Thursday, November 13, 2008

Lady In Red -- or Maybe Not

A funny thing happened on the way to my blog today....

My original plan was to do a sort of ongoing series here at Fashionably Later wearing this red dress I got from Kohls in as many different ways as possible, starting today by combining it with a plum cardigan I recently purchased from NY&Co. That is until I saw the first batch of pictures, starting with the one below.

In this first picture I'm wearing the cardigan belted. Right off the bat there are two issues -- one being that obviously the cardigan is not a great fit after all; you can see it's too big around the shoulder area and I don't think the faux fur is sitting quite right on me. The second issue is that there is also too much bulk created by the belt, thus making me look "bulgy". So much for belt bravery in this outfit, lol.


Next we have the same cardigan w/o the belt, both open & closed. Not much improvement. I am also not loving the clutch with this outfit so I suppose that's good to know.





And then below we have the "best" look out of all of them IMO -- I took the faux fur off the cardigan (it's removable). While it did give the sweater personality, it didn't do me any favors, lol.
With or without the fur trim the cardigan just does not fit well and will be returned. I'll console myself with the fact that at least the idea of mixing red & plum will totally work and the colors look rather sharp together, not to mention how I love the shoes (thrift store find)...




So then FINALLY (and here comes the ironic part) I decided I should also show the dress plain & unadorned. But when I did...

I discovered it looks positively awful on me! Gee I had no idea the dress made my arms look like that! Seriously, doesn't it look like I'm about to pounce on someone in the wrestling ring or something. Ok, so in short: the red dress itself doesn't fit well either. Live & learn.

So that's the story of a plum cardigan and red dress I used to own...stay tuned to see what else I discover in my closet that I thought looked good but instead looks like crap, LOL!!!! Oh well. In any event, I decided to post all the pics, good, bad, & ugly, so perhaps others can learn from my mistakes. I'm telling you, the things I do in the name of blogging :)

PS: I still like the way the dress fits from the waist down and may check with a tailor to see if it can be altered and how much that will be...so there's hope.

9 comments:

Trace said...

Hi Kayleigh! Great post, I love reading the wardrobe adventures of other women. And have I told you I love your blog name?? Anyway, no real advice on the red dress, your post reminds me of myself, trying on all sorts of stuff in different ways. I've learned a lot that way!

Kayleigh said...

Thanks trace :)

I'm feeling the urge to try on every outfit I can think of and have DH take a photo -- it's amazing what I've learned so far. The objective eye of the camera is fickle, lol.

*Diane* said...

love the mixing of colors!

Kayleigh said...

Thanks lady d -- and that's high praise since I admire the way you use color :D

Anonymous said...

Isn't it funny how when we see pictures of ourselves, we see something different than we saw in the mirror?

I think taking pictures of outfits can be a great tool for determining what really works.

Looks like the red dress is a little too big in the arms. If they had a narrower (and higher) arm hole, it might work better.

To be honest, I'm not really a fan of the purple and red combo. Every time I see it, I automatically think of the Red Hat Society and I'm pretty sure you're too young for that :)

Kasmira said...

Ack, you poor thing! I go through days like that too. Take a picture, realize outfit is bad, change, take a picture, still looks bad, etc....

I actually liked the red dress on its own. But if YOU don't like it....bye bye!

Kayleigh said...

Mrs M -- yes, that's exactly what is wrong w/the dress...it's the arm holes. It's in a pile of stuff right now that's waiting to be taken to a tailor so we'll see what happens.

I think the red & purple combo is one of those things that people either love or hate -- I used to totally hate it but now I kinda like it. Oh, and I'm 45, so the Red Hat Society wouldn't be so far off for me, lol!

Kasmira -- thanks so much for stopping by, I'm such a huge fan of your blog! Nice to know I'm not the only one who strikes out w/outfits sometimes. But you certainly hit the ball out of the park most days :)

Sheila said...

I like the purple cardi with the belt, but it's belted too low on your waist - go for it higher, for a longer leg line. I also think that a fur collar means less extra detail near your neck, and you need a slim bottom, not a full bottom.

I actually like the red dress on you! I do think you need to pose differently, though. I used to work in a clothing store, and women would always stand like that (it's called "arms akimbo"!), and I'd say to them, "You rarely stand like that in real life (unless you're chewing someone out, hah!). Try copying one of Kasmira's poses. I think that dress deserves another chance.

Wow, for my first comment, I'm all wordy, aren't I? Sorry! :)

Kayleigh said...

Sheila -- I had to laugh at your comment about "chewing someone out"...that's sooo true! I think that's what I meant about how I looked like a wrestler about to pounce, lol.

I am still getting used to posing for pix, but practise makes progress so I'll welcome any and all advice & opinions (especially from one so stylish as you -- I love your blog!)

Thanks so much for coming by...you can be wordy here anytime :)