My Style

I tend to wear many different styles and I like to dress differently based on my mood or circumstances. However, I would say that when it comes down to it, I have a distinctive personal style. The next two outfits are very representative of this style.

Black with a punch of color (puce), vintage mini skirt, friend-made earrings, sassy boots, a touch of comfort and warmth with a Henley and sweater tights. This is perfect.

Black and camel, my signature jacket, something from Poppy, big friend-made earrings, badass boots and a hat. This is me.

Feeling Blue

Blue is not a color that I wear very often, but apparently, I was feeling it in November.  The color is especially dynamic when paired with my new orange corduroy jacket.

I came up with this outfit in an attempt to wear this little blue sweater. I think it's OK, but it would be better in warmer weather so I don't have to wear the awkward socks. 

The chambray shirt is becoming one of my new favorite clothing items. I call this look, the cool professor.

Dress

This is a dress that I love, but have only ever worn for special occasions. It's not terribly fancy, but there's something about it that makes it more formal that casual. I wanted to wear it as an everyday dress, so I paired it with this corduroy jacket and I think it does the trick.

Vintage Dresses

Earrings - Dottir

This dress came from a garage sale that I recently attended where everything was free. Free I tell you! I'm really proud of myself for not pulling my van up to the door and filling it completely because believe me there was enough beautiful stuff at this sale to do so. It was hard because the "sale" was put on by a woman around my age with almost the exact same style as me. Same color pallet and a knack for vintage flair. She was however, a different size (petite 6, whereas I'm a tall 10), making it easier for me to take a reasonable amount of clothing. I contemplated each piece one at a time and determined if it would fit and how it would work with my current wardrobe. Once I got home and tried everything on, there were a couple of  duds, but mostly I feel like I made out like a bandit. 

Is this dress me or what? I didn't get it at the free garage sale, but I was wearing the above outfit when I bought this dress at My Sister's Closet. I don't know why that matters, but it gives me pleasure to make connections.

Chuck Taylor Love Story

Earrings by Dottir

For many years, Chuck Taylors were my go-to shoe. I would buy a pair, wear them for about 3 years until they literally fell apart and then begrudgingly buy a new pair that I quickly broke in to that perfect comfort spot. My last pair wore out nearly 5 years ago and at that point, I could no longer find my size in stores. I'm not too fond of buying shoes online, so I just didn't replace them. Finally, I was so sick of my lack of casual shoes that I gave in and bought a pair online. And I've gotta tell ya, I have no regrets. I bought the charcoal color, a first for me and I absolutely love it. The color goes with everything. Even though I didn't get to try them on before I purchased them, they fit perfectly. Now whenever I'm not sure which shoes to wear, I just put on my Chucks and that's almost always the right choice. 

Earrings by Layla's Elaborations

Ooh, lovin' on the dress. I got this trapeze dress at a Buffalo Exchange in Denver, CO. I love thrift shopping when I travel. I used to love to buy souvenirs, but now I just buy used clothes. I believe that every piece of clothing holds a story, not only my story, but the untold story of the previous owner. This makes me feel like I'm collecting a part of the town that I visit. Now every time I wear this dress I have fond memories of my time spent in Colorado, which is linked to the dress' hopefully fond times with it's previous owner in Colorado. Who knows, maybe this dress was abused, but I like to think it was loved in some way.

I got this dress because I was at a buy 2, get 1 free sale at Urban Archaeology and this was the freebie. It's too big, but the colors in the plaid are incredible. This outfit was OK, but I think this dress is gonna need some alterations to really work.

Two hours into the day and I ripped the heel of my boot right off. Super bummed and I let everyone know it throughout the day.

Bye boots.

You were loved.

Back to those Chucks making everything come together.

Notes on Puce

"Gettin' it in camel"

If I could commit to something like a "Fall fashion concept", this would be it.

Earrings - Layla's Elaborations

I'm not sure how to correctly portray the color of these tights. The packaging says that they're "olive oil". Olive oil is just a marketable Puce, which is what I call this color. However, when I googled the color puce, I found this color name to be quite controversial. Apparently, "puce" is a dark reddish purple, but when I took a small poll, the general public thinks puce is a dark greenish yellow. Maybe this has something to do with associations with the term "puke green". Now I'm left totally confused and ashamed of my color naming abilities.

Whatever you want to call it, I love the color and I love these sweater tights from Poppy. I'm going to be wearing them a lot this coming Fall and Winter, so I had better get a "puce" (or whatever) colored marker to better represent them in my drawings.

Necklace by LaLunette

I woke up this morning with thoughts of casual comfort. I was gonna wear some jeans and a simple top and feel great about myself. I don't know how it happened, but this is what I came up with: black slacks, a backless blouse and high-heeled boots. I'm so messed up. I can't not get fancy.

