Accessorizing for Carmen

I've narrowed my restaurant choices to two for tomorrow, but I still don't know what to wear!!!

At this point it's down to two non-matching accessories: A necklace and a purse.

The necklace is really cool - more so because I got it in a pile of junk, broken jewelry and loose beads for which I paid $8. Here's a photo of it, next to some earrings I had made last year to match a different necklace:



And here are pictures of the back to show the clasp:




Isn't that cool? Mixed in with a pile of broken stuff??!! I would have paid more than $8 for the necklace alone.

So if I wear the necklace, I have to wear brown. I'd wear this brown top with a multicolor, ankle-length peasant-type skirt and grey pumps. The problem is that all my brown purses are sort of clunky and not very elegant. I have one maybe... but it might be too small to hold all my girlie things and the little camera.

If I bring my black purse I can fit all my stuff but then I can't really wear the brown... which means no brown necklace. And I really want to wear the necklace. But can one wear brown to the Met? The rhinestone bling really dresses it up, but still... the old fallback, long black skirt with the flowers and black top, would go with the purse. On the other hand, the purse has seen better days and I actually had to do some surgery on it today with... yes... packing tape. The lining was torn and it was that or black electrical tape. Hey at least I didn't go with silver duct tape. It doesn't really show, although I know it's there. How classy to wear a purse repaired with packing tape??? Ha! But at least I'd be in black. So I guess I'm leaning toward taking the chance on the brown and choosing between the least clunky of my brown purses.

Well here's a thought. Because we'll be walking uptown from Penn Station, I'll be wearing my hiking shoes and carrying my dainty shoes in a little shopping bag. I could also carry whatever little extras don't fit into the purse. Oh plus I'll have a coat. A ... purple raincoat. Classy again. BUT it has many large pockets.

There. Problem solved. I'll wear the new necklace and the brown-based outfit, carry a brown purse and will stash whatever doesn't fit in the purse in the inside pocket of my coat.

I'll post dress-up photos at some point. And don't be surprised if I end up in the black. With the brown necklace....

Tomorrowwwwwww!!!!

I have been vacillating between excitement and fear about tomorrow. Mostly excitement!! With occasional bouts of nausea thrown in. And every time someone I know tells me they're coming, my stomach does a flip. But other than that, it's all good. I mean, I'm definitely nervous. And excited. I know I can sing the song well enough, even if I don't get that resonance on that one note.

Now... what to wear? I'm leaning toward the long black skirt with the flowers, a black lacy sleeveless top and a small sweater. And rhinestones, of course. So the skirt in that picture with a different top. And some kind of shiny jewelry. And I'll bring my other fancy shoes, just in case the grey shoes with the black piping look odd. And in case my other grey shoe isn't available... although I'm sure it will be. I think they left it at the church for me.

Hair???? I know to keep it off my face. But up in a fancy braid, or pulled back into a barrette? Or loose? I don't have bangs so it wouldn't end up in my face. It'd look like this if I wore it loose, a little longer. And if I wear it in a barrette and then take it out, it'll be pulled back a little, kind of like this. I'm leaning towards a low, loose barrette, which would sort of look like this, only neater. Seriously, I'm not that concerned about how to wear my hair. I'm blogging about it because it naturally follows the "what I'm wearing" paragraph.

I have my regular voice lesson tomorrow morning, then a massage at a local salon, and then I'll fidget through the day, get ready too early and try not to sweat in my nice clothes.

Bejeweled

I knew I'd be able to whip something up. I like these earrings much better than the ones I made yesterday, and they match the necklace I whipped up. It's easy to make pretty jewelry when you start with cool beads. So here we have it, the jewelry that will be going to the opera and the Firebrand thing.

A Change of Fashion

After all those posts about the brown outfit, the brown shoes, the brown jewelry, I suddenly realized that wearing black on Wednesday and brown on Thursday means schlepping not only the clothing but the shoes, purse and jewelry with me to the Met and then schlepping the black outfit, shoes and purse to Alice Tully. My practical brain finally woke up and said, "Duh! Just bring a different shirt and wear the same skirt!" I did allude to this in yesterday's post. So... now I can return the slightly painful shoes and leave the extra purse and brown clothes at home. I'm pretty sure my skirt will survive the day well enough to wear again on Friday, and if not, my friend with whom I am staying has graciously offered to loan me something from her wardrobe. So now I just have to decide on the necklaces. I have a purple thing just like the brown one here. Tonight I can add some baubles, maybe a dangling bead, and also shorten the chain, and voila, instant necklace.

