Literary Stylings #12: Hippie Days

As promised, the Literary Stylings Link Party is happening (and hopefully happening, if you know what I mean).

For today's look, I wore an outfit inspired by Ian McEwan's Sweet Tooth:

Image via npr.org

Well, Ian McEwan's Sweet Tooth and my own dear mother.  You see, I got this vest from my mom:

She sent it to me just last weekend, saying she remembers wearing vests like this during her "hippie days."  Which, if you know my mom is kind of funny because she'd still totally rock a vest like this.  But, instead of keeping if for herself, she sent it to me, because she's awesome like that.

So, what does this have to do with Sweet Tooth?  Well, the novel takes place in England in 1972.  And while the heroine of the novel, Serene, is not into the counter-culture movement, choosing instead to study "maths" at Cambridge and to later work for MI5.  Serene's sister, however, is heavily involved in the counter-culture, choosing to backpack in Morocco in lieu of college.  And during a visit to the University of Sussex Serene notes that the students there were much bigger hippies than at Cambridge.

And here you have it, my hippie-inspired outfit, but with 100% less Birkenstocks because I just can't with those:

And now it's your turn, Reader Friends.  If you were able to scrape together an outfit in the last possible minute, I'd love it if you linked up below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Intuitive Dressing

I wear a lot of what I wear because I woke up and decided it would be a good idea.  I call it intuitive dressing and today's outfit is a perfect example of it:

Skirt/Top: thrifted  Sandals: Steve Madden

I mean, if asked, I could claim that the butterscotch tones of the top are picked up in the scroll work and some flowers of the skirt and that's why I decided to mix these two patterns.  And I could say that the necklace works because it pulls a bit of blue from the skirt into the top of the outfit:

Necklace: LOFT (similar)

And I could argue that I wore black sandals to tie in the black trim of the blouse with the lower half of the look:

But, to be honest, none of that is true.  I wore this outfit because my intuition says it was a good idea.  Was my intuition still hung over from the long weekend?  Perhaps.  But I listened to it's slurred suggestions anyway and I'm glad I did.

Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

Butterscotch and Mauve: Take Two

Last time I wore this outfit, the proportions were off:

At the time, I blamed it on the boots, but it wasn’t entirely their fault.  It was the combination of the boots and the skirt.

Now, I’m the first to admit that I don’t always pay attention to proportion.  Looking at my pictures, I think I sometimes treat this is a personal smile blog instead of a personal style blog.  Which is fine, I like to smile (obviously, I guess), but I do also like style.  So, this time around, I shortened the skirt and remixed the outfit with different shoes:

A close up of the tights

And, I think it worked.  It’s still a color combination I love; it’s just also now an outfit that I love.  I kept the same butterscotch sweater (thrifted) and paired it with the same mauve skirt (thrifted and now hemmed).  I added the same gray Swiss dot tights (Hue via Macys) and the same silk bow tie (thrifted).  But, this time I wore burgundy pumps (Naya “Jada” via Nordstrom) instead of boots; which, along with the shortened skirt, made all the difference.

Also, it snowed today in Oregon.  A lot.  My friend Kathy said it was a sign of the impending apocalypse.  I heard “zombie apocalypse” and made this face:

And with that, I wish you all a Happy Wednesday!

Gracey

It’s the Boots

Something is off about this outfit, which, yes, once again, I didn’t realize until I saw the pictures.  And I never thought I’d say this, but it’s the boots:

They’re wrong for this.  Yes, they’re right for 90% of my outfits, but they’re wrong for this outfit.

At least I think it’s the boots.  I mean, I like everything else about this outfit.  I like the butterscotch sweater (thrifted) combined with the mauve skirt (vintage, thrifted) and the grey tights (Hue via Macy’s).  And of course I love the polka dot (!) bow tie (silk, thrifted).  But, I’m not sure the boots are right.

I think I’ll wear this outfit again next week, provided our not-too-cold-and-surprisingly-not-rainy weather holds, with different shoes and we’ll see if it is, indeed, the boots.  Or, if I'm just being hard on myself because this cold is kicking my heinie and I've lost all perspective.

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!  Maintain perspective!

Gracey

The Hot, Rumpled Mess Sundae

I am a hot, rumpled mess today.  Seriously, if I were a sundae, I'd be on the menu as The Hot, Rumpled Mess and I'd feature vanilla ice cream and hot butterscotch topping on top a layer of crushed Almond Roca.  You don't believe?  Feast your eyes:

 

I mean, conceptually, it's good.  I like the my new-to-me butterscotch sweater (thrifted this weekend) with the cream crocheted skirt (thrifted).  And I like the addition of black tights (Spanx), the black, silk bow tie (Brooks Brothers, thrifted) and of course, the booties (80%20 “Tessa” via Piperlime, also worn here).

I just look so... rumpled.  Or, in sundae terms, melted.  My skirt is crooked, and I think all of my layers underneath this look (a long-sleeve tee, DKNY smoothies and a black skirt) make me look a bit lumpy.  Like this sundae also features hidden butterscotch chips.  Delicious?  Maybe.  But not necessarily the look I was going for.  But, hey, it was snowing, the lumpy layers were necessary.

Happy Tuesday, All!  I hope it's free of lumps!*

Gracey

*Unless, of course, lumps are your thing.  Which is cool.  No judgement here.