Aida ~

While yellow isn't a color I wear often, I do enjoy wearing warm golden shades. I loved this top/bottom color combo earlier in the year in a wintery look, so I thought it'd be fun to sport a more summery version for a cooler day. Swapped the vest out for an semi-tuck + ivory studded belt (swiveled so the buckle is at my side, more studs show that way!), the nude boots for pretty-much-nude pointy flats, and rolled the hems up. Accented with a pair of pretty boho earrings recently sent to me by our lovely DianeG, dainty gold bangle, retro peach sunnies (the roundness was fun against all the squares), graphic clutch (fun for the bold lines as well as the hard square shape), and a swipe of cherry-pink lip gloss.

Incidentally I wore this a few days before Angie's Dressy Top, Jeans and Brown Accents ensemble and subsequent similar street style posts, so I was amused to see those a few days later. This outfit does feel in the same spirit, and although I used more ivory/white than brown for the accents it still has a similar earthiness to it. Plus my hair adds an extra bit of boho softness.

Nail photo detail in an earlier post (the yellows don't match but it's still fun!), and available items collected below. Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

For father's day my dad requested a trip to the Seattle Asian Art Museum which is showing, among others, a wonderful exhibit "Deco Japan: Shaping Art and Culture, 1920-1945". I personally adore Deco art so I really enjoyed it!

After looking at the site for the exhibit, one of the pieces that was posted stuck in my head (#3). I feel like it sums up my current style preferences quite perfectly: a lovely mix of soft and geometric, and even the color scheme itself (cream, pink, light blue, gray/taupe, black) is right up my alley these days. So my outfit for the day was inspired by that piece, complete with Deco clutch and earrings.

There was rain in the forecast, but it only dropped in the morning; I wore my cream trench out for breakfast with hubby before heading to Seattle, but happily by the time we were done in the museum the rain had passed. So the trench sat in the car while we all enjoyed a nice stroll around the Volunteer Park grounds. I had thought about wearing my gray suede ankle strap pumps, but with impending rain decided to go with white leather and actually better liked the crisper look the white gave. Finished the look off with retro sunnies, and wore plum lip gloss for extra color interest.

Big high happiness factor! And a rare sighting: non-weekend casual outfit with blue skinny jeans, which I actually didn't own until this pair. This baggy and ultra faded pair gets a pass, but otherwise I plan to stick to my usual black, gray, and white skinny jeans along with the occasional fun bright/printed denim. But no standard blues, just not my thing :)

Nail photo detail in Tuesday's post, and available items collected below. Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

Two casual outfits from late last week, variations on a theme: top + faded jeans + sneakers. Pardon the two-up duplication in #1, that's so I can see both outfits when I search my posts ^^

(Opening weekend of the Everett Aquasox, the Mariners Single A Short Season baseball team, which is my personal unofficial start to summer. During their short season hubby and I enjoy stopping by after work on the way home for a hotdog and a game, which doesn't cost much more than eating out would ^^)

#2,3 - Friday: worn to work then to baseball game #1. A slightly dressier version with the silky top and hard clutch. Still getting used to sneakers, so I pulled out an old red pair to test out a more colorful sneaker look (it's OK, not my fave). The forecast was for R-A-I-N, but luckily it just threatened without materializing; I grabbed a hoodie for the game (avert your eyes, Karie!), although it was waaaay colder than expected and I wished I'd worn a proper Big Coat.

I didn't feel super in this outfit, although it's not bad, and actually felt better with the hoodie on because it added some structure. I'm guessing that between the slouchy hat, oversized soft shirt, extra baggy faded denim, and sneakers it all just felt a bit too sloppy for me that day. Without the evening's constraints, I'd have swapped the sneakers for dressier refined shoes, rolled up the sleeves, and put my hair up for even more structure. (I did actually quite like the long torso proportions, so wouldn't have semi-tucked.) Probably I should've just came up with something else to wear and saved this one for another day when I could make those tweaks.

#4,5 - Saturday: worn to the grocery, out dirt biking, out for dinner, then baseball game #2. Another outing utilizing my budding active-casual capsule, so far so good. However, I can already tell that I'm not going to want as many tees as I'd initially planned so I'll need to swap a prospective few out for prospective woven tops. That might be tough though, we'll see how that goes. For riding the only piece I kept on was the tee (100% cotton), everything else was replaced with riding gear and my hair was down in the helmet. Once we were done and packed up, I changed back into my jeans/belt, sneakers, earrings/watch, and then put my hair up with the headband (to help hide crazy lumpy hair underneath!). Much happier than staying in grubby gear, although no stops along the way this time. Later when we went to the game, I ditched my purse and popped on a jacket; we got to enjoy the rain that was supposed to hit the previous night and, even with a blanket, yet again I wished I'd worn a proper Big Coat.

