Ally's retrospective

I had a really hard time picking just five good and five bad. I found my bad ones first and then went to the good. Fortunately, for me, the ones I really liked outweighed the bad. So, in the interest of being positive, I'm posting more good than bad.

Click on any of the pics to be taken to the original post for details and a bigger pic.

Good:
This is one of my very favorite dresses. I love that it's versatile and I can wear it all year. It's a smidge too long and needs hemming, however.









I'm SO GLAD I layered two summer dresses together for this outfit. Before this blog, I would have let these two babies live in the guest room closet for the fall/winter. I also never would have worn tights with sandals.







When I left the house in this, I thought it was just okay but after seeing it in pictures and hearing your great comments, I was sold. It's amazing what taking pictures of your outfits will do for your "eye."








This was a last-minute outfit for sure. I don't keep "special occasion" dresses on hand but I was able to make a regular dress something special with the right accessories. I felt pretty and dressed for the occasion.








Gosh! I miss the fall already. We all know my love of cooler weather. I've worn the heck out of this skirt from Lands' End. It was worth every penny ($35) and in the year-ish I've had it, it's not worn and looks new still. I really like the brown and orange w/the denim.






This is another dress I'd written off but made it work thanks to reading all your fabulous blogs. I had never layered dresses quite like this before and I never would have worn so many colors together.







And now for the bad. Bwahaha What's funny about this is there are several other outfits that were just too bad to post. Maybe one day I'll make a post devoted to those!

Bad:
This dress just does not fit me right. It's too short and the material is horrible on me. It does, however, make for a very comfortable "house dress" and night gown.








I love this scarf, but it just didn't look great tied to the side. I just don't care for this at all.









I tried really hard with this one, but it's just not my style. My parents summed it best when they called me Gravel Gertie and told me my slip was hanging out.








I remember the day I wore this so well. I had a particularly crappy day at work and I was sick on top of it all. I think the proportions are all off because of the cropped cardigan. Those just aren't for me.







I know there are a LOT more bad ones, but I wanted to pick the ones I thought were particularly bad. I find it interesting all my favorite outfits were dresses or skirts. I wear pants a LOT too so it seems either I need to make those work or I need to just give up and wear more skirts/dresses.

I emailed Leslie and Tracey to suggest more bad ones and like good friends, they obliged. Fortunately, we all hated most of the same ones. Whew!!

You ladies (and dudes) have been so sweet and kind and have left some of the nicest comments on my outfits. After I picked my favorites, I went back and looked at the ones with the most responses - there wasn't much overlap - weird!!

Your favorites:
Y'all loved this necklace and with good reason - it's awesome!! I still really dislike this top and am totally serious when I say it's up for grabs.








I wear this dress a LOT and have found a lot of ways to accessorize it - great deal for $12!! This belt is also a sure-thing. It's perfect.








I wasn't sure about this (and still think it's too long) but you really liked it. It made me feel 100% better about it.








A lot has gone on in my personal life this year, and you were here for it all:

• I'm getting married!!!!

• Maddy had surgery to remove a tumor and I cried a lot over it. She's totally okay now and you can't even see her scar from the surgery.

Manjoyment Monday seemed to be super popular for some crazy reason. Maybe we need to bring it back??

Thank you all for coming here every day and for linking to us. It blows my mind when I think about how just a year ago we didn't have this network and all these great friends. I <3 you all!