{Daily outfit} Woah, we're halfway there. 6.26.12

 Cardigan? Gap Outlet. Gap tee shirt? Thrifted. J Crew skirt? Thrifted. Wedges? Miz Mooz. Gold bracelet? Forever 21. Handmade clutch? Giveaway coming soon!

Like all summers prior to this, the days are flying by. The heat is oppressive, energy levels sluggish, and outdoor activities limited to swimming, frantically darting in and out of air-conditioned business, and evenings spent drinking ice cold beers on restaurant patios. It doesn't seem like autumn, with its blissfully crisp mornings, splendor of changing leaves, and pumpkin everything will ever arrive.

But arrive it will. School supplies are beginning to fill store aisles. Catalogs heralding next season's must have sweaters and boots are filling my mailbox. And in a few short weeks my children will be trotting off to school. Summer's long days are halfway gone. And I, for one, couldn't be happier - mostly because I'm frustrated trying to dress for the 100+ degree temperatures outside, and arctic air conditioning inside. Hence this outfit. Fall layers up on top, summer bare legs down below.

Are you holding your breath for autumn too? Or do you relish summer?

{Almost daily outfit of the day} A short story 4.4.12

Fossil jacket; Gap plaid shirt; Gap Outlet cutoffs;  Miz Mooz wedges; Old Navy belt; thrifted Gucci tote ($17 from the Salvation Army); Forever 21 and Neiman Marcus bracelets; thrifted Michael Kors watch

You might have heard about the tornadoes that tore through south and west Dallas yesterday. I was at home, hot gluing gold braiding on a thrifted navy suit for a Robert E Lee costume for one of my twins. Then I saw this pic come across my twitter feed:

There are two things that happen when you learn about tornadoes located a short distance from your house. First, you FREAK THE HELL OUT. Then you hyperventilate, hysterically text your husband (who isn't helping by being out of town. Thanks a lot, husband), obsessively watch the news, and madly clean out your coat closet which will serve as a makeshift tornado shelter and is crammed full of random things like baseball bats and tennis balls and wool coats and hangers and scarves and OH MY GOD WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE SAVE YOURSELF AAAARRRRRGGHHHHH.

Today, having faced my imminent death and survived to tell about it, I wore shorts. I hate wearing shorts. But when you've sailed through a terrifying crisis like a tornado outbreak, shorts don't seem that bad.

Almost daily outfit of the day: Vintage nautical 8/25/11

$5 Thrifted J Crew chambray button-down; $4 thrifted vintage skirt; $10 thrifted vintage Coach bag; Miz Mooz wedges; Charming Charlie and Forever 21 bracelets; thrifted Michael Kors rose gold watch

Every spring, stores become inundated with pieces relevant to one specific theme: nautical. Such as this skirt. And every spring, I scratch my head in confusion. I've always felt that nautical-inspired clothing belongs on blonde twenty-something East Coast girls with names like Muffy and Tinsley. These girls have vacation homes in Nantucket and drive BMW's and drink Evian and always wear pearl studs in their ears and started playing tennis when they were six. They date guys named Blake who went to Brown and are working as investment bankers or something pertaining to Wall Street, and spend their evenings at the club nibbling on vegetable crudite and watching polo. Or so I imagine.

I do have a bit of credibility regarding nautical wear, though. I've spent some time on Long Island. I've ridden on the Staten Island Ferry. I own a pair of earrings with anchors on them. And I was on my college crew team...though I might have been the coxswain (whose entire job consists of sitting in the front of the skull screaming at the rowers to stay in rhythm.) Okay, I was the coxswain. And it was awesome.

Outfit Post: How do you define blogging success?

So I just passed my seven-month blogging anniversary. Truthfully, I had no clue I've been blogging for this long, and had to go searching through my archives to learn exactly when I published my first blog post. (If you'd like a laugh, go check out some of my earliest posts. They're HIGH-larious.) I'll confess that I'm not an especially sentimental person. I never partook of the whole SQUEE it's-the-four-monthiversary-of-the-first-time-I-was-kissed/ate sushi/had sex/bought towels with my boyfriend at Bed Bath and Beyond-HEARTS AND RAINBOWS-and-LURVE *TWEE.* It's just not for me. Mostly because I'd rather buy someone (or myself) a present whenever I feel like it and don't like to save cake for special occasions.

However, the realization I'd been blogging for seven months straight gave me a bit of pause. I never thought I'd make it this long. I never expected to have quite so many followers, and have my writing featured on other sites. And I certainly didn't think my content would be so far evolved beyond daily outfit posts. I could not have predicted that my blogging would be a success.

Success is a strange concept to define. We've all heard the cliche that success is a journey, not a destination. There's often more fun in the chasing than the catching. I deeply enjoy researching and writing my posts; I like putting together outfits to be photographed; and I get a thrill every time I see a new follower or have a post featured. But the fun is in the pursuit. I love the excitement of producing fresh content, the what-ifs of how my posts will be received, and the hopes that come with them.