Clothing Exchange Part II

The following outfits were created using items from the last clothing exchange hosted by and for Prairie Fire Lady Choir. Now those are some stylish women!

These pants! I never thought I'd own and enjoy skinny jeans, let alone distressed skinny jeans, but these are wonderful. This is why I love the clothing exchange. You try things that you never thought you'd try and end up loving them. Yay for new already broken in pants!

I think I'm going to be Frida Kahlo for Halloween.

Necklace by LaLunette

Again with the skinny jeans! Now black skinny jeans are something that I've actually been wanting for a long time and for some reason couldn't find the perfect pair. They were always too short or too tight or too low rise, etc. These are great! They're high waisted with a thick elastic waist band, so they're really comfy! They were also taken in a couple of inches by the previous owner, making them a perfect fit because now they're nice and long.

Earrings by Dottir

This dress is also something I would never think to buy, but I love it. It goes perfectly with many of my accessories, especially this necklace (also from the clothing exchange).

This skirt was the first thing that I picked up at the exchange and it had my name written all over it. The colors on this drawing are a little off and the skirt is actually a bright orange (surprise!). I have a very similar skirt already in mint green that I wear a lot and thought that the orange version would be even more versatile. I was right. I've already worn it several times with many different colors and styled in different ways. I love this combo as I'm always looking for more ways to wear this crop top.

Clothing Dilemmas and a New Dress

This dress is from my last visit to Sioux Falls. There's a new vintage store downtown and they were having a sale. Buy 2, get 1 free. Of course I found 3 gorgeous garments to take home for way less money than I would have spent in the cities.

I bought this jacket at Lula. At the time, there was a dress with it. The dress was kind of hideous and it did not fit. I asked if I could buy the jacket separately and was denied. She said that it's rare to find vintage separates like this still paired together and did not want to break them up. Respectfully, but disrespectfully, I bought the set. It was no loss to me because I've worn the jacket enough times to offset the cost of buying a dress that I would never wear. However, it was a loss to the vintage fashion community because I ended up consigning the dress alone without it's pair. Years later, while walking down the street, I spied the dress in the window of a different vintage clothing store (not the one I consigned it at). I guess the lady at Lula was right because without it's jacket, this orphan dress keeps getting passed from store to consumer to store and that's my fault. While I felt bad about it at first, I've made peace with my choices because dresses don't have feelings.

This is a crop top that I've been trying to figure out how to style. We all know that I'm into crop tops, but I generally wear them fitted. This one is all loosey goosey and makes me uncomfortable when paired with a skirt, like I'm Christine Ricci in Black Snake Moan. I honestly don't understand the physics of her boob/shirt situation.

Here, I paired it with a fitted Maxi dress. Very cute and comfortable, but too hot for late July.

Olive Leather Jacket

I scored this sweet jacket at Primrose Park almost for free with a 50% off sale and a gift certificate. I love being thrifty. The color is a beautiful shade of olive that works as a neutral and could go with almost any color. The leather is really soft and supple. I believe "buttery" is the term. The cut is vintage and futuristic at the same time. It's exquisite. So, I wore it as many times as I could before it got too hot to bear. The following are some examples of how I styled it. 

I wore this to the America concert at the Medina Entertainment Center. 

Don't ask.

I love that olive goes with everything, like cobalt and fluorescent red. Colors are neat.

Also, I wrote on this drawing that I bought this dress at ModCloth. This is a lie. I got it at Poppy.

Foxy Zebra

Similar shirt - TJ Maxx

Similar skirt

Similar belt

Similar boots

Similar earrings

I asked my husband if it hurt to look at me when I got dressed this morning. He said no, but I think he thought it was a trick question.

Outfit Repeat

Sweater - TJ Maxx

Similar dress - Target

Similar scarf

Similar sandals

Similar earrings

Because of the long weekend, I made the mistake of writing the date on this drawing incorrectly. Monday was the 25th, making Tuesday the 26th of May. However, I will admit that I wore this outfit two days in a row because I liked it that much. I wore it on Monday to see a movie and go to a barbecue and then I wore it to work the next day. So technically, I wrote the date correctly and gave away my secret.

Versatile Crop Top!

Similar crop-top - Proper & Prim

Similar blouse

Similar pants - Poppy

Similar booties - DSW

Similar earrings

I came up with this outfit in an effort to make this crop top work appropriate. Ta-da! 

It helps that I can pretty much wear whatever I want to work, like faux leather pants and crop tops.

This Dress!

