Anatomy of a frisky outfit

 

 

Sometimes getting dressed is frisky business.

There are other ways to feel frisky of course. Some people may play a prank on loved ones like when Mother wrote handwritten notes and put them inside of sandwiches she packed for my cousins when they were heading back to their home in Washington. She must have giggled half the day just thinking about that moment when Carolyn and John would pull those sandwiches out and discover her love notes.

Someone else may take a picture of a friend’s pet and go to the MyTalkingPet app on their phone. They’ll get the pet’s mouth to move and say something funny and then they’ll text it their friend. Anticipating that hilarious roar when the friend views it is as much fun for the person who made it as the person receiving it.

Sometimes I create an outfit that has me chuckling on the inside for the whole day. That’s what I did this weekend.

 

Mixing odd things together

 

On our cloudy Saturday in Sonoma last weekend, Russ and I decided to go to Boon Fly Cafe to have brunch.

 

 

I had an idea: What if I paired my gray Lululemon soft base layer T-shirt with thumbholes with my Carmen Marc Valvo cropped wool crepe jacket with silk trim?

Both pieces have lived in my closet for years but never encountered each other. I bought the Lululemon piece five years ago when I was traveling to Sydney, Australia and New Zealand to train image consultants.

I bought the dressy jacket on sale at Bergdorf Goodman in NYC a couple of days after delivering a training to the AICI New York Tri-State chapter of image consultants. That might have been eight years ago!

Normally I wear the thin Lululemon T-shirt as my first layer when hiking in the Sonoma hills. Here’s a  similar one. I wear the Carmen Marc Valvo jacket over pretty sleeveless dresses for infrequent dressy affairs.

 

 

I decided to wear those two pieces with my DKNY slim ponté knit pants. I added a silk and wool infinity scarf, a gift from a friend, only instead of using it as an infinity scarf, I tied a low knot in it so it hung more like a loose necktie.

 

Next came the urban accessories

 

I wanted to create more of an urban edge to the ladylike jacket so I grabbed my metal cuffs and put them on the outside of  the tee. I used my Calleen Cordero studded wide leather cuff on one arm. I added an I-can’t-remember-the-artist’s-name thin hammered cuff with hematites on the other arm (purchased at Oska in Mill Valley). I added two rings and then my gunmetal hoop earrings (from Gallery of Jewels in San Francisco). I wore my recently purchased Lucky Brand black suede perforated Basel booties on my feet.

 

 

 

 

I was entertained all day by the little joke I was playing: putting athletic wear with evening wear and in my opinion, pulling it off!

I love the neutral colors of black, gray, and taupe together.

I love any excuse to wear my cuffs. I thought of my wonderful friend when I wore the scarf. I delighted in the memory of shopping at Bergdorf’s. I loved thinking of all my image consulting friends from NYC, Sydney, and New Zealand. And I loved being with my sweetheart all day (it was a long wait at Boon Fly!), and their Virgin Bloody Mary with bacon was pretty fun too.

I’m not sure how much my outfit set the tone for the day. If I had to guess, I think it was quite a lot!

Do you get frisky with outfits?