students are forever assuming I was once a hippie--although I was in middle-school during the heighth of Haight -Ashbury.  I did mimic the style in my dress for a time, but I like to think that I was on the tail end of it in the early 70s.

And this is K. during our March photo shoot.  The tat surely fits my color scheme for the month.  I like this girly-tough look, but it is one that I'm convinced I can NOT pull off at the ripe old age of 57.

Now SCRUTINIZE.  Have I written anything that would send the creeps this way?

Life Skills: Hula Hooping

I am fond of saying, "I didn't learn that in college." It's true, in spite of being an academic, that there are many life skills I've had to learn the hard way. Hula-hooping is not one of them. Meg at Meg's Ragged Edge and I challenged each other last week to post videos of ourselves hooping. Check hers out--she's good. I'm not. The voice you hear in the background is my middle daughter P. coaching me. And the figure in the background would be my oldest daughter M. who was in town for the 4th of July holiday.

Below, the first of my primary color outfits.  This was snapped on the 4th, when DH and I revisited the Missouri River.  We sought out the original site of the "City of Kansas" and found there a quai that allowed a broad sweep of the river and the multitude of bridges that cross it.  The day was steamy hot and we found many of our local homeless lounging in skimpy clothing along the river bank.  It was a healthy reminder not just of the natural wonders of the USA, but also of the harsh economic realities many Americans are dealing with.

My garb is nothing remarkable-- the green tee has a tag inside that reads "Vanity."  The blue shorts, shorter than my usual, are by Jones New York.  The red tennies are by "City Sneaks" ~~all thrifted.  The "LiveStrong" 'bracelet' a gift from my daughter P. several years ago.  Photo by DH.

Now, I want to know what is the most significant life skill you learned outside of school.

Color of the Month: Bright & Primary

I suspect that I am about to make a big fool of myself during the month of July.  What you see at left is merely a turning point from black to the primary colors I want to play with this month.  The goal will be to work 3-4 primary colors into every outfit.  Long time readers will know that I've been playing with colors for 6 months now, although I tend to be a 2-note mixer.  June upped the ante with three colors...and July, well, we'll see!

As I lay the possibilities out across the guest room bed, I gulped.  There are several winter sweaters (sweat-ers) and several pair of tights.  DH selected this pair of tights for me on a recent thrift store excursion.  He actually liked a pair of psychedelic paisley better, but was pleased that HE had found something I would purchase and then wear.  As I pulled up this pair of "blue sky" I suddenly knew why they were in the thrift store.  The clouds are printed onto the tights and not woven into the fabric, so there is a line up the inside and outside of either leg.  Sometimes you get what you pay for.

I'm curious though.  I implicitly trust DH decisions in our interior design, but I'm far less trusting about his dressing me.  Do you ever let your partner select clothing for you?  Do you like what your partner selects?

Bags and Tags

Sometime last week, oomph tagged me to do a post on the contents of my purse.  Until Rags began publishing regularly last August, I was not in the habit of carrying a purse.  I carried a brief case or a book bag, but if I was out and about, it was my wallet only.    And that wallet was firmly clamped under my arm. For many years I thought of purses as a visible sign of a person's vulnerability.  In one fell swoop, an interested person could make off with another's identity.

Above you'll see the tiny collection of bags I've accumulated while thrifting this past year.  The black bag on the left is made of some sort of synthetic material and features one zip and one outer pocket.  It's marketed by Talbots, though I bought it for $3.  The middle bag in the middle is by Mark Thompson, a maker of leather goods for travelers.  It has many little pockets and zippers and places to secure pens.  The strap is adaptable so it can be worn as a backpack or carried as a purse.  The leather is buttery soft.  And when I googled it, I was amazed to find it was originally a $175 bag which I'd found for $7.  The bag on the right is the one I'm currently carrying.  I bought it for .99.  The tag inside says Marizio Taituti, made in Italy.  I like the woven leather.

One of my pet peeves is women rooting around in purses big enough to carry the kitchen sink.  You may have everything with you...but whether you can find it or not is another question.  Below, you'll see what I was carrying on Thursday when I met my daughters and my mother for lunch.

~my wallet bulging with change that needs to go into the change jar, cards, coupons, sewing tape.
~the receipt from the car payment I made
~date book, where I keep a rough schedule of blog posts

~a button I got at last weekend's Maker Faire
~one allergy tab
~a mini tripod
~a men's handkerchief, used once
~spare battery and charger for my camera
~gum
~a lighter
~flossers
~one huge bobby pin for French roll purposes.
~my keys
~camera case (I got quite caught up in the philosophical problem of how one takes a photo of their camera.  My camera is a Sony Cybershot)
~four turnips, a gift from our garden to my mother.

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In recent months I have been tagged a number of times.  I haven't forgotten:  Adrienne at A Rich Life; Chalkdust at Chalkdust and Boots; Meri at Meri-Go-Round; and Rad from Cohabitating Closet have all tagged me at one time or another.  I have forgotten the terms of the various awards, but it often means revealing 7 things about yourself that your readers might not have known.  So in the spirit of "playing well with others" here goes:

1)  My husband and I have captured a number of bee swarms.  

2)  I was "detained" for skinny dipping in a geyser pool in a national park.

3)  Twice this year, I have been a bridesmaid.

4)  I do not carry or own a cell phone and it keeps my life sane.

5)  I am envious of my students who have participated in NaNoWriMo.

6)  I once lost my glasses and was too blind to drive home.  I tried, but could not read the signs.  Took my first exit off the Interstate and ended up on a dead end in a railroad yard at 11 p.m.  I was driving my sportscar and dressed to the nines from a conference I'd attended that day.  A man in overalls chuckled at my dilemma, called my husband, and gave him directions on how to retrieve me.

7)  If I could pursue another degree, it would be in American history.

I'd like to pass the "tag" along to 

Keri at the Chronicles of Lady K.

Lori at Lori's Wardrobe

Ofelia at My Intended Life 

Cynthia at Be Fabulous Daily 

Paula at fashion over fifty 

Serene at The Elegant Bohemian 

Ana at She's Addicted to Clothes 

as well as any other of my readers who would like to play.  Please don't feel obligated.  Take your time...even six months if necessary.