Aida ~

I actually had two other outfits planned for today. The first one was for heavy rain which we ended up not having (that outfit will come out to play soon enough), and the second I decided was perfect to wear this Saturday for the epic shopping day. Then I got myself stumped, having apparently used all of my creative energy on those other two outfits. Was in the mood for cozy+exposed legs, this knit skirt was the perfect solution.

The top is less cozy I suppose, but it has a roomy and comfortable fit. I am still feeling reluctant to really start with the sweaters, so I looked at my other options. I haven't worn this chambray shirt in, goodness, nearly two years? No particular reason other than I just haven't been in the mood for it. It's actually rather long, and this skirt band sits at my natural waist which is rather high. That coupling makes semi-tucking an interesting challenge, solved by by tucking just the bottom of the shirt all along the front, and letting it drape over; makes for a nice faux high-low look. Light supporting cast because that's what makes me happiest: nude peep-toe oxford shoeties to ward off the rain (that's how it works, right??), large cream/black hoops, and white spiked purse. Finished off with a swipe of autumnal plum gloss.
   Newer: purse
   Older: everything else

Bonus hair photos that show the cut a bit better; I lightened up the photos so the short top layers (I don't usually go that short for longer cuts) are more visible. A much less dramatic angle than before, and more of the the shorter pieces in front so the long part is closer to my shoulders instead of more in line with my chin. We also changed the part up a bit; I had been parting straight back on the side, now the part starts from the same spot but cuts back diagonally across the other way. Subtle differences to most, but it feels pretty different to me :)

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

The past two days have been very gloomy and wet, but it's looking like the weather should clear up for this weekend's crazy YLF festivities. Normally I wear something bright when it's glum out, but these past two days I've apparently been in a neutrals mood. Forgot I was doing newer/older, added that back in for today (newer meaning SS14 or FW14).

#2/3 - Ya'all may have noticed that checks are, by far, my favorite pattern. I have a lot of them in my wardrobe, and am not opposed to wearing several at once. I do realize that this is a rather hectic mix that may not be everyone's cuppa :) My initial plan for this outfit was with my checked pointy (silky canvas) flats to really have All The Checks, but with the heavy rain forecasted for the second half of the day I decided against them. Instead I pulled out cream booties that have some black blocking; the extra cream also helps ground the mix a bit. Popped on a silver belt and semi-tucked the sweater, even though I rarely do so with these pants (the rise is higher than I like), and turned the hems up for a sort-of-geeky-shorter-than-ankle-length thing. Accessorized with big crystal studs, white spiked purse, and better-than-nude peachy lip balm. Also extra crazy hair, but hey that works with the mix.
   Newer: belt, boots, purse
   Older: sweater, pants

#4-6 - Yesterday Jackie posted a great outfit of Gwen Stefani's, which I used as inspiration for today. The pants, blazer, and booties were all easy choices. For the top, my first thought was to go with something sparkly (go glam!). But after trying my sparkly tops, both of which are white, I didn't think the vibe quite lined up so instead I pulled out a gray/black striped tee and popped on a cream beret with silvery threads to add that additional white element back in. Sleeves up to echo the exposed calves and add lightness to the dark look. Finished accessorizing with some dainty punky jewelry, retro sunnies and, of course, bright red lipstick. It still didn't feel like quite enough glam/sparkle/shine, so I grabbed my taupe slightly-shimmery clutch (I did try my gold sequin clutch but that wasn't quite right either; something about sequins just didn't work with this look). Harder edge than usual, but still plenty of soft and glam so I am perfectly happy in this. Thanks for sharing the great inspo photo, Jackie!
   Newer: hat, bracelets
   Older: blazer, tee, pants, booties, clutch, ring

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

As Viva posted earlier, the Seattle mini-meetup this weekend was a lot of fun! Here's what I wore for the day, which ended up just right for breakfast but tooooo warm once the day was under way (it ended up in the 80s!). I had spent the whole prior week sick, so this was a big outing for me. Nothing like spending time with YLF friends to lift ones spirits!

