Snow bunny.

• Sweater: Old Navy
• Belt: Torrid (previously)
• Skinny Jeans: Z. Cavaricci via Torrid (previously)
• Boots: Torrid (previously)
• Gloves: Isotoner via JC Penney
• Scarf: Maurices

First, I know I got a little carried away with the pictures today, but I had some trouble narrowing down my favorites! :) The title is due to my wife who said I looked a little bit like a snow bunny in this outfit. I don't have many cowl neck tops or cable knit sweaters, but last winter I decided I really wanted a long off white cable knit cowl neck sweater, and a short trip to Old Navy later this sweater was mine. Rarely does my vision of a fashion need want pan out so perfectly and so quickly. I knew it was almost cold enough to post an outfit involving this sweater when I saw this post by Jamie of Thrifty Threads. And then a few days ago, I saw a post that reminded me that I should probably try a belt with this sweater the next time I wore it.

Today's question is from Pamela who has the awesome blog Call Me Ishmael, and she asks: Is there anything you want to (and/or wish to) wear that you feel you either can't (just doesn't fit your body or xyz) or just haven't been able to (for whatever reasons) yet?

This is a great question, and part of it is because my understanding and answer to it has changed over time. A few years ago, I would have said yes, partially because of my body type, and given a long list of things I wanted that I thought I would never have. Even worse, this affected my shopping habits, because I would buy things that didn't exactly fit and "settle" for "cheap" looking, ill fitting clothes and shoes, which only reinforced some of these negative feelings. Shoes, ironically, were and still are my biggest problem.

I have come to realize though, that a lot of my sizing problems are because I'm a plus size and that I was shopping in places that didn't have a great selection in plus sizes. Now, I suppose I will always be frustrated that a lot of shoe brands stop one size short of my size (or possibly worse: come in my size, but run small...). I have also found some places that sell some great plus size clothes and I know some brands and places that sell great shoes that usually fit. Also, the feeling that I can eventually find something great has really helped curb some of my excessive shopping, although it does make it hard to hold back when I find that "perfect" vision of something I've been looking for.

Its interesting, because although I am a male, and have a male body, I've really come to understand that this isn't my biggest obstacle. The human body, whether its male or female, comes in a lot more shapes and sizes than ready-to-wear clothes are designed to fit. In fact, having read blogs by plus sizes, "core" sizes, petites, really tall people, people who have decided to make their own clothes, and others, I have really come to learn that it seems like everyone has at least some of the same problems with fit that I do. And while that's no fun for anyone, its been helpful to learn that I'm not alone in these frustrations. If something doesn't fit, its not the human body's fault, but the clothes that are at fault. Thankfully, it seems like some retailers are doing better about providing more options for the wide variety of shapes and sizes out there. Of course, that doesn't change the fact that if the shoe fits... I'm probably going to buy it immediately.

Okay, so some specific things that I've been wanting. Shoes are pretty high on the list (like I need another pair! :) ), specifically pair of black patent leather pumps with an almost round toe with a hidden platform and no seam in the front. I've also been wanting a pair of tall, plain, cognac/light brown boots with a round toe, a bit of a platform, and a chunky heel. And while I won't list specific the specific costume, an adult plus size version of the halloween costume I wanted to wear as a child that my parents denied me. (This perhaps might be a final bit of passive aggressive childhood rebellion. :) ) The perfect knee length party dress with a skirt that's not too full, basically a "little black dress", but it doesn't have to be black to make me happy. I am actually on a bit of a mission to find some slips lately as well. And in a somewhat related vein, I occasionally want to find some... sexy stuff. This could have gone in a previous post, but I have a swimsuit that's too nice to swim in, so I wouldn't mind a more practical swimsuit, and the opportunity to wear it.

But after listing all that, I am reminded again how incredibly lucky I am. Many of those items are as much about budgetary planning as fit. I feel richly blessed for the life I have. I am lucky enough to be able to afford owning a wardrobe that I can't use. It was a strange day when I woke up and realized I had a "complete" wardrobe. There will always be one more pair of perfect shoes, or one more style or trend that I want to try, but is that really any different from anyone else?

And of course, I have to thank my gorgeous wife for doing my hair and taking the pictures in a snow storm. (And for the record, these pictures were taken walking distance from our home, so its not like we risked life and limb to get them!)

Its too cold for this outfit.

