Strategies

Spring is always a tough season to dress for here in San Francisco, and this year is especially difficult. After a gloriously mild winter with many sunny, warm days, the rain and cold temperatures set in just as the rest of the country seems to be breaking out their sandals and sundresses. My solution has been to employ bright colors as much as possible, even though as you can see I'm still having to wear thick tights and sweaters to stay warm.

I leave tomorrow for my trip abroad, but I've got some posts scheduled for while I'm away. My first stop is Lisbon for 5 nights, on to Strasbourg for work for the next 4 nights, then a long weekend in Paris before wrapping up in Boston at a conference. In total it's a 2-week trip with several different types of activities and potentially a couple different climates. Packing for this trip is therefore going to be a particular challenge, so if I'm successful I'll share my strategies after I get back.

Cardigan: Cynthia Rowley
Top: a gift from Sal
Skirt: Skunkfunk
Boots: from Scoop in Copenhagen

Prediction

This was a festive outfit I put together for the last day at work before the holiday break. I loved the way the burgundy cardigan brought out all the rich reds and browns in the floral pattern of the dress. As you may recall, I predicted that this dress would work well with several different color schemes, and so far my prediction is holding; it worked with mustard yellow, and here I've taken it in a more wintry direction with the burgundy and olive green (the tights are olive green, though it's difficult to tell from the photos).

One of my favorite times of the year is almost upon us; it's only a couple of weeks until both the Noir City film festival and the Edwardian Ball. Soon it'll be time to get costumed up and hit the town. You can bet that my fabulous 50's dress will be making an appearance at one of the Noir City shows this year, but as of yet I haven't decided on any of the others.

Cardigan: American Eagle Outfitters
Belt: a gift from mom
Dress: eShakti
Tights: Foot Traffic
Boots: Bata

A Dress for Any Season

I've done shockingly little (for me, anyway) shopping in recent months, mainly because of the consecutive large expenses of throwing a big wedding party and then buying a house. Moreover, because I'm much busier at work I have a lot less time to poke around on the internet and inevitably find pretty things to buy. This is undoubtedly a good thing; at my previous job I often felt that I shopped mainly out of boredom, and waiting for a package to arrive was pretty much the only thing I looked forward to there.

This dress is one of the only items of clothing I've purchased since May or June. The pattern in particular really appealed to me, because it can work for any season depending on what I pair it with. Pinks and soft greens would make it great for spring and summer, while jewel tones or burgundy will work for fall and winter. For this outfit I added the mustard yellow cardigan and burgundy socks to give it a fall look, but left my legs bare because the weather is still pretty warm.


Dress: eShakti
Cardigan: Anthropologie
Belt: a gift from Mom
Boots: Bata
Bracelet: Leslie Danzis

Statement-Making

How's this for a well accessorized outfit? Or rather it was until I had to go to work and leave these two charming canines at home. I can't say I'd get a whole lot of work done if I could take them with me, cute as they are.

A few months ago something rare happened; I fell hard for a pair of designer sunglasses, and decided to take the risk and buy them, even though I do tend to be hard on my sunnies. I'd seen several other bloggers wearing the Prada 'Baroque' round style and thought they were fabulous, but round glasses don't really work for my face and I gave no thought to buying any until I saw the related cat eye style.

I don't typically put a whole lot of thought into the sunglasses I buy, but something that Peter said when Sal and I met up with him in New York has stuck with me. I was trying on sunglasses and found a pair that was... fine. They would have worked. But Peter looked at them and said something to the effect of, "They aren't really bold enough for your style." And that comment just about knocked me over, because it was so right on the money -- here I put all this effort into creating statement-making outfits, and the accessory that's right there on my face is typically ho-hum and boring.

When I saw this pair, I knew they were the kind of sunglasses that can turn even a jeans and t-shirt outfit into something statement-making. And yes I have to be extra vigilant with them, but they make me feel so glamorous that they're well worth the effort. Thanks to Peter's chance comment, I now feel like I have a pair of sunglasses that can stand up the the boldest of my outfits.

Dress: eShakti
Cardigan: American Eagle Outfitters
Leggings: Black Market Baby
Boots: All Black
Sunglasses: Prada

Burgundy and Blue

Burgundy and blue has become one of my favorite color combos this year; for other ways I've combined these shades, check out this post, and this one.

