It’s Not Me
Posted: September 18, 2019 Filed under: Clothes | Tags: black, black wedges, brooch, gray, gray plaid pants, pink, pink blouse Leave a comment
I got this shirt from my sister – she has a thing for v-neck blouses, and she’s forever handing them down to me. Now, I never say no to a free shirt, and some of my sister’s shirts have gone on to become work horses in my closet, but this one, I’m not so sure about. Something about the combination of the color and the feminine silhouette doesn’t feel very me – I have a couple of pink shirts, but the silhouettes are more streamlined. Or maybe it’s the way I styled it. I guess I’ll give it another chance to see if it’s a keeper or not.
The Siesta
Posted: July 29, 2019 Filed under: Clothes, Style Imitating Art | Tags: blue, brown, brown flat sandals, hat, navy print shorts, pink, pink v-neck tee, style imitating art 4 Comments
This week’s SIA inspiration stumped me a little bit, because I wanted to include all the colors in the painting (Paul Gauguin’s “The Siesta”), and I do have most of those colors in my wardrobe, but they don’t necessarily go well together in an outfit. I then decided to concentrate on just one of the women in the painting – the one in the foreground, in the purple-pink top, navy skirt, and hat with a polka-dot band. My purple tunic is actually perfect for it, but it’s a little dressy for casual, summer wear, so in the end, I went for a simple tee-and-shorts outfit. I paired it with my cognac sandals to mimic the touch of orangy brown in the painting (can’t leave out all the other colors) and wrapped my scarf around my mom’s hat to complete the look. Not an exact match, but for SIA these days, I tend to aim for wearable, real-world outfits rather than matching the inspiration exactly, so I’m happy with it.
Don’t forget to check Kim’s blog on Wednesday to see other outfit inspired by this painting!
Second Chance
Posted: July 12, 2019 Filed under: Clothes | Tags: brown, brown flat sandals, gray, gray wide-leg pants, pink, pink gingham button-up 2 Comments
Remember these pants? I stupidly shrank them last year, and after trying to stretch them, I haven’t tried them on again to see how they turned out. Turns out they aren’t that bad. Not as bad as I’d imagined, anyway. They’re definitely shorter and less roomy in the legs than before, and not “dressy” enough for work anymore, but for casual wear, they’re still fine (I wore this to go shopping with my sister.) They were so shrunken that I was prepared to hand them down to my niece, so I’m just glad that they still fit.
Not At The Beach
Posted: July 1, 2019 Filed under: Clothes, Style Imitating Art | Tags: blue, blue print blouse, navy cropped pants, pink, pink loafers, style imitating art 4 Comments
I wanted to put together something a little summery for this week’s SIA, inspired by Maurice Prendergast’s “Children at the Beach”, but I still had to go to work (so! much! paperwork!!!), so here is a work outfit instead. The print on my blouse and the blue color are to evoke the sea and the sky in the painting, naturally, and my pink loafers are to mimic the softer, daintier colors of the children’s clothes. It’s not beach-appropriate, but it’s SIA-appropriate, and I’m OK with that.
If you haven’t sent me your outfit, you still have until tomorrow! And don’t forget to drop by on Wednesday to see other outfits inspired by this lovely watercolor!
One Bottom, Two Tops
Posted: June 21, 2019 Filed under: Clothes | Tags: belt, black, black loafers, blue, navy linen sleeveless top, pink, pink embroidered top, white, white baggy pants 1 Comment
Thanks everyone for your kind words about my dog. She’s doing well now. Luckily, she only got flesh wounds, and in Vietnam we have a saying that goes “A dog heals its skin, a chicken heals its bones”, which means dog’s skin and chicken’s bones are easy to heal, so it looks like she’s on her way to a full recovery.
I have two casual outfits today. The semester is officially over for the students, but there are still papers to read and grades to turn in, so I opted for something easy and breathable. I didn’t realize it until I put the two of them together, but they are actually inspired by Keira Knightley’s outfits in Begin Again, specifically these two. I’ve been getting inspirations for my summer wardrobe from that movie since I first saw it – it’s one of the few movies with realistic costumes that I can actually recreate, and it helps that her character’s style is pretty timeless too.
Summer Flower
Posted: June 3, 2019 Filed under: Clothes, Style Imitating Art | Tags: brown, brown oxfords, green, green linen pants, pink, style imitating art, white, white embroidered blouse 4 Comments
For this week’s SIA, inspired by Daenel’s photo of a pink/purple coneflower, I knew I wanted to wear my green linen pants – I only have a few green things in my closet, and given the weather, these pants were the natural choice. However, for the top, I was stumped. The other colors in the photos are pink, purple, golden yellow and dark orange, which are not very present in my closet, and I already wore a pink top with these green pants for another SIA challenge.
In the end, I decided to go with this embroidered top. Sure, it’s mainly white, but the colors of the embroideries can mimic the shades of pink/purple/red in the photo, and finally, I chose my brown oxfords for the yellow/orange shades (since I don’t actually have anything yellow or orange!) All in all, the outfit is not as close to the inspiration piece as I’d like, but at least it’s wearable and comfy. I’d rather have that than to force myself into some ridiculous getup just to meet the inspiration.
Don’t forget to check Daenel’s blog on Wednesday for other outfits inspired by this lovely photo!
Untrendy
Posted: May 3, 2019 Filed under: Clothes | Tags: black, black cropped jeans, black turtleneck, brooch, gray, gray plaid blazer, pink, pink sneakers Leave a comment
I’m not a very trendy person, style-wise. I mostly wear what I like regardless of trends. However, I can’t escape trends altogether, especially when I live in a place still ruled by fast fashion. So my approach is to look at what’s currently on trend and see if any of it can fit into my style. Unfortunately, the most prevalent trend right now seems to be 90s revival, which, no offense, is hideous (my most obnoxious teenage years were spent in those styles; I don’t need to see them again, thank you very much.)
That said, there is one current trend that I can get behind – the wide-leg pants. I’m still holding on to my skinny jeans, but as the weather starts warming up, I want a looser silhouette. So far you’ve seen the wide-leg khaki pants I wore for SIA a couple of weeks ago, and here is another pair. I’m not sure if the blazer works (it’s too long and too boxy), but I’ve gotten a few compliments for this outfit from my students and co-workers, so I must be doing something right.
