Personal Flair

I was happy to wear this dress without anything layered on top, so that all the interesting details showed. However, since a dress like this can't be belted, or layered over anything, there aren't too many options for giving it a personal flair. I threw on some fun jewelry and thought, "This is all I can do; I'm just going to have to let the dress be the star and settle for a fairly tame outfit." Then I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror with my fab new hair color. An interesting dress, pink skull jewelry and peacock blue hair; that'll do, that'll do indeed.

Dress: Escada Sport
Jewelry: Betsy Johnson
Tights: Hue
Shoes: John Fluevog
Hair: Michele at Colorbox

Approximation

Inspired by my flapper-esque Bastille Day outfit, I put together this outfit, which has 20's daywear proportions. When I think of daywear in the flapper era, I always think of drop waist dresses with pleats, a look that can be approximated by wearing a fitted tunic-length top over a knee-length A-line skirt. This approximation also tends to be more flattering than an actual drop-waist dress for some reason. What I was going for was just a hint of a 20's vibe, not an actual reproduction of the style.

Over the weekend Mark and I attended our friends' wedding up on Mt. Tamalpais. When we met up with our dog sitter to drop Georgie off, she had brought along an adorable pit mix puppy that she's fostering, and of course I instantly fell in love and have been obsessing about him ever since (I think the dog sitter brought him along expressly for this purpose). We've been discussing the pros and cons of getting another dog for awhile now; obviously it would be a lot more work and more expense and hassle when we go out of town, but it would also be fun for Georgie as well as a chance to rescue another dog who's in need of a home. Plus, twice the snuggling potential! Perhaps there's another dog in our future...


Top: H&M
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Scarf: Asos
Skirt: Noa Noa
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson
Tights: Hue
Shoes: John Fluevog

Crazy Long Shirt

I saw this long, striped shirtdress on Asos and instantly fell in love. The fabric is very sheer and light, and I knew it would be great layered up for interesting office looks as well as more costumey outfits. As a dress, it really doesn't have a whole lot of shape, but worn open as a crazy long shirt I feel like it works really well. When I saw the picture on the Asos site, this is exactly how I knew I'd be wearing it.

For this outfit, I created shaping at the waist using my wide elastic belt. Without it the dress is very straight and boxy. You can tell from the back view that I actually had to scrunch a lot of the fabric together in the back to make it hang the way I wanted; elastic is really the best sort of belt for this application because once the fabric is in place it will stay there.

The dress nearly skims the floor on the long side; in fact, without heels I think it would be too long. But I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing heels whenever I wear this, so I quickly vetoed my initial idea to shorten it.

Shirtdress: Asos
Top: Max Studio
Ponte knit pants: Club Monaco
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Boots: All Black
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson
Earrings: Leslie Danzis

             

Formula

This outfit is sort of a repeat, as I've worn this dress/tights/shoes combo a couple times before, but the colors just go so well together that whenever I pull this dress out I'm stumped to come up with a better formula. Sometimes there's just no messing with a good thing.

Since the middle panel of this dress is a see-through lace mesh, I always need to cover the midriff in order to wear it to work. This time I used the blazer to cover most of it, and filled in the rest with the scarf. It was fairly cool that day, so the velvet blazer and tights kept me warm, while the sandals and bright colors made it seasonally appropriate.

The outdoor location is the patio just off our dining room (which really isn't a dining room so much as a hatmaking studio). You've actually seen this location before, but it was with the ugly blue building next door in the background. I much prefer this angle.

Dress: Betsey Johnson
Scarf: vintage
Blazer: Victoria M. Ortiz
Tights: Foot Traffic
Sandals: John Fluevog

Springy

This is the last outfit from before the trip, when it suddenly got really warm and sunny in SF. This outfit felt springy while still giving me enough skin coverage for the chilly temps that tend to set in at dusk. Because my feet have a hard time with peep toe shoes, I added some little half socks to keep my toes from being chafed.

If you only look at the detail shot, this outfit looks pretty glam with all the sequins and sparkly jewelry. But notice how the addition of leggings and flats brings the outfit down a couple notches in terms of dressiness. If I swapped out the leggings for black nylons and the flats for pumps, I'd have a perfectly good outfit for going out.