In other news, Spencer is quickly picking up habits from his big sister Georgie. This is his first foray into posing for pictures with me. Here you can see that he started out sitting like a little gentleman...

...before he quickly got bored and started being a goofball.

I love how it looks like he's making a gagging face. Clearly the dog has no appreciation for a good pair of shoes.

Dress: Red Dress Shoppe
Cardigan: American Eagle Outfitters
Shoes: John Fluevog
Bracelet: a gift from Mom

Suitably Fun

I wore this outfit on a day that I was going directly from work to meet a friend for drinks. Thus it needed to be comfortable enough to wear all day, and warm enough for the chilly evening without requiring me to haul around an additional jacket; it also needed to be suitably fun for an evening out. I thought the pirate flair of this outfit accomplished the fun element, while the stretchy layers and flat boots gave me the warmth and comfort I needed.

These ponte knit pants are incredibly comfortable, and have in fact become a staple for evenings out. They have the sleek, fitted look of leggings, but are thick and opaque enough to wear as pants. Plus, the stretchy waistband is comfortable after several hours of sitting down -- and even after several beers.

Jacket: Forever 21 (original buttons replaced with vintage ones)
Tunic: Asos
Scarf: Alexander McQueen
Pants: Club Monaco
Bracelet: Leslie Danzis

Getting Caught Up

I'm still getting caught up after my busy weekend, but I thought I'd better get some of these older outfits posted. For this one I reused the blue/burgundy color combo that caught my eye in the Christian Dior Fall line.

This necklace is tough to wear, because it requires a very wide open neckline, much wider than I typically wear. But I liked the way it looked with the blue color and the crane pattern, so I decided not to care that it overlapped the top in sort of a funky way.


Dress: Max Studio
Top: French Connection
Necklace: Rapsodia (Argentina)
Tights: Wolford
Bag: Foley + Corinna
Bracelet: Leslie Danzis
Shoes: Tsubo

Hybrid

This is another runway-inspired outfit, which I got the idea for after seeing Christian Dior's blends of vibrant blue and burgundy, as well as the interesting mixing of long upper layers with shorter lower ones. The end result was sort of a hybrid; below are the two outfits I drew from compared with the final outcome:

As you can see I put my own spin on it by including some pattern mixing, and the vibrant, floral trench coat (as well as the absence of any fur) gave the outfit a springier look. The nude, patterned tights look funny in these photos, but I promise my legs did not look that creepy in real life. I would've actually preferred to go bare-legged, but it just wasn't quite warm enough yet.

I really liked the blue/burgundy mix; I will definitely play around with this pairing again. I also thought the long cardigan and trench over the shorts was cheeky and fun, and I will be looking for other ways to use this type of combo. My goal in creating this outfit was to demonstrate how runway fashions can be adapted to fit what's already in your closet, and how they don't have to be copied verbatim in order to capture the overall impression.

For more couture-inspired outfits, be sure to check out Emma's runway to work day series.

Trench coat: Liquid
Cardigan: Cynthia Rowley
Top: Forever 21
Shorts: made from thrift-bought leather pants
Tights: Hue
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson
Boots: Miz Mooz

Not for the Faint of heart

Here's that pretty silk chiffon dress again, as promised. This time I gave it a more relaxed look by leaving the ties loosely hanging rather than tying them up in a bow. Since the dress is sheer and needs something underneath, I chose my burgundy suede shorts; they brought in a little color and were an unexpected twist.

My initial thought was to grab one of my pairs of tall, chunky boots, such as my Jeffrey Campbell Clinics or X-Rays. But in the end I decided that they would've been a rather obvious choice to pair with shorts, so I opted for these well-worn cowboy boots instead. The giant wedge boots are so ubiquitous these days that I feel the need to deploy them sparingly, and then only when it's least expected.

This outfit also features the new bag that I brought home from Century 21 in New York; the store is home to some amazing deals on designer goods but is not for the faint of heart. Getting trampled in the mad frenzy, or at the very least jostled and shoved,  is a very real possibility. I narrowly escaped with my life! -- and this infinitely versatile bag. I've decided that soft gray is the perfect shade for a bag; it can go with browns, it can go with black, it can go with color. And I might have been exaggerating just a little when I implied that I risked my life to buy it.


