WIW 04.08-12: movie poster bonus nails

(The outfits that accompany these nails can be found on this wrap up thread!)

For the Movie Poster challenge, I got it in my head to change out my manicure for each outfit. At first I had plain solid colors planned... but then thought hey wouldn't it be fun to do a little extra? This turned out to be a very (borderline overly) ambitious plan, ladies! I did each manicure the night before; it was a really busy and tiring work week, and by the time I got around to doing the nails each night it was almost bed time and I was pretty wiped out. But I persevered, somehow, and am pretty happy with how everything turned out. Plus I got some extra nail art practice in, and got to try some new-to-me techniques.

Here are the details about each manicure; the movie inspiration background can be found in each day's dedicated post. I've also included a photo of the polishes that I used along with a "recipe" for each manicure, for anyone who's curious. As a tip, if you're going to attempt something similar I highly suggest getting a good cuticle oil because nail polish remover is super harsh and drying on both nails and skin. I use Burt's Bees "Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream" on the cuticle, around the nail bed, and on the nail itself (both with nails polished and not polished).

Day 1 - Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (inspiration discussed in the day's WIW post).
This was the simplest and most straightforward manicure of the week. Color and go!
* OPI clear base coat
* 2 coats Sally Hansen "Golden-I"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat

Day 2 - Star Wars (inspiration discussed on the day's WIW post).
My original plan for this manicure was the blue base and the white star accent nails (which I should've used a thin brush for, the striper was tooooo thick), but once completed it didn't feel finished enough. So I decided to try a technique that I hadn't before, where you use a bit of make up sponge to dab polish on slowly to make a gradient (good tutorial here). I used a flake polish for the sponged bit, and did the sponging at the cuticle. It got a little tricky once I'd completed one hand since the flakes really caked on, so next time I'll cut two sponge bits and use one per hand. Unfortunately, this blue polish stained my nails even through the base coat!

Base (ALL, including accent):
* OPI clear base coat
* 1 coat Sinful Colors "Why Not"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat

Flakes:
* 3-5 passes sponge gradient with Sally Hansen "Glass Slipper"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat

Accent:
* freehanded star with L.A. Colors Art Deco striper "White"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat

Day 3 - Breakfast at Tiffany's (inspiration discussed on the day's WIW post).
This manicure's original plan called for taping off the blocked sections, so the lines would be really crisp. But I wasn't able to start it early enough to allow for the necessary dry time, even using a quick dry oil. So I decided to risk free-handing the color blocks which I have very little practice doing. The orange is called a "jelly" polish in the nail blogging world, which is a polish that is very sheer and needs many layers for full opacity if it can even get there at all. They can also be unforgiving to layer with because you can see the entire lower layer through it. I think this turned out alright freehanded, but certainly would've looked better if I'd given myself enough time to do the taping properly.

Base:
* OPI clear base coat
* 1 coat Sally Hansen "White On"
* Sinful colors Quick Dry oil

Blocks (freehanded):
* 2 coats OPI "Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?" (orange)
* 1 coat Sinful Colors "Ruby Ruby" (red)
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat

Day 4 - Metropolis (inspiration discussed on the day's WIW post).
I had a more elaborate plan for this (a black-to-silver sponge gradient), but after a suuuuuper long day I was just too tired to do it. *looks around* I'll let you in on a little secret: I was too tired to even remove the previous manicure so I just painted right over the top!

Base (ALL, including accent):
* (previous day's manicure, but I'd normally use my OPI base coat)
* 1 coat Wet 'n Wild "Black Crème"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat

Accent:
* 1 coat Sally Hansen "Celeb City" (silver)
* freehanded stripes with L.A. Colors Art Deco striper "Black"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat

Day 5 - Vertigo (inspiration discussed on the day's WIW post).
The most complicated manicure of the week, and happily I allowed myself enough time for it! Initially I was going to have it be just red with white stripes, but my taping skills aren't quite good enough so I used the black striper to "hide" the uneven tape lines, although I could've used a white striper and stuck to my original plan. The red polish here is actually full of sparkly little glass flecks, but I have the hardest time getting them to show up on camera!

Base:
* OPI clear base coat
* 1 coat Sally Hansen "White On"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat

Red (do these ONE nail at a time):
* tape on the diagonal, blocking bottom half
* 1 coat OPI "The Spy Who Loved Me" (red)
* slowly remove tape

Stripes:
* freehanded with L.A. Colors Art Deco striper "Black"
* 1 coat Seche Vite clear top coat

After a week of changing up my nails, I was quite happy to be able to wear Friday's manicure for more than a day. In fact, they stayed on in perfect condition until the following Sunday. Although it was tough to muster the energy to change these daily, it was like a crash course in improving my nail skills. The one big takeaway, stylewise, that I got out of this is that I really enjoy coordinating my outfit with my nails. So I am going to try to pay more attention to that in the future.