The mere idea of lightening my load has taken a weight off my shoulders. (Sorry, I couldn't resist. Don't tell the pun police.)

And now, a burst of excitement for seeing Juan Diego Florez and Natalie Dessay! TOMORROW!!! At the Met!!! All dressed up, fancy fancy!!! I know it'll be great in spite of the meta-aspect. Perhaps the initial reactions were due to the unexpected nature of the setting? Either way, I always have an enchanting evening when I go to the Met, and I'm sure tomorrow will be no exception.

And then... Nathan Gunn the day AFTER tomorrow!! That still seems like ages from now because of all I'm doing between now and then.

I'll surely post again tonight with photos of the black ensemble and jewelry.

I Haven't Forgotten

All this talk about what to wear on Thursday, what shoes, what earrings, what what what... but I haven't forgotten that my adventure begins on Wednesday with my trip to the Met to see La Sonnambula! I don't have a photo of me in the outfit (yet) but here's the skirt AND the earrings I made tonight to go with it. I was looking at the skirt this afternoon wondering what earrings to wear with it. I went to my jewelry box and saw a pair with these black flowery beads. Black... flowers... exactly the same colors as the skirt! I have a bunch of those beads so I fussed around with them this evening and came up with these sparkly things! Oops they're hanging crooked, oh well. You get the idea. And no, I didn't get the skirt at Old Navy. Even better - I got it at a church rummage sale for like $2. Cost me more to clean it. It's (too) long, it's gauzy, it's flouncy, it's lined. Perfect for a trip to the Met.

:

With it I'm wearing a cute black shirt - one of the "my eyes are up here" shirts of course - with either a chunky amethyst necklace or one of the many fun purple-themed rhinestone necklaces I got from my grandmother.

So now I have to figure out how to get the Thursday night outfit, Thursday day outfit, plus the Thursday purse, the Thursday shoes, pajamas and other overnight things, my small binocs, the little camera and the gifts all into my little backpack. Gifts? Well, earrings for my friend who graciously offered her couch to me... but I'm bringing her a selection from which to choose. The other gift - well, I broke down and figured, since there's a good chance I'll get some face time with Mr. Gunn, I might as well keep with tradition and bring him some contraband in the form of a CD of a recent recital for him to throw on the pile with the other ones I've given him.

My, "I'll see what I can do" contact requested that I follow up on Wednesday. I will, of course, report back once I have the yay or nay on that. I don't want to get my hopes up but at the same time... I'm hoping... But I have tons of adventure to get through between now and then!! If I can post on Thursday, I will.

But first... Wednesday!! Juan Diego Florez!!! Natalie Dessay!!! Beautiful music with a stupid set! Hooray!

Haha I just had a thought - why not wear the same outfit two days in a row? I did consider it, but then I remembered that after taking the train and walking around the city, the shirt probably wouldn't hold up too well. Plus I'll probably spill something on it. The skirt I could probably get away with... and it's not like I'm seeing the same people... Hm.. do I have another acceptable black shirt? That would lighten my load a great deal... Will ponder this for the next 10 minutes or so.

Does This Make Me Look Fat?

Of course I think it does so I'm not posting the picture. I think I need to invest in some Spanx ASAP. Yes, that link does indeed bring you to a product called Power Panties.

But I will post the picture of the necklace I found and the earrings I made to go with it. If you click on the photos you should get a bigger image. If that's what you want...

So here's the necklace. It's cool but the chain is too long. As soon as I put it on I realized that a long necklace is a no-no for me because of, uh, my body shape.





So I plan to shorten the chain like this, to use that body shape to my advantage:


Damn I think I need a new bra too. See, this is why opera is so expensive - it's not just the ticket. It's the underwear.

