Thoroughly ME

May Showers

I just washed all my tights the other night while watching Mad Men because I was sure I wouldn't need them again until September at least. Then we had a rainy, 52-degree day, I hadn't shaved, and I decided I'd rather wear a skirt than pants. This is it for sure, though, no matter what the weather does in the next couple of weeks.

Wave Experiments

For the past couple of years, since I started paying more attention to my appearance, I've been consistently blow-drying my hair straight because I haven't figured out how to coax out the natural waves in my hair without getting lots of frizz, too. So I spent the weekend experimenting. With a new curl cream, some scrunching and air-drying, I got two days of acceptable curls/waves. Today I brushed them out and ended up with frizzy, softer waves. I think tomorrow I'll flatiron my hair into submission and resume the experiments this weekend.

10 ways to Wear a Khaki Skirt

I know khaki is kind of passé, but I find it handy to have a light-colored, neutral skirt, especially in a ladylike, feminine shape. Clearly my favorite colors to pair with it are pink and blue.

I bought this Gap skirt on eBay a couple of years ago, for maybe $15.

Casual'd

Today I repeated the springy color combination from this outfit a couple of weeks ago and casual'd it up with a knotted chambray shirt.

Not the Right Two Tones

Today's outfit was translated quite literally from this image I saw on Banana Republic's website a couple of months ago: black-and-white print top, red skirt, black belt and two-tone pumps. I'm on the lookout for a pair of black-and-white pumps because a) the lighter color on these is actually a fairly rich cream, and b) they have a strong girly, retro vibe that I don't always want. I want to find something in stark black and white and a more modern style.

Tricksy Scarf

I did a lot of fussing with my scarf while taking pictures this morning. Everything looked fine in person and in the mirror, but on the camera screen, it looked like the scarf was eating my torso. Eventually I figured out how to arrange it so it wouldn't appear far more voluminous than it was.

A Shift Dress and a Shirt

I want to buy more sleeveless, high-necked sheath dresses for their layering potential. But this dress actually works pretty well layered over a button-front shirt, too.

In and Out

Into my wardrobe: this black cardigan, a replacement for this one, which was ruined in a trip through the washing machine. I bought the previous one on eBay and have seen the same cardigan on there since, so I set up a saved search and ended up with this one, which is not the same one but is still 100 percent silk, so like the old one it doesn't wrinkle much and is warm but not too warm. But the sleeves are a little long and there's too much fabric under the arms, so I'm still looking for an exact replica of my old cardigan and will resell this one when it appears.

Out of my wardrobe: this dress, which has actually served me quite well for a clearance purchase from Old Navy more than two years ago. But the bodice is getting droopy, and the fabric is pilling. I tried to shave off some of the pills this morning, but my sweater shaver caught on a little bump and tore a tiny hole in the neckline of the dress. Fortunately, the cardigan that I had already planned as part of this outfit covered up for multiple problems.