Comment of the Week

From Becky:

"It's like the speed of sound - once you've broken the emasculation barrier you can do it all the time, no fuss, no muss. It's just that tricky first time and all the nosebleeds that ensue."

The downside of living with your boyfriend in a one bedroom apartment...

...is that there's nowhere to put this impossibly awesome wall decal without emasculating him.

I can't wait til we have enough money for a bigger place so I can usurp the second bedroom and fill it with girly wall decals and makeup and tampons! It'll be swell.

Marilyn die cut decal, $19, here.

2 Tone Hoodie 2 Tough 2 Wear

Dear Ms. Winona, ambassador to excellent fashion advice,

I have been wanting to write you for quite sometime! However after the world boot crisis of '07...I figured I would have to come up with something rather pressing!

Being a girl who is usually a bit overdressed I really love this hoodie of mine. However, I am having a terrible time making an outfit of it since I am more partial to a nice skirt then a pair of pants. All my skirts I have now seem to do nothing for the silly thing, so I figure it was time to call in the professional for some tips!

Thanks in advance,
Yahtzee Enthusiast

Dear Yahtzee Enthusiast,

That is probably the most original pseudonym ever, and I didn't even think of it! I guess I should just retire...Don't retirees play a lot of Yahtzee? I've never played Yahtzee, actually. If I give you fashion advice, will you teach me?

But anyway, this is a challenging little hoodie indeed. I've spent many an hour admiring its whimsical beauty on American Apparel's website, but I'd never really thought about how it would work in an outfit. Ever since receiving your question, I've spent many an hour muttering to myself, "What the hell DO you wear with the damn thing??" My friends are starting to think I'm schizophrenic. In other news, I seem to have way too many free hours.

Back to the point: A hooded sweatshirt is by nature baggy and shapeless, so you want to wear something fitted on the bottom to showcase your hot bod. If you were to suddenly become partial to pants, I'd recommend a pair of slim jeans (yes, slim) with some bright colored flats, but if you're set on skirts (I'm such a skirt girl too), then go for a straight mini in a substantial fabric like denim.

Just in case you were like, "What's this denim mini she speaks of?"

I've always loved the combo of a slouchy top with a fitted mini skirt and tights (I kind of sort of maybe wear this combo every day...), and I think your sweatshirt will be perfect for it. A dark denim would look great with the colors of the hoodie, or you could go with distressed denim for a funkier feel. Add some gold tights and leather boots. Ooh! Or classic black tights with cobalt flats! Or blue tights and black wedges! The possibilities are endless! The world is your oyster!*

I'm sure other readers own this hoodie, either in real life or fashion fantasy land--what do you guys wear it with? Any suggestions?

*Old writing adage: Two cliches are better than one.

Links I Likey

Note: These link posts are usually called Blogback Mountain, but (as a couple readers have pointed out) with Heath Ledger's death today, the reference doesn't feel right. So sad.

I'm not writing a real post right now because my computer chair is digging into my back and a sharp draft from the window is freezing my toes. Meanwhile, Amber is blogging from bed. Bitch.

A Cup of Jo has a heaping cup of willpower.

Queen Marie asserts that you needn't know if something is a cat or a bear to love it. I agree.

I just knew my little Jennine would hit it big!

Jello on Springs perfectly captures a girl fashion crush. Well, she didn't actually capture her, as that would involve trapping her in a cage and stealing her moccasins, but you know what I mean (I hope).

In related news, I kind of want to trap this girl in a cage and steal her hair. But that's not creepy at all.

Hot hair. A fur coat. And a pig. Possibly the coolest picture ever.

Hopefully Ms. Von Teese doesn't come out with a wondercorset.

Readability.

Is this better?

I love computer viruses. NOT!

To borrow the title of Pink's latest album, I'm Not Dead! A group of ravenous computer viruses got the better of my computer last week, rendering me internet-less (bad for blogging, even worse for an online class...I'm coming, SP 410 discussion group!). Today my techy brother finally wiped my hard drive--SO stressful--and reinstalled everything (although he refused to replace my late 90's version of Zoo Tycoon, the elitist bastard), so I think I'm good to go.