Here we have the earrings, and then a shot of the earrings next to the necklace.


And when I was putting all my supplies away, I came upon these fabulous beads!! But I was too tired to try and create another pair so these shiny baubles will have to wait until next time.

Socks, Shoes and Other Opera Accessories

I keep getting this feeling like I want to post but I have nothing to say. Well, nothing new. I could of course go on and on about the meta-opera thing, or any of the other subjects that I've beaten pretty much to death over the past two years.

So let's go back to fashion. I've decided to go with the brown outfit for Thursday. If only I had earrings to go with it... Ha! Tonight I'll make the perfect pair. And then I'll need a necklace... hm... a trusted fashion expert, blogger, opera singer and regular reader recommended a long silver necklace. I can see the appeal. I'll have to paw through my tangled costume jewelry pile. The other option, which she didn't mention but hopefully will comment on now that I'm mentioning it, is a necklace that doesn't reach the shirt at all. It's a pretty scoopy-neck top so there's room for something to cover the freckled paleness of my upper neck. I have a necklace in mind, of many many gold-toned chainy pieces... I'll have to untangle it and post a picture.

I never did comment on the shoes. I thought I was going to like one pair better, the solid brown ones, but it turns out that not only do I like the others better, but they fit better too! The solid pair had a low heel that ended in about a centimeter square. Every step I took I teetered on the brink of a sprained ankle. But even more problematic: Toe cleavage. I do NOT like toe cleavage. The moment I put the shoes on, before I even attempted to hobble across the room, I was like, "Nuh uh."

The other pair has this shiny part but it's much subtler than I thought it would be. It feels ok to stand around in. Sort of. I will, of course, wear my hiking shoes until I arrive at Lincoln Center. And I have a secret... I almost always slip my heels off during the performance. Any performance. In fact, at Die Fledermaus I brought an extra pair of socks because I remembered from the previous year that it was kind of cold in there. So yes, once the house lights went out, off went my shoes and on went the socks. Tres chic, no? Don't tell anyone, ok?

Fashion Preview

It's HARD to take pictures of yourself in the mirror. This is the best I could do.

It's Far Too Meta For Me

Oh dear. The reviews are coming in for the Met's production of La Sonnambula and it's not good.

During one of the intermissions of the HD broadcast of Lucia, Natalie Dessay, the host, spoke a little bit about the setting of the production of La Sonnambula. Instead of the standard, "this is where it takes place," type of thing, like most operas, the director went all meta on us. Apparently it's now a modern setting of an opera company putting on a production of La Sonnambula. Opera about an opera. The play's the thing... ? Meta-opera. I got this not-quite-sinking feeling about it but more of an, "Oh no, why why why?" and then, "Well at least it's still Juan Diego Florez and Natalie Dessay..."

I've been trying to avoid reading the reviews but I admit I have glanced at them. So far, so bad. So bad that the audience actually booed the director during curtain calls on opening night. So bad that now I'm busy calculating how much this night is going to cost me with ticket, transportation, food and fatigue (for of course I need to be fresh and alert for the following evening).

Call me boring, call me closed-minded... but I like an opera setting or story to be what the composer intended. Now, I'm not opposed to changing the time or location. Magic Flute during World War 1? Go for it. Cosi fan tutti with a bunch of hippies in the 60s? Why not? But don't change it to remove the sense of fantasy, the suspension of belief, that we have when we to go an opera that was originally written as its own story. We all know that we're sitting in an opera house watching performers. Why add that to the story? To prove how clever you are?

And for today's unrelated note, the shoes have not yet arrived. The "free overnight shipping" doesn't apply to clearance items. They should be here Friday so I'll post the fashion potentials for next week over the weekend.

Little... Brown? Outift People

So I have this cute brown-themed skirt and a scoopy-neck "my eyes are up here" shirt to go with it. I was thinking how great it would be if I could be all trendy and wear that to Firebrand of Florence next week, but the problem is, the only matching shoes I have are these totally cool brown things with a strappy thing around the ankle. I tried it on with tights - No. Way. Looks ridiculous. So I just ordered these and these. They're each a shade of brown that I think will go with the clothes. They should get here tomorrow so I'll model the outfit with the shoes to see if either of them work (and fit) or if I need to rework my whole "what to wear to the show" thing.

