First & foremost…!

Today is a nipping, sleety, drear day and I am daydreaming about spring. Thank goodness it’s Friday! I can’t WAIT to get my blanched skin out into the brand-new glimmering sun! Alas, I need to keep my imagination & creativity in check for the remainder of winter. As I sit here writing out this blog before starting the rest of my plans for the day, I am all snuggled down in my plaid pajama bottoms, a warm Heather gray v-neck sweater underneath my pleather-sleeved letterman jacket (with “Love” written on it), rubber houndstooth rain boots, blazing turquoise knitted scarf, & a poofy bobbysoxer ponytail. All I can think is that you poor, devotedly loyal folks have to be mad as hatters for reading my installments on clothing & fashion! (And this is also how I know my DH (<–– Darling Hotbuns) loves me, because he still looks at me like I am made of frosting & sprinkles with a cherry on top of my (bed) head.)

Nevertheless, I want to make it abundantly clear that this is not purely a blog about fashion – it is a blog about fun finds, stupendous sale scores, dandy new products I think are the bee’s knees, & just trying to inspire quirkiness into all that, too easily, becomes monotone & humdrum (like today’s dim weather). Making something out of nothing is fun! It’s a way of life for me. Some people call it infectious/some people might call it a disease. ::simper::

Likewise, it’s a bit peculiar for me to be talking about ensemble. I NEVER talk about fashion! Fashion is just something I do. And I actually abhor to shop (talk about selling out my siren song)! I like to find. I get a little charge and bolt of rock when I feast my eyes on a rare gem. I also like to take something simple and turn it into something supreme! Whatever this means, I don’t like to shop and I die a little every time I go to the mall. I’m like a cat in cateye liner/cat eyeliner (?) – I have 9 lives once I stumble upon that one smashing beauty in a sea of stuff Affliction threw up on. This whole new venture is going to propel me to ALSO reinvent, and re-enamor myself with the enchantment of self-expression. I will only say it this once, though – as to keep the integrity of Mrs. Angelika Frangelico – but she is my alter ego & bosom buddy all in one. Both personalities are plucky, but one of them would never call you “darlings” or coin non-Webster words like “sparkletacular”. ::snicker:: In everyday life, the other side of her personality sometimes puts on what is already in a bundle on the washroom floor (i.e. – pajama pants & rain boots), writes tragic, lovesick poetry & paints picnic-y paintings, prefers conversations about her convictions (such as equal rights, segregation, support for single parents, sheltering battered women, & helping those who are struggling), drinks British tea out of a Wonder Woman tumbler (as I posted this morning on the What’s Ravin’, Maven? fanpage), revels in a good run-on sentence, & types this whole little disclaimer out while polishing off a 3 oz bag of beef jerky for breakfast. But pretend I never said that! Poof! Your memory has been erased, Eternal Sparkletacular of the Spotless Mind style.

With that said…

Evidence that I *do* clean up, and not too shabbily at times! Which is NOT most of the time, however. 😛

Sooo, as I sit here at my desk in my homey habiliments, I remind myself not to get lazy on these crisp, goose-bumpy days that I want to just curl up with a Jane Austen novel, eat piping hot bowls of bisque, & listen to Martha Tilton sing to me about beyond the blue horizon in a lounging robe. It takes just as little effort to get all dolled up, if you have the right pieces in your wardrobe! I referred back to a picture this morning that I had taken of me when I was doing press release photos for my second book. In this photograph, I am wearing a simple, yet swish and handsome thick polyester classic black dress with a weighted, billowy, fallen neckline that I got at Ross for Less for $25, and paired it with a jewel-embellished, light cream, cropped sweater that had fanciful elastic hook pearl buttons that I got off the Old Navy clearance rack for $8.99! The necklace was from Kohl’s, also discounted to a bargain basement price of which I’ve now since forgotten. Beneath the photo, I wore stay-up black thigh high sheer stockings with lace tops and a back seam ($18). Underneath that, I sported a pair of retro wingtip saddle shoes with a heel that I found in a consignment shop in Little 5 Points (Atlanta, Georgia) for $14. The whole classic cocktail cardigan look for under $70, which sounds like a lot of silver to my scrimpy budget, but all of those pieces can be interchanged and worked into completely different outfits for any-a-versatile purpose. I wore that cardigan buttoned up with cuffed jeans and polka dot slip-on flats + matching (but reverse) polka dot neck scarf. I wore that black cocktail dress with a vintage original Union Made soft black velvet ladies hat that had a netting overlap and silk lining inside. I also wore it as a maternity dress! (Well, up until I put on over 55lbs and bought white tires from the Michelin Man for the remainder of my pregnancy.)

I’m telling you, you can never go wrong with a well form-fitted classic cardigan! (Embellished, beaded, or bejeweled… even better!) It’s the one thing in fashion that has remained constant and not been tarnished, in my humble opinion. I mean, check out these ravin’ mavens!

Now, off to shower and re-fab…

Keep calm & rave on! T.G.I.F!
~ Heather Frangelico *gros bisous*

*** FYI: What’s Ravin’, Maven? is now on Facebook! Click “like” on the fanpage to get other updates & quick inspirations in your newsfeed that won’t be covered here on the blog website. Also, you can now direct link these blog posts to your Facebook & Twitter accounts, as well as share them via e-mail. Look right below this installment to see the new ginchy buttons – quick & cinchy! So spread the ravin’ love, I’ll be your best friend!