On Dealing with Temptation

You know I didn't forbid myself to shop in thrift stores this year, I just set a firm annual budget of $1200.  I knew this would mean delaying gratification if I wanted a NEW luxe item by the end of 2012.  Early in January, Mette challenged me to purchase the luxe item now.  As I don't know where one shops Hermes scarves in KC, I went to eBay and spent hours scrolling through what purported to be Hermes scarves.  And I found one, by Sophie Koechlin that I liked.  Her l'Art Indien des Plaines appealed to me as a Midwesterner.  The scarf was priced at $179 to start, but I placed no bid.  I was worried about the seller--someone from my area, but one who had previously only sold electronics.  On the other hand, the seller had 100% satisfaction ratings.  I read up on the artist and the scarf, flipping back and forth between the thumbnail on the Hermes site and the eBay site.  I knew what my top dollar would be and after several days of watching, I went to bed the night before the auction ended dreaming of the blues and browns and greys in this scarf.  I told myself that if I woke before the auction closed, I would place a last minute bid.  Apparently a number of others had the same strategy.  The price shot up $125 overnight, far beyond my price range.

For two weeks this month, I didn't even enter a thrift store.  I was going stir crazy with so much time on my hands, as was DH.  By now, he has fully repaired the antique organ he bought January 1.  And it is a beauty.  He's trolling for another to apply his tinkering skills.  But he's on the search for baskets, books, and broken fishing poles.  In the past year, I've apparently turned my husband into a thrift store junkie!

I tried "picture shopping" in one, snapping a photo of a Gauginish jumpsuit I would never wear, but could easily picture on Sarah at Misfits Vintage.  I splurged .49 on a pair of lace gloves.

And then, we discovered antique stores.  I had not known such places sold clothing--hats, jewelry, hankies, hand-stitched lace, purses, bag pipes, accordions, and dresses.  In one I found the ribbons from an old uniform that might have completed my Visible Monday look.  I resorted again to my camera, trying to delay the urge to own another's defunct finery.  I tried to satisfy myself with "owning" the photograph of the item.  But Saturday, I bought an old cardboard funeral fan.  Should that be deducted from my budget?  It is essentially a prop.

Antique stores present an interesting dilemma to me.  I love strolling through them to have memories reawakened, but the idea that others not much older than myself and DH are selling treasures they've hoarded for years seems very, very poignant to me.

Skirt by Anne Taylor Loft; rust turtleneck by Talora; military style jacket by Ralph Lauren.
 
I am happy to report that I spent $30 on clothing in the month of January, all from thrifts.  That's better than last year's monthly average, but not as good as I'd hoped.  We've already begun to joke that the luxe item may end up being at DH's expense next Christmas.  Anyone know any tricks for delaying gratification?

Don't delay in joining the gang at Visible Monday.

Leche Vitrine: Big Lots

 

Imagine my surprise this week to learn that the French term "leche vitrine" literally means 'window licking', a term I'd attributed to Catherine at Aesthetic Alterations.  How does one say "Big Lots" or 'dead horse' in French?

After a month of lurking in dollar stores, I've yet to spend a penny on anything fashion or beauty related, though I was tempted by a pearl headband and the natural bristle brushes above.  The Blind Hem, a blog I admire for its FINE writing on the various aspects of fashion in our lives, has offered to republish one of my series in the Window Shopping project each month of the coming year.

You'll quickly see from my fuzzy photos above that Big Lots offers bargains on brand name closeouts.  In the past I've bought food items there (Frugal Scholar has often brought these to my attention) and once I became enamored of a double-wide recliner, big enough for DH and I.  Big Lots operates 1500 stores in 48 states.  

The field has grown crowded in recent years.  Some of the most interesting of these stores are independently operated, often by immigrants as you can see in the array of merchandise in the video below.  One retail analyst, Sandra J. Skrovan, has found that shoppers with secure jobs often shop here to save the pennies on basics, in order to spend them on outfits in specialty stores.  Big Lots may be protected from so much competition in this category of stores because their primary shopper is middle-class.  And a large part of their inventory is in "consumables," the pizza crusts and fermented sodas I've pictured above.

Inventory control is crucial in these stores.  A walk around the 99 cent store pictured in this video found that there were signs everywhere--You break it, you buy it!  And I felt followed by the proprietor of the store though I was truly interested in the curiosity of folding reading glasses, among other items.