Dress: Fremont
Shrug: All Saints
Necklace: Wendy Brandes
Bag: L.A.M.B.
Shorts: thrifted and shortened (from pants)
Boots: vintage Morgan

Impatient

This fun, patterned dress is from my adventure at Desigual with Sal. We both tried on a lot of the same items that day, but if I remember correctly this is the only one we both bought. All that bright color and the fact that it's sleeveless really makes this more of a summer dress, but I got impatient to wear it and layered it up for a cool weather outfit. Not wanting to completely obliterate the summery vibe, I added a pink tank top to fill in the neckline and add some brighter color near my face.

Dress: Desigual
Cardigan: American Eagle Outfitters
Boots: Miz Mooz
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson

Bold Statements

I finally had this blazer taken in, after having to scrunch up the excess under a belt the last time I wore it. It fits far better now, with no scrunching needed. I liked the simplicity of this outfit; the long blazer and thigh high boots are fairly bold statements by themselves, so I didn't feel the need for a lot of extra embellishment. The tie at the neckline of the shirt added just a little bit of detail.

Blazer: J. Peterman
Shirt: a gift from Sal
Jeans: Joe's
Boots: Apepazza

Brief Posts

I feel like this outfit would've been better without the t-shirt underneath the dress, but it was simply too chilly for short sleeves that day. And seeing as how it's now been almost a month since I actually wore this outfit, I don't have too much else to say about it. You're going to see a lot of very brief posts before I get caught up, I suspect.     

Dress: Diane von Furstenburg
T-shirt: H&M
Obi belt: Sunhee Moon
Skirt: Noa Noa
Tights: Falke
Shoes: Fly London

Tension

I wasn't in love with this outfit, to be honest. I thought all the pieces actually looked pretty good together, but between the awkward length of the cardigan with respect to the oversized pockets on the dress, the way the full neck of the dress made the neckline of the cardigan sit funny, and the skirt hiking its way up all damn day, I just didn't feel very put together.

I only added the skirt as an afterthought, because I noticed that the bottom couple of buttonholes of the dress are starting to tear, and I wanted to spare them from further damage by leaving them open. This is not the best design for this dress; the fabric doesn't stretch at all, so sitting down puts a lot of tension on those bottom buttons. I think a more permanent solution would be to sew the bottom of the dress closed from the hips down, and have the buttons as decoration only. That way the tension would be distributed evenly across the whole bottom portion of the dress. It really only needs to unbutton about halfway in order to get it on and off anyway.

The skirt, on the other hand, is not fixable and is totally out of here. By the end of the day I was beyond frustrated with readjusting it, and I was ready to take it off and burn it right there. It was a cheap thrift store purchase anyway, so I'm not too sad to part with it.

Cardigan: American Eagle outfitters
Dress: All Saints
Skirt: thrifted
Tights: MP (via Sock Dreams)
Shoes: MIA

Memory Fades

This cardigan is an oldie but... well, it isn't as much of a goody as it really should be, in all honesty. I hadn't worn it in ages because I vaguely remembered it being sort of itchy, and sadly it was even itchier than I remembered. By the end of the day I had to take it off because the tattoos on my arms became raised and painful.

For anyone who doesn't have tattoos, this is a common phenomenon. Skin irritants, excessive heat, and other factors can cause even long-healed tattoos to occasionally become puffy and raised as if they're brand new. The pair of tattoos on my upper arms is several years old, but even the very first one I got, back in 1993, still gets irritated every once in awhile. What's odd is that it isn't always the entire tattoo either; sometimes it's just a small section, but it can really be uncomfortable.

By the end of the day I was cursing this sweater and vowing to pack it off to the Goodwill, but it's so darn cute that I might see if I can line the sleeves instead (the sleeves are fairly tight, otherwise I'd just put a long sleeved t-shirt under it). Just look at how great it fits me, not to mention the sweet little butterfly embroidered on the hood. That's the reason it has languished there in my closet instead of being donated years ago. So either I'll figure out a way to fix it, or else it'll languish awhile more until my memory fades and I'm suckered into enduring it again.

