2012 As Told Through Outtakes

One thing I've learned in the past 10 months of this blog is that getting pictures of your outfits taken is awkward (yes, I fully get that I choose to put myself through this). So awkward that I find the need to make odd dance moves and strange faces, and many of those are caught on camera. As well as the gawky in-between poses and movements. Things you wish no one ever saw.

But I think they tell a funny story of the year on this blog, so rather than doing one of those pretty, polished year-in-review photo grids, I decided to pull some bloopers and share a thought on each. Hope you get a good laugh like I did!

An awkward neck and wine teeth in Sonoma

Forced smile on this unseasonably warm March day

The first of many, many awkward leg stances

Um, was it cold? 

I don't even know

It's fun to stay at the...Y M C A!

There's a reason why they say horizontal stripes and busy patterns are unflattering...

Told you the awkward legs would be back

Does anyone really walk like that? And play with their hair simultaneously?

Awkward leg and some shellffish cages...

What the hair? And spacey eyes?

Because THAT's attractive

So, so tired here. 

Hello veiny wrist

Meet your friend, awkward inner arm

I know people think low-rise pants went out with Britney, but this photo proves they're a MUST for me

About to squash a bug, perhaps?

Hey there, food baby

Talking to the imaginary friend on my shoulder perhaps

And just about to twirl

Disappearing arm act # 1

#2 

#3

My fall hair disaster begins

Help, I'm stuck! 

I LOVE leaves! 

Hey what are you looking at? Nothing, pale girl

Shake it out

Get me outta here! 

Why? Just, why. 

TADA! The awkard grand finale! You haven't even seen this outfit yet.

Here's to a fabulous 2013! 

Plum, Navy, & Cobalt Inspiration

OK, so I've had a change of heart lately on a couple of the trends I've been avoiding. As seen with my hi-lo dress purchase. And I recently, finally, caved on the colored jeans thing. (I get to wear jeans to work, so avoiding any sort of jeans trend is just plain stubborn and silly.)

What won me over? This top. I'll explain.

Well, we already know I love navy. And I am growing ever enthusiastic on cobalt blue. The combination of those two colors plus a pretty purple (it looks more violet than the fuschia pictured here) is absolutely darling.

So back to the jeans. Through my almost daily browsing of Forever 21's site, I came across a couple awesome pairs of plum jeans, one of which made its way into my shopping cart (a birthday gift to myself). The great color combo in the top made me realized just how versatile the plum pants could be, so I'm already lining up plenty of outfits that work with them.

First: pairing them with the navy blazer seen here, a laid-back T-shirt like my Brooklyn one, and simple navy flats. A fun fringy necklace like this would be the perfect accessory.

I'm also thinking about wearing the jeans with my navy polka dot shirt from the J.Crew factory, or my classic Gap boyfriend shirt in navy (scored with a great Gap online discount), plus a navy/cream striped scarf I picked up in the H&M men's section.

To bring in the cobalt blue, I could always do this blouse I bought in the pretty blue shade, or my favorite blazer from spring with a simple white v-neck T (I love Target's).

A chunky white sweater I thrifted and black booties will make a great mod look when paired with the jeans, too. And the ideas just keep on coming.

What about you? Have you come around on any trends? What fall piece has been inspiring you lately?

Things Inspiring Me Lately

Uh Oh. It's about to get sentimental in here. But really, when your blog photographer (husband) is a wedding photographer and it's the middle of his busy season, it's just not fair to ask him to shoot and edit outfit photos at the pace he used to. I regret that it leaves me with a sparser blog lately, but I'd like to see Mikhail get some sleep :).

But, I don't want to go dark here. So without further ado, here are three articles/posts/ideas that I've found to be inspiring reads in the last week. And I'll be back with an outfit soon.

1. "Techies Break a Fashion Taboo." The New York Times

It's all about women tech executives in Silicon Valley boldly embracing their fashion sense. I write about tech, work in an area with thousands of others people who work in tech, and always struggle with exactly how much of my fashion-loving self I can show at the office. I was just talking to someone about the fact that being dressed up in Silicon Valley makes you look like a not-so-serious entreprenuer, and then came back to my desk and saw this gem.

