Naturally, Neon

 Feather Fest Necklace

Top: So, Kohl's

Skirt: Macy's

Shoes: Alloy

Bag: Apt. 9, Kohl's

Jacket: Blue Asphalt, Wet Seal

Mellow Metal Necklace

Dress: Mossimo, Target

Shoes: Guess, DSW

Bag: Bisou Bisou, JCPenney

Scarf: Gifted

 Far Out Feather Necklace

Pink tank: Worthington, JCPenney

Tan tank: Old Navy

Skirt: Xhilaration, Target

Boots: Charles Albert, Alloy

Bag: Nine West, ROSS Dress for Less

Jacket: Candie's, Kohl's

Belt: Marshalls

This post's pieces (and the outfits that love them) are a mix of old and new styles, a rustic renaissance reignited by neon. Kind of like a pioneer wandering, awestruck, along the Vegas strip in search of a watering hole. You know. If pioneers wore pink and didn't die of cholera while chugging along the Oregon Trail.

But on to lighter things.  Like the Mellow Metal Necklace's focal point of an industrial pendant.  I spied it on the clearance rack during one of my many visits to Michael's and plotted to purchase it the next time I returned.  When I later relayed this to the fiance, he shook his head and uttered something about the sad, stalkerish shopping habits of women.  Why, he asked, don't we just buy everything we want all at once?  I explained that this would never do.  After all, what could be less sad than saving a little something for later, a kind of rainy day treat snatched from life's candy dish to be enjoyed on some spinach-filled Monday?

Shop on, pioneer princesses.

Creature Feature

 Fabulous Felt Antique Owl Necklace

Dress: Marshalls

Shoes: Frederick's of Hollywood

Bag: DSW

 Petunia the Peaceful Elephant Necklace

Top: Venus

Skirt: So, Kohl's

Shoes: Chaps, Kohl's

Bag: Candie's, Kohl's

Fabulous Felt Our Pal Owl Necklace

Top: Kohl's

Jeans: Vanilla Star, Target

Shoes: Madeleine, DSW

Bag: Gifted

Belt: Wet Seal

This week's trio features two more pieces that are part of what I've come to think of as my cool collars series because the felt "wings" flanking the pendants look like little peter pan collars about to take flight.  A mixed-media marriage of hardware and felt, these sassy hybrids open the door to ever more eccentric themes.  Take the Fabulous Felt Antique Octopus Necklace.  After finishing it, it occurred to me that our tentacled title character should've been surrounded by seashells instead of flowers.  But then, I kind of liked the incongruity.  Not to mention the "Octopus's Garden" connection that, for all I know, subconsciously fueled the entire enterprise.  Now, that's what I call strange serendipity.    

Rambling Roses and Loquacious Lilies

 Fabulous Felt Girly Garden Necklace

Top: So, Kohl's

Skirt: Candie's, Kohl's

Shoes: Ami Clubwear

Bag: Princess Vera, Kohl's

 Ruby Rose Necklace

Jacket: Material Girl, Macy's

Tank: Worthington, JCPenney

Skirt: Candie's, Kohl's

Shoes: Betseyville, Macy's

Bag: Nine West, ROSS Dress for Less

Scarf: Wet Seal

 Flora's Flowers Necklace

Dress: Modcloth

Shoes: Candie's, Kohl's

Bag: Old Navy

 Fabulous Felt Bunch of Blooms Brooch

Dress: Modcloth

Shoes: City Streets, JCPenney

Bag: Journeys

Scarf: Marshalls

  Fiona's Flowers Necklace

Tank: Rewind, Kohl's

Jeans: Sears

Shoes: Bongo, Kohl's

Bag: Loop, Marshalls

There are no lilies entwined within the felted foliage of these pieces.  But I wasn't about to let a detail like that stop me from vaunting my vocabulary.  I love adjectives, and I've always found "loquacious" to be an especially glamorous-sounding one.  It makes me think of beaded gowns and feather fans and, for some inexplicable reason, flamingos.  At any rate, it lends more dignity than "You Grow, Girl!", which was the runner-up for this week's post title.  It's also fitting, as these bejeweled blooms have as much to say as the wonderfully whimsical ones that mouthed off in the 1985, made-for-TV version of "Alice in Wonderland."  I know this because I had a childhood obsession with the campy classic, which now resides on my DVD shelf between View from the Top and the first season of "Girls."  That's fitting too, as it's right smack-dab-in-the-middle of fairy tale and horror.  Watch Carol Channing morph into a sheep just once and you'll know what I mean.             

I Got it at Sears!

 Fabulous Felt Blue Blossom Barrette

Top: Bongo, Sears

Skirt: Metaphor, Sears

Shoes: Ami Clubwear

Bag: Nine West, Boscov's

 Emerald Emperor Necklace

Jacket: Bongo, Sears

Cami: Marshalls

Capris: l.e.i., Macy's

Shoes: Shoe Dept.
Bag: Eleven Peacocks, Etsy

Fabulous Felt Hummingbird Barrette

Top: Bongo, Sears

Cami: Worthington, JCPenney

Skirt: Necessary Objects, Annie Sez

Shoes: Betseyville, Macy's

Bag: Uniquely Different, Etsy

Demure . . .

Or daring!

Fabulous Felt Girly Garden Barrette

Top: Bongo, Sears

Skirt: Worthington, JCPenney

Jeans: Vanilla Star, JCPenney

Pink shoes: City Streets, JCPenney

Yellow shoes: Charles Albert, Alloy

Yellow bag: City Streets, JCPenney

Green bag: DSW

I love a good department store commercial.  I love the colorful way the retailers talk up their wares, the patina of their slick ad-speak lending respectability to the street vendor spirit that lives at their core.  Like any good salespeople, they zero in on their business' unique personalities, manipulating consumers' preconceptions to transform weaknesses into strengths.  Take the latest JCPenney commercial.  "We know we've changed," the near-bankrupt big box store bargains, "but we want to hear from you; better yet, we want to see you." (or something like that).  This attempt to appeal to the sentimentality of once-ardent shoppers in the voice of a jilted yet conciliatory lover is as amusing as it is shameful, so much so that Conan wove a one-liner about it into his monologue last week.  But these days, it's the siren call of Sears that strikes the right chord with me in terms of storytelling skill and sartorial savvy.  If you watch network TV, then you've seen its latest promo.  An attractive, thirty- or forty-something woman is going about her daily life to the tune of, "Where'd you get that outfit?"  At first, she's embarrassed, defensively muttering, "Sears," as in, yeah-the-same-place-you-go-for-appliances, but as the compliments continue to flow, she becomes more confident, even going as far as to announce to an airplane-ful of people, "Sears, I got the outfit at Sears!"  

Now, I've never been a big Sears shopper (that mid-1990s "come see the softer side of Sears" campaign notwithstanding).  Although I've culled a few choice pieces from its racks over the years, this hardware headquarters of sorts never made my go-to list in the way of JCP, Kohl's, or even Macy's.  That having been said, I recently received a few gifts from there that were really cute.  Coupled with the commercial, they were enough to send me to the land of power tools in search of, not nuts and bolts, but pretty togs (and okay, if I'm being honest, that necessary evil known as the oil change).  As this post advertises, I wasn't disappointed.  The Bongo brand in particular was blooming with a bubblegum brightness that was as beguiling in juniors' sportswear as it was in shoes.  (I also made one non-Bongo purchase, which I'll feature in a later post.)  Better yet, the prices couldn't be beat, bringing to mind those halcyon days of deep discounts at JCPenney.  

So, it's safe to say that I'll be returning . . .  long before my next oil change.