I'm ready to up my game in February, tackling the discount department stores like Walmart, Target, perhaps K-Mart, and then Old Navy.  I'm curious to know what kinds of items my readers might buy in these stores so I can put them on my shopping radar.  I'm going through thrift store withdrawals, but I'll talk more about that on Monday.

Promises, Promises

It's been a source of frustration that I haven't located the brown t-straps or oxfords I want and need to experiment with a few of my looks.  I found this circle skirt in November.  It's wool skirt by Isda and features a fine hand-stitched detail.  In the top look, I've paired it with an angora sweater that I've talked myself out of wearing multiple times in the past year, thinking I'm too old for such things...but it was the only thing that seemed to work with the skirt on this morning in December.

Notice how much shoes change the look in the outfit below.  I have had a long unkept promise to Arianne at Style Sud-Est Montreal to wear my oxfords with anklets.  So that promise is kept, but now I have another.  She's tagged me, dang it.  I haven't done anything like this in a while and I do have a few new readers.








 Here are The Rules:

• Post these rules.
• You must post 11 random things about yourself
• Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post
• Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
• Go to their blog and tell them that you've tagged them.
• No stuff in the tagging section about 'you are tagged if you are reading this' You have to tag 11 peeps.

  11 random things about me - 

• I was once detained for skinny-dipping in a national park.
• My picture has been in People magazine.
• I have captured several swarms of bees.
• My favorite food truly is beans.
• I drink my coffee strong and black.
• I live in a former funeral home.
• I drive a black sportscar.
• We often keep a pygmy goat as a pet.
• I listen to the radio 24/7 since 9/11.
• I have a secret room off my study.
• I studied piano for many years, but can scarcely play.

My Answers to Arianne's Questions:

• What do you think makes you unique?  The fact that I actually READ.
• What is you hidden talent?  Creative writing.
• If you had the choice, where would you live?  Kansas.  ;
• The things you hate to do?  Clean the oven
• The worst injustice?  Denying equal education to children/students of ALL backgrounds.
• Fast fashion or vintage?  Vintage
• Red wine or white wine?  Wine gives me a headache!
• What makes it that you will be loosing your patience?  Students who don't listen to instructions the first time.
• Favorite male actor and why?  I'm drawing a blank...Robert Duvall
• High heels or low heels?  Low
• Favorite subject in school?  If I could go back, I would study history.  

My questions for my Taggees:

• Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
• What controversy are you undecided about?
• What is your favorite book of all time?
• What is your earliest memory?
• What is your favorite color?
• What kind of music do you like?
• What item would you NEED on a deserted island?
• What is your pet peeve?
• What nicknames have you had?
• What would you never thrift?
• What item would you want if money were no issue?

And the taggees are?

• Serene
• The Citizen Rosebud
• Meri
• Ki
• Small Fabric of my Life
• Shelley
• Charlotta 
• Franca
• Raquelita
• Leia
• Catherine

Arianne and I travel in the same blogging circles.  It's a challenge to come up with a list!

Visible Monday: Tweed

 

I haven't run an outdoor photo in weeks, though once I cropped this with the panther in the lower right I decided it was time I should.  Meet "Kitty," our cat of indeterminate sex and of determinate neuroses.  He'll/she'll do most anything for a Greenie and lives in the workshop because of one of these neurosis.

As in every other outfit I've posted this month, I'm sporting my Frye boots, this time with a tweed skirt by Ralph Lauren.  I bought it in this size 6, even though I should have known better, because of the blue fleck in the wool.  As I pondered the problem of how to get around the size problem, I hit upon the trick  all expectant mothers have probably used with our jeans--the rubber band or hair tie, then covered that up with the leather belt!  It worked and the skirt is perfectly comfortable.  I suppose this is a sign of MY neurosis!

The fine gauge turquoise sweater is by Banana Republic.  The camel coat below is by Talbots.  ALL items made in the U.S.A! And ALL items thrifted. 



But like most of us, I have 5 pounds that come and go on a seasonal basis.  This pic was snapped BEFORE Christmas and BEFORE the full effects of the winter weight.  Some years I have worried about this, but if I can refrain from the worry as my mother advises, the weight does seem to magically disappear when the weather grows warmer.  Do any of my readers find this to be true?

This post is one of many to see at Visible Monday.    Join Patti and the gang at Not Dead Yet Style as we resist the too easy temptation to become invisible.

