2014, ASOS, fall/winter, forever 21, H&M, Inspiration, mood board, pinterest

Fall/Winter 2014 Inspiration

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       The highlights of my summer wardrobe consisted of some key monochromatic looks. There’s just something about black and white that’s been really attractive to me this year. That compulsion has only grown as we enter the new season. This fall/winter I’m really into black and white with graphic prints and pops of oxblood, mustard, emerald, nude, blush and navy. This revelation occurred from, of all places, a forever 21 look book. I was just really into the sleek downtown look of one of their collections and that inspiration has propelled my style inspiration this season. Of course everything I wear this season won’t fit the inspiration but a lot of it probably will. Anyway here’s a mood board for my fall/winter 2014 style inspiration.

 


*All images found via Pinterest

ASOS, boots, forever 21, OOTD, payless, vintage

New Year’s Eve: Happy 2013!!

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Outfit without the cardi, notice the dancing glasses.

  Cardigan: Vintage  Shirt: forever 21  Skirt: ASOS  Tights: Target  Boots: Payless  
         Sorry this post is so late, a bug is going around my workplace and I started getting sick Dec 30 and my cold only worsened until recently. So, I figured i’d spare you photos of me looking like a chapped nosed zombie. Aren’t colds fun? Anyway despite feeling a little under the weather on NYE I still went out dancing. The only thing I knew I wanted to wear for NYE was my leather skirt, so I spent a good amount of time in december trying to drum up cute tops to go with the skirt. It wasn’t until Dec 30 that I finally figured out what to wear. I had been to a couple stores but found nothing, so I dug though my wardrobe and found this killer cardigan that I hadn’t worn since prom. I love it but it’s a little over the top, perfect for NYE! It’s a little warm, as it’s cashmere, so I knew I wanted to pair it with a light weight top as i’d probably end up taking it off during the night.  The shirt is from forever 21 and is one i’d been stocking for awhile. It’s sparkly and sheer and something I would actually wear post new years eve.
        I have to say i’m pretty into this outfit.  I would have worn heels but I wanted to dance, was sick, and am not a big heel wearer. So I opted for these boots instead, I think they work pretty well. Anyway this is how I rung in the New Year before my illness took over and I was carrying around a box of tissues and drinking copious ammounts of liquids. Happy 2013 everyone!

forever 21, OOTD, PLNDR, target, thrift

Taliesin Outfit #1

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Shirt and Skirt:: Thrifted  Earrings: PLNDR  Belt: Target  Sunnies: Forever 21  Shoes: DV by Dolce Vita
         This is my outfit from the first day of our Taliesin trip. I’m only going to post two of the outfits I wore on the trip so I can move on to more recent outfits. This is the outfit I wore the first full day of the trip. I was going to save it for the tour of Taliesin but I felt like wearing it the day before, so I did. I wore this outfit awhile ago with a gold necklace instead of earrings and I think I like that better, adds more interest to the shirt. That said I really like this outfit, there’s something easy yet chic about it that appeals to me. 
     Anyway I’m trying to save some money so I’m gonna try and not shop so much (or at all if I can) this month and possibly into the next. I have enough summer clothes to last until the end of the season so I’m going to try and post more outfit posts and fewer thrift finds. I’m excited to do it though, since I still have a lot of summer outfits to show you all!

ART-A-WHIRL, DV by Dolce Vita, forever 21, OOTD, target, thrift

What I wore to a sweltering Art-A-Whirl

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Skirt: Thrifted Top: Forever 21 Sandals: DV by Dolce Vita
  I wore this outfit Friday to go to the library, do a little thrifting and attend a few Art-A-Whirl shows. We went to my best friend’s close friend Rudy Fig’s solo gallery show at the Rogue Buddha Gallery. She has a cool whimsical style best described as “a cosmic world of candy coated vixens, magical garden tea parties, and psychological purging.” If you didn’t get out to art-a-whirl last week or didn’t see Rudy’s show (and you’re in the Minneapolis area) you can catch it at Rogue Buddha Gallery until June 16th. We also visited Tarnish and Gold’s Buy Art show that my best friend was showing in along with lots of other great artists. The Buy Art show runs until the end of June so go and see it if you’re in the north east Minneapolis area. We ended the night at the Future Presence 5 show at Future Presence Gallery. It was our first time at art-a-whirl and it was a pretty fun night despite the hot and humid weather.  
       You may or may not remember this skirt from this post a couple weeks ago. When I got the skirt I knew how I wanted to style it for the colder months but was at a bit of a loss with what to wear with it in the summer. So, I went through my wardrobe and came up with different tops to pair with it for Summer. I came up with more than a few that I’ll definitely be posting later this summer. Although it may not look like it I’m actually mixing patterns. The top is a thinner striped top and the skirt has a cute little skeleton key print. I think they work well together, although the colors of the skirt and the top aren’t exact matches they complement each other well. The sandals may have been better if they were a neutral color, but I love these sandals soo much I just couldn’t help but wear them. I was lusting hard for these sandals last year when I saw them on karmaloop in turquoise. I loved them but I didn’t have the money to buy them. So, when I finally got a job I knew I had to have them. The only problem was they were out of season and unavailable at most stores. There were some on PLNDR and eBay but they weren’t in my size. Miraculously I found a pair on a random website and bought them, in February. So when it was finally hot enough to rock sandals I was super excited. In other words, expect to see these a lot in the coming weeks/months.

