Aida ~

Weekend and early part of the week outfits. I'm reaching for my tees less (hooray?) but I don't have enough non-tees to wear in their place; will replace as budget allows.

1. Worn for a friend's 30th birthday. Had a fun time, and ended up walking a good couple miles in total. Doesn't show in the photo but I only tucked the front half of the shirt. New bag.
2. Worn out for lunch and errands with my husband.
3. Worn to work then out for tacos. Liking these wide legs even more, can't wait for more dry days! I got these clog sandals at Target just to try (wore clogs a lot in the 90s); I think these are better for me versus the more "traditional" style. We'll see; at least they're cheap.
4. Worn to work. New semi-slouchy skinnies. Felt like dressing cheerfully since I'm feeling meh today. Seems to be helping :)

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

After the style hash of this past weekend, I must say that it was far easier than I expected to get dressed this week! Getting all those thoughts out and in a semi-cohesive form made it possible to dress more organically (subtext: non-analytically) than I have in, well, years. I'm happy to report that these required the same, if not less, thought than previous outfits but with far less stress. It also helps that I got rid of a bunch of stuff in my closet. And that I'm able to finally start wearing some of my new spring purchases :)

All worn to work. I feel chattier than normal, so I shall ramble a little about each outfit.

1. New for spring: necklace. Tied one of my vintage silk scarves to my purse in a big, floppy bow because I couldn't decide whether to wear the necklace or scarf. I had just resolved to start wearing my silk scarves more, and was pleasantly surprised to read Angie's blog post about them a couple days later. Still loving the red+camel(ish) color pairing.
2. New for spring: ring, jeans. Since I wear my bootcuts with wide hems as it is, I wanted a more dramatic wide-leg flare and these certainly fit the bill. Hard to photograph though!
3. New for spring: button-up, heels, necklace. OKAY. I feel this is kind of a cookie-cutter "blogger type" outfit but I really loved it (as did hubby (!)) and felt super great all day. So I'm totally, 100% ok with that. Love the non-perfect circles in this necklace!
4. New for spring: button-up. I've wanted a chambray button-up shirt for a year or two now and never had the pluck to get one (not sure why?), so I'm happy to have one now; I can see it working in so many outfits! I very much like the vibe of this look, and even had a couple strangers compliment it when I was at the salon. Success!
5. New for spring: jeans. Today's outfit. I was at work the previous day for 12 hours, felt super duper tired and low contrast this morning. For a "lazy" outfit, I'm quite pleased; almost looks planned ;) I got these jeans in lieu of the GAP L&Ls because those just weren't roomy enough in the right places for what I was going for AND as a bonus these are a much lighter wash. Tied one of my vintage silk scarves in a newer-style knot (as Angie blogged about here).
6. Bonus previous weekend photo with me in my motorcycle gear; I need to find ways to dress stylishly while wearing gear. Went for the first ride of the year out to breakfast, and had some friends over later (swapped to normal jeans and brown boots for that). Nothing fancy :)

Whew! Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

Here are those GAP straight legs one more time. I've since washed them once (hope that's enough to shrink?), and they are pinned to 1.5", though I think I may have gotten a weird fold in there when I pinned. Photo 1 is with a 4" heel, photo 2 is with a 3.5" heel. Would love to hear if this is OK by 11am if possible, so I can go get them hemmed today :} Thank you!

For reference:
First try
Second try

As many of you know by now, I've been wanting to really step it up a notch and further refine my style. I've been slowly working my way there over the last few months, and last couple weeks especially, but I have three distinctive directions that I'm (still) working on mixing successfully: Euro-chic + punk/urban + vintage elements. It makes me feel a bit schizophrenic.

First: I adore ADORE Euro-chic looks. I find the intrinsic boldness and simplicity so appealing. But I feel that perhaps this type of look on its own is a bit of a sham for me, because I am not the naturally elegant person these looks often convey; I'm loud, forward, klutzy, goofy, rarely think before talking. Which brings me to the second direction.

Second: I am, and always will be, a punk at heart. Leather, distressing, hardware, black, military, androgynous looks, all that tough stuff (I wouldn't say I'm super tough or anything though). I also spent ages 14-24 in a punk/ska band. And that brings me to the third direction.

Third: I get some of my biggest fashion inspirations from the 40s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. These are by far my favorite fashion decades, but especially the 70s and 80s; I often had a lot of rockabilly or retro elements to my looks when I performed way back in my band days which I still enjoy.

So thinking about all this led me to question, do these styles fit ME as a person, and not just my fashion aesthetic? I found that, separate from the above brief thoughts on these styles, they ALL actually fit aspects of my personality fairly well:

- Euro-chic: I have been slowly converted to quality over quantity over the years (my husband is 500% team quality), I am equally happy with finer things or simple experiences, am easy going and uncomplicated, a fairly warm and patient person, well educated, and detail oriented.
- Punk/urban: I will always question everything, I am a firm believer that we should never stop learning, am creative and artistic, am interested in politics and economics, I'm a pretty strong person who is fairly opinionated, while warm I don't "put up with crap" (not sure how to phrase more eloquently?), and absolutely always prefer music that Rocks \m/ (some interesting, though abridged, info on punk ideologies).
- Retro/Vintage: I have a hard time letting go of things, prefer to wait and find things that fit their purpose perfectly rather than be "close enough", LOVE historical homes and decoration, and (don't laugh!) as equal-gender-rights as I am I only work part time because my husband can support us just fine on his own even though our income would dramatically increase if I worked full time AND not with the family business :)

