Aida ~

Hi ladies, sorry to be MIA but work is hectic this week! Here's what I wore last week and during the holiday weekend. Hubby has been sick the whole week and into this week, but especially last Mon/Tues so I was a bit distracted and really feeling the slouchy vibe.

1. Monday, worn to work and grocery for rations. I am enjoying wearing orange and emerald together this season! I was inspired to add in the gray after seeing how wonderful it looks with emerald on Kari recently.
2. Tuesday, worn to work. Wanted a waist surrendering look this day. I usually wear this tunic with skinnies, but was in the mood to try it with my baggy flares. Too cold to wear on its own, so I added the teal blazer for a shot of color. Please pardon my "fashionable" long hair, high heels, and arm party ;)
3. Wednesday, worn to work. I've been neglecting my spring shorts for some reason, so I decided to pull 'em out for a slouchy look this day. Kept it simple with sheer tights instead of pattern mixing with textured tights (but I'll try that soon!).
4. Thursday (birthday!), worn to a baseball game and out to dessert afterwards. This is the pretty emerald handbag my husband bought me for my birthday! Wanted an outfit with the Ms colors, flat shoes because I knew we'd be walking quite a bit, and since I'm trying to wear my jeans less I chose my black trousers instead of black skinny jeans. New sweater, same as the one in #3 but sized down; I think it's better suited for skirts than pants, so I layered a navy tank underneath for some extra length (and a gradient!).
5. Friday, worn for date night dinner then to a pub with my sis, hubby, and a friend visiting from LA. I enjoyed wearing the slim-tunic-over-flares silhouette from #2, so I wore again with a sweater dress (and this time around accessorized gold/warm instead of silver/cool). Added a new black obi belt, first time wearing one and found it surprisingly comfy.
6. Saturday (left) and Sunday/Monday (right), super casual outfits!. Hubby and I spent all of Saturday in the yard playing games and soaking up the sun; I was wearing a gray cami and denim cut off shorts for most of the day but popped on a jacket, jeans, and heels for a quick run to the grocery. Sunday and Monday I wore the same thing out for various meals, and spent the rest of the time at home lounging around and doing a whole lotta nuthin' (while poor hubby had to work).

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

Outfits from last week! Still working on the soft dressing as well as wearing jeans less. And apparently was feeling quite neutral until the meetup ;) Feeling chatty today, but feel free to skip ahead to the photos ^^

1. Monday, worn to work then out for tacos. We had really warm weather projected for the week, so I pulled out my summer jersey dresses! Even though I don't repeat often, I really like wearing my white blazer with this dress. New minty sandals, and first-time wearing these long dangly earrings I bought at the LA meetup way back in October.
2. Tuesday, worn to run errands, work, then out for dinner. A slightly different vibe than what I normally go for, but I really like this outfit (so slouchy and comfy!). Purse from the recent YLF Seattle swap. And I was tickled to see Angie wear something similar (dressier, of course) just a couple days later.
3. Wednesday, worn to work. An experimental outfit; I'm going back and forth on this one for myself, but I do like the outfit as an outfit. I'm quite fond of the vibe with the shirt buttoned up all the way but the silk scarf tied loosely. Trying a new fuchsia lip color, inspired by Anna's (this one is a little too pink and not as bright).
4. Thursday, work, to a friend's to ferret-sit, then out for dinner. Last year I wore this shirt/jean combo with the tank tucked in for a super 70s vibe, but today I left it untucked for the short-over-long trend. I hadn't expected to play with the ferrets, and learned that breezy tops and super wide pants make for exciting ferret exploring territory ;)
5. Friday, worn to work, then combined hubby/my birthday dinner with his folks. I very much like the look of long silk shirts with slim trousers, but only have one silk shirt which I wore with these trousers/shoes last week (and the neon necklace). So today I wore my chambray instead, and let the statement necklace shine.
6. Saturday, worn to the YLF photo meetup, then out to ferret-sit and dinner with hubby. I wanted to wear something that would photograph well, and this is what I came up with. Bold print mix (peacock, floral, fishnets), pencil skirt debombshelling, and more flats with skirts (I'm coming around)! I liked this outfit a lot, but my husband did not at ALL with this top.
7. Bonus: there were many lovely photos taken of me during the meetup, but this one taken by Greg was my favorite :)

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

A couple recent weekend outfits!

#1 - Saturday: Hubby and I went for our first hike of the season, so this is super casual and includes some gear :) I wanted to come up with an outfit that would work for the hike itself as well as look somewhat decent for eating breakfast out at a diner beforehand, which proved a bit challenging (it was quite warm this day). The outfit on the left is what I wore "out", and on the right for the hike I simply swapped the jacket for a sweatshirt and the flats for tennies.