I believe success is about how I see myself and how I'm able to enjoy my life. It's simple to wrap success up in tangible rewards - things that success grants us, such as acquiring great wealth, holding a high position in a career, or winning a game. And it's true that success is largely about achieving something you have set out to do. But limiting yourself to those attributes doesn't factor in the role of happiness, personal fulfillment and peace of mind.

Here's what I've learned: Blogging success is not about the numbers - whether that includes the number of followers, number of comments or the amount of money pulled in from sponsors. Blogging success is about the loyalty of your readers, whether they continue to come back, and if they establish a relationship with you through regular, thoughtful comments. You can have 20 followers, or 4000, but your success is defined by the relationship they have with your blog. I am fortunate to have an incredibly loyal readership, and their support and regular comments are what make me feel like a success.

Furthermore, if your blog makes you stressed, anxious and pressured, your 4000 readers are meaningless. If you are not receiving personal satisfaction from your blog, you have failed. If your blog doesn't inspire you to produce interesting, engaging content that energizes you, you have failed. And if you're blogging merely to please your readership, you might also consider your blog unsuccessful. 

Although the only true way to define success is to create and meet your own goals, I would argue that tangible goals (such as follower count) only get you so far. A raise at work combined with miserable conditions wouldn't make you happy. So why permit your blogging "numbers" to define your success? Does your blog make you happy? Do it energize you? Does it inspire you? Are your readers loyal and engaged? If you can answer yes to these questions, you are a success.

Now it's your turn: How do you define blogging success? Do you struggle with being too focused on the numbers? Be sure to share what you feel is successful about your blog - we'd love to hear!

Vintage thrifted silk top; vintage thrifted skirt; vintage clutch from Vintage Martini;  Old Navy belt; Miz Mooz wedges; Forever 21 necklace and bracelet; Marc Jacobs watch

Outfit Post: Patricia Field and Kotex want to celebrate your magical lady bits

Earlier this month, U by Kotex launched a collaborative contest with costume designer Patricia Field, inviting people to redesign the maxi pad. "Girls have choices in all aspects of their lives, so why should they settle for boring and institutional feminine care products?" said the company in a statement. For every design submitted, Kotex will donate $1 to Girls For A Change—a non-profit organization empowering girls to create and lead social change within their communities. According to Ad Age, contest winners will work with Field to design new and wild maxi pads, and attend Fashion Week in New York City in September.

Confession: Other than the word panties, my least-favorite word in the English language is vagina. I don't know why - I have one, so therefore shouldn't I be comfortable with the word for it? My issues with the vagina probably have to do with the general discomfort I have regarding my body, femininity and related sexuality. Thankfully, I do realize that I'm far from the only person on this planet with issues regarding the word vagina, which probably explains why there are so many alternatives to it, raunchy as they might be.

It might also explain why commercials and print advertising for products related to female anatomy, and that time of the month, are so archaic. Traditional ads are rich in mysterious ecstasy - women in flouncy skirts, twirling in fields or riding carefree on bicycles; clusters of attractive, young women bonding over their brand of tampon. It's absurd, especially considering that ads describing erectile dysfunction are shown during the five o'clock news. If we can talk so openly and frankly about the penis, why can't we do so about the va-jayjay?

Menstruation has always been marketed as a very personal thing, a magical moment when a woman's uterus whispers sweet nothings captured by a special, pillowy product. (My uterus has never whispered anything to me. It yells and then shanks me with a rusty blade.) Or so the average period-products commercial would have you believe. Which is why I just about lost it after seeing Kotex's newest ad campaign. The first ads were meta-parodies of traditional campaigns for female products, similar to those hilarious Old Spice ads. The more recent ones, which rely on hidden camera, man-on-the-street encounters, indicate that there is plenty of cultural taboo and awkwardness regarding lady bits. In one, a girl stands outside a drugstore and asks random guys to buy tampons for her. In another clip, a guy shops for tampons for his girlfriend, eliciting the all-too-apt response, "It's a man's world" (this time in reference to cardboard applicators.)

Kotex Rorschach test
Lady bits; hole; hoo-hah; down-there...anything but vagina.

Kotex man on the street
(IS SHE TALL?!? Love it. Get that man a cigar.)

As Adweek columnist Barbara Lippert writes with reference to the campaign,

"It's interesting that in our hyper-sexualized, girls-gone-wild culture, where characters on sitcoms like Two and a Half Men joke about "nailing" women and commercials airing during the family hour regularly mention four-hour erections, there's still one backwater of weird prudery: the subject of menstruation and the vaginal healthcare that goes with it.

