30. Feet first!

I once worked with a woman who was always extremely well put together. One day she revealedit: she started her outfit by selecting the shoes and building up from there. It always seemed like such a simple concept - but at the same time somehow very extravagant - and needless to say, I never did follow her cue.

But when Spygirl announced her 52-Pick-me-up theme, Feet first,  I certainly wanted to try.
I selected...

Red shoes

a skirt to match shoes

a shirt to match skirt

earrings to match shirt

Does the outfit make sense?

skirt: Gina Benotti (thrifted 2013)

tee: J.Jill (2004)

shoes: Re-Mix (2005)

earrings: via etsy (2013)

I wasn't sure, so I tried another combo:

different red shoes, same skirt as before, another tee, a different piece of jewelry...

details:

skirt: as above (2013)

tee: Indiska (2009)

shoes: Vagabond (2008)

pendant: Midecentury Modern Scandinavian, via etsy (2012)

linking with:
52-Pick-me-up
Visible Monday
Mix-It

29. Playing with Scale

Big flowers, little flowers, naive flowers, folksy flowers... How do you wear your florals, asks Spygirl.

Here's the answer: I don't, usually. But this is flower is so abstract that it is just a graphic blob, making for a clean look. It is also naive, almost childish, which I like, it reminds me of my youth.

From afar the delightful ditsy shirt pattern reads solid. I bought this mainly for fabric, the fit is rather boxy at the moment, hopefully I can work it into something more shapely.

I also wore some stylized roses.

Red and white reads summer to me.

details:

skirt: vintage Polarn o Pyret (2013)

shirt: vintage Austrian (2012)

shoes: Vagabond (2008)

earrings: via etsy (2013)

linking with:
52 Pick-me-up
Mix-It
Visible Monday

28. Rainy Day Blues

In excellent mood this morning. There is nothing like a refreshing rain after days of sultry heat. See how the rain glistens on the roof.

Finally, finally felt like wearing a skirt (pant?) that I made in spring.

Essentially this is a wide skirt with small leg parts attached.

I paired it with a Mid Mod jewelry piece (reissued Sarpaneva if I remember correctly) and a crinkly tee (which shows badly in today's light).

How the skirt happened:
I love the clothing made by the very talented folks at Variete van Kroen, who come to Vienna at least once a year. However, buying one was not an option last year. Instead, I decided to make my own.

I searched high and low for a rayon denim which would give me the drape, but when this textured dark indigo woven cotton came my way I knew the pairing was perfect.

I had to make the pattern. Here is me trying to imagine the finished effect.

I made real pockets, and lined them with a fabric at hand - purple.

It is very very comfortable, and looks hot with a biker type jacket which I wore later when the rain really picked up. Sorry, no pictures!

linking with:
The Pleated Poppy
Coffeebeans and Bobbypins

27. A Hot Day in Blue-red-white-and-black

Oh yes! Red and white, blue and black - let's see if I can cram them into a single outfit and not look too busy.

Amazingly, it works.

details:
skirt: me-made (2013)
top: Mango (2008)
belt: Macy's (2002)
jewelry: me-made (1998, 2010)
shoes: Aerosoles (2003)

Thank you Anne for the challenge!

linking with:
52-pick-me-up
Visible Monday
Mix-It

26. A walk with Henry Rousseau

SIA, Style Imitating Art has a lush painting this week as inspiration, Woman Walking in Exotic Forest by Henry Rousseau.

I wanted to bring in the lushness and exotic mood in with color. And as I don't wear such greens I took something else very exotic.

This background fabric has followed me for 20 years. It is hand embroidered on coarse blue linen. I bought it because it was calling my name very, very loudly. I could not afford it, nor had I any idea what to use it for. A couple of years it lived in my cupboard. I would fondle it from time to time, feel the fabric, delight in the rich embroidery and vivid color.

Then we found a wooden day bed on the sidewalk in Brooklyn, bought a foam mattress and used the fabric for cover. It wore all threadbare in the places where we would sit. It was our tv-couch, and we watched a lot of movies, a lot.

Then we moved again, and now this fabric serves as curtain between the hallway and living room. Threadbare spots mean there is some daylight filtering into the dark hallway. I still love that fabric, and I know I will use it in the next place, too, as it has become part of me.

But this post was about clothing...

I am wearing a printed linen skirt, a simple blue blouse with tie, a polished slab of apatite on a suede cord (by some Brooklyn-based artist) and pomegranate red shoes. I wanted to look exotic, and this skirt with it's exiting complementary contrast (see entry 25) is maybe the most adventurous thing I own, colorwise.

details:
skirt: H&M (2009)
blouse: Promod (2011)
pendant: bought in Brooklyn (2005)
bracelet: made-by-me (2011)
shoes: Vagabond (2008)

The bracelet is made by moi. I took an inner cardboard roll of an adhesive tape, the large kind, and knitted a tube around it. I have several bracelets in fun colors and different widths (scotch tape, packing tape, duck tape...)

linking with:
Style Imitating Art

25. It's Complementary, Watson

Fun and creative, Spy Girl has us wrecking the brain again. Not that complementary colors are such a mystery - rather, it is: which complementary colors do you choose? I have some in my closet. The most exiting to me is a deep, almost mahogany brown paired with a midnight blue, something that I keep going back to time and time again.

But now it's just past midsummer equinox - time of white nights and incessant sunshine in these northern latitudes.
So I am wearing something pale, something that keeps me cool during the day and looks pretty and ethereal in dusk. (There is no real darkness here, day is divided between sunshine and dusk.)*

My choices for complementary colors were a dusty sage green paired with icy pink on the verge to lilac. I have dyed the scarf myself, in a remnant dye that has already seen some batches of yarn and was much diluted already. Icy pink makes my heart ache, I love that color!

details:
skirt: Vero Moda (thrifted 2010)
tee: Promod (2011)
jacket: no name (2013)
silk voile scarf (2009)

this green is far too dark, think real dusty sage instead...


linking with:
52-Pick-Me-Up
Visible Monday
Mix-It

* In case you wonder where this place is - be a Sherlock Holmes: there is a a link in my side bar that will lead you to a site ...

24. In a Style Rut? Try Boyfriend-Girlfriend!

Spy Girl had a great idea and created a challenge that's sure to breathe some life into your (stale) wardrobe. This week's a kick off of 52-Pick-me-up. Go on, plunge into your closets and come up with nice new combos and then link your pictures!

The theme is a trusty boyfriend-girlfriend look with tomboy style as a variation.

I like my clothing feminine, but have a soft spot for masculine suit pants. This being summer, I combined grey slacks with a shapely white tee. So much for foundation. For neckwear I had two choices, an Austrian Trachten style mock tie for women, or a real manly tie.

I think I prefer the real thing!

To balance out I am wearing red sandals. If they look like 50's, that's because they are. Kind of. Re-Mix shoe company in Los Angeles makes new shoes into old lasts. Either they are replicating themselves from 60 years ago, or someone bought up an old factory - you guys over there would know.
They look terrific, feminine, vintage and walking with them is like walking on air. (It's scary how important this last thing is quickly becoming...)

details:
pants: DKNY (2009)
tee: Lindon (2010)
neckwear: silk tie, Austrian folklore tie, both thrifted (2013)
shoes: Re-Mix (2005)


linking with:
52 Pick-me-up
Sunday Styles
Visible Monday