Romance: Tulle & Hammered Gold

This morning as I got dressed in our walk-in closet, I observed to my sister that I always laugh when I think of how adamant opinions on trivial things are so apt to change. In my life I have loudly held many opinions that have gone, if not quite the opposite in recent years, at least swung that way. I used to swear I would never marry a man even half a year younger than myself. Now in my twenties, age gaps are shockingly non-issues between friends who are in the same season of life. I used to swear that I would never wear leggings. I now wear leggings frequently, though I still refuse to wear them instead of pants. And then we come to the Tulle Skirt. I once vowed that they looked idiotic and that I would never wear them...and I'm here today to confess that not only have I wanted a tulle skirt for a year now, but that last week I bought one and convinced my friend to buy one for herself too. 

Today, I went all-neutrals except for my mint-colored purse which possesses just enough winter to make it cheeky January-wear. The day is freezing and windy and not exactly shoot-photos-while-wearing-a-floaty-tulle-skirt kind of day so Benjamin very sweetly obliged to take a couple quick shots. I am therefore not responsible for any odd-looking poses or faces. ;)

 In honor of the store where I invested in this skirt (invested is the right word...it was 'spensive, though not so pricey as every other tulle skirt I've seen) which was called BohoBlu, I did a criss-crossy French Braided thing with my hair that looks quite luscious and gives the impression of never-ending tresses.

I don't why my face looks so angelic here.

 The fun of neutrals is that you get to pair lots of textures and patterns and it will all coordinate nicely. A beige cardigan from New York & Co., a fashion tee from Kohl's, a rose-gold belt around the tulle skirt, and second-hand snake-skin shoes complete the look. Gold jewelry accents add a little pizzazz to keep the outfit from looking too old-baptist piano-player, right?

I love the fairy-shadows my tulle creates!

Though this is photo is poor in quality, you can see that I went with a makeup scheme that defies winter: a palette of peach, aqua, a raspberry lip. January blues? Nah. We've got tulle and hammered gold.

Do you have a tulle skirt? And if so, how do you style it? I'm looking forward to playing around with mine...might even look into buying a crinoline to give it extra "poof." I'm sure that I'll have lots more style combinations to share as the year wears on. That was the great fun of investing in this piece: it's quite transitional for every season.

Skirt: BohoBlu

Tee: Kohl's

Cardigan: New York & Co.

Belt: Lace Affair

Shoes: hand-me-down

Happy Wednesday!

Saturday Style: Navvy Boots

Hello, peoples all! It has been far too long since I've had a spare hour to photograph my clothing. I promise I do wear clothes, even when you don't see them on here. XD Also, I am feeling increasingly vexed with iPhone mirror selfies for these posts. Hopefully I can get an actual camera on duty soon (and an assistant to photograph me). For now, though, no sense in being a crosspatch and not posting for the silly reason of poor photo-quality.

Today, I have three fun components to my nautical-themed outfit: a striped crop-top with latticed back (not pictured), turquoise belt, and high-heeled knee boots. I am so excited about the boots. I bought them to wear in my brother's outdoor wedding in November...I have wanted boots for so long, but being a curvy-girl, most tall boots don't fit over my calf. Enter Kohl's and a pair of boots created especially for women like me. They are so comfortable, so stylish, and so fun to add to an outfit. So yes: the boots. I like them.

People say you can't mix brown and black very easily, but I believe you can...you just have to get the right mixture of other colors in the combo. I didn't want to do the red & blue nautical thing today. Instead, I chose to bring out another level of blue for a somewhat playful feel to the thing to counteract the serious Parisness of the boots. ;)

Light flares because it's sunning like crazy over here.

Virginia Octobers are beautiful and cool, but not so cool you actually need a coat. Enter useful things like lightweight, long-sleeve tops and boots. I used to dislike tucked in tops because I don't have a tiny waist, but I am growing to love the look of being able to show off a sweet belt or cute top. I have definitely been inspired to try new things by curvy fashion bloggers such as Girl With Curves. Following a few of them on Instagram gives me a fashion boost each day. (Did you know I'm on Instagram?) Knowing that certain styles can either look chic or sloppy encourages me to be mindful of my posture, and they really can look great when I remember. ;) I chose to put a tangerine-colored cami under this crop-top in case it decided to rise up. Been thinking it would be useful to do a post sometime on how to modestly style a crop-top...would you guys be interested?