DG: Dolce & Gabanna? (video working)

For years, my father owned stock in Dollar General. In the last decade of his life, he told me several times that the standard of living would eventually need to even out worldwide. While I didn't then completely understand the implications of his prophecy, simply owning such stock might have been a clue of what lay ahead for Americans. When he passed in 2004, my mother likely sold this stock, but in recent years the store has done very well for itself.  In 2010, Dollar General beat the famous Italian fashion house in the acquisition of the label "DG" symbol as their Internet address.  Today, the store has over 9,500 stores.  It will open 625 new stores this year, creating 6,000 jobs.

While I shopped these stores as repositories of craft items (see Heather Mann's blog Dollar Store Crafts) and then as a place for inexpensive toys for the grandchildren, most of the growth in recent years is due to shoppers earning over $70,000 and who are anxious about that.  They'll shop using the store's tiny shopping carts, which give the buyer the impression that even a small pile of goods is lavish.  The secret of a good dollar store is in the layout and obsessive managers who can monitor 8,000 to 10,000 items.

On a recent stroll through a Dollar General in Topeka, the video above represents what caught my eye as possibly fashion or beauty related.  As we shopped, another shopper stalked up and down the aisles loudly complaining to a person on the other end of his phone about some problem he needed to report to the FBI.  DH was with me to provide cover for my picture taking, but he actually purchased two packages of men's cotton briefs that day and light bulbs.  On another day, we returned to our local Dollar General for two more packages of underwear.  24 new pairs of underwear for $20.  Men's underwear sales go down when the economy is in a slump, so perhaps this is a good sign for the American economy.  As we drove home, DH did wonder about the working conditions of those who had made his new "small clothes."

You'll notice if you look closely at the items in my video that the majority are MORE than a dollar.  Often the stores seem to be in disarray, a fact that seems to be a deliberate marketing strategy.  The lines are often long and the clerks morose, as you would likely be if you worked for minimum wage.  A recent article by Alice Hines at the Huffington Post wrote about DG's expanded grocery sections.  Many of the new DGs have opened in areas that are devoid of supermarkets, or "food deserts."  And some studies have found a correlation between diet-related illnesses and living in the vicinity of such stores.  There ARE hidden costs to low cost items.  Her article went on to describe communities that have fought back against dollar stores that look to open in their area, much as communities have banded against Walmart stores.

I bought nothing myself on this recent window shopping trip, although the bleach IS a bargain.  I found myself wondering about shoppers who would not be caught dead shopping in such stores either for ethical reasons or because of the potential to encounter characters like the man on his cell phone.  Are there people who would be as nervous to shop a lower end store as I would be to walk into a Hermes-Paris showroom?

Ugly Sweaters

Spring semester begins today and as this posts, I am back to the grindstone. My first class will be American Literature from 1865--Present and generally begins with a quick review of American history for the sake of context. I often ask students to do a brief freewrite of their prior knowledge of American history and it is fascinating, and frequently amusing to hear their versions. It's helpful to be reminded of this in a course I've taught so many times before. What seems second nature to an instructor often is NOT to a student.

This was most vividly demonstrated to me one summer when I taught research paper writing and wanted to explore the ethics of having dropped the atom bombs on Japan at the close of WW2. I was astounded that some students had not known the USA had done this and after a little more probing, I realized that I would need to devote a couple of weeks to a brief, but still cursory review of WW2, before we could proceed with the question.

But this is a post about the sweaters I wear around the house in the winter time. I was reminded of them during meetings Tuesday as classrooms were still being warmed up. Likewise, we keep our thermostat set in the high 60s during most of the winter and snuggle up with sweaters and thick socks around the house. I own 4 of these ugly sweaters that almost never leave the house.

The grey one on the far left carries a Woolf Brothers label, so it originally came from an upscale department store in the Kansas City area.  The middle camel and black checked number is by Pendleton and is actually in good shape, though it has shoulder pads.  And on the far right, is a sweater by Indigenous Designs; in spite of the native patterns knit into it, it was made in Armenia.  All of these were purchased at thrift stores and NOW is a good time to shop them if you are in the market for heavy sweaters.  The fourth one is the one I wore in the tulip post last spring.

Do you have sweaters that fall in this category..."not to be worn outside the house", but cozy, cozy, cozy?  And what embarrassing omissions of history might you have been caught not knowing?

