Emerald City

green print dress black cardigan wingtip oxfords by 14 shades of grey

I never pay much attention to color trends (well, I never pay much attention to trends, period), so when I found out about the Pantone-inspired Spring Color challenge hosted by the lovely ladies behind Literate & Stylish and The Modern Austen, I thought it would be fun to join. Anyway, the color for Monday is Emerald, which is a happy coincidence since I just bought this dress. I don’t want to have to buy new stuff all the time merely to follow some trend, but I don’t have enough green in my closet, and this dress is pretty easy to style and goes with a lot of things.

green print dress black cardigan wingtip oxfords by 14 shades of greygreen print dress black cardigan wingtip oxfords by 14 shades of grey

green print dress telephone necklace by 14 shades of greygreen print dress black cardigan by 14 shades of grey

green print dress black cardigan by 14 shades of greygreen print dress wingtip oxfords by 14 shades of grey

Dress: Vietnamese shop, Cardigan: Target, Belt: Forever21
Necklace: vintage, Oxfords: Me Too (thrifted via Buffalo Exchange)


Gross

green dress yellow cardigan maroon loafers by 14 shades of grey

Oh man, I did not realize how pale my legs are until I looked at these photos. It’s not the first time I went barelegged this spring, but it’s not as noticeable because I always try to take pictures out in the sun instead of in the shades. My apologies. I’d totally understand if you react like this.

green dress yellow cardigan by 14 shades of greygreen dress yellow cardigan bicycle pin by 14 shades of grey

green dress yellow cardigan maroon loafers by 14 shades of greygreen dress yellow cardigan by 14 shades of grey

Dress: Vietnamese shop, Cardigan & Flats: thrifted, Belt: from a Target dress, Pin: vintage


Not Exactly Stars And Stripes

red striped skirt black sweater teal scarf by 14 shades of grey

So, the Oscars. Anybody watched it? All I can say is: big thanks to Jennifer Lawrence, because I was ready to fall asleep by then. I missed the red carpet, but then I saw this online and then went “Awwww.”

Anyway, I had a different outfit in mind for this week’s SIA inspiration, “Untitled” by Sol LeWitt, but the sudden drop in temperature forced me to rethink the whole thing. In the end this is what I came up with. I’m not entirely happy with it (too much black and that scarf does not go at all), but short of this dress, anything I pulled from my closet to recreate this painting would fall short. Still, it’s challenges like this that remind me that SIA is not about recreating the painting exactly, but about drawing what you can from it to create a harmonious outfit.

Don’t forget to check out Animated Cardigan to see how the other lovely ladies interpreted this work of art.

red striped skirt black sweater teal scarf by 14 shades of greyred striped skirt black sweater by 14 shades of grey

red striped skirt black sweater teal scarf by 14 shades of greyweek04

black sweater teal scarf by 14 shades of greyred striped skirt black sweater teal scarf by 14 shades of grey

Maxi dress (worn as skirt): thrifted, Sweater & Scarf: hand-me-down
Leggings: Charlotte Russe, Boots: Journee


Black And Blue

chambray shirt polka dot skirt black boots by 14 shades of grey

The weather has been kind of warm these past few days, which means I can reduce my layers by half. I could also finally wear this outfit that I came up with a while ago but thought would have to wait until spring. It’s one of many outfits involving a chambray shirt that I’m inspired to try. I’m having a bit of a chambray moment, actually – I thrifted this shirt a while ago when chambray first became trendy, but it seems I didn’t “discover” it until now. I may even have to get a new shirt. This one is nice and all, but it’s a little loose-fitting (it may be a boy’s shirt) and reminds me of what the prisoners wear in The Shawshank Redemption, especially when I button it up all the way like this. On the plus side, I might have figured out my next Halloween costume.

chambray shirt polka dot skirt by 14 shades of greypolka dot skirt black boots by 14 shades of grey

chambray shirt lace necklace by 14 shades of grey

polka dot skirt black boots by 14 shades of greychambray shirt polka dot skirt black boots by 14 shades of grey

Shirt/Belt/Skirt: thrifted, Tights: Vietnamese shop
Boots: Journee via Amazon, Necklace: self-made


Light Up, Light Up

Today is the first day that feels like fall here – crisp, bright, sunny. Too bad we only have a handful of those each year. The light has been a lot purer too, since the mugginess is gone and the sky clears up. Funny, back in LA I used to lament the lack of clouds, but I never realized that it means less diffusion and the light is brighter there. It might be horribly smoggy out on the streets, but I could always rely on getting a nice magic hour light for my photos. Well, no matter. The light is nice now, so I might as well enjoy it.

My first day of NaNoWriMo went well, by the way. I might switch to a different story tomorrow, but that’s the beauty of writing a bunch of short stories instead of one long one. I just hope I won’t end up with all of them half-finished.

Shirt: Gap, Maxi skirt: thrifted, Sneakers: borrowed from my sister
Scarf: hand-me-down from my mom (well, more like I made her give it to me)
Post title: lyric from Snow Patrol’s Run