As you can see, the shirt won't always stay put and it's nice to know my belly isn't showing. Otherwise someone might start calling me Winnie-the-Pooh, and much as I adore him, that isn't exactly what I'm going for. XD

What are you wearing this bright October Saturday? Do you have any plans? I'm for a morning of book-release work (Anon, Sir, Anon comes out the Fifth of November! Add it to your Goodreads list if you love me), then a baby-shower this afternoon. Wanna guess what I'm giving the wee lad? (Hint: it starts with "winnie" and ends with "thepooh." ;) Cheers!

That Frank Churchill Life

Most of you know by now that I got a chop-job done to my hair. Actually, it wasn't as bad as all that. After deliberating on whether to get bangs or not, I decided to go with it and get a little length off at the same time. I am happy to say that, though the reactions have ranged from, "WHOA. You...really did that?" to, "It looks AMAZING!", I am happy with it. And that's really all that matters. The fun thing about having bangs is that I can leave it down and it looks styled, I can put it up and leave the bangs down and it looks styled, or I can brush the bangs to the side and it looks ... styled. Pretty good qualities to have when you live a life on the go. So I thought, "Hey, why not just do a blog post with a couple Ways to Wear my new hair?"

And then my bangs decided not to cooperate and to act flat and then split down the middle. Like, really. Why do they have to have a cat's personality? At any rate, I combed them somewhat-into submission and took my iPhone selfies for your viewing pleasure. Also, open shipping-container doors make pretty good backdrops. #factoid

It Can Go Down:

I love them. They tickle sometimes, but I love them.

"Half the time my hair looks awesome but the other half I look like a simple-hearted Catholic school-girl who says Hail Marys thrice a day." -in a message to my best friend

It Can Go Up:

'Dem bangs.

I can brush them to the side for a youthful hipster look:

I can pull an Audrey Hepburn Roman holiday lookalike:

Which of course must be followed up posing as the Italian Barber:

 It is a very good sort of haircut and I didn't even have to go all the way to London for it.

Autumn Styles: Peeking Ahead

If I have one flaw in my relationship with summer (besides high humidity and mosquitoes) it is the fact that summer fashions don't thrill my heart as much as those belonging to autumn. Maybe it's because I don't have the fabulously toned arms to rock a sleeveless top, or the fact that I cringe whenever it's strictly necessary for me to wear shorts. Maybe it's the hellish temperatures that make me wish wearing no clothes whatsoever was passable in society. ;) Whatever the reason, by this second week of August, I am always ready to break out the jeans, high-heels, sweaters and my magenta trench. So what sorts of fashions am I looking forward to trying this fall?

I've recently been inspired by Ginnifer Goodwin in Once Upon a Time:

She's feminine, practical, and stylish -- all things I will be needing to consider while continuing my nannying job this fall. Not so much digging the pixie-cut, but it looks just fair on her. One thing I've learned with a summer of nannying: I want my clothes to be kid-proof and cute. Also, Ginnifer Goodwin is a fellow (albeit petite) curvy-girl so I can take styling cues! The costume designers did such a good job bringing her personality into her wardrobe ... love it. 

Skinny Jeans & Heels & Boots:

Inspired by many curvy fashionistas, I want to try a pair of skinny jeans this year -- especially with boots or high heels. Another curvy friend and I plan to shop for a well-fitting pair together. I hate the painted-on look; I want a pair that will go well with longer tops (I would love to get a sweater-tunic) and stuff well into boots. Also, you can't beat skinny jeans and a trench-coat or blazer.

Cardigans

Also inspired by Ginnifer Goodwin and my love of all things vintage, I want to get a couple of short cardigans to pair with skirts and dresses.