Eat Your Oatmeal

Some of my readers are no doubt visiting Savers or Value Village Stores today where there is 50% off on this national holiday in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.
I found this heavy knit dress at one such sale in the depths of summer when no one was thinking about heavy things like this (I'll bet it weighs 3 pounds).  Learning to shop off season, 6 months ahead or 6 months behind, is standard operating procedure for thrift shopping.

I've paired it with my Frye boots and the braided belt I wore with last Monday's knit successfully.  But the color leaves something to be desired.

You'll see I tried to perk things up with one or two or three of the "nut" necklaces I lusted over to the point that Christina at Second Skin Style gave them to me.  Even as I did so, I laughed.  You see, I think of this as my "oatmeal" dress and when I'm served oatmeal at my mother's house, I have my choice of nuts, dried fruit, and maple syrup to add.

What would you add to this look? Or your oatmeal?  And how might you be celebrating this national holiday?  

Dress by French Creek Sheep & Wool Company, 

66% cotton; 34% linen

This post is linked to Visible Monday.  Join the gang at Not Dead Yet Style. 

Also linked to Trending Through the Decades:  Neutrals.

An Evening in Paris

Some of my readers are old enough to remember old-fashioned dime-stores.   Merchandise similar to what we find in modern day dollar stores was on display without packaging, often in bins with glass dividers.  One item that inevitably drew my attention as I wandered the aisles with my meager allowance in hand was a tiny midnight blue bottle of Evening in Paris.  The dime store wanted .79 and my allowance was .25.  I don't think I ever managed to delay gratification long enough to purchase a bottle.  I don't recall that I ever even sampled the aroma.

Many of the articles I've read on dollar stores pinpoint this same aspect of "treasure hunting"  This week the New York Times reported that:

"In November, for example, Dollar Tree, the largest chain that sells only $1 items, reported quarterly net sales of 1.6 billion at its more than 4,000 locations in the United States and Canada, up nearly 12 percent from the same period the previous year."

While the bulk of the items that draw shoppers to these stores are cleaning supplies and food items, health and beauty items are part of the mix that makes up half of Dollar Tree's business.  The stores are masters too of the seasonal sale.  When I visited a week ago, Valentine's Day items were everywhere.

Watch the video to see all the items I didn't buy!    A number of the items though brought memories to mind.  I'll bet a few of us remember the Breck girl and her luminous hair.  Or the brands of bar soap pictured here.  The bottle of cold cream gave me pause as I remembered the jar of Pond's my widowed grandfather gave me one Christmas before I knew what it was for.  Of all of his grandchildren, I supposedly looked most like my grandmother and perhaps he wanted me to preserve that face for posterity.  The eyelash curler brought to mind the story of a classmate who jerked out all of her eyelashes one morning before school, trying to learn to use the dang thing.  And, at our house, the lint rollers are used to groom the workshop cat you've seen in a few of my photos.

One reader last week told me I should have begun with the Dollar Tree as everything is truly a dollar unlike Family Dollar.  Meri and Kelly were tremendously helpful in helping getting my plan of attack for this year long window shopping attack.  Here's the order I've come up with:

January--dollar stores
February--Walmart, Kmart, Target (argh Jason Wu begins February 5!), Old Navy
March--JCPenney, Kohls
April--H&M,  Forever21
June--TJ Maxx, Marshalls
July--Gap/American Apparel
August--outlets
September--J. Crew, Banana Republic, Anthropologie
October--Dillards
November--boutiques
December--Nordstroms, Halls

What's missing at this point would be consignment shops.  Where would shops like Ann Taylor, BCBG, Betsey Johnson, Charlotte Rusee, Chicos, Express, Harolds, J. Jill, Steinmart, and Talbots fit into the picture?  And where should I put our Kate Spade store?

I Smell a Skunk

This edition of Every Body Every Wear fulfills several unkept promises.  In look #1, I'm wearing what might have been my mother-of- the-bride look in September, if I'd only been able to locate an appropriate white blouse.  The red crinoline is tucked safely under the heavy sateen of this Susan Bristol skirt.  As luck would have it, I found this blouse, weighed down with pearls on the collar and the cuff, a month later.  I was slightly dubious about so many pearls, but DH raved about it...  He doesn't do that very often.  The blouse is by "Alexandra."

