Creamsicle

This skirt started out life as a strapless dress, which I found at the Goodwill in a size 2; way too small for me to ever hope to fit into. But I loved the fabric and the print so much that I decided to buy it anyway and figure out later what to do with it. After languishing over the winter months in my closet, I finally took it to the tailor and had them convert it to a skirt. Isn't it delicious? I love the saturated orange and creamy white together; it reminds me of an orange Creamsicle, which was one of my favorite treats as a kid.

Converted skirt: Banana Republic
Cardigan: Noa Noa
Top: Michael Stars
Sandals: Paula Urban (from a shop in Lisbon)
Dog: Georgie

Drawbacks

One of the drawbacks about not posting as often anymore is that by the time I get around to putting an outfit up here, I've completely forgotten what I wanted to say about it or what I was inspired by that day. I'd be willing to bet that this song was on my iPod that day though, because it's been in heavy rotation lately; someone was playing it at the hostel I stayed at in Lisbon, and through the magic of SoundHound I discovered a fantastic artist I'd never heard of before:

If you don't have SoundHound on your smartphone, do yourself a favor and get it now. It's life changing!

Dress: Carolina Herrera (thrifted)
Scarf/belt: Banana Republic
Bag: Michael Kors
Shoes: Bettye Muller

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

Redundant Cabling

I've been searching for a cropped black cardigan like this one, literally for years. My perfect little black cardigan from Old Navy, which has gotten tatty looking and is losing its stretch, has proven to be remarkably difficult to find a suitable replacement for. I was lamenting this fact to Sal during her visit, and less than 24 hours later I found an even better one during a chance stop at Sunhee Moon. This one is superior because the fabric is stretchier, and the sleeves are 3/4 length.

What's funny is that at some point I'd become so determined to replace that sweater that I actually started to knit a new one myself, until I realized 2 things: (1) it's pointless to hand knit a black cabled sweater, because the black hides all the nice cable work, and (2) knitting sweaters sucks. This sweater doesn't have any cabling, but if you click over and view its predecessor, which does, you'll see what I mean about the black making it redundant.

So now after all those years of fruitless searching for an exact match for the original, as well as the hours I wasted knitting a still-unfinished sweater, I realize I should've been looking for a flat knit all along,which would've been easier to find in the first place. Learn from my mistake; if you're going to go to a lot of effort trying to find a sweater with patterned knitwork, save it for the lighter colors where the pattern actually shows up.

Cardigan: Survival
Dress: Promod
Tights: Hue
Boots: Ekko

Mod

Yep, I'm totally in love with this little mod dress. There aren't many vastly different variations I can create with it because I think with a dress like this it's better to let it be the star of the outfit. I really like the look of it over solid legwear, which plays up the contrast in the blocks of color. Here, I let the cardigan's straight lines mirror those in the dress and avoided adding any other pattern to the mix. In warmer weather I can see this dress looking great with bare legs and sandals.

This week has had all sorts of excitement, with the Edwardian Ball on Saturday and a couple of Noir City shows during the week, including tonight. Next week I'll share some of the outfits from these events.

Dress: Promod
Cardigan: Max Studio
Pants: Club Monaco
Boots: Ecco



I'll leave you with this pretty photo I shot from our patio a couple weeks ago. We've had a gloriously warm and sunny winter (though sadly, that means we're probably in for a horrible drought this summer), and this was one of those gorgeous, clear nights with a big bright moon.

Restraint

This dress is the last of my Paris purchases, and it has a fun memory to go with it. I'd been out shopping all day and wound up over near the Centre Pompidou, where I stopped at a nearby creperie for a galette and a very large carafe of wine. Feeling warm and merry, I set out towards my hotel and along the way spotted a Promod store that was still open. Tipsy shopping ensued, and I ended up popping into a couple more stores and finding some great gifts in addition to this adorable dress for myself. Surprisingly, while at Promod I limited myself to just this dress and a few basic layering shirts including the one shown here. I tell you this showed remarkable restraint, given how fond I am of Promod and how many other cute, mod style dresses they had on the racks.

A few people commented on these boots when I posted them the other day. They're made by Brako, a Spanish company whose beautiful shoes are designed both for comfort and style. In fact I've made the 3-mile trek to work several times in these already and they're perfect for walking. I found them at a wonderful shoe store here in SF near Union Square, called Nobel Shoes. Brakos seem to be difficult to find this side of the Atlantic even online, so I'm happy to have stumbled upon them in a brick and mortar shop; a shop which incidentally I pass very often on my way to and from work. I expect there may be more Brako shoes in my future.

Dress, shirt: Promod
Boots: Brako
Bracelet, ring: Metal Pointu

Spirit

I wore this to work on Halloween, so as to be in the Halloween spirit and still not have to deal with a costume. It was a good call, because pretty much no one downtown wore a costume, and also because this was way more comfortable. And yes, Halloween was almost a month ago and I'm just getting around to posting this now. It has just been that busy lately.