Who knew that you could talk about vaginas and be funny and not insulting? Now we need even more honesty and directness. Women's bodies and sexuality do not have to be embarrassing or *hidden.* (Or talked about in titillating, colloquial terms for the benefit of men.) Though Kotex is surely motivated by a desire to sell more products, I really like that they're encouraging women like me to become more comfortable with their bodies, especially the magical lady parts. Yay vagina!

What do you think of the Patricia Field and Kotex collaboration? Would pretty pads and honest talk about the vagina help you feel more comfortable about your body, and about that time of the month? Would you consider purchasing Patricia Field's redesigned pads? And am I the only one with issues about the vagina?

Forever 21 lace jacket; thrifted Ann Taylor chambray shirt; thrifted Old Navy striped tee; thrifted Talbots skirt; Miz Mooz wedges; Forever 21 rhinestone bracelet and earrings

Outfit Post: My name is Elissa, and I am a changing room rageaholic

There are so many things that are great about shopping. Inhaling the sweet scent of leather in in the Fossil store? Great. Finding the perfect pair of wedges that make your feet simultaneously comfortable and stylish? Happy happy joy joy. Lounging at the MAC counter chatting with all the adorbz make-up artists in an attempt to figure out how on God's green earth one is supposed to wear Lady Gaga's lipstick which, I'm sorry, looks like foundation, and why would one make the CHOICE to slather foundation on their LIPS? That too is so, so great (if slightly mystifying. Apparently we are supposed to line our lips in magenta or fuchsia lip liner as an "interesting contrast." I have no desire to look like Krusty the Clown, so no thanx.)

There is one little itty bitty thing that I do not like about shopping. And that's trying things on. Just the thought of taking my clothes off makes me shake my tiny ineffectual fists into the air and shout WHY GOD, WHY????? I am not the most thoughtful person when planning a shopping excursion. I do not engage in sensible tactics like wearing dresses and other articles that are easily slip-off-able. No. I am the girl in a tank layered under a button-down which is layered under a cardigan that's layered over oppressively skinny jeans that are off course paired with tall boots and knee-high socks. I am that girl. Which, as a style blogger and fashion writer, is redonk.

I wear this suit of armor as a psychological tactic. See, I hate being nekkid, and I REALLY hate being nekkid in a dressing room. It's too small, and the lighting is horrid, and I am convinced trick funhouse mirrors are involved, and the door never seems to lock securely if there's a door at all, because sometimes there's just a filmy curtain separating me from the general public and I'm naked and what if some intrusive dressing room lady tries to come in and "help" and OM GOD BLOODTHIRSTY BARGAIN SHOPPING ZOMBIES COULD ATTACK ME AND HAVE I MENTIONED THAT I'M NAKED??? So I wear lots and lots of clothes as a way of psyching myself out of trying things on. See? I is a smart. Or not. Because inevitably when I get home and do try everything on I find that only 14% of what I purchased actually fits. Which means I have to go back to the store, and return stuff. /fail

So I was all together unsurprised when I learned from a survey that many women experience something called "changing room rage," wherein store fitting rooms leave them frustrated and cranky. You don't say.

Sky News reports that a survey found 48% of respondents felt frustration in fitting rooms, while 58% suffered disappointment. Half said they tried on clothes at home to avoid the problem, while 75% said they avoided trying them on at all. All of these are apparently symptoms of "changing room rage" or CRR, which can allegedly "lead to shoppers snapping at retail assistants, storming out of stores and even losing self-confidence."

It should be noted that this survey was conducted on behalf of isme.com, an online clothing company, so it seems obvious that they have a vested interest in attracting customers who do not like shopping in stores. And, call me crazy, but I don't see how it's possible that half the women tried clothes on at home, while three-quarters avoided trying on clothes AT ALL. That is the definition of a WTF, if you ask me. 

But still. Is it really that much of a shock that women hate dressing rooms? You wait in line for a long time to enter a tiny enclosed space with bad lighting, where you try on clothes that probably don't fit (either due to sizing inconsistency, or the narrow range of sizes many stores carry.) It's as if you have stepped into a dark netherworld dungeon where torture in the form of ill-fitting pants awaits you.

Personally, I found this survey kind of comforting, and a wave of solidarity washed over me after realizing I AM NOT ALONE. We rage-aholics really need to unite. Much like the suffragettes before us, we should be marching in picket lines, only this time demanding flattering lighting and comfy leather chairs for our friends to recline while we change and doors, doors that shut tightly and extend to the floor so no one can see our feet, and as long as we're asking for stuff a glass of chardonnay would be lovely too thanks for offering.

How do you feel about dressing rooms, and trying on before buying? Do you typically purchase things without trying them on first? Do you shop online as a way of avoiding stores and dressing rooms?

Forever 21 peasant blouse; Gap Outlet cargos; Mis Mooz wedges; thrifted vintage Coach satchel; Plato's Closet braided leather cuff; Dolly Python stamped leather cuff; World Market catholic saints bracelet; geode bracelet