All Kinds of Pretty

All Kinds of Pretty is the name of a great blog where I have recently started blogging.  The whole idea of it is so awesome - real women, real bodies, real budgets.  When I saw Snarky Mommy talking about it, I had to check it out and once I did, I knew I wanted to me a part of it. 

Since I came across All Kinds of Pretty, I have really been thinking alot not so much about WHAT I wear, but WHY I wear it.  Not just WHAT are my fall backs, but WHY they are?  I don't know about you, but I have slightly strange relationship with my clothes.  I have certain ones that are make me feel like a goddess and onces that I put on when I want that MILF status.  I have jeans that I only wear when none of my others are clean and sweaters that I don't really love but I know they look nice for work. 

I think being a part of this site is going to be great for me.  There are lots of great women posting there, moms like me, some who balance work outside the home with raising thier families, some whose full-time job IS taking care of thier  - we are all so different, but it makes me realize that everyone has that "thing" with thier clothes - clothes help us show the world who we are and they make us feel good.  And that is a good thing.

So check us out.  I think you'll like it.

 

It's a Drag...

So in the news this week is the matter of a gay teenager in Mississippi who has been told she cannot attend her prom wearing a tux and with her date.  I could go into a billion reason why this angers me on so many levels - not the least of which is that she is gay - so what?  I am sure her classmates already know this and aren't going to be corrupted by her presence with her date.  I will go even further and say that she is probably not even the only gay person planning to attend prom - she is just the only one that sought to clarify the "conduct rules" issued about prom attendence beforehand.

But there is another thing about this that annoys me.  The part where the school apparently equates the ideal of a woman wearing at tux as dressing in drag.  Seriously?  Isn't a tux basically a suit jacket and pants?  And don't women wear jackets and pants every day in this country?  Are we really THAT narrow minded as a society? 

Give me a break!  Women have been rocking tuxedos since the tuxedo began.  Thier suggestion that a woman in pants and a jacket is wearing drag is ridiculous beyond all reason!  This is a small point when you consider the much bigger issue at play here - I am praying that Constance McMillan gets to attend her senior prom with the date of her choice in the attire of her choice.  And as a mom, I am thrilled that her parents support her in what she is going through here.

But in the meantime, I give you....Women in Tuxedos:



Film Legend Marlene Dietritch





America's Sweetheart, Meg Ryan





"Not that innocent" Britney Spears





Not sure who she is, but she rocks it...







And perhaps the most famous use of tux on a woman in modern times...What a Feelin...Jennifer Beals

So what are your thoughts?  Is a tux really "drag"?  Seriously?  Is the perfectly nice pants suit hanging in my closet "drag"?

It's Dazzling...

So, this comes as no surprise to those who know me, but I am something of a shoe wh0re.  It is a something of a joke between Prince Charming and me - and I will say that he is a pretty good sport about it.  He indulges me when my shoes encroach upon his shoe storage space [in our micro closet, a whole other story...] and doesn't laugh [much] when I am trying to decide between the black boots with the block heels, the black boots with the skinny heels or the black boots with the pointy toe.

There is a point to this, I promise.  Having 2 little girls tends to cut into my shoe shopping time.  Just sayin... So, it was very interesting to me when, while volunteering at an event for St. Jude recently, I happened to overhear some of the field representatives [okay, I was eavesdropping] talking about one of the girls shoes [which I had noticed] and she was telling them about this shoe "club" that she had joined.

Okay - shoe club - now I am really listening.  So, I butt into the conversation and get the scoop about ShoeDazzle!  Now, you might ask, just what exactly is ShoeDazzle!?  It is a shoe "society" with a membership fee of $39.95 a month.  Each month, you are sent an email containing a link to 4-5 different shoesm which are selected for you based on criteria that you provided when you joined the site.  If you want a pair, you select them and voila!  You are the owner of a new pair of shoes for $39.95.  If you don't want any shoes, you just make sure to respond by the 5th of each month and decline.  And you can cancel at any time.  Sounded reasonable to me, so I joined.

The first month, I got the cutest pair of brown ballet flats - something I had been looking for and just never had the time to shop for (thank you, Savannah and Tara...those girls just do not understand that it is important to try on ALL the shoes in your size when going to a shoe department...). 

But, it is the second month where I truly fell in love.  Just look what showed up in my inbox on Feburary 1:

I adore these shoes!!!!  They are the most gorgeous, shiny, leather, RED heels and I am in love! Again, something I have been wanting and just haven't had time to shop for recently.

So, I am a huge fan of ShoeDazzle!!!  And it is rubbing off on my co-workers because several of them have joined recently, too!

And, no, ShoeDazzle! is not paying me for this...lol...although I certainly wouldn't mind if they wanted to comp me some shoes...

America's next top model...

...well, maybe if I wasn't 36!!! So my mom is a great seamstress and she recently came across a "how-to"
online to make a version of the dress generally know as a Le Sac dress. It is basically a sheath dress with a tie at the top that you can wear several different ways depending how how you adjust the sheath and the tie. She made me two (I love being a daughter!!!!) - one in black and one in lilac. I told her I would model it different ways to show the different ways you can wear it. I used the black tie with the lilac dress in all the styles so that you could see how each is tied. Some of them I think will look better with a tie of the same color. Anyway, here you go:

This is a Grecian style:

This is a more basic style:

This is a halter style. I used a rhinestone clip-on earring in the center of the "V" in the front.

And another halter style. This is one of my favorites:






I love this dress! You can really play with the fabric - pulling and tucking it to get the look you want to get. There are several other ways to wear it and I will try to post those later.

Now I just need someplace to go...