Nail photo detail in Tuesday's post, and available items collected below. Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

This is a straight up copycat of one of the example photos from Angie's recent Sporty-Luxe blog post, the last in the second row. Bomber jacket zipped up? Check. Rolled BF jeans? Check. Pointy ankle-strap pumps? Check. Clutch? Check. Easy peasy, done and done :) Added my 80s mirrored sunnies for more sporty fun. And further accessorized on the luxe side with a dainty gold bangle, candy pink lipstick, double-coated mascara, and I've also worn long earrings with the pomp-pony for the first time; while I quite like it here, I fully expect it to continue being a rare occurrence.

Three interesting details:

ONE: To give this jacket an even stronger shouldered look, I folded both halves of its shoulder pads (oh yes!) to the back instead of splitting them around my shoulder. Instant faux sharp shoulder look. What can I say, this IT enjoys a sharp shoulder!

TWO: I didn't like how the belt looked done up all normal like. I actually preferred the look without the belt but needed it to ensure the jacket would behave. So I swiveled it around and buckled it on my side to give it a more asymmetrical feel, as well as show more of the studs from the front.

THREE: To play up the sporty I had to put my hair up, of course, and the "pomp" part of my pomp-pony is extra big today (I don't have much control over it, heh). It really does photograph quite nicely. But the full height is the same distance as the tip of my nose up to my hair line! In person it's much more much than it looks in the photos; you can kind of get a sense of it from the middle photo. Too big? Not sure, but it is pretty fun.

Nail photo detail in Tuesday's post, and available items collected below. Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

Just had to share this cuteness with you all!

In my mailbox yesterday I found a mysterious package with my name on it. With a UK customs label. I hadn't ordered anything internationally recently, had I? I didn't think so, and was a little confused until I turned it over to see our lovely Diane's name on the back. Along with a very sweet card was a pretty little package that contained some delicious sounding English chocolates, a pair of beautiful boho earrings, and the cutest little hand-stitched wall hang (which I will be putting up in my craft room, where Bilbo's cousin AKA my Kitty also enjoys spending some time!). Thank you so much Diane, you certainly didn't need to send me anything but I love what you sent. It turned out to be a fun little birthday exchange, didn't it? :D

In true mood dressing fashion, today I could tell you why this outfit might work but not why I put it together the way I did.

Initially, I was inspired by this pinned outfit. I love the orange/black/white color combo and wear it frequently though less frequently than I did last year (recent examples 1|2|3), so I couldn't say that I was necessarily inspired by the colors there. I do have a bright orange sweater and I do have a snake print skirt, and had in mind the idea of pairing them together (similar to the way Mary recently did). But as the morning wore on the less I wanted to wear that. Not just that I didn't feel like it, it was a seriously strong emotional desire against it. Very strange. Yet I was still attracted to the outfit. So I thought about what it was that was REALLY appealing about the outfit, what was it that if removed would totally change it. And I decided it was the silhouette and proportions: a very long oversized sweater over a slim skirt. That was what I wanted to wear today.

Happily the only sweater long enough was this light blue one, which satisfies my current inclination to pair any black with pastels. I realize this won't be for everyone; the sweater is big, like tent-ish big, so that is a lot of light blue going on without any breakup. But it's super duper soft (and fuzzy) and has excellent drape to it, so the volume doesn't bother me.

I'd already rebelled against the more classic rendition of the outfit, so my initial choice of black/pony pointy ankle-strap flats was out. No idea why, they're plenty current looking. Perhaps a bit too classic then. Pumps were out too in that case. Thought about sneakers, loafers, booties... None felt right. Instead I pulled out my rarely-worn oxfords, from the very back of my shoe rack. They felt perfect! I also tried every single purse I own (no joke). Again nothing felt right until this tan/neon orange clutch. And again, no idea why. If I could've paired ANY purse, I'd have chosen a holographic clutch. Which I don't have but perhaps I should remedy that ^^

So there you have it, completely emotional dressing today that even I couldn't completely parse. I do feel like it all works quite nicely, though, and felt quite happy in it. What do you ladies think?

Nail detail photo in yesterday's post. Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

Anna posted these pale yellow/mint/blush slip-ons a month ago, and at the time I collected them as a fun potential pastel slip-on for my weekend capsule. I kept thinking about them, and was surprised to see that I was the only one who'd collected them. And, truthfully, the contrarian in me rather liked that no one else had; not that I would mind otherwise, I mean this is the GAP -- about as mass market as it gets. I ordered a pair immediately. Well, two pairs, my usual two half-sizes, and the website listed as sold out shortly afterwards [EDIT: Looks like they're back in stock now]. They finally arrived late last week, and to my dismay GAP sent me two pairs of the larger size! But due to the GAP's somewhat inconsistent quality on sizing, one pair fits a bit smaller than the other (hooray for once). I love them so much that I am going to happily trot out there in far chunkier white soles than I would ever have expected to be comfortable in. If I can't get used to how I look in these cutie-pie sneakers, then there is no hope for me ;)

