Take Four: Cardigans and Chunky Knits

 Dress: Nordstrom Rack

Cardigan: Nordstrom Rack

Tights: Target

Boots: Enzo Angiolini (Nordstrom Rack)

Head band: Nordstrom

Earrings: Fossil

Brooch: Free Table at consignment store (hooray!)

For a long time, I shied away from chunky knits. I was convinced that they made me look, well, chunky. As I've grown more comfortable with my body, though, I've come to realize that it's largely a question of the specific item of clothing you pick. After trying on countless chunky knit items, I eventually realized that not all chunky knits are created equal. Some add bulk in areas where I reeeeeally don't need extra padding (see: the Ladies). Others, like this cardigan, miraculously obscure bulk, and nip in at the waist to give a nice hourglass effect.

There are few things I love more than cruising around the internet looking at photos of peoples' outfits. I particularly love seeing different interpretations of the same trends. So... do you want to see three more interpretations of chunky knits? You do?! Goody! Check out these three ladies!

Bekah at Matters of Merrymaking <--- she is, indeed, a merrymaker.
Gracey at Fashion for Giants <--- She's hilarious, and has beeeeeeeautiful boots, to boot. (heh!)
Karla at Frugal Big Girl <--- She always manages to score some serious deals!

I've met some truly wonderful people since I started blogging a few short months ago. That's far and away been my favorite aspect of blogging. So when Karla approached Gracey, Bekah, and I about starting up a blogging group called Take Four, I didn't hesitate to say yes!

Take Four is an opportunity for the four of us, who bet my chance through blogging, to support each other in a collaborative blogging project. The idea is simple: once or twice a month, we will post four unique interpretations of a selected trend.  In each post, we will provide links to each other’s blogs, so that you, our readers, can find a look and style that suits you, your closet and your budget.  We hope you enjoy the series and, as always, we love feedback, so feel free to get in touch with any of us!

A Whimsical Dress

Allow me to paint for you a picture of the conversation Mr. CP and I had while he was very kindly taking these photographs.

 

Mr CP: You always pose the same way. Do something different! Be creative!

 Me: Um, excuse me? How dare you accuse me of being uncreative! I neeeever pose the same way! (I may have been avoiding eye contact when I said this)

Mr. CP: (blank stare)

 Me: Fine. I'll, erm, just walk... this... way.

Me: And I'll look up at the trees.

Me: Are you happy now? Are you?! ARE YOU?!

Mr. CP: (blank stare)

Dress: Fire Los Angeles (via Nordstrom Rack)

Cardigan: August Silk (via Nordstrom Rack)

Tights: Hue (via Macy's)

Boots: Fitzwell (via 6pm.com)

Head band: Target

Brooch: Fossil

Bracelet: Vintage

Earrings: Betsey Johnson

I found this dress recently and pounced on it. It has dainty little trees all over it! If there's one thing I love, it's whimsical prints!

Which brings me to a rather hilarious story. Around the same time I stumbled upon this dress, I found another equally adorable one. It had tiny little black and white castles, horse-drawn carriages, and princes all over it. Too cute! Now, I'm not a size large. I'm just not, which I knew when I grabbed the cute little fairy tale dress. I was so desperately enamored with it, though, that I swore I would fit into the damn thing come hell or high water. Interestingly, the problem wasn't getting into the dress. It went on with surprising ease. The problem was moving around and breathing once I had the damn dress on. With a crestfallen expression on my face (no, really, it was like someone had told me Santa Clause wasn't real all over again), I prepared to take the dress off. Only, it turned out that the dress was so tight that my arms were effectively pinned at my sides. I couldn't lift them. I should probably mention that I don't handle stress well. There are some people who operate rationally and calmly in stressful situations. Mr. CP, for example, is fantastic to have around when unfortunate things happen. My response to stress is far less productive: I either cry, or, as in this particular situation, laugh hysterically. Typically, dissolving into a fit of giggles isn't a problem. Typically, though, I can breathe in whatever I happen to be wearing. FYI, laughter only works well if you can breathe. So there I stood laughing like a crazy person. I couldn't quite manage, however, to get enough air... which caused me to start hyperventilating, which in turn only made me laugh that much harder. It was the proto-typical Giggle Loop. I finally managed to calm down enough to shimmy (yes, shimmy) over to my purse, maneuver my phone out of my bag, dial Mr. CP's number (he was there with me), kneel down, press my ear to the phone, and gasp something largely incoherent into the speaker. So, poor Mr. CP had to come back to the dressing room to help me hoist the dress over my head. ::sigh:: So much for maintaining any sense of mystery. I learned a valuable lesson, though. Love isn't roses, or breakfast in bed. It's rescuing your stupidly determined significant other who's apparently lacking in the common sense department from a too-small item of clothing.

Autumn Has Arrived!

Dress: Target

Cardigan: August Silk (via Nordstrom Rack)

Tights: Hue (via Macy's)

Boots: Fitzwell (via 6pm.com)

Bracelet: Fossil (via Ross)

Sweater Clip: DIY

Brooch: Nordstrom Rack

Head band: H&M

I think I mentioned this in a previous post, but I'm heading to Charlotte, North Carolina at the beginning of next month for a wedding that will feature, among other things, the colors black and red, and coffins. The politics of dressing for weddings always stresses me out. What's too casual? How fancy is too fancy? Will I end up looking out of place? I'm quite high strung that way. I had initially planned on wearing something suitably autumnal, but when I heard about the theme of the wedding, I figured that mustard colored anything was probably out. So I settled on a different outfit to wear. That's about the time I received further word that, in addition to avoiding the colors black and red altogether, guests are expected to wear elegant evening attire. Not only had I decided upon something that was predominantly black with accents of red (what are the odds?), it was also in no way suitable for an occasion that calls for "elegant evening attire." In fact, I have absolutely nothing suitable in my closet. So, using my limited totally awesome and completely impressive Google-fu skills, I figured out what elegant evening attire is, and dutifully started researching potential clothing items. To be honest, even after my research, "elegant evening attire" still seems like a fairly broad category. There are any number of different interpretations as to what that may mean. I'm going with evening gown, knee-length or longer, with fancier accessories. Which reminds me: they've also requested that guests wear "spooky accessories." I still have no idea how I'm going to pair spooky accessories with the fancy-pants dresses I have my eye on, so I suspect I'll be getting creative over the next few weeks in an attempt to create spooky, but still classy and situation-appropriate accessories. 

A note about the outfit: the cardigan is actually a lovely cinnamon color. The last two pictures show the color off better than the others. For whatever reason, the cardigan appears vaguely pink in the first few photos.