These boots are made . . . you know.

I've been waiting for the right weather to try this outfit.  It never got above the low 60s, and my legs would be cold for the first few minutes every time I stepped outside.  With plenty of layers on top, though, you can get away with bare legs in the fall.

The shorts are almost too short for my taste--I'll have to apply Fray Guard to the rough edges to keep them from getting any shorter.

I started noticing this type of necklace--random tarnished pendants on a metal chain of generous length--in magazines a couple years ago, and I hastened to emulate it.  Pendants found at antique stores, gifted from friends, or revived from pre-teen jewelry boxes are far more pleasing than a contrivance at Express or Maurice's could ever be.  The bronze arrowehead is from a childhood friend in New Jersey that I've lost touch with, and the men's spinny ring was found on the ground by my best gentleman friend.

A couple friends of mine excel in this tomboyish, salt-of-the-earth style as well: one in Lawrence, Kansas wears a silver St. Christopher medallion almost every day, along with her punk/metal T-shirts; and another in Norman, Oklahoma wears Southwestern necklaces over T-shirts with the collars cut off.  These two women have far more claim to salt-of-the-earthness than I could ever hope for.