#2-4 - A few photos from the hike (Bridal Veil Falls), it was very pretty!

#5 - Sunday: What I wore for mother's day. First up was brunch with my husband's extended family, which I wanted to be dressed nicely for even though it was casual. This fabulous purple sheath and cropped little denim jacket are both gems from the Seattle swap (thanks so much to whomever brought them, love 'em both!!). Afterwards we had planned to picnic and then help my mom with a gardening project, so I changed into gardening gear (re-wore the outfits in #1). But all of the nearby parks were ridiculously busy so instead we had the picnic at my house on the patio (the space on the right side of my outfit photos ^^); then my mom decided to postpone the gardening so I changed BACK into the sheath outfit to go to my folks' and eat cake!

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

I have one last outfit from April I wanted to share :D This is the outfit that got me seriously thinking about soft dressing, and whether or not it was a true directional change or just a fleeting eclectic feeling.

I wore this to the dentist, errands, work, and later out for tacos. I am not usually out and around so many people, so I was pleasantly surprised to get quite a few compliments on this outfit at almost each stop I made during the day. They were primarily on the color combination (Claire! This is the one I mentioned that one time about the oddball colors.), but one lady commented that the whole soft vibe was unique which is what got me thinking about all of this because I felt super in this outfit and could happily wear variations of this all summer.

This outfit has a mix of soft (silk, suede, colors, hair) and structure (button-up buttoned up, tie knot, denim); I'm realizing I'll need to find ways to mix in some structure to make soft dressing work for me, and this feels like a great example of the mix I'm after. As Rae eloquently put it, I'm going to work towards "soft in a restrained way" (thanks Rae!). Coupled with the last two weeks, this all feels like a crash course in the new style direction!

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

When Angie asked a couple weeks ago about how often we wear denim, my answer was 5-7 days a week; she then mentioned giving up denim for a week, and I decided to take up the challenge! I found half of it easy... the bottom half! Not wearing jeans was surprisingly easy especially as they're a huge part of my fairly casual style, but not wearing my denim shirt or jacket was really tough. Since these outfits were a bit dressier for me overall, I noticed that I accessorized much more simply than normal and went for my bold orange lip color nearly every day. I am so pleased with how this experiment went that I'm going to shoot for 3-4 days denim a week from here out!

And actually, looking back over my outfits, I haven't worn denim since last Wednesday so I did make it over a week! /pats self on the back

1. Monday; worn to run errands, the dentist, and work. New dress, opted for simple styling. The dress is jersey so it was perfectly comfy for the dentist. Also, super warm this day!
2. Tuesday; worn to work and to the local typography pub gathering. I got these awesome cropped pants at the swap (Anna, I'm guessing these were yours?), and this is probably as sporty as you'll ever see me :) Hubby _hated_ this outfit, but I quite liked it.
3. Wednesday; worn to work. Debuting the Neon Necklace! I thought it'd be fun to do a tonal look with it. I haven't worn these trousers much since getting them last fall, and I have no idea why. They are far more comfortable than jeans! Needless to say my black jeans are now on hiatus until fall.
4. Thursday; worn to the post office, work, then out to dinner. Debuting the Neon Bracelet. Wanted to wear something soft with these wide legs, but struggled. I think this turned out OK but I did not feel super in it.
5. Friday; worn to work, to the salon, and off for date night. New skirt! I know my style journey is currently taking me to softer dressing, but this pencil skirt is toooooo fun and I love love love it. And overall the vibe still feels pretty soft to me since my blouse is soft, and the print is watercolor-y. Also painted my nails nude/peach, the darker 3 nails are a polish I made myself :)

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

Part one: A fabulous shopping tip I learned from Angie
During the October Seattle YLF meet up while in H&M, Angie spotted a necklace she loved on a mannequin. Instead of looking around the store for it (and in this case, probably wouldn't have found it), she simply took it off the mannequin and bought it and wore it out, just like that. What a revelation! It had never even occurred to me that I could do this, but of course stores are using those displays to sell stuff anyway! This little tip has stuck with me (thank you Angie!), and I have since scored a couple of my favorite necklaces and even a top with this. So ladies, don't let the fact that something you love is only on one mannequin stop you from getting it :)

Part two: My Perfect Neon Lime Necklace
I have been looking for My Perfect Neon Lime Necklace for, ohhh, I'd say about 1-1.5 years now (I am picky). On Monday I was at Ann Taylor returning the pile of slouchy pants that didn't work for Una and me, and as I was walking out there it was, THE neon necklace I had been looking for. Seriously, if I could've designed it myself, it would look just like this, in exactly this color, AND it had a matching bracelet! It was nowhere else in the store, so I immediately purchased both the necklace and the bracelet right off the mannequin. My goodness, without having seen Angie do this back in October I'd simply have left the store and lamented for a loooong time afterwards not seeing those pieces "available" in the store!!