Similar dress - Target

Shirt

Boots

Similar necklace

Similar earrings

I freaking love this dress! I bought this a couple months ago and wear it all the time. So often that I'm really surprised that this is the first time it's been in an outfit drawing. Seriously, my husband has made the comment "are you gonna wear that everyday?" because sometimes I wear it everyday. I actually think it was supposed to be a maternity dress because it contains all of the qualities I love in maternity dresses. It's really long and simple and stretchy and comfy and it's unbelievably cute.

That Dress!

Similar dress

Tights

Boots

I picked this dress up at a clothing exchange because I thought it had potential. I liked the little yellow print and the huge 70s collar but thought is was ill-fitting and a bit frumpy. I wore it right away when I got it and you can see here how it fit before. After taking it in an inch and shortening it by a few more, I think it looks pretty great. Now I love this dress.

Sporty Spice

Similar sweater

Similar tank - Lucy

Pants

Boots

Earrings

Similar hat

This outfit makes me feel like Sporty Spice in the Winter.

We Are The Willows

T-shirt

Skirt

Tights

Similar sweater - PacSun

Boots

Similar earrings

This is the other side of my reversible wonder skirt and it goes perfectly with my new We Are The Willows t-shirt. Yay!

I got the shirt when I saw them last Sunday night at Bedlam Theatre. They performed, along with my choir, at the Voice: Songs for Those Who Are Silenced CD release show. This was the first time that I'd ever seen them live and they are quickly becoming one of my new favorite local bands. Check them out.

Spring Uniform

Similar blouse

Similar skirt

Similar sandals - Target

Similar earrings

I love this outfit. One of my favorite shirts and favorite skirts combined to create what I think encompasses my overall spring aesthetic. 

My Sister's Closet FTW

Shirt - My Sister's Closet

Pants - My Sister's Closet

Sandals - My Sister's Closet

Similar scarf - Mall of St Paul

Can you tell that I really like to shop at My Sister's Closet? I've been shopping and consigning there for years. They have a wide variety of designer and vintage clothes for hella reasonable prices and  I consign there so I almost always have credit. How can you go wrong?

The Mall of St Paul is also my happy place. If you've never been there, please go and not just while you're waiting for a table at The Blue Door. Spend some time, get acquainted, find that perfect thing that you didn't know you couldn't live without (yellow and gray silk scarf).

Crop Top!

Similar top - Proper & Prim

Similar skirt - Target

Tights

Similar booties - DSW

Similar earrings - Poppy

This is the third iteration of this outfit that I came up with today. This oftentimes happens when I buy something new. I get so excited about styling it, that I'll continue to alter my look throughout the day until it's just right.

The first version that I wore to work was the crop top with a brown leather pencil skirt, knee high boots and a jacket. This was cute, but a little uncomfortable. When I got home from work, I changed into a black embellished a-line skirt. Much more comfortable and super cute, but a little chilly for the weather. I had an engagement that evening and changed yet again because I was afraid of being cold. I put on some black tights and a black knit pencil skirt and discovered the best outfit of them all. I threw on my orange leather jacket and felt quite chic. I was, however, overdressed for a casual baby shower, but my friends have come to expect that of me.

T-shirt & Jeans

I remember waking up this morning thinking "I just want to be comfortable today. Maybe a t-shirt and jeans"

I don't know why that combination always pops in my mind when I think of comfort because I haven't been comfortable in a t-shirt and jeans since high school. 

Anywho, I took a trip down to my closet and somehow came up with this ensemble.

A leather skirt with a tight sweater is maybe the opposite of t-shirt and jeans.

Sometimes I just don't understand myself.

Combating Clouds

Here's another outfit from last week that I'm going to forgo giving the deets on.

Last Monday was a stupid, cloudy, rainy day so I wore bright yellow and pink to put myself in a better mood. I don't remember if it worked, but I do tend wear this dress on rainy days. There's just something about it. 

Nautical

Whoa, I'm way behind. This outfit is from 2 weeks ago! I'm not going to take the time to list out the individual garments and where they came from like I normally do. Sorry.

I really adore this outfit. I hardly ever wear blue, but I'm really digging this. This whole look is based on my desire to wear this cute nautical cardigan that I recently scored at Davina's pop-up shop.

I tried it with a red dress and it seemed like I was trying too hard. A white dress managed to cool things off and make the overall look seem somehow easy.

Also, I've been loving these shoes this spring and this is my favorite outfit that I've worn them with. They're absolutely perfect!

Monthly Self Portraits: April

Here's a little cartoon version of myself.

To Pom Pom or not to Pom Pom?

Similar dress - Mall of St Paul

Jacket

Similar tights - Target

Similar shoes - DSW

Similar earrings - Claire's

Does this dress make me look like a clown? I'm debating on whether or not to remove the pom poms. They're really cute, but they might be cuter on something else...like a hat.