Sweater: Miss Me
Dress: J. Crew
Tulle skirt: Noa Noa
Boots: Miz Mooz

Suede Shorts

After many months of looking longingly at different pairs of leather shorts online, I finally followed Sal's lead and a pair myself. These started out as suede pants, which I picked up at Goodwill; a couple of snips with the scissors, a little folding, pressing, and sewing, et voila! Suede shorts, for $16. The best part is that Mark saved the rest of the pretty burgundy suede, which hopefully he'll turn into something amazing.

My first thought in creating an outfit with these shorts was to pair them with something unstructured on top, so that the outfit wouldn't be too risque for work. This sheer, leather-trimmed tank was actually something I selected in my head before I even started playing around with the actual clothes.When I got to my closet and started poking around, I thought at first glance that the tank would be too long, but after several fruitless attempts with other pairings, I gave it a shot and found it was just right.

The loose tank and asymmetrical cardigan keep the top half of the outfit interesting while still letting my legs be the star. I felt like anything fitted on top might push this outfit into the realm of office-inappropriate (although who knows, I might wear it that way anyway). Adding the socks kept my legs warm and somehow gave me the feeling of being less exposed.


Cardigan: All Saints
Tank: Black Market Baby
Bracelet: Leslie Danzis
Shorts: Wilson's Leather
Socks: Sock Dreams
Shoes: MIA

Over The Edge

I'm still behind on my blog reading, and in following up on the comments made to this blog while I was away at Burning Man. I'm trying to make some headway, but if you stopped by with a question a couple weeks ago and I still haven't gotten to it, you might want to give me a gentle reminder in the comments. I'm not trying to ignore you, I swear! It's just hard for me to determine at this point which I've responded to and which I haven't, without sorting through all my posts again.

I'm not even quite sure how this outfit came together. Which is odd, because there's a whole hell of a lot going on here, isn't there? But sometimes these things just happen, and if it's in the morning when I'm tired I'm unlikely to remember where the original inspiration came from.

I do recall that once I put together all the main pieces, I knew I needed fairly neutral tights so the outfit didn't go over the edge in terms of color. But I didn't think brown or gray would make much sense, so I chose olive tights, because there is actually a small amount of olive in the floral pattern of the dress. The olive sort of tones the color down while still making sense with the overall color scheme. Plus it was a great excuse to try out Tealive again.

Top: a gift from Sal

Dress: a 90's romper, altered to become a dress

Skirt: LA Made

Obi belt: Sunhee Moon

Tights: Foot Traffic

Boots: Miz Mooz

Hiding in Plain View

I'm not even sure how this outfit came together; originally I was trying to pair this strapless top with a waistcoat, but somehow I ended up with this sheer top and obi instead. But I'm glad I hit on this combination of colors, because I like the way the burgundy makes the bright pink look a little more "grown up." The shoes are the same burgundy color as the obi belt, though they look much darker in these photos.
 
I'm generally uncomfortable going bra-less even when I can get away with it, particularly at work. So for this outfit I wore a black bra underneath the strapless top and just let the straps show through the sheer fabric. But because of the little decorative folds that are sewn into the sheer top, the straps just lined right up with the pattern and weren't really that noticeable; they were hiding in plain view.

Strapless top: Weston Wear
Sheer top: Noa Noa
Obi belt: Sunhee Moon
Jeans: Diesel
Shoes: Naot

I Cut Down Trees, I Wear High Heels

OK, here it is: the fourth installment in the Wear-These-Shorts-To-Death series. Making their debut is this wonderful pair of vintage suspenders that I bought 2 years ago for a Burning Man outfit and haven't worn since, mainly because I don't have too many (ok, zero) pairs of pants with the extra buttons for suspenders. So for this outfit I grabbed some black buttons, sewed them onto the shorts, and voila! My outfit idea became a reality. I fussed with the suspenders both up and down, and finally decided that for this outfit they looked better down.

This top looks really cute tied at the neck, but for this outfit I preferred the relaxed look of leaving the ties hanging loose. I also tried this outfit with a number of different pairs of boots, but they all pushed the ensemble much too far into lumberjack-land for my liking. However, for the rest of the day I was humming Monty Python's Lumberjack Song to myself.

Shirt: a gift from Sal
Shorts: White House Black Market
Suspenders: thrifted
Socks: Sock Dreams
Boots: Cydwoq