Christy's Weekly Wear

This last week was a scattered one for me, style-wise. I spent the first part of it in Texas visiting my family and the latter part moving into our new apartment in Brooklyn. Not only was I dressing for two different climates (I would take Texas heat any day, by the way) but also for two different attitudes (relaxed vs. unapologetically stressed). Visiting the family was wonderful and so needed. I think they can vouch for my outfits during that visit, which were pretty solid. Moving to our new apartment was...yeah...not great. Moving is the worst. I was intensely sweaty, constantly hungry, and hopelessly dramatic. My attire reflected that.

THE WORST

Here I am with our laundry. The key feature in this outfit is the terry cloth short, which I bought at Old Navy a couple of weeks ago. I justified the purchase by saying that I needed sleep-shorts, but I knew even then that they would become life-shorts. Feel fortunate that you are only getting the front view. Terry cloth doesn't do me many favors in the back.

I've decided to take my "worst" pictures as though I'm being caught off guard. This is to remind me that if I ever become famous, these are the pictures that the paparazzi will capture. My husband and I had a big dispute over which picture adequately reflected my emotions, so I just posted both. Daniel chose the first one because of my pained expression. He was also very against the other one because he couldn't figure out where my teeth had gone. I was rooting for it because even though I look like a drugged cat, I am somehow finding my light and modeling through my anguish. Tyra would be proud.

THE BEST

Top: Forever 21
Skirt: Thrift
Shoes: DSW
Jewelry: Forever 21

I actually took this picture outside of the IKEA in Redhook. Despite how traumatic our IKEA experience was (I am complaining a lot today), I felt pretty great in my clothes. This skirt with its whale-embellishment is the new joy of my life. It is so whimsical while not looking like it belongs on a 90s pre-school teacher. I found it at a thrift store in the East Village whenever my mother-in-law and sister-and-law came to visit. Mama O'Shoney was not so into it. I don't really blame her. You don't see a lot of whales on the runways in Paris.

A better view of my whale friend

The shoes are also worth noting. Hold onto your hats because these shoes have a secret. The same company that made these flats also made THESE:

Wha?! My sweet, innocent flats are CROCS! Now, if you are Mario Batali or whoever it is that normally wears these dinosaur shoes, you already know that Crocs are crazy comfortable. These are actually my first pair, and I have to say, I don't think I sacrifice style in wearing them. I found them on a rainy day at DSW on sale BIG TIME. It was destiny. 

So that's the best and worst of my week! Did you dress well? Did you dress dumpy? Either way, I was right there with you. 

For more information on why we are doing The Weekly Wear, read this explanation.

Weekly Wear: An Explanation

In order to keep ourselves accountable to being creative with our clothing, Kaley and I have decided to add a weekly fixture to this blog where we showcase our best and worst outfits of the week. You might have a couple of questions about this.

Why show off your best outfits? Isn't that a little boastful? Aren't you both above that?
Are you kidding me? No. I won't speak for Kaley, but I am definitely not above showing off my best outfits. When I look good, I make it a point to see as many friends as I can. When I don't see anyone on a day of fierceness, as long as everything still smells alright, I might even re-wear that outfit the next day. Yeah, it's my confession, and it's sort of gross.

But beyond that, we believe that clothing can be an art form. That's why the Metropolitan Museum of Art's most recent exhibition compares the works of two of history's most prolific fashion designers. Constructing outfits is just plain interesting. Additionally, clothing (much like art, actually) is a statement. While a cropped pant is not in any way a measure of anyone's value, dressing your body well indicates to the world that you care about yourself. Conversely, dressing yourself poorly might indicate the opposite.

Kaley and I care about ourselves (and each other, incidentally), and we're excited to show it. Additionally, we know that we were given these bodies, not to obsess over or fret about, but as a gift. Style is a great way to celebrate that gift!

Also, we feel like geniuses when we put great outfits together.

Why show off your worst outfits? Isn't this a style blog? 
Look. Kaley and I are from this planet. We know that a week in a woman's life can hold a variety of events and those events are not always black-tie. Sometimes you just have to pull out those Nike shorts or ill-fitting yoga pants and make it work. While we both love the show What Not to Wear, I always do get a little sad when Stacy and Clinton throw away that last pair of sweat pants. I get why they are doing it, but seriously Stacy, what do you wear when you are doing laundry? What do you wear when you go to sleep? How about when you are painting your living room or moving to a new apartment or cleaning under your sink? What do you wear when you burn the roof of your mouth on a bagel-pizza and it's raining and you just want to get into your pajamas but you can't because it's noon and you have to get back to work?

