Snow Day

Handmade by Kristina

Today, I got up at the regular time, took a shower, got dressed, went outside to start my car and said

"Nope".

I went to work every day during the Polar Vortex when half of my co-workers stayed home. I've been trudging through all of the snow for weeks and I finally came to my breaking point. When I stepped outside to ANOTHER blizzard, I just couldn't go through with it, so I stayed home. and nobody saw this cute outfit

Catching Up 3/4

For the entire year of 2017, I've been tired. It seemed that all of the energy that I used to have for anything in my life was completely zapped and anything I had left was used in an effort to stay afloat. So here I am posting outfit drawings from nearly a year ago. Hey, they're still relevant, right?

The following outfits show me embracing blue, a color that is under appreciated by me.

Dottir

Poppy

Half Pint

Hey! It's my Birthday! Happy Birthday to me (last year)!

I celebrated by going out for a nice civilized dinner with some friends and family and then turned the tables completely by forcing everyone into the Otter for some raucous karaoke. Good times.

Dottir

Poppy

Lalunette

necklace drawn, but not listed on drawing. (sorry Rose)

This dress is one of my favorites. It's very comfy. It's made of soft, stretchy fabric and the fact that it's a wrap makes it easy to wear. It's very pretty. I don't usually like floral prints or roses, but the color scheme on this dress is lovely enough to make up for it. It's versatile. I've worn it in every season. I've worn it casually and to fancy events. 

Long story short, this dress is amazing.

Ooh!! I love this one! Definitely gonna wear something like this again this Winter!

Dottir

Poppy

Handmade by Kristina

This post is just bursting with quality goods from two of my favorite stores. 

I know I've talked at length about how great I think Poppy is. They're a local boutique specializing in whimsical, wearable, on trend clothing and accessories. I can't go in there without buying something and I've never regretted a purchase that I've made.

Dottir is a jewelry maker and friend of mine who makes exquisitely unique jewelry made mainly out of brass, silver and leather. I wear her earrings often and always receive compliments. She does not have a physical store, but you can find her beautiful jewelry at the following places:

The Golden Rule

I Like You

Patina

Walker Shop

Dottir Shop (her website)

Boxy Silhouette

If you follow me on Instagram, you may already be familiar with some of these outfit drawings as well as drawings from blogs that I have yet to post. In an effort to get myself back into the swing of things, I made it a point to post something every day during the month of December and label it with the hashtag #31daysofstyle. So far I've managed to keep it up and I don't feel overwhelmed about it. This is a good thing and hopefully this exercise will be the thing that will change my habits and make blogging a more regular activity.

I've been highlighting a few silhouettes that I wear on the regular. This is what I call the boxy/mini or the boxy/slim. It's usually a boxy high collared top paired with a very short or slim fitting skirt. I like the juxtaposition between the legginess and volume that this silhouette creates.

My Sister's Closet

This look was a good idea in theory, but it just didn't turn out quite right. The material of the top and the skirt are rather heavy and kind of bulky and they did not play well together. While the colors looked stunning together, I was constantly adjusting my clothes because of the friction that these two fabrics created. I think that this top would work better with a lightweight pleated tennis skirt, but I don't have anything like that.

Poppy

I'm playing with a lot of layers here to achieve this casual and studious look. I feel like I should have drawn in a stack of books under one of my arms. Maybe it's the color scheme of bright red, mustard yellow and light denim that reminds me of school. Whatever it is, it make me want to go to the library.

Handmade by Kristina

This bodycon dress from LulaRoe is so much fun and pretty versatile. I can easily dress it up or down. I can wear it by itself, layer it with jackets or vests or wear it as a skirt like I'm doing here. I'm really happy that it matches this sweater that I wear all the time.

I Like You

Here's that sweater again. I wish I had more of them in different colors like black or white, but I'm glad that the one I have is yellow. Yellow goes with everything and I've worn this sweater in innumerable outfit combinations since I got it at a very good clothing exchange

I love this sweater just as much as the yellow one, but I don't wear it as often. This is an around the house or weekend low key hang sweater. It's incredibly warm and kind of delicate so I never wear it to work where I do a lot of physical activity and regularly catch myself on merchandising hooks or protruding corners. I would ruin this sweater in an instant at work. A lot of people don't see me wearing this sweater on the regular, but during the colder months, I'm almost always wearing it when I'm at home. I had a mostly event free weekend and I wore this sweater everyday on top of boxy mini dresses with tall wool socks or leg warmers and I knew the meaning of hygge.

Who Knew I Liked Blue?

I've never been fond of the color blue. I've always considered it to be the most boring of colors, besides South Dakota beige, of course. However, I've noticed that blue has been creeping into my daily wear more and more lately. This is partly because I've been wearing a lot more denim and chambray, and also because I've discovered that blue looks great with my hair, which is currently dyed bright red/orange.

Giant penny earrings from I Like You

I think it's in my DNA to love the look of denim on denim, or the Canadian tuxedo, if you will.

Some people think it's tacky, but it reminds me of my dad and makes me feel strong. I'm gonna keep wearing it, fashion faux pas be damned.

Earrings made by Kristina

Navy and sea glass. This is a beautiful color combination.

