I wore this outfit to my internship a couple weeks ago, when it was considerably warmer. I thought this outfit up during the summer when I was trying to find tops to go with this skirt. I like this shirt but when I wear it I feel a little like a Mexican Señorita, I think it's something about the pleating on the shoulders. Anyway I like this outfit but I'm not sure if I love it. I felt a little too much like a little girl in it. I think my style is evolving a bit and I just have a desire to be a little less girly and more tailored/grown up/ edgier. I like it, but it's just not where my style heart is at the moment. What do you do when your style is in transition?
As I mentioned in a previous post I went a wee bit overboard during labor day sales a spent a little more then I meant to. One of the places I spent some change was Dorothy Perkins. I've known about DP for awhile but hadn't actually purchased anything until recently. I decided to buy because I fell in love with some faux leather pants they had. I got both of the packages I had ordered a couple weeks ago and my Dorothy Perkins orders were a wee bit underwhelming. Not because of quality or anything just because, despite ordering my normal size, everything was too big. I've only ordered from one other UK retailer (ASOS) but I've had the same "problem" with them. I suppose I should have googled online and looked to see how DP sizing was, but I didn't. This isn't a huge problem, I mean better the clothes be too big than too small. But it's a little more irritating since, unlike ASOS, Dorothy Perkins doesn't have free US returns so I have to pay to send it back. Really it was just dissapointing that the one things I was really looking forward to, the faux leather pants, didn't fit.
But, of the four things I bought I did end up keeping two. One is the top above. It's actually a peplum top but I'm not a huge fan of peplums over skirts, unless they're pencil skirts, so I tucked it in. I probably could have sized down in this shirt too but it fits well enough and I think it'll shirk a bit when I wash it. I wore this outfit to a back to school open house at my internship a couple weeks ago. I spent most of the open house downstairs greeting guest, having them sign in, get name tags and directing them to the office. I had a pretty good time, though it got pretty slow towards the end. I wasn't exactly sure what to wear, and didn't really have any idea what I was going to wear until a few minutes before I left the house, but I knew I wanted something casual yet dressy. I think I pulled it off pretty well.
It's confession time ya'll, I totally wore this outfit twice... in a row. I first wore it last Friday when I got home to my mom making dinner reservations at a yummy (but expensive) local restaurant called Piccolo. We had to go quickly so I threw on this outfit, one I've been waiting since spring for it to be cold enough for me to wear, and left. When I put it on I thought "oh I should have worn something else and wear this to the Junk Bonanza" but I was in a hurry so I left. At the end of the night I decided what the hell I can still wear it tomorrow! I only wore it for a few hours Friday and my mom would be the only one who knew I wore it the day before, so what the hell. Honestly I'm a serial outfit repeater. Once I think up an outfit I love I want to wear it all the time, I don't but I want to. This tendency,though, t has decreased with the blog since when I go out or dress up I try to always come up with a "new" outfit to post. Usually I don't wear them on consecutive days but, you know, life happens n' such.
Anyway I really like this outfit. I got this shirt three years ago for 10 bucks at Macy's. I love this shirt and the color, but I never had any good bottoms to pair with it. Thankfully this year I have a bunch, so you'll probably be seeing this shirt a lot more. The skirt and shoes you've seen before but are old favorites. I really like this outfit and had a great time both of the times I wore it, so I think that's a win. right? Do you repeat outfits? back to back?
Last year my mom and I found about a local event called the Junk Bonanza. It's basically just a big bi-annual antique,vintage, retro, and re-purposed three day shopping event. We found some good stuff at pretty decent prices last year so we decided to go again this year. I had to work the first two days of the event but Saturday I closed so I had some time to browse and shop. We got there around 11/12 and the place was pretty packed. Things were pretty congested when we got through the gates but it got better as we went. This year it seemed like a majority of the booths had re-purposed and/or shabby chic type items. Those items were ok but they're not really my style. The shabby chic stuff is a lot of painted furniture (mostly in white, grey and pastels), a distressed look (real or faux, genearlly faux), and florals. It's generally pretty feminine.
Example of a Shabby Chic-ish booth. loved the blue jay picture
The re-pourposed stuff is kinda cool. There were definitely some really cool re-purposed items, but generally I like things to be kept the way they were.
Baseball bats and balls re-purposed into American flag wall art.
There were definitely some serious trends going on. The "paint something with chalkboard paint" trend has apparently taken off like a rocket, there was a whole booth full of stuff painted with chalkboard paint. Every time I saw chalkboard paint I thought of the Portlandia sketch "Put a bird on it!" except it would be "make it into a chalkboard!." I don't hate that trend, It's just not for me. I'm not a huge fan of the look of a dusty chalkboard (you know after you erase whatever's on the chalkboard) and constantly wiping down something seems like it'd be annoying. But I have seen it done really well. Anyway there were also a lot of vintage biology posters for sale. I like them but I'd like to find one super cheap, preferably in a thrift store.
some vintage biology posters for sale
There seemed to be a lot fewer antique/vintage booths, which was kind of a bummer. There were a few cool booths, one in particular was really cool with lots of mid-century stuff. My favorite booth had this slightly creepy monkey blowing bubbles that I kind of wish I had bought.