Sometimes your day warrants a bad outfit, and that's just life. Sometimes it doesn't. We just want to find that proper balance.

Tricky Questions: Kaley's Answers

What up, everyone??

First of all- I won't start a blog entry like that again. Second- it's my turn to post responses to the questionnaire. Here they are:

Where are you located?

I am currently located in the thriving metropolis of Waco- the 22^nd largest city in the state of Texas, according the 2010 census. Waco is home to many great things- Dr. Pepper, a surprising number of celebrities (the Simpson sisters spent formative childhood years here, Steve Martin and Jennifer Love Hewitt were born here, and the men who directed the Tree of Life and The Count of Monte Cristo were born and raised here- just to name a few), the Cameron Park Zoo (never been? Your loss), Cameron Park (see the previous parenthetical), tortilla tossing (one day I’ll post a video of this magic), the Baylor Bears, and so much more! Who cares about New York now, right??

Really, though. I love Waco. I’ve lived here for the better part of seven years now, and the place has grown on me. Do I want to live here forever and ever and ever? Eh… Probably not. But for now? I’m happy. Which is good, because I’m stuck here for at least another year until I finish my Master’s.

How would you describe your personal style?

This question is surprisingly hard for me. I can describe what I want my personal style to be- indie hipster chic. I think most of the time I’m too mainstream for that, though, so I’d say I’m probably on the mellow end of that spectrum. Vintage clothes really strike my fancy, so I wear those whenever I can. Because I’m too mainstream to be hipster, I’m fine settling with clothing that has a vintage feel. Basically, I like clothes that are unique and interesting, so I’m trying to move in the direction of wearing them more often.

Describe/provide an example of yourself on a good day and a bad day.

I’ll go ahead and start with the bad to get it over with.

On bad days, I tend to be guilty of two different “un” words: I am uninventive and unaware. Uninventive in the sense that I wear the same (boring) outfit repeatedly. Unaware in the sense that I am oblivious of how things fit on my body. It’s a terrible combination.

I guess I have a tough time on these days because I wake up and just feel off.

Actually, "off" is an understatement. In reality, I feel like a monster. I try to avoid looking in the mirror because I’m afraid I’ll see this staring back at me:

To avoid turning into stone, I quickly put on whatever is on the top of the stack of clothes in my drawer that morning (or, sometimes, whatever is on top of the pile of clothes in my closet) and slither out the door.

They are rough days.

But, unfortunately, it’s difficult to avoid mirrors all day long, and at some point, I catch a glimpse of myself. I realize that what I thought was a perfectly fine outfit is actually a too-large shirt and old jeggings (that’s right) that are a bit too baggy in the booty. I basically end up looking like an upside-down triangle. And apparently I forget how bad this looks each morning, because I do this to myself on a regular basis. Seriously- if you have ever seen me in the past 2 years, there's a 99% chance you've witnessed me in some variation of that ensemble. I'd be lying to you if I said it hasn't happened in the past week. It's just so easy!

Here’s a picture that doesn’t quite do justice to how bad it looks:

Luckily the photo cuts off so you can't see how much these pants taper.

On a good day, I wear clothes that fit my body and are adorable. I'm actually creative in the way I combine clothes and accessories, and I walk out the door feeling awesome. I don't mind catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and when I do I pause for a moment and think, "Yeah... I look good." Sometimes I say it out loud- I'll be honest. And shouldn't we all feel that way every day? Imagine how happy the world would be if we did!

Here is an outfit I wore earlier this week that wasn't too shabby:

I like the combo of the bright floral top and unique button-up skirt. You can't see the details in this picture, but the skirt has some cute front pockets that give it a little pop. I'm also wearing a belt- which is one accessory Christy and I both love. Again, you can't see any of these things well in the photo, but I am sporting my braided nude sandals, a vintage inspired green bracelet, and my trademark giraffe necklace. Bam- an outfit that trumps the weird lumpy triangle look.

Side note- I hope you're all prepared for a lot of photos of me posing with similar awkwardness, because that's what's coming at you in this blog.

What is your friendship story with your co-writer?

