Uniform

[Sweater: thrifted; Top: Old Navy; Jeans; Citizens of Humanity (similar); Loafers: Cole Haan; Watch: Nixon]

A cozy cardigan paired with a bright top is a uniform of sorts for me. This particular tank was winterized with this thick knit sweater. You can see the fall version of this look here.

All photos by Mikhail Glabets

Oh Hello

Yes, it's been a while since my last outfit post.

Taking pictures is basically impossible in the winter time. Because I hate mornings and leave myself exactly 20 minutes to get out the door, which means we're lucky if everything is buttoned properly and I have mascara on. And it gets dark at roughly 2pm in Boston during this time of the year.

Truthfully, I don't really love having photo shoots in my kitchen at 10pm when my day finally slows down, when I could instead be catching up on Downton Abbey (SHHHH, I'm only on Seasons 2), planning what awesome recipe I'm going to make from this new cookbook, hanging out with my husband, or just enjoying life unplugged.

And I don't want to write one of those posts that sounds something like "Five Faux Fur Vests I'm Dying to Have," or "10 Baroque Print Pants You Must Buy Now" or "37 Ways to Spend Money Because I Told You So." Because that ultra commercial, you-must-buy-into-this-trend-now-to-feel-worthwhile side of blogging is bothers me, and is not why I'm here. I started this little thing as a way to revisit my interest in the art of putting together an outfit and developing a personal style, and I don't think you need to spend a ton of money all the time to do that.

So you will see photos from me again when I adventure out into the daylight with Mikhail and his camera again :).

But in other news, these wedge sneakers have made their way to Target.

And I'm confused. At first I thought they were awesome, and I love how bloggers like Jules style the original Isabel Marant pair with dresses and other girly things to take the dainty edge off. The very similar knockoff (Steve Madden Hilight) costs $150, which is still too much for me to spend on something that does not have staying potential likely after this season. So I was seriously considering taking Leandra's advice here, and going for the more classic Nike sneaker (see below), which she says is the stripped down source of this wedge sneaker craziness.

But Target's sub-$40 price tag makes the wedges something I'm OK with buying and wearing mostly just this year.

What's one to do? Bite the bullet on the Target pair and wear them to death? Or hold out for something more classic (and quality) and resist the trendiness? I'm torn and I want your thoughts!

Red, White, & Layers

[Dress: Forever 21; Sweater (old) and Tights: J.Crew Factory; Boots: J.Crew (old and hand me downs; similar); Snood: Asos; Bracelet: SoWa Vintage; Earrings: Old Navy; Nails: OPI 'Dating a Royal']

I've developed a recipe for creating summer in winter.  Take summer dress, put it over tights and boots, top it off with a thick sweater and scarf, and boom! Winterized.

And I'm prepared to repeat it.

Happy Friday all!

All photos by Mikhail Glabets

The Perfect Winter Dress

Last month I was invited to a wedding last minute (perks of being the photographer's wife), and realized all my fun dresses were far more summer appropriate. I pulled a look together with a knit little black dress and some statement jewelry, but have since been daydreaming about owning a perfect go-to winter cocktail dress. Around the same time, I stumbled my way into Barney's (dream on, right?) when I had some time to kill before meeting with friends, and came across this perfect number by Rag & Bone.

I love the black and white combo, the flattering vertical color block pattern and the fun gold piping. All that in the ultra flattering shift shape? Can I please own you NOW?!. The $450 price tag, is well, shall we say unrealitsic, but I'm determined to own something similar in my price range. I took to the usual sources, and here is what I came up with.

This first row is actually a bit liberal in its interpretation: a similar shape in the center, but different colors, longer silhouettes, and other tweaks make this row more of a nod to the original dress.

1/2/3

One of the things I love the most about the Rag & Bone dress is the flattering vertically oriented pattern, so these dresses below struck me for the same reason. Some include the mirrored print look that has been cropping up in the last year, but I think the overall shape and layout is a nice nod to the original. And I love the shoulder detail on the far right dress. 

1/2/3

For this last set, I went as close to the original as I could. The gold buttons on the far left dress remind me of the piping on the original, and I love the curvier shape of the middle dress! I thought the beige was a nice twist in the third one. 

1/2/3

What do you think? Close enough? What's your ideal winter dressy dress? 

