NEW (to you): Continued

Farewell pre-baby bottom, we enjoyed some handsome trousers together. 
Perhaps you will return some fine future day; please invite my brain and waist to join you.  But my wardrobe must adapt directly.  Some other figure is better suited to the following closet friends.  I say a final farewell by cataloging our memories together.

Lovely little stripey top, you and I enjoyed a holiday in Italy together.  

Here we are in the Cinque Terre, Andrew wouldn't take our picture so I improvised and captured us together at arms length.  (Sorry your likeness was almost entirely truncated.  That was selfish but unintentional of me.) 

Want to make your own memory in this top?
Click here to make it yours.

Darling embroidered Easter frock, 

Remember our debut together?  We were joined by a hat and gloves that April morning.  Go out and find a good home little dress.

Want to make your own memory in this dress?
Click here to make it yours.

Find other Cardigan Empire closet natives looking for a new home here.

Now how about a giveaway?  Join CE tomorrow. 

Fitting Room Friday: New to You meets Simply New

Wearing your goodwill goodies without looking like the original pension paid proprietor requires a thoughtful amalgamation.  Beth Allen the sweetest little thrifter you're chance to cross carts with in the second hand aisles, agreed to cross-pollinate closets with myself (an admitted anthroholic) for an afternoon of dress up.   

Diagnosis: Linear, Romantic Vintage, Cool & Delicate

Prescription: A Photo Essay which I have titled: 6 vintage dresses + 6 romantic sweaters add whimsical accessories (admittedly expected yet straight forward and direct, something my husband claims my writing lacks)

(Can't get enough? Take a look at Lady Allen's Vintage Sunday collection)

Resisting the urge to pop Violet's entire delectable baby head in my mouth

Let Cardigan Empire fashion you for Spring.  Freshen up with a complete Fashion Package: combining a theoretical look book & a practical virtual shopping session

Come Home I Miss You

NEW (to you): Sweater Shopping

 

Keep your memories cozy with a signature CE cardigan, as parsimonious as it is practical as it is pretty.

When I decided to resign my position as VP of Interactive Marketing, I prepared to execute: pros and cons list, role playing, and

of course power sweater shopping.  Quitting was one of the top 5 best decisions I've ever made.

Want to make your own memory in this blouse?
Click here to make it yours.

After two weeks of waiting for the California Chamber of Adoption to release us

Returning to the Arizona Bellview Estate, brand new baby cherub in arms, was resplendent.

Want to make your own memory in this blouse?
Click here to make it yours.

More poignant ensembles to come.  Keep your clicker poised to visit the new Cardigan Empire store.

In the meantime, do you have any fashion memories to share? 

NEW (to you): Cardigan Empire's Second Hand Closet

It's been one of those.  Andy is out of town.  I spent an entire evening with an adorable client, and she didn't like a single thing well enough to give it a home in her closet. Coco is cutting three new molars. The "P" key on my computer won't key (forcing me to employ some creative cutting & pasting).  My pants don't fit. Condensate the preceding and discover: I'm a touch unhappy.

According to the profoundly interesting piece of non-fiction literature - The Happiness Hypothesis

Smile dominant people invest in experiences, not things.  Agreed.  And if Peter Pan inquired after my happiest thoughts: the day I married my Mister, the day I met my daughter, the day my son was born.  

But I might add that sometimes pretty things add even more happy to happy experiences.  Specifically the powder blue shoes beneath my wedding gown, the forest green woolen which dressed my 5 lb cherub cradling arms, and the jersey chemise against which my son was laid for our first snuggle. 

Some remember smells, others sounds, I remember what I wore.

I want you to have something pretty to wear in your remembrances.  I want to buy some pants that fit.  I want to make a deal. 

The week of Christian & Stephanie's accident, I stopped by to visit the godkids following my Kierland personal shopping shift.  Claire informed me that I looked quite fancy, and she and Jane would very much like to play dress up in my closet sometime soon.  That was the last time I ever saw the Nielsons in their 1st Avenue estate. 

I wore that self-same blouse the day of the Nie Recovery fundraising carnival in downtown Mesa.

Want to make your own memory in this blouse?
Click here to make it yours.

