sallyinstpaul
- May 18, 2021
- 4 min read

OOTD: Fishes & Rabbits

Today I'm taking a break from our usual capsule wardrobe posts to talk about yesterday's outfit of the day (OOTD). At some point, I need to discuss the crazy level of planning I use to put together my daily outfits, but for now it will suffice to say: I always plan my outfits in advance, and I enter the week (which for me starts on Monday) with the all the prep work done so that every morning, I can just put on the clothes and I accessories I've laid out in advance and go.

On Sunday evening, Robot checked the mail and I had a wonderful gift in the mail. When I had shown these cloisonné fish earrings in a capsule post, Jodie at Jodie's Touch of Style noted that she had a matching fish pendant and was I interested in it. And was I ever! So she sent it to me in the mail! (If you have wondered: Can Jodie be as awesome, supportive, and generous as she seems on her blog? I would say: Yes, 100%!)

So I had an outfit featuring a layering of necklaces planned for Monday, and it was very easy to adjust it slightly to use this fish pendant. I had wanted to wear this white (real) pearl necklace with the three sparkly beads to pick up the white rabbits on the blouse, so I kept that. I have a set of four (fake) silver chains, and I selected two plain chains to go with the pearls. Then instead of the other plain chain and the thin chain with a coin pendant, I put the fish pendant on a (real) silver chain from my mom. I was excited at how well this layered necklace look came together, and how well the fish pendant stands out.

I own a few matching jewelry sets (you know, the kind that are packaged together and have the exact same look) but I don't ever wear them that way because it's too classic for my personal style. I prefer a look that's more mixed-up and quirky than that. But wearing the fish earrings and the fish pendant together was a lot of fun! The two kinds of fish clearly go together, like two koi in the same pond, but they are not identical to each other. Every time I got a look of these fish hanging out together, it made me smile. And truly, what more can we ask of our jewelry?

It's interesting to have this wonderfully coordinated fish jewelry set in which the pieces came together decades apart. The fish earrings were a gift from my then-boyfriend about 20 years ago; they had belonged to his mother. Then the fish pendant came to me this week as a gift from Jodie.

I'm going to take this opportunity to bemoan the failure of this cute blouse. When I bought it, it fit just perfectly. After I washed it, less so, and I thought, Huh, I guess I should have sized up. After I washed it a couple more times...well, I put it on (fully buttoned up and sleeves rolled down), showed it to Robot, and said, "What do you think? Did my shirt shrink a little bit or what?" He was distracted so he glanced at me quickly and said "Yes." Then he did a double-take and said with surprise that my long sleeves were about 3" or 4" short. And I explained that when I tried it on the first time, it was long-sleeved and tunic length! I checked the tag but yes, I had cleaned it as directed: wash in the machine in cold water and hang to dry. Then I flipped the tag over and...UGH. 100% viscose! It should not have gone into the washing machine at all. I looked on the Coldwater Creek website to see if it was still available and reported back to Robot.

me: It's only available in size XS

Robot: ...which you already have!

Despite the shrunken quality of this blouse, I did like the overall outfit. Rabbits, fish, pearls, necklace layering, a silky ombré scarf as headband, stacked stretch bracelets, and metallic snakeskin flats all to jazz up what is basically a super-comfortable knit tank top and stretchy crop pants.