If you're in the US, I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend. I certainly did; we spent a lot of time relaxing for a change, and for Thanksgiving dinner Mark and I went to Harris's for some delicious steak. OK it wasn't exactly a traditional meal, but I've made up for it by spending the last couple of weeks warming up for International Pie For Breakfast Month with plenty of pumpkin pie. It's always Thanksgiving when there's pumpkin pie.


Dress: Skunkfunk
Tights: Sock Dreams
Boots: Modern Vintage
Necklace: Untamed Menagerie

Arachnophobia

Thanks so much for all your words of encouragement and understanding. Taking a few days' break was exactly what I needed, and blogging will probably continue to be less frequent for awhile until things settle down. I haven't been photographing my outfits every day, mainly because many outfits lately have either been repeats or just truly aren't that exciting. It's been nice freeing myself from what was beginning to feel like an obligation; setting up the camera and taking photos takes time in the morning, and lately I haven't had much of an urge to deal with it, especially for outfits that I wasn't too excited about.

It doesn't help that we're having an absurdly cold summer, which is ironic when nearly everyone else in the northern hemisphere is melting in the heat. Cold, foggy mornings aren't very inspiring for summertime style; sandals are left languishing in the closet, and jackets and boots are getting way more rotation than they ought to be. And because I work in shitty South San Francisco, I miss the few hours of sun and low wind that we get in the city after the fog burns off in the afternoon and before it rolls in again in the evening. On my work campus a freezing, awful wind just blasts through all day long, making it miserable to go outside even when it looks sunny and beautiful.

There's one upside to a cold summer, though. At this time of year we typically start to see big, creepy spiders in areas that have a lot of landscaping. And because the area around our house has a lot of plants and trees, we tend to see many of those big garden spiders, some of which will occasionally make it into the house and terrify both me and the equally arachnophobic Mark. Not this summer though; I've only seen a few spiders this year and the ones I've seen have been pretty small. So Mark is getting off easy this year, because at one point I put my foot down and declared that as the man of the house, it is his responsibility to put the spiders outside, like it or not. Was that a strike against feminism? Well, I don't care; what's important is that the spiders go back in the garden where they belong.

Shirt: Target
Scarf: Banan Republic
Pants: Cynthia Steffe
Shoes: Born

Tattoos and Interviews

Top: Anthropologie.... Vest: All Saints....  Skirt: Sunhee Moon....  

Bracelet: Leslie Danzis....  Sandals: Camper

Yesterday Sal and I got a great reader question, and the answer I put together seemed like good material to develop into a post. Here's the question:

I have an ankle tattoo and really like dresses and skirts, but am starting the interview process again and am feeling wary of my tattoo showing in my interview outfits. (I feel like my pants outfits are so boring, and I don't have an actual suit for interviews)

I'm interviewing for admin type of jobs. I go back and forth with this, I feel that my tattoos are part of me and people shouldn't be concerned with them, but then I remember that there are a lot of very conservative people out there. I also don't know the dress code rules at the jobs I'm applying for and if they have a "No visible tattoos" policy, I would offend them right off the bat. (although, I probably wouldn't want to work for a company like that)

As you're all well aware, I have some pretty dramatic body art that I display without reserve at work. Of course, I work in a technical job for a company that is well-known for its laid back culture, in a very tolerant and diverse region of the country. But interviews are always a little trickier than the job itself, regardless of the job you're applying for, so it's important to consider a few different factors when determining whether it's acceptable or desirable to show one's ink during the interview process.

Geographical Region 

Obviously in the super laid back San Francisco Bay Area it generally wouldn't be a problem to show a tattoo for any but the most conservative of industries, such as law and finance. Which brings us to...

The Industry You're Applying To
Again, law and finance are two where visible ink or piercings are likely to be a big no-no. Academia is probably a gray area, and may vary department to department. Tech (and biotech) companies, tend to be more relaxed and in general I'd say that showing a tattoo wouldn't be any big deal, but that also depends on what department you're applying into. The technical departments are more tolerant, while marketing, legal and sales are more conservative.

Company Size and Age
Just like many people, companies tend to get more conservative the older they get. My theory is that a small, young company needs people who operate outside the norm; they're looking for innovators who may carry over their innovative spirit into their personal appearance. As a company ages and achieves success, it wants to maintain the status quo and won't be as drawn to the rebellious entrepreneur types anymore. In general the larger a company is, the more conservative it tends to be as well, for the same sort of reasons. In biotech for instance, I'd dress more creatively and probably intentionally show my tattoos if I were interviewing for a start-up company, whereas I'd go with more traditional dress and possibly cover at least most of my tattoos for a big company like Johnson & Johnson or Merck.