Granted, the brands mentioned in the wardrobes of these Silicon Valley power ladies are ones I will never be able to afford, but I love the sentiments expressed here. That actually paying attention to and caring about how you dress doesn't make you any less serious or qualified as a business person. It's shocking that this needs to be spelled out, but really, it does. This quote is my favorite: “It’s possible to hold your femininity and love of fashion... Now I feel not at all at risk that people would say, ‘How can she care about dressing well and run a billion-dollar company or be smart?’ ”

2. "33." Erin Gates of Elements of Style

Erin only recently came onto my radar, thanks to an awesome interview in The Everygirl that tracked her career trajectory and how she came to starting her own interior design business. I pretty much immediately considered her a rockstar. She started blogging in 2007 (pretty early on in the game), built a wonderful audience, and leveraged that to start her own interior decorating business. Her 33rd-birthday post this week talks about her experience not being a mother yet while all the friends around her are. Is it creepy that this inspires me? I find it inspiring because she is honest and open about a challenge in her life, and an area where she struggles with comparison and gets all sorts of mixed advice. I love how her post is honest about this challenge, but also brings in valuable perspective and patience: "Something in me feels like when the time is right, it’ll happen."

3. "for me. because of you." Jessica of How Sweet Eats

If I could even pick a favorite blogger, I think it would be Jessica. Yes, I get that my own blog hinges on personal style and I subscribe to maybe 50-something fashion bloggers in my Google Reader, but this is really my first love. Not only does she post the most delicious food ever, but she tells everything with such drama and stream-of-consciousness hilarity that the recipes are just so fun to read. Oh, and my family and in-laws especially think I am an amazing cook, and it's all because I pull recipes from her blog. Blueberry donuts? Brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies? Baked buffalo chicken pasta? Oh my gosh.

Jessica posted a while back about how as a child all she wanted to do was write, that she spent hours in her off-time writing, but then high school came and she became too cool for it.  Years later, after leaving her personal trainer career for another job that she hated so much she quit and focused on the blog full time, she is yearning to write again. And she's pretty awesome at it, per her blog. I how raw and real her desire is: "I WANT TO WRITE SO BADLY I FEEL LIKE I COULD EXPLODE. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted something so badly in my entire life."

Well, I can relate. All through middle school and most of high school I dreamed of being a fashion designer. I had a big art pad that I would draw misshapen figures wearing fabulous, Oscar-style gowns in, and I would spend my spare time watching runway and makeover shows on the Style Network (yes, you have permission to laugh). High school went on and I got too distracted to take the sewing and art classes that would be really beneficial in applying to fashion design school, and I decided (at the suggestion of some family) to pursue journalism, because I was very good in writing and language classes. I don't regret that decision because it brought me to Boston and brought lots of amazing people into my life as a result, and writing as my job is truly awesome, but I often wonder what it would be like to work in the fashion world. I think I would have loved to be a fashion stylist. This is why I play dress up in my own closet. It's why I started this blog. And I can't even explain about how happy it makes me happy lately when friends text me telling me about their Forever 21 hauls, or when they ask me what colors to wear together or how to accessorize an outfit for a special occasion. I feel like it's given me this little outlet for doing something I've always wanted to do. I know this is small-time stuff, but it has brought me so much joy. So, thank you all.

No-fuss Neutrals: 5 Awesome Blogger Looks This Week

I like color just as much as the next girl (maybe more, just look at my header). But I'm starting to feel exhausted by the head-to-toe neon, neons and pastels, color color color, maximalism, patterns times five, etc. that's been everywhere this spring and summer. (Alexandra of To Vogue or Bust just shared some great thoughts on this same concept).

Burnout, I guess. Speaking of, it's also just too hot lately for all these layers and elements in one outfit! As a result, you've seen in me in not one, but TWO black and white outfits this week. I'm pretty sure I haven't worn that color scheme in the history of this blog up until now (yes, all four, long months of it).

[My take on black & white, here and here]

I still love color, but I am feeling inspired by muted, soft, understated looks lately. I'm starting to realize this is probably why the 90's era of Calvin Klein minimalism came about: as a reaction to the over-the-top everything from the 80's.

I think others are ready for a bit of a break from the color explosion. I say that because three bloggers who I read regularly (and am used to seeing in rather dramatic hues and patterns) went for the neutrals this week. Their looks are surprising and lovely, so I wanted to round them up. (I've included images for the ones I've received permission to and will continue to update with more; the rest you will have to click through to see for yourself!)