He's kind of ragged and creepy, yet adorable. I mean he's blowing bubbles!!! aww.
There was also a cool Heywood Wakefield side table in that booth that was cool but I didn't see the price on it. There was also this really cool giant malt mixer.
I have to admit I kind of wish I had gotten this guy. His face is so funny and very expressive. But he wasn't in the greatest condition. Maybe next time.
I love old portraits, I thought these were pretty cool. Look at all the cool 40's (?) hairstyles!
You
don't see many plus-size mannequins, so I thought this was pretty cool. But, if I read the tag right they wanted like $1000.00 dollars for
it, way outta my price range.
This sign was really cool too. I love the colors, but it was a tad out of my
price range. But, it's from a local vintage store so If I start to obsess I can always go
there and see if they still have it, or some other cool signs.
A cool mid-century light. I love mid-century lights but now that I have a
few I'm looking for lights that are a little more unique/cool or that I
can't live without. The lights in this booth were cool but fairly
similar to the lamps I already have.
Anyway, we walked around for a bit and saw some cool stuff but nothing we couldn't live without. So after we made the rounds and saw all the booths we left empty handed. It was fun to see all the stuff people had for sale and some of the re-purposed stuff. But, I didn't see anything really unique. Most of the stuff I saw has been trendy on a lot of design/ vintage blogs for awhile. But it's always fun to see cool vintage stuff. I have kind of a hard time at vintage/antique type stores. They have lots of cool stuff, but for me one of the best parts of getting vintage stuff is finding it in a thrift store or at an estate sale. There's just a high you get when you find it "in the wild" that you don't get in antique malls. But antique fairs/malls etc are great for finding stuff that is harder to find in thrifts like vintage lamps, some vintage furniture and signs. There are also some vintage/antique stores that have pretty good prices. But in antique fairs/malls you just don't get that same high and I always think in the back of my head that I cold find that item for cheaper in a thrift store. Nonetheless I do love browsing antique/vintage stores, though it can be a bit overwhelming, even if I don't tend to buy as much. All in all it was a pretty good time and we'll probably be back next year.
It's been a bit chilly lately, sweater weather if you will. I actually don't mind the weather, I just have to remember how to dress for the "cold." It doesn't help that the temperature in my intership's office has also significantly fallen and we're all wearing extra layers/ light coats. Anyway this is what I wore to my internship last Wednesday. I go this sweater at a labor day thrift sale for 5 bucks. I love the neutral color, sequins and its very soft. The pants are the jeans from Dorothy Perkins that I didn't return. They're a bit loose, but they're pretty comfortable and fit ok. Anyway I really like this look, simple yet chic.
1. Pintester. Have you ever seen a random pin and thought "that looks cool, but does it taste good?" "is it easy to make?" "Is it worth my time?" well Pintester is the blog that answers all those questions with lots of swear words and failed crafts along the way. As I've said before I'm a lazy crafter, so this blog is kind of amazing. First of all it lets you know if "easy crock-pot ____" is any good or if clementine candles are worth the effort. The author is hilarious and isn't some McGyver of crafts, she's a real lazy crafter after my own heart. Anyway I'm pretty obsessed with Pintester now and you should be too!
2. Noisettes Album, Contact. I discovered the Noisettes a couple years ago when I saw their music video whilst flipping channels. I immediately went to their website and saw that they had a free concert in my area a couple weeks away and went. It was pretty sweet. Anyway they released their 3rd album last week and i've been listening to it all week. Here's one my favorite songs from the album, so far.
Photo I took at the Noisettes concert circa 2009
3. Rachel Berry Style. If you read my liebster award thing you'll know i'm not really a glee fan. I don't dislike glee I just don't really care for it. But I have found, whilst trying to get into it a few years ago, that I do ocassionally like Rachel Berry's style. I was watching it once and she even wore a dress I was semi-obsessed with at the time. It was actually a good thing as I found out I didn't really like the dress. Anyway I came across this picture of Lea Michele on set as Rachel and am pretty sure i'm gonna have to re-create this outfit this fall. I love the patterned tights with the boots and simple skirt and top.
4. Frank Ocean. I'd been hearing about Frank Ocean for awhile before I actually heard any of his music. It wasn't until last month when one of his songs came on the radio that I finally heard one of his songs. I liked the song and bought his album and am now super into him. Here's one of my favorites from the album.