Christy and I first met at a camp where we were both campers and then counselors. We then wound up in Waco, as students at Baylor University, but it took years for our friendship to really take off. It’s hard to say what it really was that sparked such a close bond between us- I think it was a combination of talks about watching Spice World and actually watching way too many episodes of America’s Next Top Model. But at some point through those years, we realized that we have a lot in common- one such thing being our interest in fashion. I’ve been so thankful for Christy’s friendship over the years; whether we’re going thrift store shopping or staying up for hours talking about the important things going on in our lives, she has been someone I can trust in and depend on constantly. Even from a distance, she’s such a wonderful support and encouragement to me, so I am thrilled to write this blog with her!

What is the purpose of this blog?

This blog serves many purposes. It gives Christy and I an opportunity to exercise our sharp wit. It also gives us a chance to write together, which is a really fun way to keep in touch when we’re so far apart. But we could have chosen a blog with a totally different theme and still done those things. The reason we picked this one is because, plain and simple, Christy and I both enjoy fashion. We like picking out and looking good in great outfits.

The problem is, we also tend to get lazy sometimes. Even with a lot of solid options on things to wear, I find myself matching the same v-necks with jeans over and over (and over) again. It’s crazy. I get stuck in an incredibly boring and quite unattractive rut. And it occurred to me that, you know what? At 25, I’m way too young to do that! I shouldn’t be a candidate for What Not to Wear yet! (Although I’d love to meet Stacy and Clinton- love them!) I should be looking fierce and fabulous every day! (Well, almost every day… let’s be honest, everyone deserves sweatpants occasionally.)

When Christy and I talked about blogging together, we realized that with this interest and bad habit in common, we could create a fashion blog as a way of both keeping in touch and keeping one another accountable- to looking good and not letting ourselves go quite yet. So here it is. The fruit of our labor. The good, the bad, and the “meh.” We’re sure you can relate. We certainly hope you do.

Provide a picture that best describes your friendship. Explain.

I know- this is the second time I've posted pictures of us in Lady Gaga costumes. I'm fine with it.

Once I was at a froyo place and saw an advertisement for a Lady Gaga costume contest that was taking place at a bar a few weeks later. I immediately texted Christy, and we began planning. We worked out the costumes you see above, which were clearly brilliant. Then we arrived at the bar and realized we were the only people dressed up.

We changed in the car and entered like nothing happened, but it’s one of my favorite pictures of us to this day.

I think it represents our friendship well because it shows the following things:

1. Our love of pop culture

2. That we can be completely ridiculous with one another

3. The obvious fact that we look as good in Lady Gaga costumes as Lady Gaga herself- maybe better.

Also, remembering how we both rocked nude leotards and thought we looked like superstars (or at least felt the other looked like a superstar) makes me think of how much we believe in one another and how confident we are in this friendship.

I mean, seriously. Look at that! We look good!

Who are your style inspirations?

Well, obviously Tyra Banks in this photo:

No one rocks an angel wing on her face the way this woman does. But we can all aspire to such greatness.

Apart from that, I would say it’s more general groups/things than specific people. Aka- the people in Anthropologie catalogues. Walking through that store makes me wish I could be a millionaire for sure.

I’m also inspired by vintage stores, good music, bright colors and hipsters. It’s a lot, but I’m working on channeling all of those things into a look. It’s a work in progress, as you’ll see in this blog...

Tricky Questions: Christy's Answers

So Kaley and I decided to start this whole journey out by answering a little questionnaire. Despite the fact that we created the questions ourselves, some of these were a little hard for me to answer. I wish we'd thought to ask something simple like what is a table? or have you ever seen a bug?, but instead, we decided to challenge ourselves with some doozies of questions. The following are my answers (Kaley's will come soon), and hopefully they give you some insight into why we are doing this. 


Oh, also, I'm Christy.


Where are you located? 
Last month, I relocated to Brooklyn, New York. According to Emmy nominee, Lena Dunham, being from New York makes a person automatically interesting. I think my daily subway sweat stains would beg to differ, but I am just going with it. I live in a neighborhood called Ditmas Park where I believe a spontaneous musical is bound to happen any day now. It's really great. I am not sure whether I can claim being a New Yorker yet, but I definitely think tourists in Midtown walk too slowly and that anyone who talks loudly on the subway should be fined one month’s rent.

How would you describe your personal style?
Probably “Wizard Chic”. Lots of cloaks, pointy hats, owls as accessories.


