Remixed.

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

I'm pretty sure this is the first outfit I have worn on this blog that is completely remixed, and I am slightly embarrassed to realize how many outfit posts there are prior to this one. *sigh*. Also this top really is more of a green, but it always seems to photograph more of a blue. In other news, the last pieces of my halloween costume arrived today, so yay! Yesterday evening I got my order of tights from We Love Colors, which I ordered after reading a review by Louise of the awesome blog Coffee and a Cardigan, one part of that order was Halloween related, but the rest was because how awesome is a place that stocks 51 colors of tights in every size? And of course today's pictures were taken by my beautiful wife!

Start wearing purple.

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

I'm a little late with my post today, and for that, I apologize. Busy days will get you every time, and I'm keeping it short to not delay the post any longer. Today's outfit is still not a 100% remix, but tomorrow's outfit will be, I think, probably. I think the next time I do a remix challenge I need to include a dress or at least a skirt. I avoided a dress this time, because I was trying to stop myself from picking a pair of shoes for every day of the challenge, and a dress seemed like a way to get in an extra pair of shoes. Oh, I also have to add that Ashley, of the awesome blog Ashley Getting Dressed, posted an outfit yesterday inspired by one of my previous outfits. How cool is that? :) And of course, today's pictures were taken by my lovely 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!

New camera!

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

First, I just want to say, new camera! After an even more unexpected than normal trip to Best Buy, and everyone's advice, we are now the proud owners of a new Canon PowerShot SX130 IS. My wife took an unplanned day off on Friday. So after a late morning we decided to take a trip to the nearest city, and check out the cameras. In addition to the camera, we also took the opportunity this weekend to take care of a significant portion of our Halloween costume shopping. Actually, all of its taken care, but there are a couple of things that had to be ordered, so hopefully they will get here in time. I would love to tell everyone what our costumes are... but that would spoil the fun right?

This week, I'm also joining Meli22 in a Wardrobe Challenge. In the last shot you can see my 10 pieces of clothing and shoes, and 5 accessories for the week. Unfortunately, both the top and shoes in this outfit seem to shift colors when photographed, the top is greener and the pumps are more purple than they appear. I ended up choosing 3 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of pants, 3 tops, a cardigan, and a blazer. For my accessories I have 3 belts, and a bracelet and a necklace. I thought about including a skirt or a dress, but 10 items counting shoes is... less than I thought it would be. On the other hand, the outfits I'll be making are new to me, and some of these pieces have not been on the blog before, so it should be a fun week.

And of course, my awesome wife took today's pictures on a brand new camera.

Friday link roundup.

Its Friday, and I want to have a post, but between a crazy schedule and a flaky camera, it won't be an outfit post! But that's okay, it just means I get to do something different! And now I can't hide behind hiding my face from the camera. Er, what?... Uh, moving on. I want to thank everyone who shared their thoughts on cameras! I mean, who better to ask than people who take a lot of pictures of their outfits for blogs, right? My old camera was from the Canon PowerShot line, and its good to hear that a lot of people also good luck with the line, and so I will probably be going with an updated PowerShot model. And I just wanted to say something about cameras and picture quality. I love to see all the creativity in picture taking with style bloggers! I think its really cool that even the cheapest camera can be used to make art and share self expression. For me, its not about picture quality anymore than its about where you shop! Its can be a lot of fun to have a nice camera, but if you gave me a DSLR tomorrow, I wouldn't know what to do with it(okay, I would, I would put it in point and shoot mode! :) ), and really, I think the hard part in taking a good picture is deciding what to put in the picture and what to leave out. And when in doubt, just take a lot of pictures, one of them is bound to be good eventually! See, its thinking like this that explains why I'm not a professional photographer (oh wait, my blog is supposed to anonymous... or am I? Wait... my wife takes all my pictures... okay, someone in this house is probably not a pro photographer... or are they?). I guess my point is that I don't need a good camera, its just fun to have one, and we're lucky enough to be able to replace the one we have.

Hah, I'm not done yet! A lot of other bloggers (like the really awesome Lisa of respect the shoes) post link roundups from time to time, and since I have been sitting on a growing collection of links I found interesting and relevant.

Gender Labels and Clothing

• Switcharoo(via Feministing) - I addition to being really cool, it took me a minute to realize this was not photoshopped.
• What I Wore posted some inspiration for Halloween costumes, and in particular I found her interpretation of George Washington to be an interesting example of how what counts as masculine attire has changed over the times. Also, her interpretation of Karl Lagerfeld is equally interesting.
• She's Got Balls: 12 Creative Women Get in Touch With Their Masculine Side(via Feministing) - This is a really fun slideshow with an interesting range of female celebrities in masculine looks.
• This blog post has an interesting discussion about the site The Art of Manliness, which prompted an enterprising individual to create a website that simply gender-swaps most of the nouns from The Art of Manliness website to create The Art of Womanliness, and the resulting lack of difference makes some interesting food for thought about gender roles. I know there are a lot of diverse thoughts on that sort of thing, so I thought it would be cool to share and hear other people's thoughts?

General Style

• Scarfing it down which links to Tying scarves with the Angie knot, and then a comment shares another technique.
• How to pull off a bow tie(via A Pretty Penny - Links a la Mode)
• How to Make Heels Bearable - I enjoy wearing high heels, but I also care about protecting my feet and not damaging them, and so I really enjoyed this discussion about the practicalities of wearing heels. I have some friends who have plantar fasciitis, and its something to be avoided.

On Monday, I hope to be back with a working camera and I will be participating in a Wardrobe Capsule Challenge that the wonderful Meli from The Daily Insanity of a Fashion Addict has decided to do. I hope everyone has a great weekend, and since there were no pictures today, I will just thank my amazing wife for being amazing.

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.

BBCA 8: Variations on a cardigan.

• Top: Maurices
• Cardigan: Old Navy (previously)
• Scarf: Maurices (previously)
• Necklace: Maurices
• Skirt: Maurices
• Boots: Rack Room

This outfit is part of Melissa's Blogging for Breast Cancer aWEARness challenge. First, I want to say thank you for all the comments on yesterday's post! I have some thoughts for a short follow-up post, and I really enjoyed hearing everyone's thoughts on the subject. Every day I am continually amazed at how awesome style bloggers are, and how wonderful everyone who leaves a comment here really is! But today, I will be away from the computer for a while, so this post is going to be short and quick. It turns out a pink cardigan is a great way to cheat remix a lot of outfits for the challenge. For instance, this is the third outfit I have paired this cardigan with in less than a week. I think I have some more pink hiding in the closet, so I will definitely see what I can find for tomorrow. I'll also just go ahead and say I'm not 100% about how this outfit turned out, so I would definitely appreciate any feedback. And while I really like how this pair of boots look, they aren't my most comfortable pair to walk in, and I normally don't have trouble with heels this height or thinness, so they are in my "remix again to see what everyone thinks and maybe replace them" pile. And of course my beautiful wife took today's pictures.