The Space Between My Peers

So I totally messed this one up:  somehow I missed the fact that Jenn’s frugal food series is thematic, that is, she’s choosing a theme for each week.  This week I should have listed a ground meat recipe.  Let’s see, do we eat ground meat?  Not very often.  And I’m not certain that adding ground turkey to jars of Classico spaghetti sauce classifies as frugal.  But adding chopped, leftover venison which was shared with us by a hunter friend (I call it “free meat”) probably does.

Anyway, here’s my best shot:  instead of using ground meat, in any recipe you like such as tacos or whatever, use a combination of lentils and short-grain brown rice (50/50), plus some oil and your seasonings.  The beauty of this combo is that they cook together in the rice cooker.  More frugal ground meat recipes at Frugal Upstate.  (Next week’s theme is chicken.)

Now, back to what I wanted to share.

Being that we eat salad just about every day of the year, salad dressing no doubt accounts for a measureable portion of my food budget … although I’ve never (believe it or not!) actually measured it. 

In Italy, we innovated an Americanized version of the Italian staple salad dressing:  oil and vinegar, salt and pepper.  Instead of sprinkling each individually on our salad, I mixed them all in the bottom of the bowl before adding the greens, then tossed.  The proportions were as follows:

• a tablespoon or two (by eye) of whatever vinegar you choose
• 3 to 5 times as much olive oil, or use another oil such as grapeseed or walnut
• salt and pepper to taste

Now that I’m back at home, for some reason, this simple formula doesn’t seem exciting enough.  So we use a non-MSG bulk seasoning mix that I buy through a food co-op for under $5/lb. 

Next, I will be working on a replacement for Lighthouse Bleu Cheese dressing.  Suggestions?

Share This

Jenna asks:

Here’s something I’ve always wondered that may be more appropriate to discuss closer to summer…How do you pull off a pulled together look with minimal layers? I love the look of casual jackets, cardis, etc, but they aren’t really practical for me (at least every day).

My favorite super-hot but pulled-together look, if not to wear, certainly to see on others, is what’s being called these days ‘The Frock’.  In other words, a dress. Simply throw a cardigan in your purse (or diaper bag!) and you’ll be set when you get to your air-conditioned location.

Lately I’ve also been thinking about dress shapes, and how they fit with the silhouettes. For example, for me, the type 8 figure, I prefer the fitted sheath, while the fuller skirt is darling on the type X or hourglass. Type A’s, of course, are natural in A-lines.  Do V-type figures tend to go for wrap styles?

What’s your favorite summer dress silhouette?

Share This

Yesterday I picked this up for $1.99 at Goodwill. Looking at the price offered here I don’t feel bad telling you so.

So I’m taking the day off blogging to read.

Have a lovely day!

Share This

Recently my friend Lori asked:

I was just wondering if you’ve always been so intentional with your style and fashion choices. I wish that I put more thought into what I wear, but with 2 little kids I usually find myself getting dressed at the last minute, wearing whatever is clean ( and sometimes things that are mostly clean :). Is there hope that as the girls get older and more self-sufficient I’ll be able to devote some time and thought into clothes? When your girls were little were you as into fashion as you are now?

My answer: When my girls were the ages of yours and my boys were in elementary school, I was just coming off a fashion/retail career. I had loads of nice suits and little else. I had discovered the need for a better casual outfit, but I never had more than one. And I didn’t have near enough “gardening & dog-walking clothes”. I remember despairing that one day I would be out puttering in the yard in one of my suits because nothing else was clean. lol

Gradually I settled into a simple “what to wear” pattern: long-sleeved tee shirt and jeans in the cool months, short-sleeved tee shirt and (short-sleeved) jeans in the warm months. The weather was alot simpler there.

My girls were in mid to late elementary school when we began studying The Triumph of Individual Style with our homeschool group. Giving the ladies the tools at that age to present themselves creatively and harmoniously was, I believe, the key to their modesty.

My bad (or how I discovered I needed a better casual outfit):

Showing up to an event inappropriately dressed is always dreadful, but I guess my worst episode happened when I had recently been transferred by my (former) company. In those days, I had power suits and I had grubbies but I had nothing in between. My husband and I went out looking at homes and then, without changing clothes, I went to the store to do a “competitive shop” (at Nordstrom) with the bosses — wearing jeans and pumps, with a BA TEE-SHIRT (yes, it really pictured a cartoon character flipping the BA).

Biff your message tees. Before you embarrass yourself like I did.

Share This

Two things I notice about young ladies when it comes to swimsuits: one, they don’t like black, and two, they don’t like to spend $80. In addition, the young ladies I am acquainted with, and their mothers as well, are more modest than the majority of 50 year olds out there on the beach. So I just want to show some affordable, cute, and modest suits.

Bistro Floral One Piece Crossback Swimsuit by SessaFeatures: Soft cup bra Feminine V-neck frames and flatters the face Crossback provides a secure and comfortable fit Tummy control panel smoothes and flattens Wood ring detail on empire waist 82% Nylon/18% Spandex Fit: Will comfortably accomodate a C cup Adjustable straps Hits at the natural crease of the leg Moderate back coverage Colors: Available in Pink with white and brown floral print.

Retro Dots Two Piece Halter Tankini by OxygenSoft cup bra provides comfortable support Feminine V-neck frames and flatters the face Halter top ties at neck 80% Polyester/20% Spandex

Parisian Parlor Two Piece Tankini Swimsuit by SessaFeatures: Soft cup bra Feminine V-neck frames and flatters the face Ruffle trim at neckline Princess seams accentuate the bust 80% Nylon/20% Spandex Fit: Will comfortably accomodate a C cup Brief bottom hits at the natural crease of the leg Moderate back coverage Colors: Available in Brown with contrasting pink trim.