In this second variation on a theme, I am wearing the trousers my husband frequently wore when we were married 15+ years ago. I'd promised Iman at Mishaps and Miracles that I would try this eventually. Though DH could still squeeze into them, they fit me better than my own best black slacks. The bow tie is a derivative from an idea I saw at Susie Bubble month's ago. She was sporting a lace bow tie. I've searched for wired lace and never found it, though I opted for this patterned white and bought at entire roll of the stuff in the bridal department at Michaels. I like wire in these feminine bow ties. It allows you to make a fresh bow tie each time you wear it and the wire gives you some control over the shape of the ribbon. I like mine with a whimsical shape.

And finally, I've added a velvet swing jacket so that it looks like I'm going places, even though these pictures were snapped during a morning at home with very good light.

On an unrelated note, we've detected skunk smells around the house off and on for the past two months.  We smelled it in our garage one day.  It awoke DH from a nap one evening.  We've sniffed high and low for the source of the smell.  I suspected that we might have a polecat that I had taken a liking to our dryer vent, but the house is on three levels and we catch whiffs on all three.  Would any of my readers have a clue what we might be dealing with?

Visible Monday: No Knees!

I was so excited when I found this simple knit dress by Style Studio several months ago.  I mused that its plainness might encourage me to experiment more with accessories.  I hauled out last year's Frye's boots (which I haven't yet worn enough to justify the cost) and began to mix and match.  In the first look, I've added a fur collar the same color as the dress.  I found that bit of fur in a thrift a year ago, for $1.50.  It is the only "fur" in my entire wardrobe.

In the look on the left, I had stitched together two "Christmas" ties featuring the Madonna & child into an obi. Although there was some burgundy in the ties, the predominant blues and yellows made me decide AGAINST this look.  I was much happier with the braided leather belt on the right.  This is a solid winter look for a day on campus.

I've been wearing a lot of vests this fall, as in my area it has been unseasonably warm, but still cool enough to need an extra something.  I like this vest for its mix of brocades, though when I thrifted it, I imagined I would do something more ethnic with it.  On the right I've added a jacket I wore with something else a year ago.

So that's two weeks running with a skirt length well below my knees. What is it they say about hemlines and the economy?  If women everywhere began to cover their knees, do we have the power to accomplish for the economy what Leymah Gbowee accomplished for peace in Liberia?

See more of my fellow Visible Monday bloggers at Patti's  Not Dead Yet Style

Dollars and Sense

Over the holidays I came across a long essay by Susan Sontag, "The Double Standard of Aging."  Having enjoyed her books, On Photography and Illness as Metaphor, I read the entire thing with interest, but one paragraph in particular struck a nerve.

Aging also varies according to social class.  Poor people look old much earlier in their lives than do rich people.  But anxiety about aging is certainly more common, and more acute, among middle-class and rich women than among working-class women.  Economically disadvantaged women in this society are more fatalistic about aging; they can't afford to fight the cosmetic battle as long or as tenaciously.  Indeed, nothing so clearly indicates the fictional nature of this crisis than the fact that women who keep their youthful appearance the longest-women who lead unstrenuous, physically sheltered lives, who eat balanced meals, who can afford good medical care, who have few or no children-are those who feel the defeat of age most keenly.  Aging is much more a social judgment than a biological eventuality.

On some intuitive level I knew this.  Years ago, a friend who knew the wife of KC's mayor, described how she would rarely turn her head, thinking that this preventive action in her 30s might prevent wrinkles later in life.  I laughed then, but as the visible signs of aging have progressed I understand a bit better.

Thinking about this intersection of beauty and class leads me to the theme I'd like to give Rags this year.  In September, I realized that I had not entered a retail store of any type in many months.  I realized that I did not even know HOW to shop in most retail stores.  This year, I have decided I want to spend the next twelve months window shopping (or window licking, as C. at Aesthetic Alterations puts it).  The twist I want to put on this endeavor is to begin with the dollar stores and gradually work my way up the cost ladder, ending (fingers crossed) in a designer store, perhaps even in an appointment to try on the latest thing.  During this time, I want to keep my budget the same as this past year ($1200), spending no more.  This means that if I want a Hermes scarf, I'll need to learn to delay gratification until late in the year.

I'll need your help with this.  I want to rank stores according to cost, but I've shopped retail so seldom that I don't even know how to do this.  If I do Dollar Stores in January, I'll do discount places like Walmart, KMart, Target in February..  But what comes next?  Should I include Costco?  Should I visit area outlet stores?  Should I do a month of consignment shops?  Should I include online shopping?  And I'll need your tips on learning how to shop these places for the best value.

I've already perused 4 local "dollar" stores, snapping photos, but spent nary a cent.  These products are all from Family Dollar.  I was a little surprised that things here weren't actually a dollar.