By the way Rag & Bone, you could make this easier on all of us and just send me the original? OK thanks. 

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?

3 Instagrammers Worth Following During NYFW

I am pretty sure New York Fashion Week exists to remind how much I wish I worked in fashion (and to get angry at my 16-year-old self for not following through on pursuing that dream). Not to reveal next season's trends and inspirations to the industry or give buyers a clue on what to stock their shelves with or to spur hundreds of fashionistas to hit the streets with the hopes of being captured by style photographers. Nope, NYFW is all about me. ;)

Image via Hillary Kerr's Instagram feed

This has all been exaggerated in the last year by my discovery of personal style blogs (yes, yes, I was hilariously late in the game) and Instagram. I love getting up-to-the-minute coverage on what is happening at Lincoln Center and beyond, but I feel like my feed has been clogged with some (not so) humble brags about how cool and important bloggers are in getting to attend the shows. I think I would share their excitement, too, but as a far-far away spectator, I want to get a sense of what is actually happening at the shows and what awesome looks we can expect for spring.

Luckily, there are a few Instagrammers out there who understand my pain and are dishing up some awesome insights from the tents. (Again, this is all about me.) And they are:

The Glamourai—I love her Instagram account for the same reason I love her blog. She has serious fashion industry and styling knowledge! She understands the little details that go into making an outfit look complete and timeless, and isn't focused on just piling on the latest trends Similarly, she Instagrams (that's a verb now, right? Just the way Facebook became a verb like seven years ago, yes?) amazing pictures with commentary that actually shows she understands the designer's perspective and where it fits in the greater fashion landscape. Not just "OMG OMG OMG I love this FRONT ROW OMG!" but things like this photo from Rebecca Taylor's show that remarks the look is "1980-meets-lady today."

Birchbox—Half the fun of Fashion Week is seeing the makeup looks designers are picking to best complement their collections. Birchbox, the amazing beauty products discovery platform, is sticking to what it knows and covering NYFW from this perspective on their Instagram. Earlier this weekend they were following around the fabulous Bobbi Brown as she created soft pastel and matte looks on the models at Tibi (seriously, how pretty is this?!?!).

Hillary Kerr—As the editorial director of Who What Wear, she's keeping her feed very much about what's coming down the runway, with an occasional personal outfit pic peppered in there. The main WhoWhatWear feed is equally informative. I spy white leather, metallics, denim mixed in with both of those, blacks, geometric prints, lots of sneakers, and a bevy of jackets. Can we just skip fall/winter, please?

What do you think? Am I taking the humble brags too personally? Or do you agree? Are there any other Instagram accounts you are turning to for quality, thoughtful NYFW coverage?

A Floral Touch

[Dress: Forever 21 (earlier this year); Scarf: Forever 21 (old but cool options here); Rings: Forever 21 (different color left); Earrings: Forever 21; Sandals: Madewell]

This scarf has been my favorite last-minute chic accessory for the last four years. It transforms a basic white t-shirt and jeans, and spices up an already bold, bright dress.

[All photos by Mikhail Glabets] 

Simple

[Dress: Cynthia Rowley via T.J. Maxx; Shoes: Old Navy; Necklace: J.Crew factory (recent); Sunglasses: Ray-Ban]

Navy just might be my favorite color to pair neon with. (Evidence here, here, and here).

I giggled when I saw "Bond Girl Confidence" as the #StyleMeAugust prompt this week.  I figured a slightly stretchy, form-fitting dress was the best chance I got.  And Bond girls totally wear neon, right? Minimal accessories, too. Either way, I felt cool, comfy, and chic despite the sweltering heat and humidity this week. Still not ready for it to end, though.

[All photos by Mikhail Glabets] 

Nautical Blush

[Dress: H&M, earlier this year; Jacket: Forever 21; Shoes: Zara; Necklace: H&M; Earrings & Ring: Forever 21;] 

The shape of this dress is oh-so-girly, so I paired it with the more dude-like jacket (minus the shiny pink-ness of it, of course). We took these photos minutes before last Saturday's downpour began, so I was quickly back home and in comfies, ready for a night of Mexican food and movies with family that was visiting. Happy weekend, all! Don't melt.

