40/60=100% Focus on Style

Just a reminder: April 7th, will be the first 2nd Loved 1st Friday Linkup!

You may wonder what the title means. Well, my oldest daughter, Michelle, is in her early 40’s, and I am in my mid 60’s. We thought it was cool that our decades added up to 100 and so… a new series was born. Michelle and I will occasionally collaborate on articles. Michelle consented to be an administrator (like my youngest daughter already is). I am excited about the possibilities of this adventure.

A mother, a daughter, and a scarf  represents the theme for this first collaboration. I will admit that I am the copycat here. When I saw this gorgeous scarf hanging in Michelle’s closet (she picked it up from  Wrapunzel), I immediately knew there was one in my future. Titled Deep Ocean, its brown feather motif gently dissolves into a blue, gentle waving ocean in a way that I think is mesmerizing. It is huge, measuring 72′” x 49″. Being that large, the possibilities for how it could be styled seem endless; from shawls, head wraps to intricate scarf wrappings.

We are trying something new with this post. Michelle is going to talk about how she styled her outfit and since she had Deep Ocean first, it is only fitting that she gets the first word.

From Michelle

Just like my mother, I enjoy a mix of thrifted and handmade clothing items with the occasional special new purchase thrown in. Unlike my mother, I love 70’s style Boho, head wraps, and a more modest silhouette. I posted this outfit to my Instagram feed several weeks ago and got a lot of positive feedback, so for Mom’s blog, I recreated the casual Boho look. The special purchase is of course the gorgeous scarf Deep Ocean, a slippery and ethereal piece that needs to be handled firmly if used for a head wrap. I love how this scarf can be wrapped several ways to emphasize different portions of the coloring and patterning. Today I’m wearing Deep Ocean over a brown 2-in-1 scarf and The Signature Shaper, also both from Wrapunzel. Within the Wrapunzel Fangroup community, this particular tie is called The Beginner’s Luck because it is so simple to wrap.

The cardigan, designed by Julia Vaconsin, first made its appearance on the cover of Interweave Crochet Magazine Summer 2009. Hitherto, I was a very snobby knitter and would never, I repeat never, have crocheted. When I saw that cover, my ill-formed prejudice melted away. I put this straw colored bamboo yarn to hook and haven’t looked back. Knitting will always remain my first love and is like breathing to me, but a twirling hook is certainly an added enjoyment to my life.

The brown tunic/dress was sewn by me from my favorite Craftsy.com class, The Ultimate T-Shirt. I have sewn other T-shirts from this class, but the brown tunic is probably my most worn. This sewing class taught by Katherine and Marcy Tilton is absolutely wonderful. It was like taking a sewing class with your two favorite cool aunts and I can’t recommend this class enough. Thrifted items include the jeans and leather belt both acquired from the rebuilt Goodwill in Joplin. My ankle boots are several years old and unfortunately the longer jeans hide the decorative laser cut edging of the boot. Maybe I’ll wear them again with a skirt on another post because I just love them.

Jewelry includes simple gold hoops, the Lions in Four necklace gifted from my parents over the holidays, and a Chazak Bracelet made by Amy Bennett. Purchase of a Chazak Bracelet benefits the medical care of Ethan Kadish, an Ohio teenager who was struck by lightning and suffered cardiac arrest. Chazak is usually translated from Hebrew to mean Be Strong and I wear this bracelet often.

From Terri

I took the style approach of one of my favorite looks, what I call “dress casual.” I always love trying to sneak pants into dressier occasions.

I wanted the beauty of this scarf to shine and that meant using it in the simplest way possible. Wrapping it around, I tied it in front and tried to make sure the blue end was against the brown feather motif and visa versa.

Brown and turquoise are two of my favorite colors to use together so I decided on my brown silk Charter Club pants that I picked up a few years ago from eBay as a 2nd loved item and paired them with a Chi Chi layering top in camel. The Chi Chi is new. They just had a 40% sale and I supplemented my wardrobe with some needed colors. I’ve decided Chi Chi’s layering tops are my today’s version of my 90’s Land’s End’s turtlenecks and I still have all those cotton turtlenecks!

The Madeline open-toed, strap-backed booties by Madeline (from Joplin’s Sophie) are making their debut with this post. I love their tacked heel look and almost cone shape. I know these will be back here during the summer.

The faux reptile look bag is not really a clutch. I found it at an antique store this summer but the handle needed work–so I just took it off. However, I really love it as a clutch so don’t know how soon I will get around to fixing it!

My jewelry in this post is special because they are by two of my favorite Kansas City designers. My Cydney Ross Sticks and Stones necklace is probably too small to see in our picture. So I pulled a photo from Cydney’s online site for a better view.

My Cheryl Eve Acosta ring is from her Mer De Verre collection. I encourage you to check out Cheryl’s site if not for anything else, a visual feast of gorgeous pieces based on the natural world.

As usual for me, there’s something new, vintage, and second hand in this blog bit. We will end with another photo of Michelle and I taken on another day with me wearing my scarf another way.

Style Sources For Today

Cheryl Eve Acosta

Chi Chi

Cydney Ross

eBAy

Lions in Four

Madeline Shoes

Sophie Boutique of Joplin

Wrapunzle Scarfs This is a link to the Deep Ocean scarf which comes in two color ways.

That’s it for today except don’t forget to check out MeadowTree’s first 2nd Love 1st Friday post coming this Friday, April 7th. I hope you will come and party and even link up with us.

Until next time, Happy Styling!

 

Michael, Michelle and I all worked as photographers for today’s edition of MeadowTree.

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