I've been known to use baby products in my beauty regimen.  I used baby shampoo myself when my children were small.  I've powdered my pits with a light dusting of baby powder or talc.  I love the smell of baby lotion and baby oil, particularly in it's gel form, is a fine moisturizer.  Petroleum jelly on one's feet, after a sleep in a pair of socks, or on one's lips can soften vexing rough spots.  And Q-tips have myriad uses.

Individual flossers are way easier to use if you're not a dental hygienist.

Shaving supplies--I like the multiple blades type myself.

< Eyebrow shapers for those of us who wake up with an eyebrow that's grown an inch over night.

Cold water washes>

Fake nails (these are actually purple)                 Umbrellas, inexpensive enough to be disposable.

Some crazy panties (I didn't check out the blend) and novelty socks.  I'm curious what kind of beauty & fashion items you might shop at these stores.  And, please, help me put the stores in order so that each month I attempt a more ambitious shopping experience.

The Groan of Closets

DH & I kicked off the New Year by hitting five locations of a local thrift that annually sponsors 50% off during these two days.  He is ecstatic about an antique pump organ he's had his eye on for months.  Originally, it was priced at $300 and then after a couple of months, it was marked down to $199. and then $99.  By the time he bought it on Sunday, he paid just $70.

After a year of intensive thrifting, there is very little that I need.  Now I find myself shopping for interesting cuts and textures.  I found plenty to keep things interesting at Rags for the next few months, but the find of the second day was an unworn pair of pale pink classic Ferragamo shoes in a size 4, perfect for the vintage Ursula of Switzerland dress Emmanuelle is wearing these days.  Do any of us know an actual woman with a size 4 foot?

I suspect that my focus will shift from the color of the month theme I tried to maintain in 2010.  This year, I will simply "trust my gut" on the purchases.  I have a new focus in mind that I plan to announce on Friday, but I wanted to report on my clothing expenditures in 2010.

I spent more on clothing in 2011 than any year in my adult life.  The only things I purchased new would be an inexpensive dress I wore to be a bridesmaid in July; stockings for K.'s wedding, and a pair of Bandolino pumps.  EVERYTHING else was thrifted.  I didn't begin to track expenses until May.

• May               $121.44
• June               $ 57.09
• July                $124.19
• August            $ 94.48
• September      $106.80
• October          $  68.00
• November       $  36.73
• December       $103.76

I would guesstimate that my clothing expenses have averaged $100 per month.   Last July, on Already Pretty, Sal wrote:  "If you want the quick and dirty, most of the statistics I could dredge up recommend spending between 3% and 10% of your annual income on clothing."  I was astounded when I read this.  My year of splurging at the thrifts is decidedly below these percentages and yet, my closets are so stuffed that I sometimes forget what I have.  I've had several ideas since Monday about variations on the houndstooth I might have tried.

In addition, we have faithfully contributed to our local thrifts.  Below, you'll see the boxes I took to Goodwill the last week of December.  This is a bigger haul than most months of this year, but we made contributions monthly. 

Did you get your closets cleaned out in time to take this tax deduction?

Ad Knockoff: Ferragamo fall 2011~Houndstooth

A year ago this time, I did a couple of posts in which I did my version of a couple of ads from the fall Vogue.  One was my take on Keira Knightley's Chanel advertisement and the other was of the matriarch in the Hilfiger ads.  To my eye, one of the most striking ads in THIS fall's Vogue was the Ferragamo houndstooth, but my copy of the magazine is long gone...and I am realizing now that I have mis-remembered the look.  The main impression I took away from the magazine was a MIX of different sized houndstooths (would that be houndsteeth?) combined in one look.

I found this Cambridge Dry Goods skirt in one shop and a month later, at a Salvation Army, I located the blouse by O & G.  Before I could put the look together, apparently Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian had already done their takes.  I may be late to the party, but I think I've given them a good run on the look.

Couldn't wear the first one to campus as the blouse is too sheer, but looks two and three might work.

This mis-remembering business may be a sign of impending age or it may be in the nature of all creativity, taking ideas from many places and recombining to create something all one's own.  Vreeland would approve of the red belt.

Speaking of teeth, I welcomed in the new year with a tooth that fell to pieces at the very moment the earthquake struck in Japan.  Coincidence?

Belatedly linking up to Visible Monday.  You can join in the fun at Not Dead Yet Style.