as promised, the modcloth calivintage dress is making it’s premier in today’s outfit post. i must say, i am over the moon about this dress, which happens to be from the dear creatures spring 2010 collection. the moment their lookbook came out, i had my eye on this lovely little sailor dress, so you can imagine my excitement when modcloth named it after yours truly! and you know what? it’s kinda like it was made for me. in fact, when i got it in the mail last week, i immediately put it on, and have already worn it 3 times since then. if i didn’t have so much fun taking photos today, i would have fit in the pictures of the other ways i’ve styled it so far, but then this post would have waaaay too many photos in it. you’ll just have to wait for the rest, i guess.

after the recent premier of a certain movie, you can’t wear a whimsical blue and white dress without conjuring up images of alice in wonderland. so today i decided to run with the theme in my most recent vintage acquisition of this pretty dress from annabelle rose on etsy. i am in love with the rick rack details and little ruffle sleeves, and besides being very alice, it kinda looks like it could fit right in with some of the pretty dresses from past vivetta collections. all i need is one of those cute totoro jackets and i’m set!

nope, i’m not talking about the dress. today it is all about my brand new haircut! i am very excited to share the results of my excellent salon experience last night with shannon at revamp salon in san francisco. i am telling you, if you live in the area or are coming in on a trip, you must book an appointment. and they are not paying me to say that. i just really love the cuts that shannon gives me. and in honor of the new cut, i decided to keep it simple with the styling in my little mod dress, but it’s gonna be tons of fun styling outfits with the new ‘do. it’s amazing how a cut can completely change the way you dress, and i love having my hairs short because it gives me more room to wear high collars and puff sleeves and all those pretty little details that i love so much.

anyway, we’re cutting my hair in stages so we can have fun trying different looks. we really didn’t take off too much hair for the first stage, but it’s definitely a nice change. after this, we might try something even more vidal sassoon. shannon mentioned that he’s always wanted to do the classic five point cut. i don’t know if we’ll do that exactly, but it’s gonna be fun to try more angular looks before taking it all the way up to a pixie cut this summer. ah, getting my hair cut is so much fun.

omg tgif you guyz! i don’t know about you, but i am particularly excited about the weekend this time around. it’s been a long week of staying indoors a little bit more than i’d like to, and i’m kinda ready to get out there and see the world. and by “see the world,” i mean sea world. no wait. i mean, go to the flea market on saturday, and then off on a sunday trip up to my favorite little brick oven bakery and go for a drive on a secret little windy road that opens up to bodega bay. and i’m gonna try to take my camera with me, because i realized that i never share my little excursions with you!

and so, in celebration of friday, i decided to have a little fun and get all matchy-matchy with this outfit. instead of trying to bring in a bunch of elements to break it all up, i opted to keep it simple and try out this bright shade of orange lipstick instead. i’ve always kinda hated lipstick because it feels so thick and heavy on my lips, bit i keep seeing cute curls rockin awesome colors and pulling it off so well. i think i’d like to try bubble gum pink and maybe a lighter shade of sherbet orange… let the experimentation begin!

alright, i will admit that the umbrella was a bit of a prop since it wasn’t actually raining during this shoot. but i’ll have you know that it did start pouring rain right when i stepped inside, so we’ll just call this careful planning. and if this outfit looks a bit familiar, it’s because it was inspired by one of my favorite street style looks last week on citizen couture, seen in this post.

i actually bought these vintage suede boots about a month ago after i was tipped off by lisa zain’s tumblr blog, vintage shoe love. the only thing is that i only got as far as knowing that i liked the style, and didn’t have a clue how to incorporate them into my wardrobe! but the street style gods smiled down on me and i found the perfect combination in my charcoal gray otk socks and inky blue trench coat.

i know i’m not wearing a little yellow dress, but i do feel a bit like the morton salt girl tripping around with my umbrella.

wearing:
navy trench coat, h&m
obey gray ruffle dress, 80’s purple
charcoal gray wool otk socks, courtesy of tabio
black suede ankle boots, erstwhile vintage on etsy

i recently decided to start picking up the simple 70’s sweaters i always seem to find in thrift shops as a new stand-in for the basic t-shirt. i think they’re quite nice paired with simple skinnies when i can’t be bothered to think of what to wear! it’s a silhouette that i never dared to try before, but i’ve been pushing my limits lately, and i have to admit that i quite like the look. perfect for a day filled with random errands like thrift store shopping, waiting in line at the post office, and baking chocolate chip cookies.

