out of an old movie

Outfit details: F21 dress, F21 necklace, locket (had it since childhood), Steve Madden luxe flats

I love lace. I have something of an obsession with it, to be honest. I'm a sucker for vintage style, romantic looks, the glamour of bygone years... Oh, and anything English. (Lace always makes me think of Victorian England, you see.) I actually lived in the south of England for three years when I was a child, and when I first came to the states I did have a British accent, much to the amusement of my teachers, haha. Alas, I've lost it in the years since moving, but who knows, maybe I'll move back one day and regain it.

Ahem, back to the fashion. I wore this to dinner and a musical tonight. My parents and I went downtown at ate at a new Lebanese place before watching the show Hairspray!. It was fantastic, and I highly recommend looking up the music/seeing the musical. Lots of fun in typical, enjoyable, Broadway style.

Tomorrow I'm off to France. Au revoir!

print mix

Outfit details: Express t-shirt, F21 dress, F21 belt, Steve Madden wedges, bracelet from Australia (gift)

I've wanted to try the whole floral/stripes print mixing thing for a while now, so instead of putting a cardigan over this paisley-flowery dress, I put a striped shirt under it! It's something different, and it ended up working better than I thought it would. All in all, a fun, casual outfit for Friday. (Can you believe it's another weekend already? Where does the time go?)

You may notice a tan dog in the pictures. That is my dear old puppy (yes, he may be 11 but he's still my puppy) who enjoys making sneaky appearances in photos. Try getting him to pose for his own portrait? Nearly impossible. 

ink and parchment

Outfit details: F21 top, F21 skirt, F21 necklace, Clarks heels, belt from Kohls 

Black and brown (any shade) in an outfit together was something I would never have done a few years ago. Now it's one of my favorite combinations- funny how that works, huh? This skirt is one of my favorites as it goes with just about everything and isn't horribly short either. As a short person I can get away with wearing shorter things than some of my taller friends, but I think I'll always prefer longer skirts. I've often been teased about being too modest. I don't think that's a problem anymore, but on a day to day basis I like to keep covered up! (Weekends are another story, hah!)

forget me not

Outfit details: Mimi chica top (Nordstrom Rack), long cardigan (Nordstrom Rack), Delia's capris, Steve Madden wedges, gifted silver locket, silver ring from a local boutique, belt ??

They say blue flowers are the rarest. They happen to be my favorite kind. (Can you tell that I love turquoise?)When I happened upon this top with ruched sleeves and an all-over blue floral print (reminiscent of forget-me-nots), I was quite happy! I purchased it a few months back when I first began doing my summer shopping, and it really is a great blouse to welcome in the warmth and color of summertime.

Today was another day of research work, aka long hours spent at a computer going over data. At points interesting, at others exceedingly tedious. It was also muggy and hazy and hot outside, so the cool colors in my outfit were the only cool aspects of my day. I study in Chicago, which is undoubtedly a cooler climate for the majority of the time, and I am definitely a person who prefers being too cold to too hot! That said, there's nothing like a hot summer to let you be lazy and sleepy all the time in preparation for the new school year come autumn.

posh purple

Outfit details: Mimi Chica dress (Nordstrom), H&M blazer, Steve Madden luxe flats, earrings from Nordstrom, necklace (?? Macy's?)

Another day of research-intern work today, so I threw on a blazer over this purple summery frock to class it up a bit. Now, I'm not usually one for ruffles, but this dress does them right in my book, and the purple color was too pretty to pass up anyway!

In other news, I've started packing for my upcoming trip to France! This may be weird, but packing for a trip is one of my favorite things to do. It's always so fun and exciting in my opinion.
I'll be leaving on Sunday night and will be in France for two weeks, visiting my wonderful best friend, K. I don't know if I'll be able to take outfit pictures there, so maybe I'll take some shots of what I'll be wearing before I leave? We'll see.

Hope everyone had a great start to the week!

on the dot

 Outfit details: H&M dress, Modcloth belt (from a skirt), my mom's shoes (from Dillards last year)

Even before I started attempting to dress fashionably every day, I'd make it a point to dress nicely on Fridays. Why? Because Fridays bring happiness, usually get togethers with friends, dinners out, movies, general good times! And so my good mood shows in my clothing. Today was made even better because the heat wave is finally gone (until next week) and it's a beautiful breezy 75.

I love this dress, it's so light and colorful! It does have some strange bunching at the waist, so I added a belt, and to finish the outfit off, 'stole' my mom's shoes from her closet since the color was too perfect to pass up.

And now I'm off to attempt cooking some pasta. Hopefully nothing will explode/burn/die in the process. Happy weekend!

navy whites

I'd like to think this outfit has a hint of sailor-flair to it (exhibit a: stripes. exhibit b: navy and white.) but then anything with blue and white and floral is so very summer. I've had this skirt for a few months now, but was never sure how to wear it, since a lot of shirts don't work with how light and flowy it is. Then, I stumbled upon this lovely tank at Forever 21 and was pleasantly surprised to discover that it worked wonderfully! This is the first time I've tried tying a knot at the front of a shirt, and I'm glad I did, since it's really what made this outfit come together.

 Outfit details: F21 earrings, F21 tank, Frenchi skirt (via Nordstrom), Covington wedges (via Macy's), Revlon Hot Coral + MAC Russian Red on lips

It's an absolutely beautiful day today, breezy and not too hot, so it was nice to get some sunshine that wasn't going to cook me alive. Also, it's my dog's birthday! We'll probably take a nice long walk with him this evening and give him a steak to celebrate. I also managed to find a doggie birthday cake, so he's in for quite the surprise!

a little bit old school

Outfit details: American Eagle shirt, Gap skirt (thrifted), Kimchi Blue flats (Urban Outfitters), black belt (?)