• Cami: Cato (previously)
• Cardigan: Old Navy (previously)
• Skirt: Maurices (previously)
• Shoes: Gabriella Rocha via Zappos (buy)
• Pantyhose: Just My Size via Walmart

A while back, I saw Ashley of Ashley Getting Dressed post a really cute outfit. It didn't take me long to realize that one of my favorite skirts was really similar to hers, and that I could recreate a very similar outfit for myself. As an added bonus, I realized it would make a great outfit for the blog debut of these camel colored T-strap pumps. And those white blurs in the last two pictures are not a camera malfunction, they're snow! I hope everyone had a great weekend, and of course today's pictures were taken by my beautiful wife.

Orange and purple.

• Top: Cato
• Cami: Cato
• Vest: Maurices (buy it)
• Skirt: Isaac Mizrahi for Target
• Purple Tights: JC Penney (previously)
• Boots: Target
• Bracelet: Torrid (previously)

I frequently associate orange and purple with Halloween, but when I put this outfit together, I was thinking they really work great for fall in general. I was also trying to break my neutral heavy rut. Of course, its cold like winter here, so maybe its not really time for a "fall" outfit anymore, and this was all just wishful thinking on my part. I know the short sleeves were wishful thinking, but I was indoors the whole time I wore this outfit, with no intent to go outside.

I have another question to answer today. This one is from the fabulous Pamela of Call Me Ishmael: Where do you most want to go dressed as a woman? For what occasion? I think you mentioned something about a wedding or ball before. Anything else?

What I really want is to get dressed in the morning without having to consider the gender of my clothes, and just go about my day normally. As it stands, I'm pretty sure that's not realistic most days, but I do feel like I'm close to a place where I can go out and about some of the time. It just takes some advance planning and preparation. However, there are some situations where I frequently find myself wishing I could wear an outfit I would post here. And since that's what Pamela asked, here is a list of those places in no particular order.

• I mentioned this one previously. I would like to wear a nice formal dress to a formal event. Maybe its because I remember all the formals, proms, and dances I went to while I was in school where I was often jealous of all the pretty dresses. One day, I would really like to get dressed to the nines in formal wear and go to really swank event or dance.
• This one is related to the previous one, but since I joked about it in the other post, I thought I would expand on it. I have always enjoyed weddings, and while I had a close male friend ask me to be a groomsman once, I have sometimes thought it would be really special if one of my close female friends ever asked me to be a bridesmaid. (And then my next thought is usually to ask myself what would a male bridesmaid be called?). Of course, this would probably be a horrible idea, and weddings should be all about the couple, but I like the idea of being there for my friends on their special day. Also, I have a long and highly qualified resume documenting my skills at extreme car decoration during the reception. Okay, maybe that last one isn't helping my argument! :) (Hehe, it also doesn't help that the idea of male bridesmaids shows up in pop culture occasionally, like here and here!)
• I also like the idea of going dressed up to informal parties and other social events with friends. This is actually something that I am getting the opportunity to do now, since I have a circle of friends who are accepting of how I like to dress. Its not like there are opportunities on an extremely regular basis, and most of our friends live one city over from us, but next year is looking up on this count.
• I'm sure to no one's great surprise, shopping is high on the list too. Especially the idea of making a real day of it with some friends, and going to a city with lots of great shopping options (and preferably reasonably far away from home for anonymity reasons...). Of course, this one is as much limited by budget as other concerns, so I guess I need to start saving up for it. :)
• A "(Mostly) Girls Night Out". The idea of getting dressed up and going out with small group of close friends to a nice restaurant, followed by a movie, play, or some other fun and/or cultural event or even a nice club. I'm not sure if this counts as irony, but I wouldn't actually want to exclude any gender from this sort of event. Earlier this year, some friends had a tea party and hosted a Mary Kay consultant during the tea. Afterward we all went to a restaurant and then to play pool. The evening was actually completely mixed gender. Okay, well, I was the only guy who elected to go to the Mary Kay part (the other guys watched a movie in a different part of the house), and I ended up changing before we went out for the rest of the evening. So I'm including this one because doing more things like this appeals to me, especially the part where I don't change clothes halfway through.
• I really enjoy office styles a lot, and so the opportunity to conduct business dressed up really appeals to me as well.
• When I was in college, a friend of mine showed up to class one day in a 3 piece suit. We asked him what the occasion was, to which he deftly responded, "Laundry Day." And so the last "place" it something I have probably mentioned before as well. Some days, I just want to get up and dress up for what many would say is "no reason at all". I do think there is a reason though. I want to dress up for myself, and when someone asks why, I don't want to feel embarrassed that I just wanted to look fabulous, and hide behind being out of "regular" clothes. (In all fairness to my friend, he was, in fact, completely out of other clean clothes. I guess doing your own laundry is a life skill too frequently learned in college.)