colored pants, forever 21, gifted, OOTD, target, thrift

Bullseye

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Top, Pants, and Shoes: Target  Cardigan: Thrift (Thakoon for Target) Satchel: Thrift (originally Target)  Bracelets: gifted   Earrings: forever21

       Okay so enough lists lets get to the good stuff, I finally have an outfit post! Usually 99% of my outfit doesn’t come from one store, but in this outfit I seem to be a walking billboard for Target. It’s cool though I like Target, they’re a Minnesota company (Target HQ is in downtown Minneapolis) and they donate big time to local thrift stores, so really I can’t complain.
       I wore this Sunday to go to an estate sale and do some thrifting. After a week of cold weather and grey skies Sunday was sunny and warm, a welcome change. I had a whole outfit planned to wear that day but it was planned for a slightly colder day, so I changed it up a bit and went with this one. I bought the pants a couple weeks ago when the target gift card I got from my uncle for my birthday (last November) was finally burning a hole in my pocket. I didn’t expect to find anything but actually came away with two really lovely things. I recently fell for the colored pant trend so when I saw these I knew I had to get them. They’re supposed to be ankle length but since I’m a lowly 5’0 1/2  (5’1 if you like to round up) they’re just regular pant length on me. A lot of times pants that are made ankle length or capri look terrible on me because they either have an odd hem at the bottom or make me look even shorter. Thankfully with the skinny leg on these pants they don’t look odd on my short frame. The T-shirt is an oldie I got a couple years ago from Target that is really comfortable and slouchy. It wasn’t really warm enough to go without a cardigan so I threw this Thakoon for Target cardi I thrifted a couple years ago on to keep warm. I accessorized with Forever 21 earrings and these pastel bracelets I got a million years ago from my grandma that now are on trend, go figure. Anyway I really like how the outfit turned out and you’ll definitely be seeing more of these pants in future posts.

DSW, Enid, forever 21, Ghost World, Icon, Inspiration, OOTD, skirt a day challenge, thrift, vintage

Day 10: Copy Cat

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Bowling Shirt: Vintage  Skirt: love 21(forever 21)  Shoes: DSW  Bag: market in Ecuador Earrings: thrift

             And so we meet the last day of the skirt challenge. I’m excited. I have to say I’m glad I took the challenge, it made me really think about the skirts in my wardrobe and how to style them, but I’m also glad it’s over. Now I can post pants and dresses!! Get ready. Anyway I had a hard time thinking of an icon/designer look I wanted to copy. But this morning when I woke up, at a ridiculously early hour, I suddenly had it, Enid from Ghost World! I’ve loved the movie Ghost World since I first watched it in middle school and have even read one of the comic the story is based on. While watching it I totally fell in love with Enid. Not only is she a busty four-eyes but she’s funny, sarcastic and had a great sense of style. I was totally in love with everything Enid especially her clothes and room decor. When it comes to style icons most of mine have pretty edgy/funky style. I’d say my style is classic with a little bit of funk, so I always look to celebrities and other style icons with funky/edgier taste to get ideas on how to incorporate their look into mine. I think Enid’s look has three basic qualities: Vintage, color and pattern. Her style is an eclectic mix of 70’s punk and 60’s mod that I’m just in love with and is reasonably on trend. Peter pan collars, plaid, leather jackets, skinny jeans, funky t-shirts, docs and mod inspired clothing are all things you can pick up in almost any retail or thrift store right now.