Earrings from Poppy

The first day that I wore these chambray overalls, the side zipper split open in the middle. The only way I could get out of my pants, was to cut them off of myself. This experience really enhanced my fear of getting trapped in a jumpsuit when I really have to pee. Thanks a lot fashion.

Earrings made by Liz

Batik skirt from Aviena

Teal is a shade of blue that has never been far from my heart. I've always considered teal to be closer to green than blue so I've been wearing head to toe teal ensembles for awhile now. Nothing new here. 

January

This is my favorite winter dress! There's  nothing like a cozy calf-length sweater to make any sub-zero day a little more bearable. A coat like this helps too.

I got the idea for this outfit from this chart that was all abuzz on Pinterest at the time. It illustrates some obvious ways to wear a blanket scarf (2, 4, 5,8), some questionable ways (3,7), and something that I had never considered, belting. The dress I am wearing has a belt attached, so I just used that to cinch the scarf at my waist. It looked good, but ended up hindering my movement throughout the day, so I ended up wearing it like a cape by midday.

I think I was inspired by my scarf belting experience above when I put this outfit together. I belted this bulky cascade cardigan to give myself a little shape and it really worked for this look. I'm also really enjoying the absence of color here with a pop of excitement from my sparkly statement necklace.

Here's that blanket scarf again worn a little more conventionally. I did not intend to wear this scarf all day, but in case you didn't know, January is a cold month.

I don't think I've had the chance to rave about these jeans yet, which is interesting because I've worn them at least once a week since I got them. These are some form fitting, super long, ultra-soft flares and I love them. Personally, I am very happy that flares have come back into style. I've always liked their fun retro appeal.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Pretty Standard

Similar shirt - My Sister's Closet

Similar cardigan - Savers

Similar jeans

Boots - Delia's

Similar earrings

This is a Winter go to outfit for me.  Cardigan sweater over a smart button up.  It's funny, 5 years ago my go to outfit was a cardigan sweater over a graphic tee.  I think this means that I'm maturing.

Awkward Pieces

Similar sweater - Forever 21

Skirt - Target

Similar t-shirt

Tights

Boots

Similar earrings

Three of these garments have been languishing in my closet unworn for quite some time.
The Skirt
 I own several knee length pleated skirts, but never wear them.  They are all dark in color and the fabric is heavy weight, making me think of them as winter skirts.  What types of shoes do I wear in the winter?  Boots.  What type of shoes look good with knee length pleated skirts?  Not boots, that's for sure.  I envision this style of skirt to be worn with pumps or maybe ballet flats.  I bought these skirts and used to wear them a lot when I worked at Restoration Hardware, where I was required to dress up and could wear pumps at work.  Now I hardly ever wear pumps because my job entails unloading trucks and carrying around heavy boxes, rather than deflecting advances from old men who buy ridiculously expensive housewares for their new condo on Summit.  OK, so that wasn't in the job description, but that's pretty much what I did all day.
The Sweater
Seems too young for me.  Maybe it's because it's from Forever 21 (never stopped me before).  Maybe it's the plastic crystal ball buttons.  I don't know, but I always skip past it when going through my closet because I think "That's so 10 years ago"
The T-shirt
How I used to love vintage graphic tees in my early 20s!  This one was given to me by my friend's mom when she was cleaning out her house.  It's about 3 sizes too small and has a stain on the lower half of it, but I love it.  I've always worn it underneath another garment like a jumper or cardigan to cover up the obvious reasons why this shirt is not meant for me.  Lately, I've been thinking that it's time to move on.

The reason for this outfit and this post is because I am on the fence about all 3 garments.  Do I hold onto them or do I donate them?  I managed to make a decent outfit utilizing all 3, but all day I felt like I wasn't dressed as my current self.  I was dressed as me 10 years ago.

A New Year is Glittering with Possibilities

Monday

Dress

Shirt - My Sister's Closet

Leggings

Boots

Earrings

Similar hat - Savers

I'm not sure how I feel about pairing this dress with black, but I was so excited when I got it that I couldn't wait to wear it.  The minute it came in the mail, the dress I was wearing was on the floor and this baby was on my body.  Also, it matches my boots perfectly!!  It's actually a summer dress and I'm excited to wear the shit out of it when I don't have to have a mini mouse under layer.  

Tuesday

Dress - Heartbreaker

Similar leggings - Forever 21

Boots

Similar earrings - BNOX

Similar necklace

This New Year's Eve I went for shiny and I was probably the fanciest lady at the Cabooze.  At least I didn't wear a fur like I normally do on this holiday.  I didn't think the hippies would care for it much.

Wednesday

Similar dress - Forever 21

Similar leggings - Forever 21

Similar jacket - Wilson Leather

Boots

Similar earrings - Everyday People

Normally on New Year's Day, you can find me laying on the couch with my dog in my pajamas.  However, Sample Night Live landed on January 1st this year, so I got all dressed up to play a couple of songs with my band and try to sell some art.

Thursday

Similar sweater - Savers

Similar dress - Target

Cords

Boots

Earrings

Not much to say about this outfit except it was really comfortable and I'm in love with these boots.