Not really.


I am probably super wrong about this, but I guess I would say I have a subdued nerdy, retro vibe. Is that even a thing? By the way, it took me about 15 minutes to write that description. I definitely do not have my style down to a science at all. I can, however, tell you the types of clothing I am attracted to. High-waisted pants or skirts are my jam. I belt almost everything I own like an addict. It’s all about that waist. I like colors. Bright colors. Colors that can usually be found in a sunset or on a Lisa Frank sticker. Patterns are great too. I like bold jewelry, though I don’t have much, and I wear simple flats daily, but I would rather be wearing heels. Wedges freaked me out at first, but I am coming around.


Describe/provide an example of your style on a good day and a bad day.


Let’s start with the good news. Sometimes, by my standards, I dress pretty well. Here is me on my best day:

And by “best day”, I mean best day I will ever have. In this picture, I am making a face like mmm mmm mmmmmm, which is how I felt that day. That’s Kaley in the background fiercely fluffing my train like a champion MOH. But legitimately, me on a good day…let’s see…

This might not be the absolute best example, but I like it. Here I am wearing my favorite color, a kooky pattern, and a bold piece of jewelry. I also have on my signature glasses, which (I hope) spice up any ensemble. Ordinarily I would have tucked and belted. Not sure why I didn’t that day. Obviously the hand on the hip is to indicate sass.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that I have more awkward fashion days than fabulous ones. Here I am on a bad day:

Proud to say I have not untagged this picture of me on Facebook

Yeesh. Even my fierce glasses couldn’t save this ensemble. T-shirt and Nike shorts. Totally off-putting toilet seat accessory. No sass to be found.


This picture was actually taken while I was working at camp, but I am not going to pretend that this exact same outfit doesn’t make an appearance or two in my week-to-week looks. I usually leave out the toilet seat though.


What is the story of your friendship with your co- writer?

Kaley, being older and wiser than me, was a camp counselor when I was a camper. She and her twin sister, Lauren, were always so funny and interesting, saying things like “fabulous” and performing selections from musicals. When I went to college at Baylor University, Kaley and Lauren were also there. For a long time Kaley extended a standing invitation to watch Spiceworld together (one of the better movies of the last century). This never came to fruition, however, as I assumed that camp counselor Kaley (who was so cool that she once made her hair look like Rita Repulsa from Power Rangers) was just being nice and wouldn’t actually be interested in hanging out with little ol' me.


When we worked together the following summer at camp, I realized that Kaley wasn’t so scary-cool at all. She was actually kind of just regular cool and sometimes she was even (in the best way possible) a major dork. From there, BAM. Friends for life. She became the person who hemmed my skirts, made lame days in Waco bearable, and stood beside me when I got married.


Provide a picture that best describes your friendship. Explain.


I actually have a series of pictures, if you don’t mind.

These are all pictures of Kaley and I attempting to “smize”, that is “smile with your eyes”. According to Tyra Banks, smizing is the key to modeling. Even though we used to get together every week to watch America’s Next Top Model, that’s not why I chose these pictures. I chose them because while I am legitimately trying to get a good smize in there, I either look sad or deranged, but Kaley is actually doing it! What talent! And smizing is not her only talent. She is absolutely glittering with gifts that I so admire. I really respect Kaley and even though I’m the one who looks like a lizard in all of these pictures, I know she respects me too, and that is a great foundation for friendship. 


What is the purpose of this blog?
Recently, I was on my way to a job interview at ABC when I saw Clinton Kelly (of TLC’s What Not to Wear). I was so excited because I seriously had just been watching this guy on TV before getting on the subway. He was on the corner talking to some fans, and he just seemed like the nicest man. Also, he looks as classy in-person, I swear. I was thinking about heading over and talking to him, but then I took a good look at myself. This is the man who, with his fashion-partner Stacy, taught me that clothing is a statement to the world of how you feel about yourself. I was dressed for an interview, but I kind of felt like my clothes were saying, “I want to take a really long nap.”


I now work at ABC and if I run into Clinton again, I want my clothes to say, “I am an interesting person who showers regularly and has big life goals.” The purpose of this blog is to hold me accountable to that but also to sympathize with other women who are normal and sometimes look awesome and sometimes look kind of dumpy. This blog is also a great way for Kaley and I to connect on something we are both excited about. She lives in Texas and I’m in Brooklyn. Plane tickets aren’t cheap, y’all, so being able to work together like this is really exciting for me.