Top: Forever 21
Cardigan: Anthropologie
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Skirt: Noa Noa
Leggings: Foot Traffic
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson
Shoes: Bobbi Blu

Height Perception

This little lacy black dress is another one Mark and I use a lot for our Etsy shop photos, but that I rarely wear. I've actually owned it since about 1993, but with this season's resurgence in the lace trend, I figured it was high time I pulled it out again. These days I wouldn't wear it as a dress because it's so short (somehow it seemed ok when I was 24, even though it barely covers my butt), but it makes a great layering piece.

I've noticed  from time to time in the comments that people will assume I'm petite, and I wonder why this is. I'm actually 5'8" in bare feet, and the other day I got to thinking that I must subconsciously assume other bloggers are all roughly the same height I am, because I'm surprised if I find out they're considerably taller or shorter. Do we perceive height differently depending on how tall we are ourselves? I wonder also how much of our own body image plays into it; if someone feels they're too short, for instance, does everyone else automatically get perceived as taller, whereas someone who is comfortable with her height (or simply doesn't care) assumes everyone else is the same size?

Why do people care so much about height anyway, other than difficulty in finding clothes that fit? My only gripe about shopping for my own height is that sleeves are often too short, hence I push them up to my elbows a lot. Other than that I wouldn't say I spend much time thinking about it; until of course someone says I'm petite and gets me ruminating on the subject.

How do you perceive the height of people you see on the internet or on TV? How much do you think your own body image plays into those perceptions?   

Brown dress: from Ruby on Haight Street
Black dress: Betsey Johnson
Necklace: from Ambiance on Haight Street
Belt: Audra Jean
Skirt: thrifted and shortened
Bracelet: Leslie Danzis
Tights: Falke
Shoes: Fly London

Another Airing

You can tell how warm it still was when I wore this; we had some unseasonably hot weather which reached its peak the day the Giants came home for their celebratory parade. This outfit was worn right before it turned chilly again, when I had checked the forecast and thought I could eke out one more day of bare legs and arms. I took the opportunity to try out one of the cute pairs of ankle socks that I bought just as the last heat wave was ending.

I wore and posted this outfit almost verbatim last month; all I did to change it up was to replace the gray tank with an off-white one, swap the cowboy boots for socks and sandals, and add different jewelry. But I couldn't resist giving it another airing, because we don't get too many days around here that are suitable for wearing something like this, and I wanted to fully enjoy what was potentially the last really hot day we'll see until spring.

Vest: F21
Dress, skirt: Anthropologie
Socks: Sock Dreams
Sandals: John Fluevog
Jewelry: Betsy Johnson

Body Art

Have you ever wondered what those tattoos on my arms are all about? Well, click on over to this annotated bibliography at Fashionable Academics to find out. While you're at it, you can read all the other contributors' stories about the inspiration behind their tattoos and the kind of reactions their ink elicits. It just goes to show that people with tattoos are much harder to categorize than many people think. Body art is a highly personal experience and has a different significance for everyone who wears it.

I put together this outfit with the intention of mixing masculine and feminine elements. The last several times I've worn these cropped pants I've put together more purely menswear-inspired looks, going so far as to add a tie to a couple of them (click here and here and here for the posts). Here I added the ruffle-trimmed cami and cropped cardigan to bring in some girly touches and give the pants a completely different vibe.

Cardigan, pants: Noa Noa
Cami: Anthro
Necklace: Betsey Johnson
Shoes: John Fluevog

Summer Layering

Here's the last of my Anthro purchases: this light pink cardigan. Normally I avoid washed out colors like this, but I thought it had great potential for pairing with darker items, such as this black sweater and dark olive skirt.

I also like the cardigan's tissue-thin weight and 3/4 length sleeves, which make it a great piece for summer layering. Lately it's been cold and rainy here, so warm clothes are still a must; the cardigan was a nice way to brighten up this dark but warm outfit and add a breezy summer vibe to it. As you can see, I'm still not giving up my tights, and probably won't for much of the summer.