Enid’s different looks from the movie

             So when I decided to choose Enid as my style icon I googled her to check out some of the outfits from the movie. I found the pictures I was looking for but I also found out that British designer Luella did a spring/summer 2008 collection of Enid inspired clothes. I checked out the runway show online and was even more inspired! I definitely have at least 3 Enid inspired looks besides this one that I’ll be posting soon. I think one of the great things about Enid’s style is the incorporation of t-shirts. As my style has evolved I’ve found it harder to incorporate crew neck t-shirts into my wardrobe stylishly. As someone whose pretty busty and has a rather short neck I tend to veer away from them, but I have a ton of cool crew neck t-shirts that I’ve gotten from school etc. that I’d love to incorporate into my wardrobe. Luckily Enid is an avid fan of the crew neck t-shirt and gives totally amazing inspiration on how to rock a crew neck.

Some of my favorite looks from Luella’s SS 2008 Enid inspired collection.

          On to the outfit! Enid wears a lot of cool graphic skirts, like the green one on the movie poster, but I don’t really have any that compare. Instead of copying Enid’s style I went with an outfit inspired by it. To me a main component of Enid style is vintage. A year or so ago I found this vintage bowling shirt in a pile of my mom’s vintage clothes. I knew it was cool but I didn’t really know how to style it. Then today I knew Enid’s style would work effortlessly with this top. In my dream world I would have paired it with a more graphic printed skirt, maybe something in a plaid, but I don’t have any plaid skirts so I opted for this magenta skirt that appeals to Enid’s use of bright colors.  If I went 100% Enid on this outfit I would have added my leather Jacked and Docs but it’s was an unseasonably hot day, 70 degrees, and I haven’t broken my Docs in yet. The last time I wore them it took them less than 10 minutes to tear apart my heels. Anyway when the weather cools off I’ll definitely do more Enid inspired looks and post them here. In the mean time I’ll be looking for more cool t-shirts, patterned skirts, big nerdy glasses, mod inspired clothes and more vintage, to really amp up the Enid-spiration. Lastly here’s a video of the opening to Ghost World, I can’t get this song or there urge to dance around to it out of my mind!

color blocking, forever 21, karmaloop, OOTD, skirt a day challenge, target, thrift

Day 3: Color Block!!!

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Action shot

Scarf worn as headband

Close up of scarf
Purse and shoes
 Top: Target (last year)  Skirt: Forever 21  Shoes and Scarf: vintage via my mom
   Bag: Karmaloop ( 4 or so years ago)

So finally we’re at color blocking! Color Blocking is my favorite trend this spring/summer. I never shy away from a bright colors in both clothing and home decor. The only problem I had was although I have a lot of brightly colored clothing most of them are tops. But I was determined to try this trend so I went to a thrift store to look specifically for a brightly colored bottom. Miraculously I found a skirt that fit perfectly on the first try, a purple knit pencil skirt. Alas when I got home, giddy to pair it with some of my bright tops, I realized I didn’t like any of the color combinations. My color blocking dreams were dashed. Then, while planning out outfits for this challenge, I came across this Rachel Roy runway picture while googling color blocking and was instantly inspired.

Rachel Roy color blocking. Image via google.

I was initially drawn to this image because of the bright yellow shirt, I knew I had a bright yellow shirt similar to it that I got at target last year. Then, when studying the image further, I realized I had a skirt that was a similar color to the one above as well. Earlier this year I was obsessed with finding the perfect pair of cat eye sunglasses and did eventually find a perfect pair at forever 21. I made a trip to try and find the pair in store but had no luck.  Since I didn’t want to pay shipping for only two pairs of sunglasses I also got this magenta skirt that I’d been drooling over for months. I like the skirt OK, It’s from  forever 21’s  love 21 line and it doesn’t go above a large, but since it has a latticed stretchy back I figured I could make it work. While it works OK it does ride up a bit and exposes the oh so sexy (sarcasm) black shorts I wear underneath. Anyway last week in a 50% off stroke of luck at a thrift store I found the perfect red orange shirt to pair with the purple pencil skirt, and eventually I’ll do a post with that outfit. But, as yesterday was Saturday and all I was doing was window shopping in antique and vintage stores with my bestie the pencil skirt seemed a bit too dressy. Thus, I opted for my original color blocking inspiration. I have to admit I pretty proud of the outfit, I love the way the magenta and bright yellow go together and the turquoise/ green accents in my scarf, shoes and bag. Over all I had a pretty successful day I color blocked to my hearts content, found out a vintage store I like has a second location a couple blocks away from my house and I got to spend good quality time with my bestie. All in all a very successful day!