How Strongly You Feel About Your Ink
Personally, I'd never want to work for a company that would have an issue with my tattoos, but take this point with a HUGE grain of salt, because I've also never been unemployed for any great length of time and thus have been able to stick to my guns. Under extreme circumstances I might throw my values to the wind and cover up for the sake of getting a job. Ideally though, I prefer to let people see what they're getting, ink and all, so I make sure to show at least one of my tattoos when I interview. Another point to consider is whether you'll be required to go in for several interviews; in that case you might want to start out covering all of your tattoos, and if you get called back you can ease off little by little and allow some ink to show. That way you don't hurt your chances right off the bat, but you can still remain true to yourself too.

Size, Image, and Placement of Your Tattoos
A small tattoo placed in an inconspicuous area is going to be a lot easier to get away with than a larger tattoo in a spot that people aren't traditionally used to seeing one. For instance, I'm well aware that the tattoos on my upper arms are probably too much for most interviews. Not only are they in a spot that's not often seen on women, they also depict  Drinky Crow swilling booze while sailing and subsequently sinking his boat. Not exactly corporate material. Those I would cover up for an interview; the others, most likely not.

Sal has also written about interviews as well: 

• Reader Request: Stylish Interview Garb
• Invisible Ink 

Corporette has a decidedly different take on ink at the office, which is not surprising given their focus on the conservative corporate environment. But it's worth taking a look at these: 

• Poll Results: Professional Women and Tattoos 
• Poll: Are visible tattoos ever appropriate for professional women? 

Finally, let's hear from you! I'd like to get a sense of how tattoos are handled in different types of industries. Whether you have a tattoo or not, please tell us: what region, industry, and job type you're in; a little about the size, age, culture of your employer; whether you or others you work with show tattoos at work; and finally, if you do have tattoos, did you show them during your interview?

Stealth Layering

Here's an outfit that looks deceptively summery; hidden underneath the dress are a pair of long cotton pettipants and a slip to keep my thighs warm, and under the boots are long socks to insulate my feet and calves. Had it been colder I could've even added a long-sleeved tee under the dress and kept it hidden with the lightweight denim jacket. I'm becoming quite adept at stealth layering during this remarkably chilly season.

Jacket: Tulle
Dress: Noa Noa
Scarf: Banana Republic
Harness: Audra Jean
Boots: Scoop (Copenhagen)

Covered in Color

Well it's spring, and right now it's also cold. Clearly this makes dressing in a springy way very challenging, so for this outfit I simply deployed as much color as I could possibly pile on. Electric blue legs, green scarf, orange jacket, yellow bag. When you're this covered up, the best you can do is to cover yourself with color. 

Dress: Desigual....  Scarf: Rhapsodia (Argentina)....  Jacket: Tulle....  Bag: Coccinelle....  

Tights: Foot Traffic....  Shoes: MIA

Convergence

I just loved the way the soft cream, yellow and black of these platform sandals matched so perfectly with the pattern of this skirt. It was another one of those serendipitous wardrobe convergences; I didn't buy the shoes to go specifically with the skirt, but it happily worked out that way.

Blogger had some issues last week and seems to have eaten a bunch of comments, so I apologize if yours was deleted.


Top: F21
Skirt: unknown
Jewelry: Betsy Johnson
Shoes: Pour la Victoire

Progress

This is the sort of outfit I envisioned when I bought this big cocoon-cardigan, because even the warmest days in SF are rarely warm enough for a dress like this all on its own. The cardigan is a tissue-thin slub knit fabric, which is great for adding just a tiny amount of warmth without being too heavy. On a breezy day it also flies out behind me like a cape; perfect for those times when I need to pretend I'm a superhero. What would my super power be, you might ask? I would be the Translator, able to speak any language fluently so that I could show up to help hapless travelers who are trying to find their way or just get to a bathroom. That's way more useful than having x-ray vision any day.

I also thought I'd include a wider angle shot of this corner of the house, because I finally got this window ledge looking the way I want it to, after many unsuccessful attempts at decorating it. Not only that, but I finally got Mark to move the half-assembled fountain that's been sitting in the corner for nearly a year -- which is now sitting, half assembled, where the vase used to be. It's slow progress, but at least it's progress.

Dress: Tracy Reese
Cardigan: 12th Street by Cynthia Vincent
Shoes: Camper

Brick Wall

I finally got to wear this maxi dress with bare legs, and what a difference it made -- this was lightyears more comfortable than having to deal with tights underneath. I'm excited about the possibilities for wearing it through the summer. For this outfit, I added navy blue and orange to give it a nautical touch.