Sweater: Banana Republic
Cardi: Anthro
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson
Skirt, tights: Noa Noa
Shoes: Faryl Robin

Anthro

Last week I stopped into Anthropologie during a break from the conference I was attending downtown. Normally a visit to Anthro entails me wandering around looking at lots of things, with my thoughts running along the lines of, "Wow, that's cute, but it isn't 250 dollars' worth of cute. Oh, I like that, but not for $189. Hmm, a t-shirt with ruffles sewn on it for $80? I don't think so." Most of the time I leave empty-handed and annoyed, but boredom combined with rainy weather drove me in to take a look anyway. Making a beeline for the large sale section, I found several things marked down to well within the realm of reason; this tunic and skirt were among them and the rest you'll see over the next few days.

I'm excited about the layering potential of this tunic; the mixture of colors can go towards a pale, warm weather look or a dark, contrasty one for colder months. The exposed seams give it the right amount of uniqueness that will pair well with edgier items in my wardrobe. The skirt is a semi-sheer pale pink, which I'm looking forward to trying out with the new stuff I just got from Black Market Baby.

For this outfit I let the tunic do all the work in terms of shaping, and left out a belt. After the discomfort of the previous day's outfit, this was a really wonderful follow-up, the swingy layers having just the right amount of softness and stretch.

I also got a haircut last week -- it's just a shorter version of the last one.

Tunic, skirt: Anthropologie
Ruffled shirt: H&M
Cardigan: thrifted
Tights: Noa Noa
Boots: Bronx
Jewelry: Betsey Johnson

Political Rantings

'Scuse me for a moment while I get all political on ya. It's not often (ok, it's not ever, really) that I talk politics on this blog, but this is an issue that has got my hackles WAY up, and I need to vent for a moment. The outfit details are all the way at the bottom of the post if you want to skip my rantings; the rest of this post has nothing at all to do with fashion.

As you may have guessed already, I have a deep and profound love of all things Latin American, and as a native Californian I consider many aspects of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, and other Latino cultures to be a part of my own heritage. So the shameful immigration law recently passed in Arizona, which I'm sure everyone has heard all about by now, just makes me clench my teeth with indignation.

Now I acknowledge that Arizona does have a hefty set of immigration-related issues that the federal government has done a terrible job in dealing with. But enacting a law that promotes mistrust and angry division is just never the right answer, is it?

Sure, illegal immigration poses problems; one of the most overlooked, in my opinion, is the way it undermines the Herculean efforts of people who come here by legal means. Talk to anyone who's gone through the process of obtaining a work visa in the US or becoming naturalized and you'll hear stories of miles of paperwork, gobs of money spent, hours in impossibly long lines, and legal red tape that would make your hair stand on end. Having obtained my citizen status by the easiest possible method, birth, I wholeheartedly admire the perseverance of legal immigrants. Moreover, I wonder what the US would be like if everyone was as passionate and committed to being here as our legal immigrants are? Would we suffer from the same sense of entitlement if we had to deal with the USCIS to obtain our rights?

On the other hand, it's pretty tough to blame people who risk everything to flee a desperate and often woefully impoverished situation for the chance of making a better life for themselves and their children. To me it is the original American Dream in its purest form. And the reality is that it's pretty much the same way most of our ancestors got here. Most Americans today cannot even fathom the sorts of troubles that people who flee to this country are facing in their home lands, and indeed, even the "better life" that many illegal immigrants find here is still far below the average American standard of living.

Illegal immigrantion does come with its share of other problems, not the least of which is the importation of drugs and the violence that goes along with them. But turning the local police, who live within that racially-mixed community, into what amounts to little better than an SS brigade, is a recipe for unrest and further conflict, most notably among people who aren't even a part of the original problem. Obviously the law legalizes racial profiling, but even worse, it builds walls between people who should be working together to solve these issues. I'm sorry Arizona, I don't have an easy solution for you, but the one you've opted for is quite possibly the worst you could've come up with.

I'd like to open up the floor for more discussion, because I know my insightful readers will have more to add on this one. Are there any Arizonians out there who have a different take on this issue? Legal immigrants who want to weigh in? People from Latin countries who are disgusted, irate, disappointed? People who have been impacted in one way or another? Let's hear it! Even if Arizona is taking a closed-minded approach, it doesn't mean we have to.

Today's (non-political) outfit:
Dress, bracelet: Betsey Johnson
Cardigan: Solemio
Harness: Audra Jean
Jacket: Tulle
Tights: Foot Traffic, via Sock Dreams
Shoes: Saks 5th Avenue
Adorable dog: Georgie

Contortions

Egads. Here I've cut off my head as well as my feet, and there's that awful lighting again. Really and truly this was the best photo out of the set. Thankfully tomorrow's will be better.