With the whole just-having-been-sick thing, I was mostly concerned about feeling comfortable and cuddly. So I decided to wear slouchy linen BF pants and a cozy plaid flannel. Kept with the warm-toned thing and wore my cheetah wedge booties; my first thought was cognac booties, which I don't have, but I have to say I'm really pleased with the print and color mix that the cheetah provides. Accented with metals -- primarily gold, but really a mixed bag: silver/gold rings, gold belt/earrings, and rose gold watch/purse spikes. And finished everything off with a white purse (for some extra brightness), retro sunnies (for a touch of glam), and better-than-nude peachy lip balm (to keep things casually-natural). Felt perfectly comfortable and cuddly (and fab) in this ^^

[Though I think I upped the contrast a bit too high on the photos, this was actually quite a soft colored outfit. So imagine the whole thing a bit more muted ;) ]

As an aside, I did manage to make it to the salon to get my hair cut a few days prior. We changed the shape up a bit: still angled, though less severe, and moved the long bits back so they're closer to my shoulder with more shorter pieces in front. Also lots of really short layers up top which I don't usually do with longer cuts. Still getting used to it, but it's pretty fun so far! I'll try to get a better photo of it soon.

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

Three recent easy weekend outfits. The weather remains rather warm, though we are certainly headed into fall (my driveway has the fallen maples leaves to back this up). Still, I'm not quite ready to pull out the heavy stuff ;)

#1 (08.23) - Worn to a baseball game (last of the season for our little Single A team at home *sniffle*). It was warm, but I knew it would cool off quite a lot once the game got underway; plus we were sticking around for the fireworks show afterwards. Even with the blanket we brought I ended up too cold, go figure! To change things up, instead of rolling the jeans over the tops of the boots I turned up just the inside half of each hem. Quite like how it looks. Finished the look off with my weekend fringe bag, retro hair and peach sunnies, and better-than-nude peachy lip balm.
   Newer: sweater, jeans, boots, bag
   Older: hoops, watch

#2/3 (09.04) - Worn hanging out at home with hubby and sis for football. Wanted vaguely Team Sport colors so I went for the blues... only to find that all of my blue is for cold weather! How (and when exactly) did that happen!? Even though it was tooooo warm for the day, I pulled out this light aqua tunic sweater. For a more structured look I created a faux diagonal hem by semi-tucking the side where it splits, and then folding the hem over with a bit of tape at the end to hold it in place. [EDIT: what it normally looks like] Paired with cognac and light snakeskin d'orsay flats, which feels like the perfect "transition to fall" footwear (both color and shape). Accessorized with vintage chunky teal earrings, just for fun ^^
   Newer: jeans, shoes
   Older: sweater, earrings, watch

#4 (09.08) - Worn for a day off at home. I wasn't sure if we'd end up leaving the house or not so I thought I'd dust off and re-test one of my go-to fall weekend formulas: flannel + skinnies + boots. Add a semi-tuck with fun belt, simple hoops and nude peachy lip balm, easy-peasy done. Even though we ended up staying home I'm glad to know one of my favorite FFB formulas still feels good. And if we had ended up leaving the house, I'd have grabbed a black clutch to go along with this.
   Newer: jeans, shoes
   Older: flannel, belt, hoops, watch

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

For many years now, our Labor Day Weekend tradition is to spend the weekend "camping" with all of our friends. Why the quotes? Because it's just barely technically so -- We rent out a small beach house on Camano Island, and then all pitch our tents out in the yard ;) It's always a wonderful weekend, and the perfect way to start winding down summer. We relax, play yard games, go crabbing, and cook up a storm! Feel free to skip ahead to the photos ^^

Extra casual is in order and, even though we have full amenities, my husband and I both skewed to our usual light packing; all of our clothing and toiletries fit into a large duffel bag. Since we had a bit more room than with normal camping, I brought a little more than I usually would for four days:

• 1 jacket (lined faux-leather moto)
• 3 tops (two sweaters, one tee)
• 2 bottoms (faded skinny jeans, blackwatch skinny jeans)
• 3 shoes (sandals, sneakers, boots)
• 1 hat, 1 belt, 1 pair sunglasses, 1 pair of silver hoops, and my watch

I also brought an extra top (yellow gingham, unworn) and an extra topper (hoodie, unworn) because we just weren't sure what the weather was going to give us; we got a little bit of everything, and my packing had me well prepared. I do wish I'd brought shorts though, the third day was bonafide HOT (up in the 80s)!

