Loosey Goosey
Posted: July 11, 2018 Filed under: Clothes | Tags: black, black pumps, blue, brooch, brown, navy blouse, tan wide-leg pants 4 Comments
This is the last of my work outfits from the semester. I almost didn’t post this because I wasn’t wild about the outfit, but I’m running out of material to post, so I figure beggars can’t be choosers. See, I was going for this kind of loose silhouette I see on so many Japanese fashion blogs, but I don’t think I pulled it off with my body type. I guess I’ll just stick to the more classic “loose + fitted” silhouette from now on.
Stripes & Leaf
Posted: July 6, 2018 Filed under: Clothes | Tags: beige heeled sandals, blue, brooch, green, green striped tee, navy culottes, white Leave a comment
Another work outfit straggler here. This was taken a while ago, so I didn’t remember why I added a brooch to this outfit. Oh wait, I think it was the day we had some important meeting or something, but it was too hot to wear a more formal shirt, so I added a brooch to make my T-shirt look less casual. And because my shirt has green stripes, a leaf brooch seemed like a good choice.
Hot as it was back then, it was probably still blessedly cool compared to this past week. Yesterday the heat index was nearly 120F! Thankfully school was out so I no longer have to come into work. Even if I still had to work, I don’t think I could bike in this heat. I would be cooked alive.
Last Day Of The Semester
Posted: June 8, 2018 Filed under: Clothes | Tags: black, black sandals, blue, brooch, navy culottes, navy print sleeveless blouse Leave a comment
As I said last week, I had to sit in on the screenwriting thesis committee, so this is what I wore. At our school, the thesis defense is just a formality – the thesis is a script, which is judged by its own merits and not by how well the student defends it – but the students can still be quite nervous, so we try to keep it light and not too nerve-racking for them. Which is why I wore something simple, so it’d look like just another day in the classroom… if the classroom is actually a conference room and there are 5 teachers instead of one. Yeah, I don’t blame the students for being nervous.
Grumpy Bird
Posted: June 1, 2018 Filed under: Clothes | Tags: black, black loafers, blue, brooch, navy skinny jeans, pink, pink button-up 2 Comments
This outfit is not very blog-worthy, I know – I tried making it more interesting with the half-tuck, but I can’t do “trendy” touches like that; they just look sloppy on me. No, the real interest of the outfit is my brooch. It’s a present from my sister, and normally I don’t wear brooches with button-up shirts (except for maybe the ocassional small pin on the collar), but I had to wear it this time because the bird’s expression matches my mood so well. Just look how grumpy it is!
I’m grumpy too, because even though May is over, I’m still not done with school – next week I have to sit in on the thesis committee for the screenwriting students. Well, at least I’m not on the receiving end. I may have finished grad school 7 years ago (gods, has it really been that long?!) but I can still remember how nerve-wrecking those meetings can be.
Monkey Business
Posted: May 21, 2018 Filed under: Clothes, Style Imitating Art | Tags: blue, blue bird-print button-up, brooch, brown, brown loafers, green, green linen pants, style imitating art 4 Comments
OK, so there is no monkey in my outfit, but there are birds! This is the only animal-themed shirt I own (beside my cat T-shirt), so it would have to do for this outfit inspired by a monkey trading card of the Allen & Ginter tobacco company. For the rest of the outfit, I stuck to the green-and-brown color scheme of the card and also added a pin – it could be a feather or a palm frond, depending on how you look at it – to mimic the details of the card.
This has been a really fun SIA challenge. If you haven’t sent your outfit to Daenel (livingoutsidethestacks@gmail.com), do so by Tuesday, and don’t forget to drop by her blog to see other interpretations of this card!
Edwardian Shirt
Posted: May 11, 2018 Filed under: Clothes | Tags: blue, brooch, brown, brown oxfords, navy skinny jeans, white, white eyelet button-up 4 Comments
If you’ve read the blog for a while, then you know that Edwardian is one of my favorite style eras. It is my dream to own an Edwardian-inspired lawn dress (something like this), or a shirt or a blouse in a similar style. But now that I’ve found the perfect Edwardian shirt (the ruffles! The collar! The broderie anglaise!), I’ve discovered that I have absolutely no idea what to pair it with. A skirt is out of the question, because it would look like I’m cosplaying as a Gibson Girl. Normal trousers would look too stuffy. In the end, I decided to balance the shirt with a casual pair of jeans, but I forgot that my jeans are low-rise so they don’t look very well with a tucked-in shirt. The only thing I like in this outfit is the brooch, which is clearly born to go with this shirt.
Do you have any idea how to style this shirt? I need help!
Late Blossoms
Posted: May 2, 2018 Filed under: Clothes | Tags: black, black blazer, blue, brooch, navy skinny jeans, pink, pink sneakers, white, white eyelet top 2 Comments
My students gave me this cherry blossom brooch for International Women’s Day back in March, but I didn’t get around to wearing it until now. And wearing it reminded me of the cherry blossoms at Lake Balboa Park near my apartment in LA (not to be confused with Balboa Park in San Diego).
If there is one thing I missed about living in LA, it’s the cherry blossoms at a park near my apartment building. Every year around March, I would spend almost all of my days off there, taking photos of the clouds of pink blossoms until my camera battery died. I even remember seeing some Japanese-American families there for blossom-viewing parties. You don’t get flowers like that in Vietnam (well, we do have plum blossoms and peach blossoms here around February, but you’d have to travel to the mountain region to see them in large quantities.) Guess I’ll just have to be content with some old photos then.