i have two points to address in this blog post, and it’s gonna be sassy. point the first: after yesterday’s outfit post featuring my 1940’s coat in a lovely army green, i had a mini breakthrough. i can wear green. this may sound a bit silly to you, but i’ve always avoided most shades of green because i always thought they made my olive-toned skin look, well, green. after getting a few comments from readers who actually said they liked the way it worked with my skin, i got all bold and decided to finally wear this cool vintage knit coat i bought at the thrift store several months ago. and you know what? i think i was going just a little nuts with my whole fear of green.

point the second: i would like to address the art of dressing to flatter one’s figure. i will admit that i have definitely educated myself on all of the tips and tricks for looking taller and slimmer in my clothes, and i do think there is something to be said for understanding how to work with clothes to change the lines and shapes, but i’m gonna say it: i kinda think it’s baloney. if we all wore the recommended silhouettes to make us look as slim as possible, we’d all be running around with boot cut trousers and pointy toes with wrap-around blouses and NO SOULS. or at least, you get what i mean. i like to have fun with my wardrobe and to experiment with many different concepts on a daily basis. i try to challenge myself to break my own rules and try something new when i’m feeling inspired. so i say: the hell with it, i’m gonna wear my thick knit olive green oscar the grouch coat because i love it. and i love trash. JOKE. (sort of.)

ah, it’s like a breath of fresh air to be back at home and fully settled, taking my daily outfit pictures on the rooftop again! this is the little outfit i put together for the hair party i mentioned in my last post. and to be perfectly honest, i threw this together because all of my laundry was in dirty piles on the floor and these were some of the only clean clothes i had available to wear. but i’ve said this before: laundry day is often the most creative day for me because i don’t have all of my go-to items available. that means i’m forced to think outside of the box and experiment with something a little bit different than what i might normally wear.

wearing:
cream bb dakota blouse, courtesy of modcloth
navy and cream polka dot dress, forever 21
brown skinny belt, urban outfitters
brown tights, american apparel
blimey oxfords in cognac, courtesy of seychelles

i have to admit something: i totally forgot to take photos of my outfit during the chictopia10 conference on saturday. fortunately, ann of holier than now snapped a few photos of me with rebecca of the clothes horse outside of the event. you may have already noticed this from the posts i’ve already done on my new york trip, but rebecca and i were kind of attached at the hip the entire weekend. the funny thing is that it was actually only the second time we’ve ever met in real life, though we do keep in touch through emails quite frequently. but despite this, neither of us told the other what we planned to wear during the trip, yet every day we ended up with a very strong sense of coordination between our outfits, as exampled by the perfect blend of shapes and colors in these photos.

it also ended up coming in handy when either of us realized that we didn’t pack just the perfect accessories. we traded off a few times, me wearing her pretty velvet bow hat one evening and her in my patterned tights on yet another occasion. and of course we both own the same pair of blimey oxfords that we received courtesy of seychelles last year during the weardrobe conference. it made for just about the perfect coincidence!

first day back: i am now blogging from the comfort of my own home after a whirlwind trip to nyc. i have already been harassed for mentioning this on twitter, but i really am delighted to be back in the california sunshine. i stepped outside this afternoon wearing jeans and a simple sweater and sorta pranced around a little bit in the warmth and sunlight, observing the first of the spring flowers blooming in the neighborhood: little peeks of pink and red and purple emerging from dark green shrubs and trees.

but enough of that. now i must tell you a bit about my trip: i arrived in nyc on thursday afternoon and spent my evening with jessica of what i wore. we chatted for hours about blogs and life while enjoying a delicious home-made meal and sharing a few glasses of wine. it’s really quite nice to be able to connect with other bloggers in real life to talk shop, and it was definitely one of the highlights of my trip to be able to do just that.

then i spent friday morning pacing around in jessica’s apartment waiting for the mail to arrive. when i left for my flight on thursday, i knew i would forget something: MY PHONE. fortunately, my bf sent it in the overnight mail, so i only had to wait a few hours before things were back on track. then i was off to meet rebecca of the clothes horse during her photo shoot with market publique. it was great to meet the ladies who run the site and to reconnect with rebecca after meeting her over the summer during the weardrobe conference!

so these are a few shots of what i wore while hanging out during the day on friday. as you can see, there was quite a bit of snow on the ground, and i quite like the comparison between my outfit and a frozen confection. i really did feel like a real life creamsicle, freezing cold in my peach mohair sweater!