These suits are all from Swimsuits for All, with which company I am affiliated (which means if you buy through any link on this website, I get paid!). And be sure to check my “online shopping” page for available coupon codes.

And a modesty tip for halter swimsuits: tie the top where you need it and then sew together!

Share This

Laura left a fascinating comment on my post Apparent Body Size. I didn’t want anybody to miss it, so here it is:

I think that frame size has a LOT to do with it. I have two sisters who are within an inch of each others’ height and within a few pounds of each others’ weight.Yet one of them is apparently-tiny, and one of them is apparently-strapping. Tiny has a small frame, delicate features, and carries most of her excess weight where it can be easily disguised. Strapping has a broad, strong-looking frame, large hands and bosoms, and some facial softness that makes her look like she’s carrying around a few extra pounds.

It’s not just clothing size that people guess, either. People often perceive Strapping as several inches taller than Tiny. Heck, people perceive *me* as taller than Tiny, and I’m shorter — but like Strapping, I’ve got a broad, solid frame to Tiny’s narrow, delicate one.

Very interesting! 

As I’ve said before, it mystifies me why people generally assign me a medium body.  I am smaller than both of my daughters and yet, if we were all given shirts for Christmas by the same giver, mine would undoubtedly be a medium and their’s smalls. 

Now I’m going to be analyzing everyone’s apparent size by looking at their face. Anybody else?

Share This

This question from eternalvoyageur, concerning a previous post about strap size, inspired me to look a little deeper into the artistic principle of scale.

 I wear a lot of spaghetti straps, since i have slender arms and shoulders.

I can’t figure out the proportion thing though… could you give us some rules ?

I wish I had it all worked out so I could give guidelines, but I don’t. We saw in the fashion lab you did that it’s not all about facial features: we couldn’t even see your face!

(I have a suspicion that visible bones - how can I say that nicely? - harmonize with spaghetti straps.)

Recommended purse strap width according to bone structure, from The Triumph of Individual Style : A Guide to Dressing Your Body, Your Beauty, Your Self:

• small scale ~ less than 1/2″
• medium scale ~ 1/2″ to less than 1″
• large ~ 1″ to 1 1/2″

The scale of bone structure is determined at wrist and ankle, which can be different. 

Applications: 

• Logically, wrist bone structure would relate to upper body details, such as whether or not you wear spaghetti straps.
• Hmmm.  Maybe this stuff works with belts too. Like a belt at the waist would be the scale of the upper body and a belt worn at the hip would be the scale of the lower body. (In my case, my wrist are smaller scale as compared to my ankles.)
• If you, like me, are a combination, scale your purse to your apparent body size.

Lately, I have noticed, stylish young ladies, modest but not necessarily small-scale, adapt their spaghetti straps to everyday wear by wearing a tank under.  White is especially practical, a great accent and cool for summer. 

Share This

Friday I’m heading out to the park with the ladies. If anyone were so inclined, it would be a lovely day for personal color identification.

Here’s the project: Go outside and have a friend identify every color present in your personal coloring. Name them according to my mental color wheel (two variations of each hue: orange-red and purple-red, blue-green and yellow-green, and so on).

• Eyes contain multiple colors. Look at the iris, the ring that rims the iris, any flecks, and the white.
• Hair, either natural or enhanced, often has a wide range of colors. Remember to check the nape and also eyebrows. And what impression do the colors give all together?
• In identifying the colors in your skin look for reds, oranges, purples, whites, browns, and possibly yellows or blacks; all very subtle, of course.

Here’s the application: My favorite post on the topic of color.

Share This

What’s ”text” for laughing at myself?  LAS (Laughing at Self)?  If there isn’t one, there should be!

I’m laughing at myself because I just don’t feel like posting today.  :)  Happily, I just happened to snap this photo of my dear daughter last week.  Update:  I wasn’t laughing when my server went down in the middle of putting together this post.  Argh!

Presenting her creative outfit, Real Fashion for Real People style:

• I picked up the purple knit dress on one of my dollar day trips to Value Village.  She folded the sleeves under to transform it into a tube top.
• The belt is from a shirt-dress picked up at the same thrift store. 
• She had to borrow a tank from me.  :)  It’s what makes the outfit wearable.
• The leggings?  I don’t recall.  Borrowed from sister?
• Pink, crocheted flats:  thrifted as well.

For Real Fashion for Real People we also reveal style personality and lifestyle segment (where/for what the outfit is worn).  In this case we have an ultra -frugal and -functional 17 y.o. going to school for a final, then changing into a long dress for a performance before changing back into these clothes for a graduation party.  At a lake house, an hour’s drive away.

But I think she could wear this outfit for alot of different functions, don’t you?

Share This

Boldly I am attempting to transform this vintage whenever the last time “maxi” dresses were in style (1970s?) dress into something my daughter wants to wear. After all, it’s got to be easier than making a dress from scratch, right? And this was all her idea, so the worst I can do is poor workmanship (which seems inevitable).

What I’ve done so far:

• sewn up the deep slit at the neckline
• taken in the armholes a little by adding another dart (actually, I could have said, “basted dart, taken out, rebasted, and so on and so on, but it’s done now.  Both sides.)
• measured and re-measured for length.  Cut off extra.
• (you can just figure for yourself that every step has had an element of trial and error to it and fill in the multiple attempts) sewn a piece of the cut off length on at the (empire) waist.

I still need to figure out a way to sew the extra fabric down to make it look like a long, structured waistband.  Then pin and hem.  Voila!  A new dress.  And just in time:  hot weather is coming!

Share This