So for the first time I am able to sport a sporty-luxe outfit that has actual sporty footwear (which has always been my primary luxe). The whole bottom half is actually rather sporty with the rolled relaxed jeans, but then less sporty because the jeans are white. The luxe comes from the oversized silk-sleeved sweater and giant gold hoops, both of which would be sporty on their own in different fabrication/scale, plus a double coat of mascara. The energetic striped hard clutch has a sporty feel to it, too. Debated going light on the lip color, then debated going bright... But decided that I needed my small chaotic element so chose a darker plum gloss instead. Overall more luxe than sporty (no surprise), and yet sportier than other sporty-luxe outfits I've worn (big surprise). VERY happy with how the whole thing turned out, "chunky" sneakers and all! Thanks for the fab find, Anna ^^

I also ended up with matching nails, though that wasn't my initial plan. I'd expected the yellow to be brighter and the white to be whiter, and since the contrast wasn't high enough I added the mint "stripe" (with a dotter, which isn't the best option for painting lines heh). Not what I'd planned but fun nonetheless.

Available items collected below. Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

Hello ladies, hope you are having a great weekend! Most of Saturday was spent doing mucky yardwork, but I did need to run out briefly to the hardware and grocery. Another good test of my still-developing active-casual weekend capsule (thanks for the name, Mo!).

Out in the yard I was wearing the hat and tank along with basketball shorts and sandals; to run the errands I popped on the denim jacket and swapped out the bottom half, which wasn't too much additional work because I had to wash my legs and feet off before heading out anyway. These new faded skinnies are sibling to the white pair I wore last week, but a size up for an even further relaxed fit. Is it odd looking to roll with the ankle zips? The zippers are really flexible so they roll up quite easily. I'm getting a bit more used to seeing my feet in sneakers, though even this rather slim low-profile pair feels chunky to me. And I don't have a good really casual bag for my weekend capsule yet, so out came my big emerald tote. Minimal accessorizing here, just my white leather-band watch and a swipe of cherry lip gloss. Felt sufficiently polished casual ^^

Available items collected below. Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

Friday I overslept and needed to get ready and dressed quickly. Enter this outfit idea I'd (thankfully) jotted down a while back, and happily we had the beautiful weather to allow for it. About as simple  as it gets, just a dress and pretty shoes with minimal accessories.

Although the outfit itself is composed of dark shades, it satisfies my current desire to mix "blacks" with "pastels" -- and as a co-captain of Team White I just couldn't leave it without any white, which comes out both with the shoes and the clutch. My skin acts as a pastel in this case as does, of course, the baby blue earrings, although hubby would argue that my skin actually adds to the white element ;) With less exposed skin, I don't think I'd feel good in this much charcoal/black. Since I'm not very happy in dark tops with my hair down (it's just toooooo much dark up by my face) up went the hair which also saved me some time since hair-down is a lot more work than hair-up, even if it doesn't look it. Soft cherry-pink lip gloss, double-coated mascara and retro sunnies to add a little extra femme, and out the door I went.

Interestingly enough, dresses always seem to grab people as being more dressy. I got several comments about being "dressed up" and was I going out to something fancy that night after work? Nope, just a casual dinner out for Friday date night. This is a casual dress to me; the top half is jersey, and the bottom a semi-waxed lightweight suede. I'm always curious what it is about dresses that make them seem inherently dressier, more even than skirts seem to. Perhaps because they're not seen as often these days? I wonder if that is a regional thing.

Available items collected below. Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

I say "sort of summer" because it's not super warm, just in the low 70s; I love wearing my sleeveless vests over sleeveless tops in mild weather, it's especially comfortable for days where a jacket would be too much and I’m not in the mood for sleeves (like today). Coincidentally I wore this the day before Angie's great summer vest ensemble post (and before seeing that day's post about summer vests) ^^ No peep toe booties for the outfit but I did keep with the ankle interest, opting for ankle-strap pumps and rolling the hems of the trousers.

This cream moto vest is rather oversized when open, and somewhat oversized zipped up. To keep it a bit more streamlined looking, I wore a tonal ivory sequined top beneath it. I didn't want to wear jeans, so I pulled out these very relaxed, lightweight trousers; also found the hectic checks a fun match for the sequins. The hems are turned up once, though it's not super noticeable, which puts them just above the ankle straps of the pumps. Last year I'd have worn this with white pumps, and even though I've only had these pumps a short time, I can already tell that I'll enjoy the added texture (suede) and color interest (light gray) that they'll add to my white-heavy outfits. Had extra wild hair, so I opted for simple silver circular earrings to echo the sequins and coral lip gloss. Chose the neon-streaked black clutch to add a little extra chaos and pick up on the hectic plaid of the pants.

Available items collected below. Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.