And of course more questions are always welcome, so definitely feel free to post more. I will always try my best to answer them. This week has been mildly crazy as well, so I must apologize for the lack of posts and being behind in general. And of course today's pictures were taken by my lovely wife.

More dark neutrals.

• Sweater Dress: Torrid
• Pumps: Payless
• Pantyhose: Just My Size from Walmart

This dress was a prize from last year's end of season sales, and I got it for under $10. At first, my wife wasn't so sure it would be such a great purchase, but its turned out to be one of my favorites, and its really comfortable too. The only thing that would make it better is if the "top" and "dress" were separates, but for under $10, its pretty great I think. I know I'm continuing with the theme of dark neutrals lately, but it just seems to be what I end up pulling out of the closet. I also realize that I have way too many pairs of black heels, but every time I try to decide which pair to part with, I end remembering why I bought them all (besides the fact that they fit... which is actually pretty high on my list of reasons to justify shoe purchases....). On the other hand, some of them don't fit quite as well as they ought, which is helping me decide on some pairs to get rid of, and I'm trying to always remember to remind myself how many pairs of black heels I own when I'm shoe shopping.

I'm slowly getting caught up on blogs, even though things have still been pretty busy in our household. I'm hoping that thing will slow down after Thanksgiving, but we'll see. Unfortunately, we didn't get to take pictures until after sundown, so the lighting wasn't the best, but I think the pictures turned out mostly okay. And of course, as always, today's pictures were taken by my awesome wife.

Play it again, again.

• Top: Maurices (previously)
• Blazer: Maurices (previously)
• Pants: Torrid (previously)
• Pumps: Payless (previously)
• Bracelet: Torrid (previously)

So this marks the end of this weeks remix challenge, and this outfit is also a complete remix of previously worn pieces. Its certainly been fun to force myself to remix pieces. However, I do want to continue to go through everything in my closet by posting it on the blog, and just cut back on my shopping in general. This blog has helped me feel less of a need to shop, and I really enjoy sharing my love of fashion with everyone.

On yesterday's post, Lesa of Always Summer left a question: Hey, I have a question from my daughter (she's 15 and really just wondering (please don't get offended) She said" Mom, his clothes are so cool, does his wife get to wear them too?" First, I love answering questions, and I don't get offended easily at all. Questions are always welcome, and I will do my best to answer them. I'm really flattered that your daughter thinks my clothes are cool. My wife and I are very differently sized, so unfortunately, my clothes don't fit her, and hers don't fit me. It would definitely help on closet space if we could though, and it would make it a lot easier for me to rationalize buying more shoes if we wore the same shoe size. We do share on some accessories though, mostly things like purses that aren't really sized. I have some more I could say on this topic so I may write a longer post on this topic in the future. Although with all the well dressed style bloggers out there, I think it would be interesting to hear what others have to say. Does anyone have someone they share clothes and shoes with? What are your feelings on sharing clothes and shoes?

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am really looking forward to seeing what other style bloggers do for Halloween next week, and I'm pretty excited about our own plans here. And of course today's pictures were taken by my fabulous wife.

Bold black and brown.

• Top: Maurices
• Cardigan: Old Navy
• Belt: Torrid (previously)
• Pants: Maurices (previously)
• Pumps: Isaac Mizrahi for Target

Since I already had my outfits picked out for the week, I am still remixing, and I will be remixing the first week of November again, since that is when Meli22 has rescheduled her challenge. Of course, this isn't a remix yet, since several of these pieces are new to the blog, but they will be by the end of the week! I really enjoy pairing brown and black, but I'm not always convinced they work, this outfit might be on the other side of the line, and I also feel like I might have gone overboard with the belt in this one, but overall, I'm pretty happy with the outfit. I also really like these pumps, and other than my own attempt to go through most of my shoe collection, I would wear them more often. They are from Isaac Mizrahi's collaboration with Target a couple of years ago. I have several other pairs from this collection too, and I love them all, and the best part is that they usually had my size in this line too, which Target's other brands usually don't.

In other news, it looks like almost everything is taken care of for Halloween. Maybe all the anticipation and build up on my part will just make things anticlimactic once it actually gets here. We also recently moved so we have no idea if we will get any trick-or-treaters here either. I have several plans made for next week, now I just hope they all work out. And of course, today's pictures were taken by my adorable wife!

