Date: November 25, 2011
Shirt: American Apparel
Skirt: Lux, via Urban Outfitters
Scarf, faux or fur? I’ll never tell: gifted
Tights: Gap
Shoes: Indigo
An all-grey outfit, because that felt seasonal to me? I don’t know. I liked it.
Date: September 29, 2011
Dress: Banana Republic
Sandals: Expression
Scarf: Gap
Jacket: Lux
True story: I got this jacket, like, four years ago. This is the first time I’ve successfully styled it. Isn’t it lovely?
Date: March 11, 2011
Cowlneck: Kimchi Blue, via Urban Outfitters
Cape: Buffalo David Bitton
Hat: Urban Outfitters
Pants: Gap
Hobo gloves: Lux, via Urban Outfitters
Boots: Aldo
Apparently Friday was my Urban Outfitters hipster day.
Date: February 3, 2011
Sweater: Banana Republic
Cardigan: Lux, via Urban Outfitters
Scarf: Gap
Cords: Gap
Boots: Aldo
I don’t often wear this grey cardigan, but it really is quite lovely. I tried layering in an unusual way - unusual for me, at least.
Date: December 31, 2010
Skirt: Lux, via Urban Outfitters
Shirt: Joe Fresh
Cardigan: Gift, New York
Tights: American Eagle
New Year’s Eve. This sweet little cardigan was a gift from my mother for Christmas. And I won’t reveal whether I was actually wearing this at midnight….or whether I had changed into pyjamas and the Boyfriend’s flannel shirt. That’s classified.
Date: November 23, 2010
Shirt: H&M
Skirt: Lux, via Urban Outfitters
Tights: Joe Fresh
Cardigan: Gap
Socks: American Apparel
Boots: Aldo
I bought this skirt for a mod costume years and years ago (4, actually…jesus.) I’m trying to actually start being brave enough to wear it. Miniskirts make me nervous. I can’t compete with teenagers!
Date: November 21, 2010
Coat: Lux, via Urban Outfitters
Skirt: Lux, via Urban Outfitters
Blouse: American Apparel
Cardigan: Gap
Belt: H&M
Tights: Joe Fresh
Shoes: Indigo
You can’t see it very well, but this is the first time I’ve worn my black peter-pan collar blouse from American Apparel. I brought my two most festive skirts to our weekend away at the Boyfriend’s parents’ house.
Date: November 20, 2010
Coat: Lux, via Urban Outfitters
Skirt: Club Monaco
Shirt: Banana Republic
Tights: Joe Fresh
Shoes: Indigo
When I woke up last Saturday, I determined to dress as though it had snowed already. By 7 pm, my outfit was made appropriate by the first snowfall of the year. (I love this skirt - it’s the perfect Christmas accessory.)
Date: November 18, 2010
Skirt: Nokomis
Shirt: Staring at Stars, via Urban Outfitters
Belt: H&M
Scarf: Gap
Cardigan: Urban Outfitters
Tights: Joe Fresh
Shoes: Spring
Coat: Lux, via Urban Outfitters
I love this lace top, and I love this skirt, and I love this scarf, and I love this winter coat. I apparently just chose an Oprah mindset with this outfit.
Date: November 1, 2010
Dress: H&M
Cardigan: Lux, via Urban Outfitters
Belt: H&M
Scarf: Thrifted
Hat: Urban Outfitters
Tights: Joe Fresh
Boots: Aldo
I thrifted this scarf for 25 cents. I feel pretty good about that.
Full disclosure: I’m typing this outfit description whilst relatively drunk. Therefore, here is what I have to say about my outfit: it was cold and rainy and I needed to wear boots. This is a comfy sweater dress. Sometimes I like red/yellow color schemes because they look like autumn leaves.
Date: August 10, 2010
Skirt: Club Monaco
Blouse: Lux, via Urban Outfitters
Scarf: Wilfred, via Aritzia
Shoes: Miss Sixty, via Gravity Pope
This is one of those outfits that came together accidentally. I had worn the scarf on my walk to work in the morning along with a cropped trench, because it was a little chilly; at the office all day, I wore just a cardigan with the blouse. Then on my walk home, I wanted to look slightly more casual, so I added the scarf (Ellen Page’s wardrobe in Inception has been increasing my use of triangle scarves) but had to tuck it in, otherwise it ruined the look of the skirt.