So here are my outfits for the weekend (#1-4). I missed photographing two outfit iterations, so you'll have to do a little imagining here: for nighttime #1 was worn top untucked with the moto, and #3 got sneakers and full-length jeans unrolled once evening rolled around. Also some extra photos from the weekend including the obligatory campfire shot. Hubby and I also had fun playing with the long exposure settings on my little camera after everyone went to sleep, and we got some nifty star photos (#8); I brightened up the color and contrast on those because, well, they're just prettier that way.

A few side thoughts that came up: The first, I had been waffling about keeping this NAS moto since I don't generally wear dark brown; I decided, literally the morning we left, that I would keep it and was much happier wearing it than I'd expected. Second, these jeans bagged out a LOT within an hour of putting them on; I'm hoping to get to Nordies this weekend to see if I can try a size down because I really want these to be a more tailored fit! And third and most importantly, sorting out my active-casual capsule this summer has made me feel a LOT more comfortable with extra casual dressing, and I was able to fully enjoy the weekend without fussing over what I was wearing; now to do the same for fall/winter!

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

Anna recently posted a lovely outfit featuring a soft top with a harness, the effect of which was a bit like a peplum top, paired with distressed BF jeans and booties. I immediately thought of copycatting with my own white peplum top, even though it's not one of my favorite pieces. However I quite like the pairing with the decidedly more tomboy lower half! These boots are new and I'll write more about them later, but for now I'll say that after pining for them all spring and summer (seriously) I'm very happy to have finally pulled the trigger! Just the type of purchase I need to be making.
 
It's not super warm out today (only around 70F) so I debated tossing a cropped lace moto over the top, but decided to leave that version for a much cooler day (and goodness knows we'll have plenty of those coming up sooner than not). Kept with the girlier top half and left my hair down and extra soft, then accessorized with looooong dangly earrings, a double coat of mascara, and plum lip gloss for a touch of autumn since the look is very light. The taupe clutch picks up on the back of the boots, although they're not seen unless I'm sitting or in motion.

Despite not really liking this top, I'm very happy in this outfit. Thanks for the inspiration as always, Anna! And for those curious about the new-old ratio:
Newer - jeans, boots
Older - top, earrings, clutch

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

For a day that started out as pleasantly warm but overcast then turned into heavily stormy/windy/rainy (oh yes, fall is definitely coming), I pulled out an older 3-season pencil skirt that hadn't gotten much wear this season. To make it feel up-to-date I paired with some  items from this S/S season (a loose sweater and flat pointy boots) along with some older items (the black clutch and doorknocker earrings). Along with the dark accessories, I chose a plum lip gloss to further skew the outfit to fall. The mix of items, the color palette, and the silhouette all read current despite being composed of primarily older pieces. Very happy with how this outfit came out!

Feel free to skip the wardrobe mullings below and go straight to the photos :)

Mullings: With a much more limited clothing budget than in previous years, this season I am especially interested in 1) finding ways to freshen up pieces that I already have with selective and minimal input, and 2) identifying pieces that aren't currently 10s in fit that would become so with alteration (of which there are plenty, since much of my wardrobe was built when I was a size larger; thank goodness oversized is in!). Then by extension, 3) actually getting those alterations done. I very much want to keep with the trendy aspect of my style, so the trick will be finding ways to keep feeling fashion-forward enough with limited new items (definitely going to have to select wisely) versus the higher turnover I usually have. 

I'm also keen on finding ways to extend the wear for some of my favorite warmer weather pieces for the milder fall days ahead; many of my summer pieces are newer, and would help make some of my older fall pieces feel more current. I've been a couple years with virtually no layering and minimizing the number of pieces in an outfit, and now I'm feeling ready to return to a more heavily layered outfit here and there which should also help to extend some of those more summery pieces.

After wearing primarily new pieces this spring/summer season, it felt nice to pull out a couple of old favorites (and I have plenty of those in my fall wardrobe). As many of you know, I tend not to repeat outfits. But this coming F/W season I've decided to purposefully wear particularly favorite pairings more often and just change up the supporting act; my hunch is that some of my older pieces are going to need specific newer pieces to look forward enough for me. Still have a bit to sort out, but honestly so far this all makes me feel a bit trepidatious as I haven't taken this approach in years (like.. 5+). We'll see how it goes! If you stuck this all out, thanks for reading and I'd be very interested to hear any and all thoughts on this ^^

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