faux fur vest

In 2004, Sienna Miller was photographed wearing a fur gilet and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have one (only faux fur). I scoured the shops and the internet, but it was obvious that this was a brand new trend and therefore had not made it’s way across the pond. When I finally tracked one down I jumped on it! I was so excited when it came in the mail that I showed it to my roommates – who then proceeded to make extensive fun of me. They called it “the pelt” and couldn’t believe I was actually going to wear it out in public!

Now… from a very young age I accepted that in order to be a trend-setter, I might have to be one of the first to step out there on the fashion ledge (and in a small town, I might be out there all by myself) So, I let the girls talk their smack and wore my faux fur gilet with pride when we went out that night and many other nights that followed… So, when these same aforementioned roommates were asking if they could borrow my “pelt” the following winter, I BARELY even teased them about it… 10 years later and I’m still coming up with new ways to wear my gilet and I love it as much now as I did the day it arrived on my apartment doorstep.

Faux Fur Gilet (similar here) // Vintage Red Flannel (similar here) // Pixie Pants // Frye Boots // Costa Del Mar Sunglasses

Let’s take a moment to talk about wearing clothes with confidence… Sometimes the difference between “best-dressed” and “missed-dressed” is the attitude worn under the clothes… So, wear what you like and wear it with confidence! If you want to take more risks with your wardrobe, but confidence doesn’t come easy to you, follow this “fake it ’til you make it”strategy: 1. Know AND accept that there are negative naysayers EVERYWHERE and some of them might think or say hateful things about you. 2. Wear it anyway! Walk out the door with your chin up, smile on, and before you know it your “fake” confidence will yield to the “real” confidence you’ve built by not letting the opinions of others stop you…

… and while we’re at it, don’t be a negative naysayer! We are all women here and we should be building each other up instead of tearing each other down.

No Groundhogs Were Harmed Making this Vest.

Image February 2, 2015February 1, 2015shopwildsouls1 Comment

Before we moved back to Georgia, my husband and I lived in a small town called Belmont just outside of Charlotte, NC. When we found out we were moving we had one whole weekend to find a place… oh yeah, and we had 4 dogs at the time. We ended up in a tiny little house (around 500 sf) built in 1945 on a fairly large fenced in lot that was in major need of some TLC but was inexpensive and perfect for our pups.

Our tiny Hobbit Hole of a house in Belmont, NC

One day, I heard our youngest pup, Holden, barking… not a big deal since he did this sometimes when he was bored; then Lucy started which was still not that unusual, but when Clyde started barking I knew something was up… I went to the window and saw them all clustered close to the fence. I thought it was probably a neighborhood cat that was taunting them so I went out to run it off, but when I turned the corner and saw the culprit I outwardly exclaimed, “What the hell is that?!?!” As a girl who grew up in the woods of Hoboken, GA I was certainly no stranger to the occasional critter, but this rodent (?) marsupial (?) beast (?) was new to me. I tried to give the creature an escape route, but instead it decided to crawl inside one of the large holes in the crumbling foundation of our luxury home. I went back inside to get a flashlight to see if I could spot him under the house, but after a few minutes of searching various peepholes in to the crawlspace I started getting visions of “Tailypo” and scared myself back indoors.

I then whipped out my handy laptop and googled, “Rodents of North Carolina” where I stumbled across a picture of my Tailypo… Which was not so much a Tailypo as a groundhog/ woodchuck/ whistle-pig – turns out they’re the same animal (who knew?). Now I’m not sure if it was Punxsutawney Phil himself on holiday in the carolinas, but I hope the little guy had a cell phone somewhere on his person so he could call a cab and book it back home safely. So, today’s outfit is inspired by that little trespasser in hopes that he will remember that time I saved his life (when I could have thrown him to the wolves/ domesticated canines and made him into a REAL fur vest) and maybe NOT see his shadow today… Also if he could see about changing the name to “Whistle-Pig Day” that would be just dandy!