Somewhat to my surprise, these were the same styles I was drawn to 2.5 years ago when I started revamping my wardrobe, but you'd never guess if it you saw what I was wearing! And even up until the last few months I was being too wussy about wearing styles I liked. Too much dipping, not enough diving; now my toes are wet enough :)

AAAAND that brings me to what I need to be doing NOW to get closer to where I want to BE (whew!). Step one: do above analysis (check). Step two: re-do my list (check, posted directly below). Step three: clean closet to remove items that are hindering this style refinement (in progress, I'm bad at letting go of items). Step four: replace removed items with items that are a- supportive of my style aspirations, b- high quality, c- perfectly fitting, d- less sloppy/casual (so.... more wovens, less t-shirts).

The last step is interesting. While I generally prefer quality to quantity, in terms of fashion I have been buying cheap (and in larger numbers of styles) because the whole thing has been experimentation to find what is "me". I've now got a pretty good idea for fall/winter stuff and will be making NEW purchases with a much more discerning eye, and of higher quality so the items last (don't worry, I'll still do plenty of experimenting!). But spring/summer is still confusing to me so I hope by next season I'll have a better idea of how to shop quality; for this season, I'm trying lots of stuff.

So that is what has been brewing in my brain for a couple years, and finally in a more articulate form since the start of this year. Thanks for reading; I hope some of you made it through and are willing to discuss! :D

EDIT: Here are some specific YLF links I found really helpful while sorting through all this!

Last week's outfits (before and not including the Sart outfit worn on the 18th).

1. Worn to work, then out for tacos for dinner. Experimenting with belting a scarf, but over outerwear only :)
2. Worn to work. Not sure about shorts+tights without boots, did this turn out OK? The whole shorts+tights thing is still a very new look for me. I think I should've worn a shorter or longer coat, too.
3. Worn to the dentist for 2 crown seatings, then off to work. Sporting the semi-tuck which I've become more partial to. (Get it? Get it?? Punny.)

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

Una posted a Sartorialist photo that reminded her of me here and this is my interpretation of it! I did actually wear it out today, but I think the whole look is a little too oversized for me. Mainly because this sweater has gotten too big (and it's aggrivatingly fuzzy). So this will be its farewell look :)

EDIT: Forgot to say that both the skirt and blazer are vintage 80s pieces. One of my current style goals is to work more vintage into my looks, but in a less-than-expected way.

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

I repinned the straight leg jeans to 1" and tried with two heel heights (my heel heights are all 3.25-4"). I have pinned only one leg for comparison. Things to note: 1) since they're still new the hem is still a bit stiff; 2) since these were taken on carpet the heels have an additional 1/4" or so hidden by the carpet.

1. 4" heel, front.
2. 4" heel, side.
3. 3.5" heel, front.
4. 3.5" heel, side.

Too long/short/fine? Will I have to pick one heel height to wear with these, or is a 3/4" range acceptable? Thank you!! :D
(Original thread)

I bought these GAP "Real Straight" jeans to replace a pair that's on its last legs, but I'm feeling a bit confused about the fit now. I feel they look more like a bootcut on me than straight (see #2) and break kind of funny from the front (see #1). So my question then: should I have them hemmed up like in #3 (which still looks a little too flared to me?), replace with a slightly skinnier pair at the height of #3, are they fine and I'm just being silly, or is it something else entirely? Thank you!!

EDIT: Adding a photo of my ankles in super-skinnies for reference (#4).

End of week and weekend outfits from this past week. Decided to start transitioning into lighter pieces for spring, not that it's currently anything like spring up here in the greater Seattle area ;) I'm also back to working on improving makeup after a short break.

1. Worn to work. Was inspired to wear this after Una's discussion about PPL for skinny/ankle length jeans. Shamelessly copied from Elaine Hearn.
2. Worn to work, then out for date night. Tried pairing this dress with black since I'd only done brown before. Also a successful attempt at this hairdo (finally!).
3. Worn out with my husband to run errands and eat food. Trying a new pink lip tint which (apparently) is shimmery; I usually avoid these because they look too icy on me, not sure about this one.
4. Worn out for drinks with friends. Trying a new semi-nude lip tint; again shimmery, like yesterday's, which kind of ruins the nude-ness for me. Still a pretty color though.

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

Work outfits from the early part of the week. Got up early enough to have my husband take my outfit photos, and since I had extra time in the morning started working on spring/summer wardrobe (behind the scenes). Summer dressing is by far my weakest season.

1. Since I was up so early (3 hours earlier than normal), I made a new necklace which I actually wore in place of the robot (lower right), but I didn't feel like taking the photos over. Pardon the terrible exposure, I got all flummoxed by the sun being out (!!).
2. Muted colors in one of my favorite palettes. I forgot the Seattle type gathering was this night; I usually like to dress pseudo-businessy for it. So, oops. (Cat tees are dressy, right?? At least she's wearing a hat.)
3. Went thrifting in the morning before work for spring/summer stuff with success in jeans, skirts/dresses/shorts not so much. Been trying to find ways to style this sweater differently AND wear more button-ups (downs?); I thought this pairing worked nicely, but it got mixed reviews.

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!