Who are your style inspirations?

Stacy London

Kaley Eggers

Zooey Deschanel

Cher

My sister, Johanna Lammert

Diane Von Furstenberg

Emily Pirraglia

Sisters, Lya and Ana Morfitt

Whoever is wearing this jumpsuit

Can I Pull This Off??- An Intro

If I had to describe this blog in one sentence, I would say this:

It chronicles two best friends living 1,640 miles apart who are committing to suppressing their fashion laziness and amplifying their shared love of style to look as fabulous and beautiful as they are.

Okay, that was a terrible sentence. Any decent English teacher would point out it contains too much information, so let me break it down for you.

Christy and I (Kaley) are best friends.

As in “talk for hours”, “watch ridiculous TV shows together”, “disagree and still understand each other”, “our kids will be friends or else” -type friends. If we were in middle school and had a top-secret-best-friend notebook, we would mean it when we wrote “LYLAS!” at the end of our notes.

This is a photo of Christy and me getting ready for her wedding. I am laughing at something hilarious she said, which is typical. I am also wearing an alien hat, which isn’t typical. I usually only wear it when I’m studying. And getting ready for weddings, I guess. I don’t want to concern you with my fashion choices too early on.

When Christy and I are together, one of our favorite things to do is go shopping at vintage clothing stores. We love looking at (and sometimes purchasing) clothes. Because we love fashion.

Not in the sense that you’ll see us at Fashion Week (do real people go there?) or hear us talking about our favorite designers or anything like that. We just enjoy looking good because, like most people, we like to feel good about ourselves. And we feel good when we can be fun, creative and expressive with what we wear. Fortunately, we both realize there are boundaries on how “creative” we can/should get. You won’t see us duplicating Lady Gaga’s wardrobe any time soon.

Well… At least not frequently...

Christy and I keep our style choices in check by running things by each other, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say few people can maintain this dynamic in a friendship the way we do. When I ask Christy, “Does this look okay?”/ “If I get this what would I wear with it??”/ “Can I pull this off?!?”/etc, she always has a helpful, honest answer.

But despite the fact that we are capable of being creative and super stylish, there is a dark side to this tale.

Unfortunately for us both- and for the people that have to see us- there are many days when Christy and do not feel very creative. We feel quite the opposite- completely uninspired.

And in reality, I’m just trying to come up with a nice way of saying we get lazy.

Here we are on a lazy day at the Cathedral of Junk in Austin, TX. I can't help but think it's a bad sign that I'd rather look at the pile of junk in this picture than myself.

You’ll hear more about that as we continue in this blog, but basically for me that looks like turning to the old, familiar jeans and v-neck t-shirts rather than taking time to coordinate an outfit that makes it look like I care about myself enough to put thought into it. My laziness makes me look boring and feel, for lack of a better descriptive word, completely “blah.”

And, as we all know, if we don’t feel good about the way we look, we don’t feel good about ourselves across the board. So on those days, how can I expect other people to enjoy being around me when I feel like this?

As Christy and I realized how much our fashion laziness actually affected us, we decided we both wanted to break out of our style doldrums. We made a commitment to hold one another accountable to outwardly displaying who we are on the inside, and we agreed to check in with each other to ensure we’re both being as fashionable as we can (and ought) to be.

The only problem is: Christy and her husband recently moved all the way from Texas to New York City.

I know, I’m jealous, too.

Every picture she takes makes me want to move to NY- the city should just hire her.

Thus, the blog.

Since I can’t really pop over to Christy’s apartment to make sure her outfit is slammin before she heads out the door each morning (unless someone wants to make a huge donation…. Anyone?), we’re going to save money- and the environment- by checking in here.

We’ll each write a post each week with our best and worst outfits (Lord help us), with a number of other goodies thrown in. For instance- fashion challenges, questions, inspirations, and maybe even a tutorial every now and then.

We’re excited to have a chance to write together. And to share something we enjoy with whoever wants to read it. Who knows? Maybe it’s something you can relate to. If so, we hope you’ll check in every once in a while and share your thoughts with us.

As we begin, you’ll get to hear from both me and Christy (who is hilarious- seriously, you’ll love reading everything she writes) as we explain our fashion histories and answer a few backgrounds questions- about us, our friendship, and the blog. So stay tuned! It’s going to be great!