Silk Neck-Scarves

Always one for that Hepburnism, I have ordered a few silk scarves and will be styling them this fall as a way to expand the versatility of my wardrobe.

Say hey to the guy creepin' on Grace Kelly

Hats

I really want to get a couple of different hats to wear this fall. I will be getting bangs of some sort "put in", if that's how you say it, next weekend and I'm looking forward to trying different styles of hats/headbands/etc.

 Yes. I am ready for autumn. This is going to be fun.

Smokey Peacock Formal: A Makeup Tutorial

I began this look as another Plenilune look, but basically it turned into something I'll just label the Smokey Peacock Formal and leave you free to apply it however you choose. It would be a lovely look for some sort of gala event, while it is still simple enough to wear for a work day if you were going to switch from one to the other without time to change makeup.

//The Eyes//

I began by dabbing a little concealer under my eyelids and swiping primer on the top of the lids. I'm not fancy with my primer: it came in an NYC makeup set and is sitting there right beside the shadows and a little pan of highlighter. Primer is, however, really helpful for "setting" a look, especially when it is smokey and might sort of peter out halfway through the evening without a little help. For this look, I started in the inner corners of the eyes with silver, then worked my way across the lid in lilac, dark grey, and cranberry, finishing the deepest part of the creases with a dark purplish brown. (All of these colors came from an all-purpose smokey-eye palette, plus a Smokey For Green Eyes palette from NYC) I lined my eyes all the way around with black (including the very inner corners), and underlined the bottom lid with silver to brighten the look. I filled in my brows a little with some brown eye-shadow too. You can't see terribly well in these photos, but at the far corners of the eyes, I brushed some peacock blue to shock some light back into the dark. Just a little, just enough to make it a playful rather than high-drama look.

I have never tried an entirely black smokey eye because I have heard that such a thing makes green eyed women look washed out. I'm not certain this is true, but then again, I've never been a major fan of the Abigail Chase Meets Raccoon look. I'm quite content with a reddish or purple palette. Works for me. :)

//The Face & Lips//

A quick puff of Mama's blush along my cheek-bones and the face was done. God has blessed me with a generally pretty clear complexion so I don't worry too much about doing anything with powders and foundations and things. For my lips, I used Laqa & Company Lip Lube in Purple. I either needed to go nude with the lip color, or something Not Pink. Purple? Perfect.

//The Hair//

For a bit of drama, I finger-combed my hair to the opposite side of where I usually have it, and pinned it into a haphazard coil into which I stabbed a gold dogwood flower. 

And there you have it! An interesting, beautiful look for your daytime-to-evening wear. Tra!

My Royal Fashion Inspiration

I know many of you think my style icon is Audrey Hepburn, and in a way it is. She is definitely my vintage fashion inspiration...which is pretty easy to tell, given my fondness for black dresses, glam, and lipstick. ;)

As you can see, I'm quite proficient in the art of Hepburnism and enjoy finding lots of new combinations for that strain of my fashion taste. But I have other style inspirations and I want to highlight one of them today. For a long time I loved Princess Kate's style and I still do, but my Royal Fashion Icon is Princess Mary of Denmark. The woman has a precious story and is now my favorite royal. She is a wife and mother first and foremost and you can tell how much she loves her children by the sheer volume of pictures with them in tow. It's precious, I tell you. Not only is she a Cinderella-story, but she has pretty darn awesome fashion taste. Here is a collection of the best. Can you see why I've adopted her as my fashion muse?

Simple evening attire

Rocking the casual wear.

Classy Mama

Completely natural in her grace and beauty.

And if you aren't quite in love by now, I don't know where your heart is.

More women should take cues on fashion from people like the Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. She dresses with modesty, grace, and elegance. She's very understated, very natural, and appears to be the sort of person with whom you would feel at ease. There is nothing pretentious about her style of clothing, nothing that would make you feel that she thought ill of you. Gracious. Effortless. I want to be more like her in my fashion life.

Who is your style inspiration?

Oh.

And would you like to see my biker-chick ensemble? ;)