Fun with cameras.

• Top: Maurices
• Cardigan: Old Navy (previously)
• Skinny Jeans: Z. Cavaricci via Torrid (previously)
• Red Flats: Payless (same style, different color)
• Bracelet: Torrid

The unexpected surprise in this post is that my camera flaked out yesterday (and by flaked out, I mean the last picture it took is the one not like the others), so we decided to experiment with taking the rest of the pictures with my cell phone camera. I turned my old camera on this morning, and it seemed to be working again, but since the camera is getting some age on it, I figure it's time to look for a replacement. We probably can't afford a DSLR (And we would have to learn how to use it anyway...), especially since we want to replace it this weekend, so we'll probably be looking for a "nice" point-and-shoot model. And of course, thoughts on cameras are completely welcome in the comments. :)

The top in today's post does have some peach in the print (which you probably can't see), but I'm not sure if that counts as pink so I decided to "fall off the wagon" and not claim this as part of Melissa's Blogging for Breast Cancer aWEARness challenge. Also, I don't normally wear flats with skinny jeans, but I wanted to give it a try, because I think it's a really good look on other people. I also feel like I was inspired at least a little by Ashley of Ashley Getting Dressed. Oh, and while the pictures weren't the best, I actually wore this for most of the day yesterday, including a quick trip through the drive thru with my wife for our dinner (she was driving, for the record). And of course, today's pictures were taken by my fabulous wife.

September's Last Call.

• Top: Maurices
• Skirt: Maurices
• Belt: Torrid
• Wedges: Payless

This is an outfit from earlier in the week, and with the weather finally turning, I expect (er, hope?) this will be one of the last summery outfits I post until next year! And hey, its also the last day of September, which is a good thing, I think. September was a wild and crazy month for me and its ending with a wild and crazy day. My wife and I puzzled over this outfit too, she made some suggestions and I kept tweaking things until I just kinda stopped here. I really like it though, I think, but it still feels like something is missing. And of course my beautiful wife took the pictures and made suggestions about the outfit.

Funky florals?

• Top: Maurices
• Skinny Jeans: Z. Cavaricci via Torrid (worn previously here)
• Pumps: Nine West
• Necklaces: Maurices
• Bracelets: Torrid
• Bag: Nine West

This is actually an outfit from a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about posting it. I really like all the pieces, I'm just not sure about the whole thing. I kinda think the top doesn't "work" with the rest of it. And the top and the shoes are both floral-ish(Sure, that's a word, right? right?) prints, and I like the color pairing, so I thought they might be fun, but now I'm not sure. But this is a style blog, mistakes and all, so I finally decided it was good enough to ask everyone else what they think. So, what do you think? :) I mean, personally, I think the sky is blue (Actually, looking out the window right now, its gray... so I'm wrong again... oh well). Okay, bad joke, I know. (I like bad jokes!)

So more than one style blogger has mentioned Halloween, so like fall, I figure that means I can officially be excited about it on my blog. And why am I excited? Because when I go to parties, I am not the only guy in a dress! Okay, I may still be the only guy in a dress, but it does lead to some funny conversations like "What are you going to do with those shoes the rest of the year?" (Wear them, duh!) or "Did you lose a bet?" (That would make this easier to explain wouldn't it?) or "I think your costume cost more than the prize?" (But its such a fabulous costume, who cares?) Most of the people who I expect to end up at the same parties are actually in the know, so it might be a bit more boring this year. But whatever the case, I will totally post my costume on here.

And as always, I love questions in the comment and I will try very hard to answer them in a future post. And of course, my totally awesome wife took the pictures.

Orange (would go well with this).

• Dress: Target
• Cardigan: Torrid
• Heels: Nine West via Amazon
• Belt: Torrid
• Necklace: Maurices

Okay, I'm starting to understand why other bloggers use dates for their titles. This dress is one of my rare finds from Target that I think actually works for me and fits right. It came with a narrow fabric belt in the same jewel tone that just didn't work for me, so I went with my standby wide belt. More belts are on the shopping list... so much for the less shopping! At least my shopping is more strategic these days. And I'm really having a lot of fun trying to share my wardrobe and making connections with everyone. The heels are also a dark purple, but I'm not sure shows through in the pictures. I'll be away from the computer off and on today, so I might be slow on comments, but I hope everyone has a great day! And if anyone has questions, I love questions! I will definitely try my best to answer them! As always, my beautiful wife took the pictures.