Still working on the backstage pass. Magic 8 Ball says, Maybe. Signs are Looking Good. People are Seeing What They Can Do. What people? Why, my people, of course. The same "my people" I mentioned here. I will continue to keep you, the reader, updated on my Backstage Adventure progress with as many details as I am willing provide regarding "My People" and what they are Doing. Which isn't many...

Opera Fashion Revisited - Shopping in Your Closet!

I realized that I can't keep wearing the same purple and black skirt every time I go to an opera. I mean, yeah, it's super-comfy (read: slightly too large) and it looks great with any black top, but I must admit I'm getting kind of bored with it. The only reason I wore it to Die Fledermaus was because Alex chose it for me when he helped me decide what to wear.

An acquaintance of mine is an editor at Glamour Magazine. She appears regularly on Good Morning America and recently did a clip about shopping in your own closet. Can't find the link right now although I know it's around online somewhere. Anyway... here's what you do.

First you pull everything out of the closet. Everything.

Then you sort it all into piles:

Stained items - bye bye
Clothes needing repair (button, etc)
Other people's clothes - return it all!
What was I thinking/Doesn't fit and never will - Goodwill/charity
Keepers

Then go through the keepers to see if you can make "new" outfits. Try pairing stuff together that you've never put together before - you'll be surprised at what looks good together! Just pulling everything out can reveal all these new ways of wearing things you already own.

I don't have enough time (in a row) to do my entire closet, but I have done sections at a time and already come up with some great "new" outfits, plus found things I had forgotten about. And I bagged up the things I'll never wear again - suddenly I have enough hangers for each thing to have its own! I don't think of myself as having a huge amount of clothes, but things to tend to jam up in the back and occasionally fall off the hanger.

So I found a few potential opera outfits. One I'm pretty sure I'll wear to Nozze in Florida because the shoes I want to wear with it look ridiculous with pantyhose. First though I have the (maybe) recital (still waiting for yay or nay on that from my own embarrassed mind), then La Sonnambula (perhaps that greenish dress I wore in Chicago?) and then Firebrand (A long black flowered flouncing skirt with a black "my eyes are up here" top. We'll see. Maybe I'll let Alex help me decide again.

Now Back to Your Regularaly Scheduled Fantasy Life

Ok, my previous post was a brief dip into reality. We can now return to My Silly Ramblings.

Fille tomorrow. What to wear, what to wear. Really it's a shoe thing. Walking from Penn Station to the Met... chance of rain... wear sneakers and carry shoes in the very large pockets of my purple raincoat? Would also need a plastic bag for potentially wet sneaker storage once I enter the building. Not a bad idea, actually.

Will write about my last two voice lessons shortly.

Fashion, Take 2

Found a skirt **on sale** to go with the "my eyes are up here" blouse. It's lavender with a black pattern. It's the same gauzy material as the top. Will wear off-black hose and black pumps. Will blouse the top up so it's not stretched out over the hip. Probably won't wear the green necklace either... or the almost 4 year old...







By the way... after seeing the state of my hips in these photos... the diet starts in earnest this very moment.

Fashion Advice Please!

What to wear to Zankel Hall next week?

I think the "My Eyes Are Up Here" shirt is a go. So the flowery purple skirt and black pumps, or the slightly longer, slightly more flowy black skirt with black knee-high boots? The boots have a chunky heel.

Sorry, shoes are not pictured. Use your imagination and Hey! Stop looking at my unmade bed and frizzed-out hair.

I have a preference for which outfit but I'm interested to hear what You, The Reader, think.

Opera Fashion

Well now that there's a good chance I'll be going backstage in Chicago, I realized I have to get something totally awesome to wear. Not for anyone specific - just for myself.

From what I've seen, opera fashion seems to be all about rhinestones and the little black dress. Inspired by the blog of an old acquaintance from high school, I went out and found a fabulous dress in petite, no less, in the perfect turquoise for my coloring. On sale too!

Of course, I'll lose 5 pounds, get a tan, tone up my arms and grow 6 inches between now and then.