Aida ~

Ok so after reviewing my last year or two's summery outfits, I actually do the white with dark cropped pants less than I thought I did (probably helps that I don't wear cropped pants all that often, and also that a hard drive crash last spring cost me a chunk of my photos so my records are incomplete). Here's most of what I found, with longest pants at the start. #1 is the only one from this season, I wore it earlier this week actually (aside: suuuuuuper high happiness, holy cats!); I suppose those pants are closer to full-length than cropped but I included them anyway. #8-10 start to kinda employ those tips so they also probably don't count, but they are light footwear when probably dark would work "better".

I'm noticing that oftentimes the white footwear is "bookending" a white top, or at the very least a lot of exposed skin (which on me may as well be white), so that's probably a big factor to why I feel like they work well. I think as long as I include enough skin or lightness elsewhere in the outfit, I'm personally just more comfortable with lighter footwear than with black. No need to answer (rest those wrists!), just wanted to share :)

(Of course, feel free to comment ladies! Work continues to be super busy, but I'm hoping I can get some outfits posted up soooooon <3)

Short work week, as tomorrow morning I'm off to Arizona for a much needed week of baseball and sunshine ... and a shopping date with Claire, woohoo! :D

#2 Monday - I've been having fun using these mid-rise pants the way I would proper high-waisted pants, if I wore them. Paired with a boxy cropped sweater and an only-visible-when-I-move layer of black underneath (cami, socks). Cream booties for bookending, long silver earrings to add a little extra vertical integrity, and orange lipgloss because it's my favorite with white+blue. You can see why I'm not into high-waisted pants for me -- I won't have any torso left!

#3 Tuesday - Felt inspired to pull out my own very boxy top after seeing Neel's fab outfit this morning. This ponte top is very stiff and very rectangular, pretty opposite what's underneath. Even the neckline is stiff; the faux-leather piping causes it to stand out resulting in a flower-pot effect along the neckline. Paired with flared jeans to balance the volume (plus the fitted thighs add some structure), black pumps to pick up on the black trim, and plum lippie because it felt the least expected with the white+blue.

#4 Detail photos.

Hope you gals have a fabulous week! Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

Work outfits for the week! Sorry I can't write as much as I usually would, but this has been (and will continue into the weekend) an insanely busy work week. Detail photos all together at the end; did gunmetal nails for the week. Cliff notes for each outfit:

#2 - Monday. Haven't worn this little knit blazer in a couple years, but it keeps surviving the Purge because its sunny shade of orange is one of my faves. Tried to offset the less current shrunken fit by wearing my slim white BFs up higher (making them look like relaxed straights) so the proportions are more similar to high-waisted pants. Gold accessories and bright candy pink lipstick because, you know, it wasn't bright enough already.

#3 - Tuesday: This started as an attempt at Angie's recent Lemon, Light Blue, and Cognac ensemble but I didn't like how earthy the cognac felt with the already rustic gingham and distressed light denim; swapped it for white, my favorite for this color pairing. Silver accessories and soft pink lippe for extra contrast against the bright golden yellow.

#4 - Wednesday. Was in the mood for something cuddly for a very long work day -- cashmere sweater, wooly shorts, sweater tights, faux-shearling lined boots, BIG furry scarf, soft knit hat... Yep that should do the trick ;) Coral lip gloss with parted-and-lifted hair to help counter all the charcoal.

#5 - Thursday. Angie had commented about seeing gals in HK wearing cropped pants over leggings, and this pairing has been stuck in my head since. Today was finally the right weather to try it, totally love the effect although I know this won't be everyone's cuppa. Worn with my longest sweater for a long torso look, but offset to more normal looking proportions by the tall pumps; chose this boiled wool pair for the extra color and literal texture, as my black patent pumps felt too similar to the crops. I equally enjoyed the legging+crop pairing with a shorter top and pointy flats, which I'll wear in the near future. Finished with red lipstick for a little shot of color.

#6 - Friday. Also haven't worn these ultra baggy flares in a couple years; last time around they got 4" heels, so they're super long. For today, they're held up higher with a zebra belt (bonus: peeks out whenever I move) and paired with taller heels (2.75"). I'm mulling over hemming them for 2" heels to wear as a BF-alternative this summer, not sure; they're verrryyy baggy. Decided to play up the volume and pair with a voluminous top. Black accents for contrast, and soft pink lipstick to keep my hair as the primary dark contrasting element.

OK, well, I guess it still ended up long! Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome ^^

Hi ladies, it's been a while ^^ Work has been extra hectic! I've been checking in on the forum and dutifully snapping outfit photos every day even though I haven't been posting, and promise that I've been representing YLF well. I've got some favorites picked out from the past few months which I'd really like to have in my YLF blog, so if you gals will indulge me I'm going to do a photo-heavy post of winter favorites and weekend looks soon. As much as I want to get back to posting more regularly, I probably couldn't go back to daily or near-daily until the end of the month or so. In the meantime I'm starting with two weeks of work outfits, sorry for the overload ;)

I haven't really been shopping so all of these outfits are composed of "old" items, as is the case with much of what I've been wearing overall this season. Since our winter has been so mild (sorry to the gals who are buried in snow!) I've been able to use several pieces from this past spring/summer's purchases (in these outfits, the white skinnies and windowpane trousers). Everything else here is at least a year or more old. I have been grateful for the mild weather since it's allowed me to mix my all-season items in with my fall/winter pieces to keep things feeling fresher! In particular here: a couple of pieces were purchased for fall out of season last spring (the marled sweater in #1 and the colorblocked cashmere sweater in #5), one is a gift from my sis (the holo clutch), and just two are actual "new for fall" purchases (the chain detail booties and the leo clutch).

Not going to write a whole thing about each outfit, just a brief thing or two:

1. Inspired by Angie's ensemble to mix ink, brown, gray, and black but obviously sans ink (has olive and denim blue instead).
2. I don't know if I'll participate in the high-waisted pants trend, but I have been enjoying tucking into my few mid-rise bottoms.
3. Also still enjoying mixing pastels with black.
4. An old favorite combo. Didn't end up wearing it without the jacket.
5. A take on mixing black,red, and white with some gray thrown in for good measure (more colors! more patterns!).
6. Another take on mixing black, red, and white with my skin acting as the white element (a perk of being pale). You gals have already seen this on Angie's Westfield Chinese New Year's blog post.
7. Detail photos for the week. Plum lippie in 1, 3, and 4; orange in 2; cherry-pink in 5; nude-for-me peach in 6.
8. Even though it's been fairly dry I haven't worn many of my wider pants this winter. This is a favorite outfit from early last year.
9. A little romantic-tomboy in dark and moody colors. I normally wouldn't wear my hair down with an outfit this dark, but the huge swathe of lace on the neckline of this sweater goes a long way to making me feel light enough.
10. Haven't worn this dress in a couple years but the wintery colors and light fabrication make it quite nice for spring-like weather!
11. A more standard weekend look for me, but I needed the outfit to also work for a hockey game in the evening. Made sure to incorporate several black elements to help the exposed black tights balance better.
12. Detail photos for the week. Plum lippie all week.

Overall, despite being only somewhat happy with my current fall/winter wardrobe I am still quite happy with the way I've been able to style those pieces this season, particularly when I'm able to mix in items from my spring/summer wardrobe which, stylistically, resonate better with me.

As always comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!