So here's my new necklace, thanks to Angie's fab shopping tip! I was perfectly happy with how neon it was INside (#1), but when I took it OUTtside (#2)? It GLOWS in the sun, ladies! Lights right up the most amazing shade of neon lime because the back of each piece is mirrored but clear (#3). I am in neon heaven :D

This season's Picture Perfect Challenge was, as usual, a delight to participate in an infinite well of inspiration! Once again, thank you Bella for organizing and also a big thanks to all who participated, be it by posting outfits or by commenting!

Reflection:
This go-around I tried to plan my outfits ahead of time a bit more than usual because of the large number of overlapping color palettes. Normally the colors alone are enough to inspire me, but this time I was really (and I mean REALLY) inspired by the hazy, surreal moods that all of these photos share. It was my top priority in the outfits I envisioned for each photo. Which, upon reflection of the week, leads me to the following realization:

It's actually been a little while coming, but amped up starting at least a couple weeks ago with Angie's post on the street style she and Greg saw while in Japan, and then further magnified with this challenge: I am 100% feeling soft dressing, both in terms of fabrication AND color. Now, I am not completely sure if this is a true style direction change, or influenced by the fact that it's currently so on trend, or if it's just a seasonal thing since my boho side comes through much stronger in spring/summer. Most likely it's some combination of the lot.

Regardless of what it is, for the moment this is actually quite a shift for me IF I decide to pursue it as an overarching style direction; I do already mix in some soft outfits, but certainly don't dress that way primarily, and I am more interested in "soft" in terms of fabrication and vibe rather than color because, hey, I loves me my brights! It will be interesting (impossible?) to try and keep the punk side of my personal style evident with this shift, though. Fun stuff :D

Challenge Outfits:

1. Monday (inspiration discussed here); worn to work, then out for tacos. I'm always trying to get volume-over-volume looks to work with these wide legs and am very pleased with this one, I think I finally found my formula for it! This is a new necklace, my current favorite pendant.
2. Inspiration for #1: African elephants at twilight, Chobe National Park, Botswana by Frans Lanting.
3. Tuesday (inspiration discussed here); worn to work. Getting "soft" to work while including jeans is another challenge, as is "soft" with brights, but I think they both worked nicely here. My biggest takeaway from this is the messy fanned bun, though; I'm sporting it again today :D
4. Inspiration for #3: Water lilies (Nymphaea nouchali), Okavango Delta, Botswana by Frans Lanting.
5. Wednesday (inspiration discussed here); worn to work, then out for dinner. I love pairing both orange and fuchsia with red, though I'm not seeing as much red+fuchsia this year compared to last. As a member of Team Blazer, I would have been infinitely happier with a soft blazer instead of a cardigan, but it does look nice.
6. Inspiration for #5: Stone Canyon Petrified Sand Dunes and Reflection, Paria Canyon - Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona by Jack Dykinga.
7. Thursday (inspiration discussed here); worn to work. My second favorite outfit of the week, simple and soft and muted. I could take my no-jeans week back to this day, haven't had a pair on since Wed's outfit! (Feels weird.)
8. Inspiration for #7: Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend, Franklin River, Southwest Tasmania, Australia by Peter Dombrovskis.
9. Friday (inspiration discussed here); worn to a typography conference. My favorite of the week, and I think the fan favorite as well. I am not sure why wearing all brown makes me feel like a wall of brown, but wearing all taupe/tan doesn't make me feel like a wall of skin ;)
10. Inspiration for #9: Tortoises at Dawn, Galapagos Islands by Frans Lanting.

Whew! Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

(For my YLF blog! Hope you gals don't mind me posting the photos twice ^^ Also, my apologies for posting this so late!)

Tortoises at Dawn, Galapagos Islands by Frans Lanting

Today I had more constraints for my outfit than usual (to be fair, usual is pretty much no constraints) because I attended a typography conference. I wanted to come up with an outfit that was business casual/creative and arty, as well as fit the challenge photo. So I decided what better day than to give my slouchy AT trousers their debut! I probably should've attempted to iron them, though. This was the only challenge I didn't incorporate my hair as a specific element, but I did tie it back to minimize the darkness in the outfit.

I decided to go with the hazy, surreal feeling of the photo and not do quite as literal an interpretation as many of my other outfits for the challenge. I have the color story of the photo, the fluidity of the water (pants, scarf), and the turtles (nails, necklace) all represented in various ways throughout my outfit. The blazer was necessary for business, and actually I never wore it as shown in the right side upper left photo; I DID wear it tee+scarf-blazer during the lectures, but didn't get a photo of that combo.