Speaking of going in the past tense, I went to IKEA for the first time this weekend. Wow, was that a life changer. This won't surprise anyone who's been there before, but I got a floor lamp for eight bucks! Eight bucks! And it hasn't even caught fire yet! The lamp is really boring; I only bought it because its name is NOT.

See, at IKEA all the products are labeled with what I assume are their Swedish titles (although those silly Swedes could slap Bröstvårta on the side of a shoe rack and I'd be like, "Well isn't that nice?"). The box my lamp came in says NOT on the side. This gives me great joy, as it has allowed me to do this, many times:

Me: I got this really cool thing at IKEA! NOT!
Friend: Oh...umm...so you didn't get anything?
Me: No, I got the best thing ever. NOT!
Friend: Couldn't find anything?
Me: NOT!
Friend: I'm not good with double negatives.
Me: Guess what I got at IKEA? NOT!
Friend: So..did you want me to guess? Or no?
Me: NOT!
Friend: Umm...
Me: It only cost me eight bucks! NOT!
Friend: I got a couch at IKEA for 8 bucks.
Me: Oh. wow.

NOT!

Have Dress, Need Warmth

I just found a lonely little pile of reader mail from early November that somehow got skipped over in the frenzy of my move, and that's in addition to the current pile that needs to be answered, so the next week or two will include lots of Q&A catch up. Hopefully the readers who wrote these emails still read the blog, remember they wrote these emails in the first place, and haven't died of old age. (Hang on, Claire! Stay with us!)

First up:

Dear Winona,

I'm liking the dress with tights trend, but in most of the photos for this look the model is not wearing a jacket, a sweater... anything on top of the dress. What kind of warm outer layer would work with this look? Maybe a longer peacoat? I'm really at a loss.... but something warm is neccessary- I live in the northwest where we freeze our butts off all winter!

The dress I wear most often is generally shaped like this on top:


But the skirt is shorter, just a few inches above the knees. I usually wear black or graphite/heather opaque tights, with black flats.

I love your blog, you seem like the perfect person to ask!

Signed,
Sleeveless in Seattle

PS: You can do the dress/tights thing with flats... right? They have itty bitty heels on 'em. I think they look good, but I just thought I'd ask the guru.

Dear Sleeveless,

First off, Northwest represent! (Yes, I'm throwing up an NW gang sign right now.) Where do you live? And why aren't we friends? We should def make a date to drink coffee in the rain together sometime.

But anyway, back to the matter at hand: I love me a dress with some tights! I wore a dress with tights just today, actually. And the outfit you describe sounds mega cute. Too cute, in fact, for us to be friends. So scratch that. (I'm trying to phase out all of my witty, pretty friends and replace them with boring, homely ones.)

Pretty much any outer layer your heart desires is going to look amazing with this. I love your peacoat idea, especially if the dress is a bright print and and long enough to peek out an inch or two below the coat's hem.

In other news, how cute is this girl's hair?
Tulle Double Breasted Wool Coat, $78, nordstrom.com

I have a hot pink double breasted raincoat that I wear over dresses all the time. Especially if you're rockin an LBD (am I the only one who hates that acronym? It sounds positively venereal), it's easy and chic to throw on a bright coat.

This model kind of looks like she's waiting for her man to come home on their anniversary so she can throw open that bright little coat and say, "Ta-da! I'm naked!", but obviously you don't have to do that (unless you want to).
Gallery Belted Trench Coat, $148, nordstrom.com

I also love the the juxtaposition of a sweet dress and cute tights with a chunky old man cardigan (a more subdued version of the "own the ugly thing" I discussed recently).

This guy's a little douchey, but I dig the sweater.
Tasso Elba Button Front Cardigan, $59, macys.com (try the men's section in thrift stores for more cheap, funky cardigans)

If you haven't already, check out Ambika's recent coat posts for more outerwear options from another soggy northwest babe. (Here and here)

p.s. FOR SURE you can do tights with flats! Do tights with anything! Except cocaine. Don't do cocaine.