Dress: Forever 21
Top, belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Scarf: Banana Republic
Shoes: BC Footwear

On a completely random and unrelated note, I realized something about myself this morning as I was driving to work: I deeply dislike songs that have choruses of children in them. Get those kids out of my rock song! Moreover, I think it's because I feel like kids should be chaotic, so having a bunch of them them doing something as organized and disciplined as singing in harmony creeps me out in a Village of the Damned sort of way.

A brick wall... I must think of a brick wall!

Foot Soaking and Cocktails

This outfit is from before the trip and therefore is pretty old, but oh geez do I remember this day. I got off the shuttle from work only to find that the next bus wasn't due to arrive for almost 30 minutes, which was more than enough time for me to just walk the rest of the way home, rather than sitting there in the cold. But the shoes! -- while they're great for an average day at work, they don't feel so fab after 2 miles of walking up and down San Francisco's hilly streets. It took a lot of foot soaking and cocktails to ease the pain once I got home.

Doesn't my nail polish look great though? This is Black Cherry Chutney by O.P.I.; I don't bother with nail polish very often, but when I do I love to go BOLD.

Dress: Noa Noa
Cardigan: Solemio
Bangles: Amrita Singh
Necklace: from Ambiance in the Haight
Shoes: MIA

Tribute

This is my Wendy B tribute pose; I totally missed out on the contest, but I figured I could still rip off her signature pose and post it over here. Hopefully she doesn't bitch slap me for it when I'm in New York later this week. You don't scare me, Wendy! However your weather does. Don't throw a snowball at me!

Every time I wear this dress someone comments on the bright red color. On my scout's honor this dress is ORANGE. A reddish orange to be sure, but still squarely within the orange family of hues. My camera clearly does not agree.

Cardigan: Anthropologie
Dress: Orla Keily
Belt: a gift from mom
Tights: Foot Traffic
Boots: from Scoop in Copenhagen

Casual Outfit Catch-Up

Dress: Skunkfunk...  Belt: Audra Jean...  Tights: Sock Dreams...  Boots: Bata

I have several outfits from the end of December that I'm still trying to get caught up on posting, so I figured I'd group a few of the more casual ones together in one post. You can tell these are older because my hair was still blond; if you look at the photos from when Mark and I got married, you'll see that I've gone back to red since then.

Cardigan: thrifted...  Dress: local boutique Ruby...  Socks: handmade in Latvia...  Boots: Bata

This outfit is similar to something I put together over the weekend for thrift shopping. It's the perfect outfit for such an activity, because the short dress over leggings allowed me to try on skirts right in the aisle rather than having to wait for a changing room. The dress is also thin enough that I can try on tops right over it. And a lightweight cardigan is much easier to deal with than a coat when I'm wandering the aisles carrying an armload of clothes.

Top and scarf: Forever 21... Cardigan: thrifted...  Jeans: Joe's...  Boots: Bronx

This outfit isn't too exciting except for the double sequin action of the top and the scarf. I never would have paired two sequined pieces together had it not been for the fact that the items are distinctly different colors, and the sequins are different sizes -- the top has the regular size and those on the scarf are the tiny ones.

Random Assortment

I saw Sal wear this beautiful color combination awhile back and immediately vowed to duplicate it. And as luck would have it I found this pretty fuchsia top shortly thereafter. But the weather was cold, and it was hard to imagine putting on this mere wisp of a top and leaving the house with arms exposed (especially since it was cold enough for me to bring out the bullet-proof sweater I posted yesterday!). Finally impatience prevailed, so I layered a t-shirt underneath and hoped for the best. I froze, but it was worth it to inject such a vibrant burst of color into a drab winter day.

Have you ever noticed the random assortment of stuff that ends up deposited on the shelf behind me? I'll give you one guess who is responsible for their appearance there (hint: it isn't Georgie.). Usually it's in-progress leather items, but this time it's a set of solar-powered Christmas lights, a man's hat, and a tube of caulk. You just never know what might turn up back there.


Top: Forever 21
Skirt: Sunhee Moon
Boots: All Black

Baseball Uniform

This was my "show your Halloween spirit and Giants spirit all in the same outfit" outfit. In fact I wore this out to The Independent, where Laura and I went to watch Game 2 of the World Series last week. What a great time that was; normally the Independent is a music venue, but they also have a giant projection screen up on the stage and that night the floor area was set up with tables and chairs. Admission was free and the beers were cheap, which certainly is a lot more than you can say about seeing the game live over at AT&T Park.

Whenever I think of baseball uniforms I think of pants tucked into knee high socks, so that's what I did here, using tights to approximate the look of form-fitting sliding pants. The dress was chosen simply because the colors were right; to me the off-white trim softens the look of the orange and black, and also follows the colors of the Giants uniform. And yes, the dress is orange even though it appears tomato red in the photos.

Dress: Oral Kiely
Cardigan: Express, a gift from my aunt
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Tights and socks: MP, via Sock Dreams
Shoes: John Fluevog