Can't hold me back

Details: Dress: Target reconstructed by me
Shirt: Bitten
Shoes: Chelsea Crew via Urban Outfitters
Bracelet: Self-made

If there's anything that's going to get me off my seat and out on the roof for pictures, it's an Everybody, Everywear day.  Especially one that involves patterns (although the striped shirt is a little on the subtle side).  Even though I'm now realizing that the last time I posted was for EBEW, aaand it may have included this dress.  But the truth is that this reflects what I've been wearing for the past week pretty accurately- it's been a lot of lightweight pretty dresses, often with sandals and something thrown on top once I get inside my lab- and plenty of times it has been this dress.  As in, I now realize that this dress is the one that I never knew I always wanted (even the bf has noticed and commented on my frequent wearing of it), and I'm probably not going to be able to stop myself from wearing it multiple times a week for a couple weeks.  Good thing I'm in love with remixing!

For more examples of pattern mixing, check out the latest EBEW:

Happy outfit

Remember this skirt?  Well, dress worn as skirt, since the whole thing was a bit short for my liking, and the top part was triangles and thin straps, which doesn't work well for my shape.  But for some reason, I couldn't bear to give it up, and over time the idea of what I wanted it to look like as dress started to develop in my head (and I started compulsively doodling the idea on the margins of my seminar notes).

 

And now (finally) I have something that is much closer to the dress that's been living in my head for so long.  It still needs some improvements in terms of the fit on top, but I am positively giddy that it's at a point where I can wear it out (without a skirt underneath it, which is what I've been doing for the past couple weeks until I finally added on the bottom part this morning, because I have a hard time not wearing things simply because they're not finished if they're wearable).

Outfit: Reconstructed dress from Target/ Chelsea Crew shoes from Lulu's/ Necklace from Anthropologie/ Thrifted belt from Goodwill -- Photos taken by the boy

In addition to the epic poem I'd be willing to write to my dress, I think the belt is worthy of at least a haiku or something- after all, it is Everybody, Everywear thrift day (special edition!), and this belt is one of my few thrift finds.  I want to be a nifty thrifter- all the cool kids are doing it- but it's something that requires time (during normal people hours), patience, and a better knowledge of Houston.  Because most of the time when I stop by Goodwill, the only things available in my size are a bright red dress with fruit and ABCs that looks like it belonged to an elementary teacher.  And costs $8 (and are not crazy awesome dresses with the original tag on them that are made even more awesome when the neckline is altered by your friend- Sarah, I still totally covet that dress).  So I need to work on broadening my scope and put a little more effort into this whole thrifting thing, because I've been seduced by this totally awesome belt ($1!)- that and Everybody's doing it :)

Bits of yellow

Outfit: On the breeze chemise and Daisy fay headband from Anthropologie/ Yellows and leggings from Target

I was positively giddy when I saw that this month's EBEW theme was yellow, since I'm a little infatuated with the color (I blame my college roomie and long distance bestie for this as well as my for my everlasting love for David Bowie).  I swung open the closet door with glee to figure out what to pick now that I've gotten over my "oh I can't wear that color phase." A couple years ago, my only yellow item was these shoes, since I couldn't resist the color and figured that this was the safest way to incorporate it.  Since then I've bought an embarrassing number of yellow skirts and wore a yellow bridesmaid dress (and no longer really feel like there are colors I shouldn't be wearing), but here I've used neutrals to set the backdrop for first and latest (and new favorite) yellow purchases.  Do you have colors you thought you'd never wear that you now love?  Tragically, my camera battery died, so I got to choose from about 5 pictures (and couldn't find any that showed off ma shoes without having and awkwardly angry face) (and forgot to change the light settings).  How did you celebrate yellow day?

These yellows previously:

Sunny shiney sunshine

Outfit: Dress, Cardigan: Anthropologie, Shoes: Gap, Belt: Ruche, Necklace: Urban Outfitters

I have long been a fan of flowers- getting them, trying to keep them alive on my balcony, photographing them, painting them, etc.  Since today is Floral Day on Everybody, Everywear (check out everyone else at the main site), I gleefully threw two of my favorite floral patterned items yesterday (I couldn't pick just one).  Now that we're on the cusp of the absolutely blazing part of summer, every morning when I get ready I want to wear the lightest weight thing possible, so it might not have been the best idea to wear both of these summer favorites at once, since they'll be seeing a lot of wear this summer, but I couldn't resist.  

I attempted to go one step beyond that and track down some florals for my backdrop (although getting them in the frame didn't work out as well as I would have liked, due to the lighting and not wanting to be in the way of foot traffic).  And then I got intimidated out of my spot by a teenager texting, staring at me, and continuously moving closer.  When she sat down on my bench I decided it might be time to leave (also there was a hot dinner waiting for me at home prepared by someone else, which is awesome).  On the side of making me sound like less of a coward, I was able to withstand the previous being stared at really hard (why yes, I do see you looking behind you to look at the weird girl taking pictures of herself.  All four times that you did it. Is it because you think her hair is fabulous?)  Actually, I did really enjoy trying out a new hairstyle (tutorial via Cup of Jo), which I think suits me more so than wearing both braids wrapped over my head.  The really exciting part was the part where the bf complimented it when I was getting ready in the morning- although it's not as bike helmet friendly as I would like.  Are the flowers blooming where you are?

The lengths to which I will go

I tried my best to find something maxi (by which I mean I actually went into real stores the past couple of weekends), but I couldn't legitimize spending money on anything that I liked that was new (since I wasn't sure if I'd wear it again), didn't find anything good in the goodwill, and didn't pick up any fabric or a sewing machine yet. So i thought, why not do what I joked about when the great maxi debate (led by Emily) and pull out my favorite bedsheet and gussy that baby up with some sweet accessories?