5. Leather pant inspiration. I'm not really one for obsessing over celebrity style, though I do page through gossip magazines while on break at work and am a faithful Fashion police watcher, generally I find fashion bloggers and other things to be more inspiring. But recently i've come across a few celeb style photos that have been a bit inspiring. Below are a few of my favorites that incorporate my favorite fall obsession, leather. Here are a few leather pant celeb style photos i've found especially inspiring. Also I finally figured out why Kim and Kanye are always matching, she let his stylist completely overhaul her closet. Twinsies.
all images via google
6. Doctor Who. I know I know Doctor who's been a thing for awhile, but I just recenlty started watching it on Netflix and am now kind of into it. I was at a going away party for one of my friends and people there were talking about Doctor who so I figured i'd watch a few episodes to see what the hubub was all about. So far my favorite episodes are the one with the little boy and the gas mask, the first episode with the cybermen and the blink one. I haven't caught up with the current season, I'm on season 5, so don't give me any spoilers that I likely won't get. I have to admit that though I find them kind of irritating and silly one of my favorite characters on the show are the Daleks. They're ridiculous because they're supposed to be super scary but have a plunger and egg beater for hands, I mean come on. I'm pretty sure they kept the same look from the original series and thus look dated and not very intimidating. But I love them because of all their cheese and their love of yelling EXTERMINATE!!! Whenever they're on an episode I kind of want to yell exterminate at random people. Although the fact that they keep coming back is getting old.
The "terrifying" Daleks that killed most of the time lords but seem to always lose, yet always come back again. source.
7. Gangnam Style. I saw this posted a few weeks ago and i'm kind of obsessed with this video. It's just hilarious and everytime I watch it I want to master his sweet dance moves. My favorite part is the random bit when he's in the elevator with the guy in the cowboy hat who's giving some serious pelvic thrusts. I guess Gangnam is a rich part of Seoul and the video and song are a satire of the people there. There's more detailed info on the web if you're really interested, for now just enjoy the video.
8. Labor Day sales. So I may have spent a tad too much money during labor day sales, maybe just a touch. But my rule for buying new clothes is I should only buy them when they're on sale or there's some kind of discount. This doesn't always work but it's a rule I try to follow. So I knew labor day would have some good sales and both of the places that had clothes I was drooling over had 20% off codes so I bought a few things... I'll post what I bought when they come in. I may also need another shopping ban as I feel like I spent a little too much money. But I did get some things I needed like new shoes for work (which I desperately needed) and some clothes that I could wear to work as well.
9. Thrift Shop. This video/song is hilarious. I may have immediately downloaded the song on itunes after hearing it, maybe. With all the rap songs about designer labels and how expensive their clothes are it's hilarious and refreshing to see someone rap about the thrift store and your grandpa's dope gear. lol.
10. Tea with lemon and honey. My labor day, the unofficial end of summer here in the USA, sucked mostly thanks to a sweet head cold that decided to rear it's ugly head Monday. Apparently my body decided the last day of summer was a great time to clog my nose and give me the worst head cold I've had pretty much ever. Not only could I not breathe through my nose but I also had a headache and sore throat. Ugh. Anyway tea with honey and lemon was my savior as my throat was killing me when I woke up that day. 5 days later I still can't really breathe through my nose and still have a cough. This cold just doesn't want to die!! ugh!
Shirt: Macys Skirt: Jason Wu for Target Shoes: DV by Dolce Vita
If you think this outfit looks a little familiar you're right, I wore a very similar outfit here. I wore this outfit to my internship and though I like the look of the outfit I probably should have worn something else that day. I just wasn't feeling that outfit for that day. That said I do like this outfit, the different patterns make it interesting while the pleats and ruffle detail make it ultra feminine. One of the trends for fall is winter florals, I'm not a huge floral girl but I'm excited to work this skirt into that trend and style it for a colder season.
How was your labor day? I spent mine with a terrible head cold :( I like fall but, apparently, fall doesn't like me. I did though take advantage of a few labor day sales. Did you get anything good this labor day?
Shirt: Target Skirt: ebay (originally AA) shoes: DV for Dolce Vita
I wore this outfit last weekend to run some errands. I bought this skirt during my maxi skirt obsession earlier this year. I was really into American Apparel maxis but they're a little expensive so I looked on ebay and found this one for $25. Although it has two layers of chiffon the skirt is still pretty sheer, but I don't have a huge problem with that as I often wear shorts under my skirts anyway. When I first got the skirt I wasn't sure how I wanted to style it. I had a black shirt I liked but not with the skirt. Finally I tried it on with this t-shirt and it clicked. I got the t-shirt a few years ago and am sad to say that it's pretty much been relegated to lounge wear. It has holes in it and isn't really right to wear outside unless it's knotted like so. Anyway I'm still in love with Maxi's and I think I may have to invest in a jersey maxi for fall. There's just something about wearing a long skirt that makes you feel like a lady.
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