Golden Casual

In the past, I have never been a big sneaker (or tennis shoes, trainers or whatever you prefer) lady. When we had  “Jeans Friday” at school for charity, I  was probably the only teacher who either had on flats or loafers rather than sneakers. Admittedly, I have a pair of black Pumas in the closet for those rare moments, but until this summer that was all I really needed or wanted. But I find that sometimes grandsons have  very good power of persuasion.

Harrison, my youngest grandson, and I were lurking in Academy Sports (one of those big box stores) this past summer and started looking at sneakers. Cool sneakers are very important to Harrison and Converse Chucks are high on his list. When we spied some burgundy lady Chucks, he immediately tried to talk me into getting them for myself because  I needed (he thought) some shoes in  Joplin Eagle colors. Through his eyes I started looking at these sneakers in a new light and found that I delighted in their wide side walls with delicate pin stripe.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, I decided to check out Famous Footwear. Back in the 80’s they were the only discount shoe store for better brands that I knew about. Now  there’s DSW and probably a few others but back then I usually found what I needed from Famous Footwear.

On this last outing, I found a pair of Vans; which are in the same spirit of Converse Chucks. Better yet, these Vans were on sale for $29.99 and still better yet can be found for that price HERE. They are Camden Sneakers in Desert Taupe. I love texture, actual or simulated. These sneakers look like they have been sand blasted and dripped with bleach and I think it’s obvious they came home with me and they inspired today’s look.

As I said, sand blasted and bleach dripped. I think these will take a tad bit of maintenance because I always want those sides wall to be snowy white.

Its time to move on to other things. Besides the Vans, everything else is fairly old and most of which have been on the blog before. I’m going to start out with a pair of jeans that I wear a lot and am surprised that I haven’t posted about them before.

Have you worn metallic denim? These burnished gold metallic jeans are my remedy when I get tired of wearing blue denim. They are made by Miracle Body and have just enough spandex to make them super comfy. The best description of these jeans is that they are gold metallic coated with a floral pattern created by a resist technique (where some parts of the fabric is not dyed because of an applied resist which is later removed). Again, the texture of the surface was one of the first things that jumped out of me when I saw these. I found them at a locally owned boutique and don’t know if I would have appreciated their surface if I saw them online. Brick and mortar stores are still important in my book for this reason alone.

This is the first time I have worn a knitted beret on the blog. But believe me, I have worn this particular hat frequently throughout  the years. I knitted it out of mohair (which is is created from goats) so long ago that I can’t remember the yarn brand or where I got the pattern. Like my Berets, I sometimes pin things on if for an extra decorative statement but not today.

The necklace was also strung by me. I fall in love with stones and I have learned simple stringing techniques to showcase them. These particular stones (and I have no idea what they are) came from a fiber and knitting conference that I taught at about three years ago. There is a better photo of the necklace below because the stones are really pretty.

The  jacket is a decade old Kenneth Cole Reaction black leather  from when I would order from Overstock.com. I have a newer black leather but still can’t part with this one. The Nine West bag is a repeat (in another gold themed post HERE), as the Cheetah glove (eBay), and my Marc Jacob (The RealReal) sunglasses. The cotton/silk top with beads was also on one of the first posts I ever did as a style blogger and you can see the beads a lot better HERE. I will warn you, that post is heavy on the Cheetah print.

So here’s to black and  gold, a  very classic combination. It certainly is one of my favorite ones and I can wear it year round. I wonder if its because the University of Missouri  Tigers colors are black and gold and, of course, the Adrian Blackhawks (where I taught for 32 years and the girls both graduated from) are black and gold. I just know I sure have worn a lot of black and gold this past thirty five years!

Without a closeup, the rich patterning of these stones is missed. The smaller copper patterned beads were too bright so I tarnished  and then sanded them a bit to create just a few highlights.

I will end with what I began with. What about the original Converse Chucks Harrison and I first saw at Academy?  Well, I still don’t have a pair of Chucks but I did find I could design a pair of my own on the Nike website. That has been fun so who knows, I may someday have a pair that I designed myself. If you want to have some fun and see what you can come up with go HERE and happy designing!

That’s all I have for today. So adieu until next time, and in the meantime

Happy Styling!

 

Michael gets the photo credits for the outdoor photos and me for the still life and fabric shots.

I link up with some great blogs every week. To see who they are go HERE.

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