This outfit reminds me of a kind of retro-boarding-school look. Probably has to do with all the Oxford in it: the button up oxford shirt, the oxford flats...
I like the simplicity of this, and it's quite comfy to boot! The shoes really did serve as the inspiration and pull-it-all-together element of this outfit, I will say. Alas, even with Dr. scholl's gel pads and all, these shoes are still not completely broken in and as a result my feet are more than a bit sore. All in the name of fashion, I suppose!

roman holiday

Outfit details: Loft top, jean capris (Delias), pikolinos gladiators (via Nordstrom)

Roman Holiday is one of the only black and white movies I've watched and it's one of my favorites. Audrey Hepburn = amazing. This outfit doesn't remind me of either the movie or the actress, but the gladiator sandals remind me of Rome!

Today we experienced a heat wave, so while I was wearing a gray cropped blazer on this in the morning for my internship, I took it off in the afternoon when a friend and I went to the mall.

lab casual

 

Outfit details: Bebe top (thrifted), 17/21 denim (TJMaxx), white blazer (?? from my mom), flipflops (Rainbows)

Another hot, sticky day, but I was inside at my research assistant job, so I threw on a white linen blazer over my sleeveless top. I feel like the white blazer makes me look like a lab scientist, so I'm making it a challenge this summer to figure out new ways to wear it that don't scream SCIENCE. 

Any suggestions?

bright side of the moon

Outfit details: Pink Floyd tee (Target?), F21 shorts, Steve Madden wedges

I was basically raised on Pink Floyd, Pearl Jam, Jethro Tull, and a surprising amount of opera, Broadway, and Enya. As a result I am a strange, confused person who has a bizarre, eclectic taste in music. That being said, while The Wall is my favorite Pink Floyd album, Dark Side of the Moon has a prettier cover. Also it's just about impossible to find a good shirt of The Wall cover.

Today was a very low key Sunday, and really all I did was go see X-Men First Class with the fam. By the way, it's a GREAT movie. So much eye candy too, haha! Go see it. The tee is a nice faded gray-green (yes, it actually does have a green tint inreallife) and since the prism artwork has some neon-esque colors, I thought it'd be fun to pair it with my new bright red shorts and turquoise wedges.

queen of hearts

 

 

Outfit details: BCBG sunglasses, Fossil necklace, Zara bag, H&M romper, Bronx flats (via Nordstrom)

More like the princess of hearts seeing as this is a romper, haha. (Though it really does look like a dress...I didn't realize until I tried it on!) I wanted something loose and flowy today, but didn't quite feel like wearing a dress. I woke up agonizingly early today at 8:30 am since my weekly work hours (up by 7 every day, alas) have altered my college-style sleeping schedule. However, I still managed to laze around in bed until 1:30, when my friend picked me up and we went to grab smoothies in place of lunch at our favorite little crepe cafe and then browsed around Barnes and Noble for the better part of an hour.

I am a self proclaimed, world recognized nerd. I've always adored reading and so Barnes and Noble to me is like a candy store to a kid. I bought a lot of books but I ended up finding a $25 gift card hidden in my wallet, so obviously the Universe approved of my purchases. In true nerd fashion, I'm quite excited to start reading what I picked up.

Now I'm rounding out the day, having just finished grocery shopping with the parents, with a movie after dinner. All in all a satisfying summer Saturday!

tiger tiger burning bright

Tiger Tiger. burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye.
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat.
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp.
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile His work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?

Tiger Tiger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

 

The Tiger
by William Blake

 

(I love this poem.)

On that note, here are some horribly crappy quality pictures of my outfit that does indeed include a tiger! It was raining when I had free time to take outfit shots, and now it's dark outside and my camera is dead. I still wanted to document this outfit because I quite like it, so I decided to take some pictures of it, regardless of quality, in bits and pieces. You'll see.

I'll probably re-wear this again and will take better pictures.  But, for my memory's sake, here goes:

 

 Outfit details: F21 top, Fossil necklace, New York & Company tank (underneath), Express shorts (few summers ago?), braided belt (Delia's), Pikolinos gladiator style sandals (Nordstrom)

Wore this to a dinner out at a bar-style restaurant with my friends. Casual, but a bit edgy, methinks; appropriate for a fun Friday evening. I usually wear this kind of cat-eye makeup when I go out, but today I tried a slightly different shape than my usual (not that you know my usual, I guess, so this is more for my sake) and I wanted to make sure I remembered what it looked like, haha.

brightly, flowy, colorfully

 I love summer evenings. The sunlight turns perfectly golden, softer than the harshness of summer daylight. The air is still a bit sticky but that's part of the appeal of this season, isn't it? All the bug noises, however, I could do without.

 

 

Outfit details: earrings from Nordstrom, F21 top, F21 skirt, BCBGMax sunglasses (TJ Maxx), Bronx flats (Nordstrom)

I love colorblocking. Possibly this stems from my love of stripes. Makes sense, huh? In any case, as soon as I found this rusty top I knew I was going to pair it with this skirt. I love when that happens. I switched out the flats for turquoise wedges (seen here and here) when we went out to dinner.

Also new discovery regarding my hair. When it looks gross down (which is more often than not, I'm sorry to say), I have found that taking my bangs (which are awfully long now) and twisting them, then pinning them back makes my face look much less bald when I put it up.