1. Frassy: Muted

It's all in the blog name. Frassy's style is usually full of sass, color, cutouts, and sky-high heels. This time she went for a demure navy and gray-ish beige dress, a classic hat, and brown brogues.

2. Viva Luxury: Basically Black

Annabelle has a knack for combining bright, citrusy colors in ways you never thought possible, without look contrived, childish, or downright clashing. And seriously layering some jewelry. But she looked just as great in this effortless black dress, black sandals, and gold statement jewelry. A true chameleon.

3. Sincerely Jules: Pink Lady

Yes, I get that she's wearing hot pink. But she's wearing it over the most-neutral-of-all-neutral colors: beige. The result is still sleek and classic. Jules says it perfectly herself: "After wearing this yesterday, I realized I need to purchase and wear more solid basics from head to toe." She's actually been pulling a lot of cool neutral, polished looks this week, a slight departure (IMO) from her casual but bright California vibe.

These last two have a great knack for neutrals all the time, so their looks aren't anomalies at all. But they're so pretty I thought they were worth including!

4. The Glamourai: Silver Bullet

        

Kelly's taste is pretty impeccable, and today's look beautifully and creatively displays this fact.

5. Wendy's Lookbook: Classic Pencil, Slim Trousers & Nude Pumps

The slight details (polka dot sheer blouse, textured clutch) give this cream-and-black look some punch. I love those high-waisted pants she has; so modern and chic! I wish I had the torso (and budget) for them myself.

What do you think? Have we burned ourselves out with color too early on in the warm weather season? Or am I taking it all for granted now? Will I be fed up with navy, browns, and gray in December and desperately reverting to a fuschia/chartreuse getup? Am I crazy? Do you even care? Tell me!

Tough Floral

[Cardigan: J.Crew factory (old); T-shirt: Two Arms Inc.; Jeans: James Jeans via Gilt, Necklace: J.Crew factory (old); Flats: Zara]

I've had this cardigan for two years now, before these big floral patterns became ubiquitous this season. I'm still not sure what to do with it at times, because it reminds me of a dress I'd wear when I was little to a fake tea party (yes, my friends and I had those). And there's my husband's cool grey Brooklyn T-shirt, which was too small for his gym-frequenting self. We popped it in the dryer to get it even smaller for me. Yay!

It's May and I'm almost completely burnt out on the pastels, neons, florals, and pattern mixing trends for spring and summer. I love color and I love all of those things on their own, but seeing them EVERYWHERE has made me retreat a little bit. That's what I get for packing 60 fashion blogs into my Google Reader. It's really my own fault.

I love discovering and following new trends, but I see them as a starting point. I think they should be tweaked and re-worked to reflect your own personality, not simply regurgitated from catalogues and style mavens (no matter how fabulous they are). So I decided to pair this pastel, floral, five-year-old-girl-inspired cardigan with a dude's grey T shirt to give it some edge, rather than going for the Easter egg look with more pastels. Oh, and my favorite turquoise necklace. I don't care if that color is in or out, I plan to wear it until I die. Like, paint my wheelchair that color when I'm old and senile.

You'll notice these photos are indoors and not sunlit. That's our kitchen and these were taken at 11 pm on Friday night. I'm a rebel, I tell you.

All photos by Mikhail Glabets 

I've Gone Dark

Not my hair, just on this blog! Sorry! It pains me to post so few outfit pics this week, so here's my quick hello.

I was traveling for work, wearing things like this (to a really awesome conference in New York City). Please excuse the blurry hotel mirror pics. I normally hate these but I like the outfit I came up with and wanted to share.

[H&M dress from three years ago, J.Crew outlet cardigan previously seen here, H&M polka dot scarf seen here,  J.Crew necklace seen in my last post, and shoes cut off in picture, but last seen here] 

And I've been participating in #StyleMeMay on Instagram. The month-long challenge is the brainchild of Hilary Rushford of Dean Street Society and the new VPL show on HelloStyle's YouTube channel. She's created a month's worth of daily inspirations for outfits (see below). Anyone who wants can follow the prompts to direct their outfit, snap a pic and post via Instagram or Twitter tagged #stylememay. Participate as often or as sporadically as you'd like!

