Blood Red Olive Drab

On November 10th, we celebrated the US Marine Corps’ 241st birthday. I was a Marine for less than five years, and left the service 12 years ago, but I like to recognize the occasion each year. Or maybe I mostly like to play dress up with my service cap. We were required to buy it as a part of our uniform kit, but I never got to wear it!


Jacket and dress, Mossimo. Plaid tunic, Forever 21. Boots, Vince Camuto. Brooch, vintage.


The service cap doesn’t really work for civilian wear, but I do like to pose with it.


The USMC celebrates its birthday with a ball every year. I think my favorite ball was the one I got to attend with my mom, in Okinawa, Japan:

Ooo-rah!

Lucky Cat

How do you make one outfit work for both a military promotion ceremony and a Halloween-themed speech competition? Black, leopard, and optional cat ears.


Jacket, Xhilaration (thrifted). Dress, Express. Shirt, FY2 (thrifted). Tights, Me Moi. Boots, Lauren Ralph Lauren. Necklace, thrifted. Bag, Nordstrom Rack.



The two events:


My friend’s promotion speech


Beefy won BOTH portions of the Toastmasters Division contest: Evaluation and Humorous Speech!

Service

Happy Belated Birthday, Marines! (The USMC birthday was Monday.) And thank you to all my fellow veterans (Marines or not) for your service!


Blazer, Bebe (consignment). Dress, Suzi Chin for Maggie Boutique. Belt, thrifted. Socks, Sock Dreams. Boots, Audrey Brook (consignment)


365 photo:

Army Pants

Today I was asked if I wore pants like these in the Army. The answer is “no.” The trousers (not pants) I wore in the Marines (not Army) were giant, stiff, rectangles. When freshly starched, it was like donning cardboard instead of cloth. I much prefer ruched silk for non-combat wear.


Shirt, Forever 21. Pants, Da Nang (consignment). Shoes, J Crew. Sunglasses, Target. Earrings, vintage. Belt, thrifted. Bag, Charming Charlie.

Experiment No. 600 or The Red Hat Society Goes to War

I hate to mix my themes, but after I planned my Red Hat Society ensemble, I remembered this is the one day a year when I dig out my USMC service cap. I wore the red and purple all day, but the hat was only worn for photos. Happy Veterans Day!


Blouse, Romeo + Juliet. Dress, I Heart Ronson. Boots, Sofft. Hat, USMC. Coat, Bebe. Bag, Apt 9.