And it turned out really interestingly, I think. I love how the print in the scarf and the print in the scarf interact with each other; I love the silkiness of the scarf and the blouse and the volume of the scarf, and the little cap sleeves that I usually hide under a cardigan. A man who asked me for directions on my walk back home took a solid minute to tell me that this outfit was the perfect combination of textures, shapes, and prints - that it was spot-on. He was wearing overalls and a baseball cap and he was not the kind of guy you’d expect to say something that detailed and genuine, and it was very nice. (I tried to be appreciative but short with him, since my unfortunate rule is that you shouldn’t be too engaged, even if they are nice and not creepy, because then it just gets their hopes up.)
Date: July 17, 2010
Shirt: American Eagle
Skirt: Anthropologie
Belt: Club Monaco
Trench: Lux
Shoes: Aldo
Headband: Club Monaco
The Boyfriend and I drove about half an hour out of town to visit the university’s botanic gardens. We wandered through the Japanese Gardens, the Alpine Garden, the Iris Dell, the Rose Garden. We shared an ice cream and read in the sun (me, Good Omens; he, Poe’s short stories). It was a beautiful day, and as the Boyfriend has acquired somewhat of a green thumb (or at least the knowledge thereof) from his summers working at the local garden centre in his hometown, I kept being startled by how little I know about the prettiness of flowers. I like hearing about the practicality of flowers - the soil, the sun, the moisture. It’s far more interesting.
Date: July 11, 2010
Dress: H&M
Belt: American Eagle
Turban: Head Case
Undershirt: Lux
Sandals: Steve Madden
On Sunday the Boyfriend and I woke up, made omelettes, and then took a nice long leisurely walk down to the large park nearby, where the summer Shakespeare festival takes place. Sunday matinees (always the comedy) are free for students, so we spent all our money on pizza and pop instead. The comedy was Much Ado about Nothing, which is one of my favorites: I think Beatrice and Benedick might be my favorite functional Shakespearean couple, and hating Claudio always gets me nice and riled up. I always end up hating a weak and selfish character like Claudio much more strongly and infuriatingly than one who’s really evil and interesting, like Iago or Richard III.
Of course, Much Ado has more interesting things going on than my own weird personal attachment to Shakespeare - for example, the way the interest in gossip that the play displays stacks up against the lower-class characters’ total illiteracy yet immediate seizure of the situation; the way hand stands against heart for Beatrice and Benedick; and the question, of course, as to whether we really have a happy ending for Hero and Claudio. Poor Hero.
At any rate, it was a beautiful day, and the walk to the park took us through one of the nicest residential areas in the city, as you can see by my backdrop. The Boyfriend and I tend to dream a lot about our future house, and a little stone fence like this one is high up there for me.
And for good measure, here is the view over the River Valley.
Date: July 7, 2010
Dress: H&M
Trench: Lux, via Urban Outfitters
Shoes: Steve Madden
This is really my statement dress. It does one thing, and it does it very well: it is unabashedly old-fashioned. Its pleats rustle, it takes up space, its neckline goes up wonderfully high and does a dreamy boatneck. It makes me look like I walked off the set of Mad Men. And people comment, oh, people comment! No one knows what to do with you when you wear a dress like this!
I’ve dressed this up with a belt and heels today, but in the somewhat-heat I wanted a (however minorly) muted approach, with a casual trench and flats. Sunglasses, too, of course.
Date: May 5, 2010
Trousers: BCBG Max Azria
Belt: RW & Co
Shirt: Joe Fresh
Jacket: Lux
Shoes: Spring
Here is my attempt at wearing the high-waisted belted trouser trend. At work. As well as this velvet blazer for warmth. It snowed here, by the way. As in, a blizzard. As in, there is still snow on the ground now. I don’t know how flattering this picture is, but I did like this outfit. It felt cool in ways I rarely attain.
A 21 year old university student struggles with style and science.