Whew! Long post, hopefully some of you found it interesting/useful ^^ Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

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WIW 04.08-12: movie poster edition

Sorry to be posting this wrap up so late! I delayed a little to reflect, hoping to come up with some good profound insights. Then delayed a little more, and a little more... But it turns out, I just had a fun week and didn't learn anything new (which is ok!). I've done up a separate post for the nail art, found here.

My plan for the week was to come up with outfits inspired solely by the poster art, and ignore any influence of the movies themselves. I was able to do so with all outfits but one, the Metropolis poster in #4, where I swapped the black/gold from the poster for black/white like the movie. Here are my outfit for the week, complete with their poster inspiration and nail art; more information can be found in each day's dedicated post, but I've added the key thought behind each here.

Day 1 - Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
Details on the day's WIW post.
The top thing that strikes me about this poster is how rich it is: color, texture, character, story. 

Day 2 - Star Wars
Details on the day's WIW post.
The most iconic thing about this poster to me is the title lettering (hey, I do work in type!); beyond that, the star field makes a big impression of the poster art. So I wanted today's outfit to be tribute to those two key elements.

Day 3 - Breakfast at Tiffany's
Details on the day's WIW post.
For this poster art I was really struck by the Mondrian-esque vibe and how the expanse of white really lets Holly stand out.

Day 4 - Metropolis
Details on the day's WIW post.
This is a simple poster with big impact, and what really jumps out at me are the monochrome palette, strong vertical lines, and the shaded gradient.

Day 5 - Vertigo
Details on the day's WIW post.
The BOLD colors and cutout-like effect of the poster are really striking, so I wanted to work around those ideas. I thought about doing a crazy vertigo-inducing pattern mix, but felt that the simplicity of the poster is its strength.

I am pleased with how all of the outfits turned out as far as drawing from the poster inspiration, and was very happy wearing all outfits except for #3. It was a combination of things, really; the black blazer felt heavy, I didn't like how the straight leg jeans (which I don't like on myself anyway) looked with the square top of the heels, and I couldn't get my hair to behave at all that day. Still, it's a decent outfit and it photographed nicely ;)

All in all, a wonderful challenge! Thank you again to Ornella for running this iteration, and to all who participated and commented. It was SUCH fun!

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!
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What my sis wore!

My sister has joined in on the GAP mesh sleeve sweater fun! She loved the ivory one I wore last Friday, so yesterday while we were out getting her hair cut we stopped by the GAP to see if they were in. Luckily they were! The ivory one looked fab on her, but so did the gray which matches her style and wardrobe colors better. Unlike me, sis is 100% on Team Wear: she popped the new sweater on right away and wore it the rest of the day. You may recognize the flats; she and I both have a pair :) Bonus inclusion of her little dog, Pooka, who's always nearby.

As you can see my sister and I have very different hair, although we see the same stylist. She's been wearing her hair long and layered for quite a while, but had the itch to shorten. So she had 6-8" taken off and some razored-choppy layers put in (a totally foreign texture to me). It looks great! When I told her this was a YLF sweater, sis asked me to take a photo of her new outfit and hair to share with you gals and Angie. How cute is she? ^^
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WIW 04.12 (Vertigo)

Movie poster: Vertigo (group thread).

Another simple poster, another simple outfit. The BOLD colors and cutout-like effect of the poster are really striking, so I wanted to work around those ideas. I thought about doing a crazy vertigo-inducing pattern mix (b/w striped blouse + red plaid pants + houndstooth flats), but felt that the simplicity of the poster is its strength.

  • Ivory mesh sleeve sweater, white belt - white spiral, mesh reminiscent of spiral overlap
  • Red jeans - red background
  • Black studded flats - small black element
  • Woven silver earrings - round shape, more spiral overlap mesh
  • Black/yellow lined clutch - a little chaos!

For the final manicure of the week I chose a more loose interpretation, using the poster's colors in blocks along with lines further reminiscent of the spirals. I'm quite happy that I can keep these on for a few days for a change ;) And to keep with the bold red coloring I wore bright red lipstick. This outfit is a bit more weekend than workday for me, but it's still a good date night option since hubby prefers minimal outfits and flats. Also feels very summery, especially for the very gray day we're having. Great perk up!

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

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WIW 04.11 (Metropolis)

Movie poster: Metropolis (group thread).

This is a simple poster with big impact, and what really jumps out at me are the monochrome palette, strong vertical lines, and the shaded gradient. I planned my outfit around the dark-to-light vertical gradient, and chose heathered/textured items to pick up on the graphite quality of the shading. Today's outfit is the only one where I deviated from the poster art directly, swapping the black-and-gold color palette of the poster for the black-and-white palette of the movie itself.

