Aida ~

I had this crazy idea to experiment with a week of outfits which have adjacent tertiary color pairings (they have such drama!). These are the first ideas I had; two of them need tweaking to keep with the tertiary theme but I'm not sure I have the items to do so:

1. red/red orange
2. gold/moss green
3. yellow green/blue green (skips over adjacent to next tone)
4. blue green/blue
5. dark blue/purple (skips over adjacent to next tone)

Too crazy? Thoughts?

:)

After reading and rereading Angie's post on footwear for midi-length skirts and dresses, I've got a good idea of which of my shoes will work with midis for me. Except a few tricky ones :) Would love to get some feedback on what you gals think of these. No styling done here, but I do wear this skirt with the waist defined as I have here. And I promise when I wear it out of the house I make sure the hem actually falls correctly (it's a bit longer in the back, but I apparently turned it to the right for these photos).

1. Heeled ankle boots.
2. Heeled hiking/moto boots with tread.
3. Flat slouchy mid-calf boots.
4. Flat skimmers.
5. Heeled loafers (I think they're loafers?).
6. Heeled loafers.

And an additional question regarding the loafers in #5-8. #7 (brown) is detail of #5, and #8 (black) is a detail of #6. These are both 6+ years old, and haven't been worn in a long time because I generally dislike chunkier heels. In light of the platform loafers I'm seeing (I also generally dislike platforms), I thought perhaps they were worth a look. Do they look dated or could I still wear them? I do realize they are both in dire need of conditioner and polish :) Thanks ladies!

EDIT: Swapped my newer photos of the loafers for nicer photos that I took several years ago :)

So my husband told me that he finds tucked shirts too masculine looking (also blazers, but that's a whole other thing). I'm not sure if he means in general or just on me, but I don't see this at all. Curious what you ladies think, because I had no good answer for him?

Natalie posted about a fun remixing challenge where we take 12 current basics and mix with 6 new fall items. I have been super busy with work so I didn't have time to actually dress up and snap photos, but I did do some little sketches on the computer which I thought I'd share. #1 shows the setup, and #2-6 show outfits based around each new piece; these are all pieces you've seen before, either in WIW posts or in KeepOrReturn posts (well maybe not the lace top, never quite figured that one out).

I didn't think I'd picked my basics for the challenge very well and yet to my surprise I was able to come up with 48 (!!) new combinations; and far more than that if we include how accessories can drastically change many of these looks. I'd been hoping to take one of these outfits and style 3 versions with accessories as an example of this, but *sigh* no time. Maybe this weekend :)

My take away from this is... I have a LOT of outfit options at my disposal. Way more than I'd thought, especially since the "old" 12 items are but a fraction of what I've got in my closet. Of course, some of these may be better "on paper" than in practice but it was still a very useful exercise. I have decided that I need to do another pass through my closet and be much more strict about purging those not-quite-perfect or not-quite-my-style items. Thanks for suggesting this great challenge, Natalie!

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

My apologies for double posting this outfit, but I would love to have some discussion about the intricacies of pattern mixing. This particular mix met a varied response. Some people thought it worked, others didn't. Paraphrasing the reasons given:

Worked: The top's small print almost reads as a solid; black & white tones are echoed in the skirt.

Didn't work: Too busy; need to be in more similar tones; need another element of the teal in the outfit.

Would love to hear more thoughts on this mix (and complex mixing in general), and what makes it work or not work for you, alone or in context of the whole outfit. I've added a close-up of the top's print; it is composed of black, white, and turquoise which I think got a bit lost in the original photo. Does this change your opinion on whether the pattern mix works? If not, what would you change? If you could swap one of these pieces to another patterned piece, what would it be?

I'll post my own rationale behind this particular outfit after we get some discussion going, I'm curious to hear your thoughts first :)

On the first day of spring this year, I decided to experiment with not wearing black for the season (some of you may remember/have noticed this). That's not to say that I wouldn't wear it at all (it is a very good neutral for me, and I do love it), but I wanted to swap out black as my core neutral and replace it with white/light gray. It has been a very interesting and enlightening exercise! I wouldn't limit myself so strongly next year, but it was certainly useful this year (and really helped me figure out what my "summer style" is).

The main thing I'm taking from this is how to successfully not wear black; with my very dark hair, I had been feeling like I _always_ needed some black elements which is certainly not the case. I'm very excited to be able to put together full looks with zero/few dark elements and still feel balanced. It also helped me feel summery when our summer has been so cold and wet (until the last week or two, but I don't have any of those photos ready, doh!).

I found I wore more black for the first month, then less, then a lot less. I'll probably start working it in more next month as we approach fall. In fact, when organizing my fall stuff this past weekend I had a bit of panic when I saw HOW MUCH BLACK there was; clearly, I'm not used to it any more!

I've attached some photo samples for fun (both neutral and colorful outfits), you've only seen the first four of these so cheers if you made it this far :) Has anyone else done this type of experiment? Would love to discuss!

I'm planning to buy my very first (!) silk shirt and was wondering if silk is a seasonal fabric, and if so which? Also, anything I should know about silk care?

(It's an olive tab-sleeve camp shirt so cut and color will work for all seasons.)

... for inspiring me to try things I never thought to try! I'm wearing nude microfishnets today for the first time, something I would never in a million years have thought to wear. Mainly because before coming here I had no idea these even existed. I'm pretty sure they're one of the most brilliant hosiery I've ever worn. Thanks for helping me push my boundaries :D

(Got these from Target, $8. Very light tan color, good for pale gals with olive tones. EDIT: These are actually by Hanes, not Target's brand; added a photo of the package. They seem like decent quality to me but I haven't owned expensive hosiery before so I have nothing to compare to except other non-premium tights :) )

Tried the long walk shorts with boots (#1-4), heels (#5), and heeled sandals (#6). Still unsure about the longer length. Here is a sampling of footwear. I wouldn't necessarily wear this top, it's just what I had on the day I took the photos. Hope some of the boot combos work, I wore one of them today (feel free to guess, you'll see it tomorrow!) :)

Part one found here.

EDIT: I'm not against keeping this pair long and finding a second shorter pair IF the longer length works with some of these types of footwear.

I bought these longer walk shorts (not really sure what this type of short is named?) recently, and I love the wide-leg vibe they have. They barely hit the top of my calf just as it's curving in, so I am still concerned that they may be too long for short me. Photo #1 shows them with heels (looks best, to me), photo #2 shows them with flats (not sure about this), photo #3 shows my knee and calf curve for reference.

The material is heavier, so I wouldn't wear them when it's truly warm out (so.. basically as long as it's below 80F), and would also like the option of wearing them with boots (never done that before). Would love to know what you all think of the length and fit of these, and if you have any styling ideas that would also be fun to hear. Thanks!