since i slacked off on my blog posts last week, i have a small backlog today of 2 different outfits to show you. both feature dresses from the costello tagliapietra for uniqlo collection, of which i am a big fan.

i bought 2 dresses from the collection weeks ago when the weather got really hot, and i was craving something light, un-wrinkled, and inexpensive (inexpensive because of, uh, the bag i’m carrying here… more on that later).

this one has proved to be my favorite. there is something about clothes that give me a  humpty-dumpty/tweedle-dee/dweedle-dum shape that makes me feel so much better about my body. because for all anyone knows, underneath that egg-shaped midsection of the dress, i have rock-hard abs and super small thighs. i must remember to look for more dresses that have this shape.

the vest is also from uniqlo, and has two great features. for one, it distracts from the fact that the dress is quite short, and allows me to wear it to work. but more importantly, it is kind of like a wizard cape, and i can swoop and swirl it around as i walk.

here’s the dress minus the vest. when noel saw this, she asked me if i ruched it myself. NO i did not. all ruching was included. i think this particular form of ruche is reminiscent of getting one’s dress hem stuck in one’s underwear. in a good way.

my sandals are by modern vintage, and i think i got them last summer. i wore them a few times and they killed my feet- i thought they were SO TALL. but i guess i’m more used to heels now, because they seem comfortable. also, notice my GOLD LEAF PEDICURE!!! it is chanel gold lame’ polish, and i am crazy about it.

now onto outfit number 2. this dress WAS my favorite from the costello tagliapietra collection- it is my most flattering color, and is sewn in an interesting way. but i changed my mind after taking photos of it. the man friend took about a million pictures for me, and as i went through them, i kept saying ‘ugh what an unflattering angle!’ ‘and another one!’ ‘and another!’.. until finally i had to concede that perhaps the dress itself is not very flattering for me.

for one thing, the fit is a bit odd. i had to shrink this in the dryer to make it wearable, and even still, i think the fact that it’s loose around the mid-section is not going to do anyone any favors when combined with the long length.

however, it is very possible that when i have less of a post-bakery-binging tummy, i will feel more favorably toward the dress.

also on the bright side, i think the construction is very interesting. on the hanger, the dress looks like a very long tee-shirt with an asymmetrical fishtail hem. it does not look good. it was only the color that made me try it on. but it turns out the entire fishtail section is sewn shut, so that when you put your legs through the dress, the fishtail bunches up along the side, creating the draped shape. there’s something similar happening at the shoulder as well.

i think this is something i want to play around with using some cotton jersey fabric.

here is a closer look at my clutch and jewelry- the plain bangle, which i wear daily, is from an antique store. the leafy one, which i wear very seldom, is from the brooklyn flea market. i love the look of the bracelet but it kinda hurts my arm. 

and lastly (and best-ly), my star sandals. like wearing a cartoon on your feet. i love these things- they match with nothing, and also with everything.

hope you all have a fun weekend! i am going to spend the weekend at noel’s beach house, where we have tons of plans: dressing up, doing numerous DIY spa treatments, eating copious amounts of food, and… doing puzzles (the latter on noel’s insistence).  i. can’t. wait.

outfit 1: uniqlo vest, costello tagliapietra uniqlo dress, modern vintage sandals, proenza schouler ps1 bag, modern vintage shoes, elizabeth & james ring, ysl ring

outfit 2: costello tagliapietra uniqlo dress, coach kristin clutch (courtesy of coach), marc by marc jacobs sandals