Katie Style – Somewhere in Germany…

Jean jacket: Gap (sooo old) | Skirt: Gap (not so old) | Scarf and Hat (matching!): S. Oliver  | Tights: Manguun | Shoes: Hush Puppies

[An ode to German strumpfhosen is forthcoming. I never owned any tights, and now I own 8 pair. The Germans have created miracles in tights-form.]

Every other week or so, The Rocket Scientist and I try to take a day trip somewhere. This time it was to Breisach, a beautiful but apparently forgettable city. Forgettable because I asked T.R.S. at least seven times while we were there, “where are we again?”

But we saw a Munster (cathedral), a witches’ tower, some snobbish French swans that wouldn’t come and visit the German side of the Rhine, and I took far too many pictures of beautiful doors and one picture of T.R.S.’s cute backside (clothed) next to a statue’s cute backside (unclothed). He’s not letting me post that one online, but the man can’t control what I make my laptop’s background!

 

France (and its snobby swans) are over there.

Both the cute bums are there, trust me.

Heading home on the train.

Millie Daily Style: Lobster Bib Edition

When I put this on this morning, I thought it looked pretty nifty, but now looking at the pictures I took, the scarf totally looks like a lobster bib. I never tried lobster before I went vegetarian, but it seems like a messy proposition even for the most delicate of eaters (which I am decidedly not), and I certainly wouldn’t use a nice scarf like this to catch the copious drips.

In my defence, it was chilly, and having the scarf up around my neck was warm.

Scarf issues aside, I am thrilled, THRILLED, that it’s finally cooler out now, and I can wear my tights and not melt. I love these emerald green tights, even though whenever I wear them my feet turn green. Somehow that’s part of the allure of them. This shirt is pretty flattering on me too — I’ve come to realize that shoulder ruffles or ruching or interest of some sort makes me look curvy in a rather lovely way. I am having to rethink my staunch no-ruffles-ruching-or-gathering rule. Note also the pink lipstick, which was previously on my no-go list too.

While the shoes looks nice they’re woefully uncomfortable; they’re somehow too tight (in the toes) and too loose (at the heel) all at once. But I wasn’t going far today, and the tights help considerably, so I took another stab at Operation Stretch Out the Toes of Those Cheap Shoes.

False confidence, this. Operation Stretch Out the Toes of Those Cheap Shoes is looking pretty hopeless.

Operation Grow Out Pixie Cut is… going? It’s in that super awkward stage where I look like a lopsided sheepdog, but neurotic trimming of the hair at the nape of my neck when it even thinks about growing much past my hairline has mostly kept the mullet at bay. (A. is very hepful with this, after I took a wedge out of my hair when I tried to do it myself.) It’ll be a while before it looks even vaguely reasonable again, and by that time it’ll probably be summer and I’ll get itchy to hack it all off again. How anyone gets through summer with long hair is an utter mystery to me — anyone care to enlighten me?

A Reminder To Us All

Today is a day to think about all the things you love (well, after  you’ve eaten the mass of Jupiter’s Moon Europa in Lindor chocolate truffles, anyway). Along with all the people I adore, I realize there are some inanimate objects that have wiggled their way into my heart this past year. Topping that list: Leggings and Tights. I never would have thought I’d succumb to the trend, but here I am, desperately devoted to their sleek lines and comfortable stretchiness. But, just as it’s important not to abandon one’s principles in a romantic relationship, the same is true for the other relationships in our lives. So here’s a reminder to me and to the world:

The Lady Likes

Happy Valentine’s Day! Don’t forget to cover the tush (unless, of course, you’re Cupid. In that case, carry on).

It’s been… a day

It’s unseasonably warm here today (8 degrees! No minus sign! This is unheard of!) so I took the opportunity to bust out the thin coloured tights. I should’ve taken a picture before I headed out the door, though, because on the way to school my already-irritated heel started to bleed and I needed to wash the tights as soon as I got home. I mention this partially because it was a fantastic outfit, partially to gripe, and partially to impart some potentially useful knowledge.

These tights are BRIGHT emerald green, which is great for wearing but significantly less than colour-fast. I’m lazy about handwashing (which these things need, since they’ll bleed all over anything they’re washed with), so I tend not to wear them so much. But in a blinding flash on ingenuity, I thought to use the old swimming towel I had kicking around from my (sadly gone) swimming days to blot the tights before I hang them up. I have no idea what these things are properly called, but they’re small, soft, and of some sort of super-absorbent material that sucks up and holds an incredible amount of water, which is easily wrung out. Here’s an Amazon link for the curious. It works fabulously — the tights will probably be dry in a couple of hours, rather than overnight. I highly, highly recommend trying this! Plus, if you do go swimming, they’re great for avoiding the freezing cold scuttle from the pool to the shower.

To add insult to injury, I also locked myself out of my apartment this morning. I keep my keys in my coat, but it was warm and I wore a different coat… and realized this as the door was clicking behind me. Fortunately, my office mate at school was at school today, so I had somewhere to eat lunch while neurotically checking my email, but eesh, today’s been something.