It's great for bloggers like me who have fallen off their regular routine, but still want to remain connected. Here's what I've been up to:

Day 1: makes me want to twirl. This was the twirliest of outfits I had packed in my travel bag, and was inspired by The Wonder Girl's musings on dresses over pants. 

Day 2: bright happy color. A Forever21 hot pink open knit sweater bought on sale. Layered over a peach Oxford for even MORE color. 

Day 3: jazz up your hands. Rings from Forever21 and Old Navy. Posed over a favorite floral scarf. Hands photograph odd, don't they?

I hope to be back with more outfit goodness next week, but expect to see some layers and shivering, as it's crazy cold in Boston now. April showers bring more May showers and chilliness, I guess!

And in the meantime, you can see more of my #StyleMeMay takes on Instagram (ErinGlabby is my user name).

FBFF: My Outfit Spreadsheet

I was so pumped to write this FBFF* post on outfit planning because I think I have the most incredibly dorky way of tracking and planning looks: A Google Docs spreadsheet!

This started in part because I am a complete ogre in the morning. Ask my roommates and my husband. This doesn’t just mean I hit snooze 20 times and will bark at you if you try to talk to me. It also meant that I was getting frazzled when selecting my outfit for the day, so I just grabbed the first thing I saw. Throughout the day I’d be reading fashion blogs and thinking of all the ways I was inspired to play with my own wardrobe, but come the next morning I’d forget all these awesome ideas.

Let's go play in my closet

So, the spreadsheet was born a few months ago. It has a column for each category of item that could potentially go into an outfit: top, 2nd top/sweater/jacket, dress, skirt/pant, shoes, accessories (ie belt, hat, scarf), and jewelry. For each potential look, I write down which item goes into which category (see the screen shot below). This also helps me see how versatile a piece is and how many ways I can remix it into different outfits.

I take some time in my closet a couple times each week to test out the things I’ve put into my spreadsheet and make sure they look as good in reality as they do in my head. I don’t take pictures like Cher does in Clueless (except for this post), but usually just give the outfit a yay or nay on the spot, or find a way to tweak it to make it look better. I often spend way longer than originally intended on this process, because I think of new combinations, rediscover old pieces, and basically play dress up in my own closet, jotting down notes as I go along. (Are you embarrassed for me yet?) I don’t necessarily plan these outfits out for specific days, but generally take stock each week of what the weather’s going to be like and think of some looks that will work with that. I love getting dressed up for special occasions and planning those outfits down to the last detail, but I like to put similar care into my day-to-day looks, too. (Except when I've wildly overslept.)

OK I do take outfit test pictures. Just this for the purpose of this post, though! Oh, and my photographer husband is thoroughly embarrassed by my cheesy iPhone photos and over zealous use of filters from picfx (which I learned about on Twitter from Blair of Atlantic-Pacific)

The spreadsheet also helps me track how long it’s been since I’ve worn something. At the end of each row, I have a column to input the date I last wore a particular outfit. Right now, most of my spreadsheet is dominated with Spring/Summer outfit ideas. One thing I’m pumped about is that as the season draws to a close, I can take a look to see what rows have blanks in the date last worn column, and make an effort to wear those outfits before the warm weather runs out. (Yes, I just said pumped).

I’ve said before that I love to recreate looks worn by my favorite fashion bloggers using similar items in my own closet. Whenever I come across something I think could work for me, I usually pin them and log my version into my Google Doc on the spot. New purchases inspire me too. I love buying a single new piece and thinking of all the ways it can remix with things in my closet. Because of this, I can’t remember the last time I had to buy an entirely new outfit for an event. #Gofrugality

Trying to recreate this look from Atlantic-Pacific with clothing I already own 

I'm sure you're all thinking I'm either incredibly high maintenance or hopelessly nerdy, but an outfit spreadsheet is actually a lot easier than these seven paragraphs might indicate. You can jot ideas down on the fly and test them out whenever you get the time. And that part is loads of fun. I encourage you to try it! Not only will it help you get more creative and organized with what you wear, but you’ll probably find that you have a lot more going on in your closet than you thought you did!



*FBFF stands for Fashion Beauty Friend Friday. It was started as Katy Rose over at Modly Chic as a way to regularly connect fashion and beauty bloggers around a specific topic. (Read more about it here). I heard about it at a blogger conference I attended last month, and this is my first go! Thanks for reading.