Double Cross Itty Bitty Single Earring, Sideways Cross Connection Choker, Large Cross Pendant, Pink Ombre White Faux Fur Tail Bag Charm: handmade by me

Wide-neck Sweatshirt and Zipper-detail mini-skirt: H&M

Faux aqua druzy ring: Target

Double pocket flap bag: Marni

Sheer maxi-skirt: piece of fabric wrapped around my waist

Reversible tights: Hue

Charcoal Boots: limited-edition Doc Martens

I’ve been coveting a long, sheer maxi-skirt ever since I saw the Adriana Chiffon Maxi Skirt on NastyGal’s website awhile back.  Breezy, sheer, and dreamy, it keeps the legs under cover even when wearing a short skirt – modest, but kind of understated sexy in a way.  I figured I’d just make my own at some point, and then kept putting it off, and putting it off…And then uber-DIY goddess Geneva from A Pair and a Spare DIY’d her own!  Inspired, I ran to the fabric store and picked up 2 yards of cheap poly chiffon mesh.  But then my serger lost its battle with the 11 children’s chicken costumes (hey, alliteration!) I made for my son’s school play, and I had to take it to get fixed ($160, not counting any parts they may have to replace).  So while it’s in the shop, I can’t make any maxi-skirt, since I’m too lazy to bother with French seams and chiffon needs to be properly edged or else the edges will unravel on you.

Today it was a typical Oregon day: cold, clammy, and rainy in the morning, turning to dazzling sunshine around noon – 2 PM, then raining and hailing around 3 – 4 PM.  Oh, Oregon!  March should be renamed Month of Hail.>:-(  In any case, I was cold this morning, so just grabbed my uncut chiffon fabric and wrapped it around my waist, thereby creating a makeshift sheer maxiskirt.  It stayed on for most of the day, added a surprising amount of warmth, but shocked Lil Tot as I sat on the floor with him in the afternoon playing Crash Bandicoot racing and the fabric came untucked; he shouted “Mama!  Your dress ripped!”  So adds another childhood trauma, I supposed.  Mother of the Disintegrating Dress.

I love how it shows sheer while walking!

But I digress.  I’ve been working on adding some new jewelry pieces to my Etsy store; for example this double itty bitty cross chain earring and sideways cross connection choker.

If I can source any more of these large matte silver crosses (these are so popular for my rings that as soon as I stock them in the store they usually sell out), I’ll make some more long ball-chain necklaces like the one I’m wearing if people like it.  All of these coming soon! And I felt like tacking on my pink ombre fur tail (still available for purchase here) to the whole ensemble to break up all the grey, black, and silver.

Completely on the non-affordable end of the accessories specturm would be this Marni bag.  I own 4 luxury, high-end bags: a Louis Vuitton rainbow monogram pochette, an Etro wallet, a See by Chloe duffel bag, and now this Marni…all of them gifts, given to me by either my mother-in-law, my grandmother-in-law, or a family friend of theirs.  I was so surprised when my mother-in-law went shopping at Nordstrom’s while she was visiting last month – and came back with TWO Marni bags, exactly alike, one in tan (for herself), and one a Valentine’s Day gift for me.  She had seen how I was prepping my son’s Valentine’s cards and candy to take to his class at school, and how I had made a cheesecake for my husband and given him a box of designer chocolates, so she misconstrued that Valentine’s Day in the U.S. was some HUGE holiday where gifts MUST be given, and felt bad she didn’t have a gift for me…so she bought one.  I was beyond words.  It was so incredibly generous of her…a little comical, I suppose, but I didn’t want to rudely correct her and say the Valentine’s Day was not exactly the major gift-giving holiday (well, between in-laws) that she thought it was…I felt so bad that she had felt compelled to spend that much money on me.  (Or maybe she just wanted us both to match…?)  We all know that I would NEVER spend that much money on a luxury item no matter what…since I’m all about emulating the look and saving the cash!! Right??!  Thus when someone gifts me something like this it’s hard for me to accept it as-is, especially when I think of how that money could have gone to better use for my in-laws over a longer period of time, rather than being blown in one chunk on a high-priced impulse purchase (or even bought for half the amount spent by shopping on Gilt.com or somewhere!!).  In any case, my mother-in-law did something very nice and selfless for me, and I was very grateful and now have a beautiful Marni bag that I am afraid to use since I’m petrified of destroying it…or spilling juice or animal cracker crumbs onto it…this mindset is very much ingrained in me…

A cheapskate to the bitter end – even in the face of Marni!!;-)

How about all of you?  What would you do – or how do you feel when somebody gifts you something extremely expensive and a little outside of your own fashion ethics?

xoxox
Carly

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