Casual Sunday

Similar shirt - Mighty Swell Vintage

Shorts

Similar tights - Target

Shoes

Similar earrings - My Sister's Closet

I wore this for a slow paced day of grocery shopping, dog walking, and art making. To my delight, the day became too hot, that I ended up losing the sweater tights and replacing them with red knee socks and boots. Both outfits were very cute and comfortable.

New Favorite Outfit

Similar shirt

Similar skirt - Up6

Similar necklace - Poppy

Similar boots - DSW

Similar hat - Urban Outfitters

I have so many things to say about this outfit. 

First of all, I've been watching Friends lately and I find that this outfit is very Phoebe inspired. Side note: Phoebe is surprisingly my new favorite character. She's presented as quirky, ditsy and weird, but she usually gives the best advice and comes off as the most grounded and sound minded member of the group. Kind of like Luna in Harry Potter. Also, she dresses cool.

Second, this skirt is actually a maxi dress that I've folded under to fit like a floor-sweeping skirt. This is one of the many things that I do to extend my wardrobe. Just because something was intended to be worn one way, doesn't mean that you have to wear it like that. I wear shit inside out and backwards often. Layering with sleepwear is another go to for me. Dresses as skirts and skirts as dresses is pretty common.

Third, the top is a wash-shrunken shirt that someone gave to me because it was too small for her. It's too small for me too, but I took it anyway. Normally, I wear it underneath things so that you can't tell how short it is. After trying my dress as skirt idea, I thought, this would look really great with a crop top, which I don't have. Bright idea! Wash-shrunken shirt is now a crop top.

Now I want to go out and buy a crop top or two because I foresee them as something that will get a lot of wear this summer.

I topped this all off with my sweet sweet orange leather jacket and this officially became my new favorite outfit. I'm restraining myself from wearing this everyday.

Wonder Skirt

Dress - Poppy

Skirt

Tights

Boots

Similar scarf - Target

Similar earrings

Let's talk about this skirt for a minute. It's one of a kind, it's reversible, it's one size fits all due to the snaps all the way around the waistband and it comes with a little matching purse that clips onto the the skirt. I've seen these at Poppy since I started shopping there and thought they were a great concept, but I was never taken with any of them enough to make a purchase. See, all of the skirts are different and are designed to have a boho mix and match kind of style. While, I think that's brilliant (I do the same with my purses), I didn't care for any of the combinations I saw...until I saw this one. It's pretty darn cute.

Springtime!

Dress - Poppy

Similar skirt - Goodwill

Similar scarf - Target

Similar booties - DSW

Similar necklace

Similar earrings

I bought this skirt months ago and instantly paired it in my head with this bodycon dress. Since then, I've been waiting for an opportunity to wear it. Spring has arrived and the weather is temperate, so my opportunity is now. Nailed it.

Superhero

Similar sweater

Similar tank top

Similar skirt - Goodwill

Boots

Similar earrings - Urban Outfitters

I've been feeling the primary colors lately and I find that wearing red yellow and blue makes me feel like a superhero. If I was a superhero, this skirt would be my cape and I'd probably wear some tough boots and a lot of gold jewelry.

Hippie Meets Preppy

Shirt

Similar jacket

Corduroys - The Gap

Shoes - DSW

Similar hat - Urban Outfitters

Similar necklace

Similar earrings

This look is confusing, but I like it.

Bird Print

Similar dress - Target

Shirt

Similar tights - Target

Similar earrings - My Sister's Closet

Similar boots

Yes, I'm still struggling with drawing this bird print. Oh well, you get the idea.

Fire!

Similar dress - Mighty Swell Vintage

Similar sweater - Target

Similar tights - Target

Shoes

Similar earrings

Recently, I joined the Prairie Fire Lady Choir. I used to be in a similar kind of choir and really missed singing with a group of women. While I really loved my last choir, we wore white for all of our performances and that was not ideal. This choir, however, dresses in fire colors and that is what I'm all about. This outfit is what I wore for our photo shoot last Sunday. 

Incorporating My New Duds

After my clothing exchange, I was so excited about all of my new clothes, that I immediately found them homes in my closet. Then I thought, these clothes have been incorporated into my closet, but I need to incorporate them into my daily wardrobe before I forget that I have them. I decided that everyday I will wear a different clothing exchange item or two and make them work with my current wardrobe. So, here it is, three weeks of "new" clothes.

You may have noticed that Sundays are missing. That's because Sunday (and sometimes Saturday) is my lazy day and I spend most of the day in my pajamas.

There are some items that haven't gotten worn yet because they're not of this season and there are some items that have been worn frequently. I think my favorites from the exchange are the western  sweater, the ombre chambray shirt and the skinny jeans. This is very surprising because these are items that have never been a part of my personal style. Again, this is why I endorse the clothing exchange.