  • Charcoal heathered tee - dark color (top), reminiscent of graphite shading
  • Gray jeans - medium color (middle), slim as a nod to vertical buildings
  • Cream booties - light color (bottom)
  • Deco necklace - angled lines at the top, nod to the movie's time period
  • White clutch - well this is just for me ^^

I had different nails planned for today but ended up having such a looong day before that I just didn't have the energy (nor time). So in the spirit of the poster I simplified! Instead of my originally planned black-to-silver sponged gradient, I did glossy black (darkest poster shade) and silver accent nails (nod to the robot) with two freehanded black stripes (nod to the vertical buildings). And lastly, in keeping with the b&w theme I wanted a low contrast lip color so I chose a sheer plum gloss. Possibly a less "2013" outfit than it could be, but I feel like the roomy tee, pointy booties, and daytime clutch keep things plenty current.

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

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WIW 04.10 (Breakfast at Tiffany's)

Movie poster: Breakfast at Tiffany's (group thread).

Holly Golightly herself is, of course, the image that comes to mind when one thinks of Breakfast at Tiffany's. For the poster art, though, I was really struck by the Mondrian-esque vibe and how the expanse of white really lets Holly stand out. I had trouble incorporating this type of minimal aesthetic into an outfit that I felt covered enough elements, so I instead went the opposite direction!

  • Kitty shirt - shoulder kitty, of course!
  • Black blazer - a strong black vertical element (Holly herself)
  • White jeans - expansive white background
  • Black pointy kitten heels, pearl stud earrings - little nods to Holly's attire
  • Aqua/blue clutch - top/right colorblocking

Today's nails represent, quite literally, the left/bottom colorblocking, with freehanded red/orange blocks on a white base (my favorite design of the week!). And as a nod to Ms. Golightly, I chose to go more Hollywood Glam with double-thickness mascara and bright red lipstick. I did find it amusing that, considering the movie, today's outfit is less glam than the previous two ;)

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

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WIW 04.09 (Star Wars)

Movie poster: Star Wars (group thread).

The most iconic thing about this poster to me is the title lettering (hey, I do work in type!); beyond that, the star field makes a big impression of the poster art. So I wanted today's outfit to be tribute to those two key elements.

  • Black turtleneck, white blazer - outlined lettering
  • Hatch print pants - star field
  • Cream booties - strong white accent of Luke/Leia against the dark sky
  • Long spike earrings - sci-fi "metal" tribute (hah get it? *badum bum*)
  • Taupe clutch - reminiscent of the Deathstar's grid pattern

I wanted to get more blue into my outfit, so for today's nails I did bright blue with a shimmery silver flake gradient (cuticle-to-tip) and a white sparkling light saber accent nail; unfortunately the other hand looks much better since I'm right handed, but I have a kitty scratch that I didn't want to subject you all to gruesome up-close photos of. Today's lipstick is my nude-for-me peach which has gold sparkles in it, as a little nod to C3PO.

And one other effect that I'm quite pleased with is the slightly awkward proportions (which I just love) from the not-quite-cropped jacket and not-quite-ankle pants, giving me just the right amount of nerdy for this inspiration poster ^^

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

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WIW 04.08 (Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark)

Movie poster: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (group thread).

The top thing that strikes me about this poster is how rich it is: color, texture, character, story.

Every item I'm wearing has a unique texture to the outfit. In addition to representing the rich textures, the items themselves were also each chosen to reflect various aspects of the poster art, along with reflecting the warm color palette.

  • Ivory sequin tank - texture (sequins), Indy's white shirt, treasures
  • Rust moto jacket - texture (twill, sweater knit, smooth leather), warm background color
  • Almond slouchy trousers - texture (silky woven), a nod to the soft vibe of the painting
  • Snakeskin heels - texture (snakeskin), and well of course it had to be snakes
  • Gold arabesque cutout earrings - texture (filigree), treasures
  • Bronze bucket bag, worn crossbody style - texture (cracked leather, chain), Indiana's bag, treasures

I painted my nails crushed gold as another nod to the treasures, and chose rust-orange lipstick to match my jacket. I feel like a very glamorous adventurer ;)

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

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WIW 04.01-05

This week I happened to have planned out my work outfits over the weekend, which I rarely ever do. The week turned out quite hectic, stressful, and energy sucking so I was very, very relieved to have all of my outfits already sorted each morning! And that they had plenty of white, which makes me happy. I only had to modify one from the original plan (#4). Next week is going to be the same, and I am quite happy that we have the movie poster challenge so that I can plan everything in advance again. After that, though, I'm back to my usual mood dressing each morning ^^ Feel free to skip down to the photos!