I love this Betsey Johnson dress, but when I put it on I remembered why I hardly ever wear it: it is an absolute nightmare to get on. It has one of those invisible side zippers combined with a tight-fitting bodice and a hard seam at the waist, which means I have to go through all sorts of contortions in order to pull the zipper up without it giving way too suddenly and pinching the tender skin on my side. Why designers continue to construct dresses this way is a mystery. By the time I got it zipped up I was so pissed off that I had nearly ripped the dress to shreds several times. Clearly there will need to be some alterations if I'm ever going to wear it again.

It's really cute though, isn't it? Because it's a very fancy dress, too fancy to wear to work on its own, I casualized it with the oversized sweater and plaid socks. It was a good day-to-evening outfit, which was perfect for going straight from work to Fawn's photography opening over at the wonderful bar called Olive, which I had never been to. The opening was quite a success, with a great turnout, an interesting and fun group of people, and most importantly for Fawn, a sale. A great time, and fabulous martinis, were had by all.



Dress: Betsey Johnson
Cardigan: thrifted
Belt: Urban Outfitters
Shoes: John Fluevog

Here's a gratuitous cute dog picture to distract you from today's horrible outfit photography:

Georgie surveys her domain through Mark's window. She fancies herself quite the watchdog.

Patchwork

This outfit isn't a super exciting one; it was a comfortable, casual look that I threw together in the morning when I was running around trying to get everything together for meeting with my tax guy. But I wanted to show it to you because it features this beautiful suede jacket that I found while out thrifting with my mom in Oregon last month. This jacket is a perfect illustration of patchwork done really well; the patches have subtle variations in texture and color, giving the jacket depth without making it look like it was just thrown together from a bunch of scraps. It also looks like it has never been worn, which is unusual for a suede piece found in a thrift store.

The other thing I did with this outfit was to throw in the scarf for a splash of unexpected color. This is one of the easiest ways to jazz up a casual outfit -- anyone could see that pairing the purple top with brown pants and purple boots would work, but adding the green scarf is a bit more adventurous and interesting.

Scarf: Rhapsodia
Top: Just Angels
Cords: Marlowe
Boots: Fly London
Jacket: thrifted
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson

Repetition

This outfit is comprised of the somewhat odd combination of burgundy, orange, and pink, and hopefully I'll be able to effectively explain how I got there. It all started with the burgundy and orange skirt (and I realize it probably doesn't look burgundy and orange on your computer screen, but trust me, it is!), which I purchased while Jess was in town.

Let me just digress here for a minute, because this actually happened to us while we were shopping at the Skunkfunk sample sale on Haight Street: the sales girl came up to us and said, and I quote, "Ladies, would you like a cocktail while you shop?" I can't make this up, kids. Jess and I looked at her, then at each other, then back at her, and asked, "Have you met us? Ah, YES!" So we had cocktails while we shopped. And it was... inspiring.

So this skirt is what I bought. It is saturated shades of orange and burgundy, and when I put it on I was actually stumped for a few minutes because although I've got plenty of other burgundy and orange things to go with it, I knew I needed a third color. What goes with burgundy and orange? I struggled for a few minutes before I came up with the solution, which is: What goes with burgundy OR orange? Well, lots of things. Pink, for instance, goes with burgundy beautifully.

Now you might think that with this skirt being one of the players, orange is automatically one of the main colors in the outfit. NOT SO! The "main" colors are determined by repetition, not so much by surface area (the same is true in interior design, btw). By adding the burgundy boots and cardigan I repeated the burgundy color 3 times; by choosing a pink scarf, belt, and bracelet (I could also have put a pink shirt under the cardigan), I repeated pink 3 times. How many times does orange appear? Once. And since it's already incorporated alongside burgundy in the print of the skirt, it totally works. So as long as I pull one color out of this skirt and pair that color with a suitable mate, I can make this skirt work with just about anything. And so can you.

Do you have an item in your collection that has an odd color pairing? Do you have any new ideas for what to try it with?

Scarf, belt, cardigan: gifts
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson
Shirt: Michael Stars
Skirt: Skunkfunk
Boots: Miz Mooz