I celebrated my fifth, sixth, and seventh birthdays within an afternoon trip of the White House.  When Andrew's cousin was to wed in W. DC, I jumped at the chance to celebrate familial expansion and visit our Nation's capital with my groom. 

Post nuptials we visited Abraham, George, and Thomas.  Then Pablo, Henri, Edvard, and Gustav.  Then more famous friends than I can list here.

Want to make your own memory in this blouse?
Click here to make it yours.

More poignant ensembles to come.  Keep your clicker poised to visit the new Cardigan Empire store.

In the meantime, do you have any fashion memories to share? 

Fitting Room Friday: Hourglass and Spring 2011 Trends

 

This week's fitting room features a really New Yorker, Cathy Batista, to model New York Fashion Week's Spring 2011 trends. 

Diagnosis: Hourglass, Modern Diva, Cool & Brilliant

A Review: of what flattered and what floundered

Safari Trend

Left: Fantastic Field Skirt: The Kardashians have nothing on the Batista booty and the Fantastic Field Skirt shows it to be towering and tenacious. Buttondown Cowlneck (Green): Completes a harmoniously hued triad, contrasting the bold floral blues and reds.

Right: Draped Jungle Skirt: Adorable from the front, but completing cloaking one of her best assets in profile. Buttondown Cowlneck (Blue): Tucking this elegantly draped blouse ensures that at least her narrow waist isn't lost.

Seventies Trend

Left: Spring Ready Dress: An hourglass dream in emerald green: initiating with a strategic V-neck which simultaneously divides and decorously displays her abundant bustline, continuing down to a secured and narrowed center, concluding with a fluid skirt sans a single extraneous bulky pleat.
Mineral Cascade Necklace: The size and weight of this accessory allows it to stand up to its ample surroundings.

Right: Airy Weave Pullover: Not even a belt could save this bubble banded waist hider.  Unforgiveable. Buttondown Cowlneck (Green): A complementary contrast to the Raspberry Woven

Stripes Trend

Left: A Bit Unruly Top: Each contrasting band allows the eye to visually measure the differential between curvy bust and narrow waist. Cultural Heritage Skirt: The contrasting waistband pattern brings even more attention to an enviable median.

Right: Sand Lines Tee:  A full bust expands and holds the line of a full blouse at, what seems like, feet from a whittled middle.

Neutrals and Lace Trend

Left: Lunar Cycles Top: Proving that lace can be modern, this option skirts away from frilly and keeps sight of an epic hourglass waist. Daughters of the Liberation Slim Straight: If the goal is to maximize curves, look no further than a tapered ankle held in contrast to a voluminous hip.

Right: Shy Stalks Shell: Another non-traditional, streamlined interpretation of lace. Abbreviated Blazer: this season's must-have layer nipping in on this body's must see feature. AG Stevie Ankle: A truly straight trouser made feminine on voluptuous features.    

Let Cardigan Empire fashion you for Spring.  Freshen up with a complete Fashion Package: combining a theoretical look book & a practical virtual shopping session

Milestones

Doctor's offices: an opportunity for immunizations and unfair comparisons.

Mothers are left to comfort their pricked and pigeonholed babies while M dot Ds barrage them with interrogations such as:

Is baby pointing to body parts?

Has baby stopped drinking from a bottle?

Is baby eating a variety of finger foods?

Is baby's vocabulary rapidly expanding?

I believe these questions are a self important scheme to give stethoscope squires something to converse and advise concerning before they sharp stick unsuspecting tiny people (baby Bagleys collected 6 shots in total).

I abide the day when my family practitioner will ask important questions like:

Can Coco drop it likes it's hot?

Can Coco hunt down milk like a drug dog?

Can Coco negotiate turns at high speeds even when Mommy has secured her shoes to the opposite feet?

Can Coco incorporate current trends into her own signature style?

(illustrations of this particular milestone follows)

Seventies Sophisticate As illustrated by Ellie Tahari & Chloe.

Smallish Seventies Sophisticate
As illustrated by Coco, smart front tie bow with elegant bishop sleeves.  Add the Rec Room enviable peacock pattern and finish it off with an effortless air of independence and boldness.

Elephantito Tunic Dress procured on Gilt Groupe

Tell us about your thoughts on the doctor's office?