Because the photo is so very serene, and was taken at dawn rather than dusk, I was more inspired by the lighter shades than the dark; I took the color palette pretty literally, going with rosy tans, taupes, and a bit of gray. It also helps that taupe is my current color obsession :) I didn't have the fashion guts to wear a tucked top with these slouchy pants today, but after wearing this and being quite comfy and happy I think I'm good to tuck for next time!

I have a couple nods to the turtles in the outfit. First off, my necklace has organic hammered circles which loosely resemble the shells; second, I painted my nails a matte dark brown (OT, they looked like chocolate and I kept wanting to nibble), and when I hold my hands together they make a similar "S" shape as the turtles' formation in the photo. I can't tell you all how entertained I was by this ^^

And as an aside, Angie was (of course) 100% right about going for the way slouchier pair of these pants. After catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror at the conference, it all clicked. I totally "get" the vibe now! So thanks for pushing that, Angie :)

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

(For my YLF blog! Hope you gals don't mind me posting the photos twice ^^)

Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend, Franklin River, Southwest Tasmania, Australia by Peter Dombrovskis

Well after a few days of hectically colorful outfits, today I was in the mood for something simpler. I had a completely different outfit planned that used my new white skinny jeans (yay finally!), an olive tunic, and white blazer. Buuuut it's pouring rain something serious and a cool 50F out, so I came up with something new. (I'm totally going to wear that other outfit when it warms up though!)

Like many of you, the mist in this photo really stands out to me, which is why my original outfit idea was mostly white; I did try swapping in my gray skinnies in place of the white ones, but I just wasn't in the mood to wear something quite that muted on such a gray, drizzly day. So with the mist in mind, I decided on a muted but light color palette that picks up on the photograph's major colors in singular blocks: white (mist), taupe (rocks), olive (foliage), teal (water).

The textural contrast between the rocks, foliage, and water also stands out to me so I wanted to get a little of that in my outfit as well. The teal heels being patent leather is a nod to the glassy water, the sweater knit (and stripes) a nod to the rocks, and I styled my hair EXTRA curly as a nod to the foliage.

I also wanted a few different shades of green in this outfit in color tribute to the foliage beyond just the olive pants, so I decided to use accessories to get those in. I added a new emerald and gold necklace, and did a quick (super) sparkly dark green manicure (the polish is named "Rain Forest", I couldn't resist!). As it is raining I needed a coat today, so I wore this scarf which nicely picks up the colors from the photo, as well as adds a bit of lightness to my outerwear along with the white purse. And lastly, I am wearing a nearly-nude peachy lip color to keep with the soft shades.

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

(For my YLF blog! Hope you gals don't mind me posting the photos twice ^^)

Stone Canyon Petrified Sand Dunes and Reflection, Paria Canyon - Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona by Jack Dykinga

Now THIS photo has colors right up my wardrobe palette alley! When I look at this photo I get a feeling of color and texture overload, despite the very serene vibe, so I wanted my outfit to reflect that.

Texture-wise, the strongest impact of this photo on me are the rock striations (new word learned!), and while stripes would be a good choice to represent them I didn't feel that any of mine could really portray the complexity of the rocks' "stripes". So instead, I decided to debut a brand new blouse (!) I just bought last week whose front is constructed with many narrow layers of sheer tiers, which also happily picks up on the pink from the photo.

Color-wise, the strongest impact of this photo on me are the beautiful sunset-like gradients; red to orange to yellow, purple to pink to peach. But because my top is pretty busy, I decided to limit the number of colors in my outfit and not sport a gradient. There isn't actually a gradient of red to pink on a single rock side, but I love how the center reddish rock is flanked by pinks on either side so I chose to wear those colors (plus I adore how fuchsia and red look together). I paired my red jeans (another texture), and then added the fuchsia cardigan to emphasize the color pairing even though there's plenty of fuchsia in the top (and yet another texture); it also calms the top's business a little bit, while simultaneously adding to color overload.

After trying a couple different pairs of shoes (white booties felt unbalanced, black pumps felt too heavy for the photo, navy slingbacks and teal pumps both felt unnecessarily busy), ultimately I opted for my red heels to keep the outfit focus on the top and the color combination (and the leather adds YET another texture). At that point I didn't have ANY blue or purple represented, both significant colors in the photo. So I added this necklace which has ALL of the photo colors in it, and did a quick 5-minute purple manicure :)

And lastly, to represent the twisted, bleached driftwood I wanted to do a big spiral curled pony tail but forgot that my sister has my curler/iron! Happily I was kind of able to make it work using just curl creme and my blow dryer. Went with my white purse as another nod to the driftwood, and add some (in my opinion) much needed additional lightness to this very saturated, colorful outfit.

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!