All photos by Mikhail Glabets

Closet Remix: Mint Seersucker

[Mint Blazer: Gap outlet (old); White Shirt: Forever 21; Jeans: 7 for All Mankind; Necklaces: Forever21 and Banana Republic outlet (old); Ring: Old Navy; Flats: Zara]

Let's talk about my pant legs. One rolled, one not. I SWEAR I'm not trying some twist on J.Crew's half-tucked shirt look. Nope, this was completely an accident.

The Mr. and I joined my friend in a wine tasting event extravaganza in Boston at noon. Fifteen or so wine vendors, each with a few wines for the trying. It was awesome, and exhausting. So, Mikhail and decided to curl up in our car for a nap after the fact. We woke up refreshed, albeit a bit disheveled. (Hence my hair. I'm sorry for that. I really am.) We starting shooting to catch some of the good light, and only halfway through our adventure did I noticed my orphan rolled pant leg.

But I am pulling inspiration from J.Crew in another way. One of its catalogues (or Style Guides, if we're being proper here), showed two chunky canary yellow necklaces layered over a beautiful shift dress in the same shade. I realized I had two cobalt blue necklaces and a cobalt blue H&M dress from a few years ago in a similar shape. I just went with the necklaces here, but I'm excited to try to the whole ensemble later on. For now, I thought the chunky necklaces went nicely with a mint seersucker blazer my mom bought me about five years ago from the Gap outlet in our town. She got me a pink one too. I haven't wore them a ton in that time period, but the mint color works great for this season. I think the flowy, slightly mussed white shirt balances out the pure prep of the seersucker. Happy Monday!

All photos by Mikhail Glabets 

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.

Swapped Style

[Cardigan: Old Navy, last seen here; Pink Shirt: Gap, swapped; Jeans: Citizens of Humanity via REVOLVE; Flats: Zara; Earrings: BaubleBar; Ring: Old Navy; Necklace: J.Crew factory (old) Bracelet: Flea Market]

I have been so excited the wear the goods from my first ever Swap party. The ladies at The Swapaholics put on this incredible event where you bring in three to five items in exchange for new (to you) pieces. I've heard that previous events are reminiscent of a Filene's Basement running of the brides, but this particular night was leisurely and lovely. Whenever you saw an item you wanted on the racks, you simply replaced it with something you brought. The idea was to hang out and see what else made its way onto the racks as more people arrived and swapped in their own items. You could even sip wine, munch sandwiches, and meet new people in the process. Way better than the mall or Newbury Street, if you ask me. And way greener, of course.

Sad you missed it? Don't be. That party just kicked off their swap season, and there's even another event coming up in Boston May 16. Oh, and expect to see more of my fun finds on the blog. I'm finally starting to embrace the color red, which inspired me to pull this awesome number off the racks. I have so many ideas on how to style this maxi dress, which I admittedly don't think I would have sprung for at any retail price. And the pink oxford in today's outfit is something I had been wanting to buy anyways, so being able to swap it out for something I didn't want anymore felt quite lucky.

Boston has slipped back down to its normally chilly winter temperatures, so I was happy to layer this pastel pink shirt (trendy this season but also timeless, in my opinion) with the Old Navy cardigan that looks and feels far too well constructed and luxe for its $15.99 (on sale) price tag. I played up the pastels even further with blue ring and lavender nails (Essie Lilacism). I think the color trend is really cute, but am a little wary of spending much money on pastel clothing just in case those shades become stale next year. But an $8 bottle of nail polish? I can do that.

All photos by Mikhail Glabets

Coral, Neutrals, & Night

[Coral Blazer: Forever 21 (appears to be sold out now but similar shades are here and here); Ruffled Top: J.Crew factory (old); Pants: Gap (old); Earrings: Old Navy; Ring: Old Navy; Bracelet: Flea Market; Shoes: Goodwill]

Where's the daylight, you say? We ran out of it before managing to take some good outfit photos on Saturday, so Mikhail got playful with his flash. That's why you see the fun hazy effects swirling around my face.

This blazer is a bright orangey coral, so I paired it with neutrals and some blue accessory pops. I bought the pants a couple years ago on sale at Gap during my senior week at college, and they have served me well. They can be dressed up, down, with color or with neutrals (and sometimes both in the same outfit). My favorite thing about the look, though, is the subtle print mixing, with the striped brown pants and the polka dot lining of the blazer, which flashes when the wind picks up! Otherwise it feels like my little fun secret.

All photos by Mikhail Glabets