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Suzanne Carillo

40+ Adventurous style solutions for the uncommon woman

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  • Suzanne Carillo adventurous style for the uncommon woman over 40
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Trust The Camera Not Your Mirror

June 9, 2015 by suzanne carillo

I’d been dreaming about these pants…as you can see by the Polyvore set I’d created around them.

I tried them on at Anthropologie, loved them, bought them delighted thinking they made me look tall, thin and leggy.

Like this…

anthropologie linen pants

And now for your viewing pleasure, here is what they actually look like on me.

linen anthropologie chambray wide leg pants

WTF?

Clearly something went radically wrong.

reality versus my head

I had Lasik eye surgery about 15 years ago. They never told me this would be a side effect.

Even when I got these pants home and tried them on I swear I didn’t look like a hobbit.

I’m wearing platform sandals with them, I know they would have looked better with 4″ heels, everything looks better with 4″ heels, but it’s not realistic. The Clark sandals I’m wearing here I can actually wear all day without developing a brain aneurysm.

I was excited thinking I’d scored some super comfy figure flattering classic summer trousers.

This is when you must trust the camera not your mirror.

anthropologie linen pants and owl top

My camera captured the truth.

These pants visually add 10 lbs to my frame and make me look like I’m walking on two very thick, well aged, wrinkled tree trunks.

Needless to say when I saw the photos I screamed, ran to the kitchen and anger ate 2 pieces of cake, a handful of nuts and 2 protein bars cause, healthy packed up the trousers immediately to return them.

I always try to take photos of items before I commit to keeping them.  It is shocking what a universe of difference there can be between the reflected image in a mirror and a camera lens.

The camera acts as the honest but well meaning friend that has the guts to tell you,

“Yes, those pants do make you look fat.”

 

Or for those of you that have polite friends & cameras,

” You can do better.”

I’ve known for a while that I think I’m 20 years younger, 20 lbs lighter and 6 inches taller in my mind.  Normally people can live quite contently in ignorant self delusional bliss.  The problem arises when you are a personal style blogger and are forced to look at photos of yourself regularly.

There have been many days when I would have much rather dressed up my pug for outfit photos than myself.  Zoë is cool with her wrinkles, Buddha belly and hairy legs. I think I could stand to learn a thing or two from her.

Plus she snores and she doesn’t even care.

Do you suffer a delusional disconnect between what you think you look like and what you actually look like?  Does that make it hard for you to purchase clothing?

 

 

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Wardrobe Bucket List

June 8, 2015 by suzanne carillo

Do I look like I just spilled paint all over myself?

high waisted skirts over 40 fashion and style

Good.

I have succeeded.

My goal was to look like an artist.

wardrobe bucket list
Skirt, cardigan & necklace – Anthropologie, Handbag – vintage, Shoes – consignment

I’m carrying a vintage handbag and wearing heels, like every other typical struggling artist out there.

Nailed it.

I ended up taking up this skirt by hand by about an inch after I saw these photos. 

 

Oh look! My garden has so many weeds it has now sprouted a vintage handbag! 

painters palette skirt anthropologie

When I was trying to make up my mind if I was going to keep this skirt as part of my plethora of birthday gifts my husband asked the silly question,

“But don’t you already own lots of skirts?”

Ha ha!

I’m scared to go into my closet and count the number of skirts I own.

However, I didn’t own a skirt that looks like a watercolour painting.

And now I do.

So cross that off my wardrobe bucket list.

Not that it was ever on there. Or that I even have such a list.

Funny thing is that I never know I’m really desperate for an item until I see it.

Which is the way with pretty much everything in life really.

I never knew I “needed” an iPhone, the internet, online shopping, call display, email, texting until I had them. Then I wondered how I’d managed to live my life without them.

Especially call display.

Telemarketers around the world are still cursing the invention of call display.

how to combine vintage and contemporary over 40

 

My birthday has come and gone, so no more unnecessary birthday gifts will be showing up on the blog. I still have a couple you haven’t seen.

Next year I will find out if life really does start after 50.

Don’t ruin the surprise.

I thrive on anxiety.

 

What items are on your wardrobe bucket list? Please…don’t tell me it is the perfect white button down classic shirt.  If that is on there I will know for sure you have no clue what a wardrobe bucket list is all about.

 

Linking up with the lovely Patti over at Visible Monday  Shoe and Tell  Turning Heads Tuesday

 

 

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Hi! I’m Suzanne

Suzanne Carillo About

I'm a 50+ avid secondhand shopper, vintage lover and reseller that caters to the incessant demands of a diva pug named Zoë.

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Some people are instrumental in helping others, un Some people are instrumental in helping others, unaware of the impact they have made on someone else's life.⁣
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In my recent hot yoga the instructor read out loud while we transitioned through poses, ⁣
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When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. It's a reminder of what it means to face resistance and keep moving. Like an airplane meeting headwinds, we often find our strength not in smooth skies but in turbulent ones. Headwinds build lift. They give the wings something to push against. In the same way, strength through resistance is born in those moments when everything feels uphill. It’s in these moments that quiet courage grows, even when it doesn’t feel heroic. Struggles don’t always mean we’re failing. They may mean we’re in the very place where transformation begins. The wind that pushes against you now might be the wind that teaches you how to soar. ⁣
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