#1 Monday. Warm enough to pull out my transitional slouchy shorts, which I decided to style with a full-on print mix using a new blouse (top-vertical stripes, shorts-herringbone pinstripe, tights-chevron) and a light-to-dark vertical gradient. Accessorized with white (watch, new cuff from Etsy which Sona linked a while back (thanks Sona!), clutch), and soft red lipstick.

#2 Tuesday. I've been itching to pull out these slouchy wide leg summer trousers! I wear these a LOT longer than most people would, with the hems actually pooling and dragging on the ground, which I know isn't for everyone but is a look I enjoy. Paired with a new bright orange (my most favorite orange shade) summer sweater with matching bright orange lipstick, gold earrings, and of course more whites (blazer, booties, clutch).

#3 Wednesday. Probably the last look I'll do with these tall black boots for the season, so I just had to go with my current favorite formula for them: short jacket + belt + white skinnies; this belt is actually almost as white as the jeans, not sure why they show as cream here and in #5. Worn with long thin gold earrings that mimic the zippers, rarely worn pink lipstick to add a little extra dose of "pretty" to the look, and my current spring crush, the white slouchy clutch. Trying out a new photo spot for days when my back patio is too sunny; didn't get it right this day, but I've got it figured out now.

#4 Thursday. A copycat outfit of one Kelly recently posted, with the same dress even! Initially I had peep-toe booties and no hat planned, but 1) it was raining, and 2) I ran out of conditioner ;) Worn with textured nude tights, my lightest colored slouchy knit hat, and plum lipstick to pick up on the dress's purples.

#5 Friday. Today we are having some serious wind! I've had this outfit in mind for a while, but hadn't yet gotten around to wearing it. Between the very oversized shirt and slouchy skinnies, I feel like the poster child for the 2013 oversized/slouchy trends! But of course, this was always part of my style so it also feels very me (especially with the plaid and white). Accessorized with neon necklace because sometimes we just feel like neon (or is that just me?), a new set of 4 cream/gold triangle stud earrings, soft red lipstick, and the ubiquitous white clutch.

#6 Bonus photo of the flower clusters that I was being heavily bombarded with while taking my outfit photos today. This is what I am making a scowling face at in the outfit photo, though they do match my necklace quite nicely ^^

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!
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WIW Backlog: 01.02-04, 07-09

I know we're into spring but I've still got some winter outfits waiting to post to my YLF blog, hope you gals don't mind! These are work outfits from the first two weeks of January.

#1- Tonal dark look with a new mixed-media moto that I picked up in December at the YLF Seattle meetup; Angie suggested to size up for a looser more contemporary fit, and while I'm not fully adjusted to oversized jackets I've been slowly coming around. Chose the green sweater to pick up on the green in the jacket's tweed, and it doesn't show well but I've also got a sparkly black layer underneath the green sweater.

#2- A dry (but icy) day so the long hems came out to play; outfit planned around the thought to pair cobalt and leopard. I've found this blouse gets layered over more than not, but that could be because I bought it in winter time ;) Worn with a little extra glamour for a trip to the dentist; my hygienist always likes to chat about my outfit! I wore nude lipstick, but would have been happier with something brighter. Probably red.

#3- Copycat of one of Jonesy's outfits, which I don't think is online any more. Loved the juxtaposition of the very casual plaid shirt with a pencil skirt, and have plans to wear a variation of this again. "Light" footwear to echo exposed skin bits and lighten the whole look up a little; also soft pink lipstick to keep the top half looking more natural, while the bottom is more dressy (and also quite textured though it doesn't show well; those are ribbed sweater tights and fuzzy wool covered heels).

#4- Feeling some YLF love this week; this day I'm wearing Zap's furry vest received by way of Rita. Paired with white jeans and a whole host of light neutrals. Thoroughly enjoyed wearing my white jeans throughout this past winter, though I didn't wear them as much as I should've based on that feeling. This base was one of my favorite pairings; I quite like the creamy shades of the sweater/boots with the crisp white jeans.

#5- A favorite pairing of this turtleneck and jacket, with some more YLF love: the cute little (working!) clutch necklace from the YLF Secret Santa exchange (cheers to BJ). Ultra textured outfit, especially the bottom half. Chose light outerwear to counter the dark innerwear.

#6- I seem to have continual trouble styling this boxy blouse; in many ways it is awkward and fights my shape, but I guess I find it a fun kind of challenge? Normally worn for spring/summer, winterized here with a thick layering tee (must have been warm that day), baggy skinny jeans, and shooties. Featuring one of the pretty pairs of earrings that accompanied the necklace in #5 from Santa.

#7- Bonus manicure photo since I don't usually post them (see I do the fun stuff Una, I swear!). Seahawks playoff mani utilizing a made-by-me topcoat called "Shades of Cascadia" which has various blue, green, and silver glitters, over a free-handed colorblocked base. Seen in outfits #4-6 (and some weekend/travel outfits I'll be posting later).

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!
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