Outfit: Bedsheet as maxi dress: pretty sure it's from JC Penney's, Cardigan: Express, Shoes, Headband: Target, Belt: Urban Outfitters, Necklace: Shop Strut as free gift from TxSCC

I think this might look a little less like a bedsheet if it wasn't so darn wrinkled, but what do you think- Can we all mass pretend that I'm wearing a dress for this very special day of Everybody, Everywear?  I had a heck of a time walking around in this, since it's a bit more fabric than what I'd really need (blogging is serious business as you can see in my face below, but not so serious that I will cut up bed sheets.  Yet), but I actually kinda like it.  I've managed to get over my trepidation of midi skirts, maybe maxis will be next!

Faux-lka Dots

Today one of the undergraduates in my lab told me that he thought I always looked very put together (which was nice, since sometimes I run around lab looking like a hot mess, but I'll take your compliments), and then he tacked on something along the lines of, and sometimes it makes my day (which was kinda weird).  Maybe it's a Southern thing?

So here's the thing- I was fully aware of EBEW polka-dot day, but apparently my closet wasn't.  I was about ready to cheat on my 30 for 30 when I realized that I had a loophole- I had never actually picked out 30 items (I gave up after about 28), so I ransacked my closet searching for dots, and found....very little.  I had plenty of repeating patterns, but few dots (and most of my dots weren't evenly spaced), and of the few things I found, there wasn't anything that I felt comfortable teaching in (I'm working with an after school program to work with middle schoolers on one of my favorite things: Science!)  For some reason though, my "sexy going out skirt" translates in my head as appropriate for teaching (I think it's because it's not as short as a lot of my things, and it's a more professional straight line as opposed to full-skirted).   And then I realized that from far away my repeating pattern BR shirt (already part of the 30 28) looked pretty dotty to begin with and got dressed with a sigh of relief.

Outfit: Skirt: Target, Shirt: BR, Shoes: Wanted via Delias, Tights: We Love Colors, Necklace: Ruche, Polka dots: Gift

But I still had to put on some polka dots in addition to my faux-lka dots to dot it up.

I won't lie to you, at least some of these pictures were included purely because I curled my hair and it actually looked I did something to it intentionally (which is very exciting for me).  Happy polka dot day!

Everybody Everywear- Breton stripes day

Hey guys, hopefully you've spotted a lot of stripes out there already today, and you can see a whole big collection of them posted up at Everybody, Everywear (you know, that awesome site that I mentioned in the last post that I'm sure you've already been too, right?).  You can get to the Breton stripes link using the badge at the post of the post (which also handily shows off my striping pride).

Outfit: Stripes: Anthropolgoie, Cardigan: Target, Skirt: Urban Outfitters, Leggings: express, Boots: Steve Madden Intyce

I was trying to capture the glorious combination of two bright colors, with one being somewhere along the pink spectrum and one along the red/orange, which I know that I've been seeing in plenty of places lately (a couple looks that I could recall that resonated with me are Audi's and Sal's).  I dragged this cozy cardi out of the closet after forgetting about it for a couple years to save a bright fuchsia sweaterdress a couple weeks back (that I failed to photograph) and loved how cheerful the combination made me feel (even though my red cardi is on the muted side).  This skirt isn't quite as bright, but between that and the scarf it's still a lot of color in my day.  My fun trick for the day- I usually wear this necklace as a doubled up bracelet since it's a bit small and makes me feel like a small monkey is choking my neck, but today I lengthened it using an actual bracelet for great win.

I hope ya'll aren't sick of these boots yet- I'm finding it strangely hard to consider alternative footwear in the morning to my two new favorite pairs of boots (except yesterday when I wore rain boots due to depressing Houston downpour).

How are you wearing your stripes?

Everybody Everywear and ubiquitous bloggy skirt

This outfit has two items that I coveted for some time before breaking down and finally making the purchase.

Item 1.  This gingham shirt that I think I first spotted on either Kendi or Tania, which then blossomed into full blown envy when Liz of 26 and Counting came up with Gingham Friday and sent around a call for ladies to style their gingham shirt on the same day.  Together with Linda of The Auspicious Life (and her talented fella), they've developed Everybody, Everywear, a site that will be a collection of various peoples styling the same common item in your closet.  Up tomorrow?  Breton stripes Tuesday!  So, I will be here tomorrow with my stripes on and I hope that some of you will join us in being part of this community.

Outfit: Gingham: J. Crew, Shirt: Victoria's Secret, Belt: Ancient, Ubiquitous bloggy skirt, leggings: Target, Boots: Madden Girl via Delia's

Item 2: This lace skirt that has been everywhere on the internets for the past few months, and naturally I couldn't resist picking it up when I finally spotted one on sale at my local Target (albeit in a size smaller than I would have liked), even though it's going to end up being limited to weekend wear (although I am working on being more comfortable with myself in hip conscious clothing).  The huge popularity of this skirt amongst bloggers has got me thinking- wouldn't it be neat to round-up pictures of everyone styling this in their own way?  So, even though this strikes me as being very similar to the Everybody, Everywear project (I just wanted to style the skirt myself before I did this post!), I'd like to send around a call for pictures featuring this skirt.  If you've got photos of yourself in one of the lace skirts, I'd love to include you.  In addition, I'd also like to hear your thoughts on wearing the same item as another girl (remember when it was devastating to show up at the homecoming dance wearing the same dress as someone else?).