Winter Coats!

I never wear a coat if possible. I don't like walking into a building with a huge coat that I will burn up in as soon as I set foot inside. I also don't like to carry it around with me either. Sometimes, however, you just HAVE to have a coat.

Lucky for me, I found a fabulous coat at Ann Taylor Loft this week that I don't mind wearing at all!

I love this classic coat. It is a nice deep eggplant color that I will be able to wear with browns, nudes and blush color clothes.

The picture (left) shows how it looked when it was hanging in the store on the hanger. However, when I got home and looked at it a little closer, I was excited to see that when buttoned all the way up, it changes the tone from a classic coat to a coat with a military vibe.

I did get the last (regular) one in the Shreveport store...But, they can order them for you if you absolutely love it. I believe they did have a couple in their petite section for those of you that wear a petite.

Also, Ann Taylor has 40 % off everything in their store right now. If you open a Loft credit card, you can receive an extra 15% off of your total purchase. Happy shopping!

Cruise Wear Update 2

I FINALLY finished my first outfit. The black shirtdress is ready to go! There are some minor adjustments I could do but since I am crunched for time, I think I will just let them go for now. I noticed that the front is a hair longer than the back but maybe if I don't slouch it won't be so pronounced.

I am going to begin work on my cocktail dress today. Part of me thinks that it will be easy but I thought that about the shirtdress and it just about made me crazy.

As for my other outfits (time permitting) I am going to do a light blue linen sundress for Key West, a black silk top and gold lame skirt for dinner, a silk swimsuit dress cover up for Cozumel and teal jersey pajamas.

This is only 6 outfits. I was going to do a blue shirtdress just like the black one but AIN'T happening. I don't need anything else to make me crazy. I was also going to make a sequin dress for dinner but the sequin fabric was 25 $ a yard and that sort of freaked me out. Of course I would need more than one yard!

I have an idea for pants that would actually work with the black silk top listed above. They are actually just like a pair that I saw on Dancing With the Stars recently. It looks almost like a harem pant with the sides (outside of the thigh) completely cut out. It looks like there are shorts underneath. Since my silk top is going to be black, I would do these pants in white. They will require much thought so if I have time, they will be the last piece. Even if I can't get them done in time for the cruise, I still want to make them. They would be fabulous for going out!

Cruise Wear Update

I have a little over a month before the cruise and I am just now finishing up my first outfit. So now I am wondering why this whole thing sounded like a good idea....Of course, if I had come up with this challenge, say, earlier this summer then it wouldn't be so stressful.

I have had a few roadblocks in the past few weeks. First of all, the only time I get to sew is when my son is down for a nap. That gives me a grand total of an hour and a half each day. I spent half of his nap one morning trying to decide the best way to attach the sleeves to my shirtdress. I tried several different things and eventually just blindly sewed it on and hoped for the best.

Secondly, it took me awhile to receive fabric swatches for some of the outfits that I had ordered. Of course when I went to order them, one of the fabrics was no longer available so I had to order the closest thing.

I am planning on finishing the shirtdress on Friday NO MATTER WHAT. On Saturday I plan to work on the cocktail dress that I am not in love with. I shall post pictures of the shirtdress after it is finished!

I am not sure how much I will be able to do in the next month but I will try my hardest to get the outfits done. Tim always tells me to "Make it work!" And that would be my husband, not Tim Gunn.