OOTD: The Dress/Skirt Trick

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A few months ago the Rising Vapor Dress — not to be confused with the similarly named but very different Vapor Rise Dress ($158) — got a 3rd cut down to a ridiculous $10. I admit I fell into the clutches of that deal. I needed the dress! With the amazing community’s help I found the dress in both colors. While I love the dress I admit I wasn’t wearing it much because it’s beautiful but so damn ruffly. I do love ruffles but there’s ruffles and then there’s RUFFLES and this dress clearly falls into the latter category.

This outfit came about from a desire to have a flowy chiffon-like skirt. I couldn’t find one I wanted and finally realized I had one in my closet, just in dress form. And once it got cold I realized that rather than trying to find the perfect cardigan to tone down the ruffles of the dress I could just throw a cardigan on over it instead. Voila! Winning outfit ahoy.

If you’re a regular reader of Kim’s Reader Outfits over Anthroholic then you’ve seen this look already. Here’s the formal OOTD post to go with it. I’m happy to report I got many compliments on this look, and I was asked where I got my skirt from. Just as I’d hoped!

I’ve included both home and fitting room shots of this look. It’s no big mystery that stores use slimming fitting room mirrors. Still it’s disarming to see the differences between the Anthro fitting room shot (coat on), the Nanette Lepore fitting room shot (thinning to the max) and my own home shots. I feel like I have no idea what I look like — I can’t trust cameras and mirrors trick my eye. It’s interesting too how camera angle affects the shots. The camera was positioned much lower for these shots than my other locales and the proportions look different as a result. One thing is for sure: this is one of my all-time favorite outfits. Certain to be repeated often.

I had to perform a trick of my own in this look. Last year, I scored the Winding Ruffle Boots thanks to the incredibly kind Molly Darling, who offered me a pair of 9.5s she was going to return. The wonderful Anthro community never ceases to amaze me. The footbed is perfect but as usual the calves were too tight. There was no dissuading me though! I came up with a workaround. I bought a pair of thigh-high socks and folded them down over the top of the boot. The result is that the top is covered and makes my leg look normal. I can’t say this enough — THINK OF THE WIDE CALVES ANTHROPOLOGIE.

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In this outfit:
Sweater: J.Crew Cashmere Shawl Popover ($188) in Heather Hydrangea (2009)
Dress:Rising Vapor Dress (similar here, here and here)
Tights: Hue Opaque Tights ($13) in brown
Socks: Falke Striggings Over the Knee Socks ($40) in espresso
Boots: Winding Ruffle Boots (similar here, here and here)
Necklace: Pessinus Garden Necklace (similar here and here)


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