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

15. My Life as a Woodcut

I love the gentle nudge when it comes to my wardrobe choices.
Well, there are wardrobe choices - and then there are wardrobe choices. Have you ever tried taking your inspiration from a painting, its mood, its colors, its actual message?

Following an artwork takes clothing choices to another level. This week's SIA - Style Imitating Art - inspiration artwork was "Feeding Ducks" by Mary Cassatt.

There was a lot of inspiration: soft colors like blue, celadon, old rose, muddy peach; a feeling of serenity; Japanese woodcut style; faintly Victorian clothing; water, boat and ducks.

So how did I incorporate them in my outfit?
Long sleeves for Victorian, blue and white woodcut printed blouse, a blue skirt, a blue scarf with ducks, an Art Deco style silk scarf with muddy peachy tones and celadon, a duck brooch, and shoes like a boat.

Here ducky ducky ducky...

I put the blue duck scarf at my feet - this is water. I pretend to be feeding the ducks, see?

Other fun stuff I am wearing:

these insane shoes. I found these at the car boot sale. They are going to be refashioned into

shoes for my Medieval wardrobe, but for this little while I enjoyed them with a mundane outfit.

Also starring: a delicate fabric loop necklace. I love these soft mauves and greys and the flash of gold.
And the woodcut shirt again - crinkled tissue cotton, perfect for a hot day.

The outfit once more:

skirt: me-made 2013
blouse: Esprit 2008
scarf and duck pin: passing through my hands
belt: la Femme Mimi 2013
necklace: Lassy Fair 2013

So, in the beginning I wrote how I feel this challenge is beneficial to my wardrobe choices. I am ashamed to say, this combination that looks so "normal"would never have happened had it not been for the challenge.
One tends to keep within a certain comfort zone. For me, perhaps, the comfort zone is a skirt, tee and cardigan. Time to change that!

linking with:
Sunday Style
Visible Monday
Mix.it
Style Imitating Art

12. Dressing Up The Jeff Koonesque Way...

... if that even is a word. I love SIA for their challenges! It really gets your creative juices flowing when you have to dress in a way that would reflect a painting.
Here is this week's inspiration, a giant red and pink and flashy gold bow by Jeff Koons.

What is a girl to do whose favorite color is grey? Answer: she'll dig deep into her closet, she'll get creative and pair together items that were probably never meant to go ... that is the genious behind this challenge!

So, for color's sake, I paired together a silk dress that isn't even a dress but just two giant scarves sewn together, a pair of red gold earrings (very mod!), a red and pink ring

a clutch with golden accents,

and because the outfit already had a flapper feeling to it, I donned on a recently thrifted vintage pair of Clarks.

Want to see the outfit?

 I love it. Thank you SIA! This was fun.

dress: Zara (thrifted 2013)
shoes: Clarks (thrifted 2013)
clutch: Promod (2012)
earrings and necklace: Designer's Market Blickfang (Vienna 2012)

linking with:
Sunday Style
Visible Monday
Style Imitating Art

10. A Spring Walk in Schönbrunn

Vienna has a funny climate - hardly it's spring it's already summer! We had a glorious Sunday with temperatures in 70's (21 degrees centigrade). What a better day to walk the beautiful grounds of the  Austrian (historic) emperors' summer palace, and by this I mean Schönbrunn. There is a zoo as well.

Fashion isnpiration can strike anywhere, I mean, look at this bird.

I can see a dress here: black and white striped skirt, waist has b/w polka dot fabric, and the bodice blue, white and black stripes. Oh, if only I could print my own fabrics!

The inspiration has to be saved for another occasion. Here's what I actually wore.

It was too hot for tights, but until I can't ditch them just yet, not before my legs are somewhat tanned. I have a day off from Uni, so I am going to spend my day on the balcony, sipping ice tea, reading old novels and tanning my wintry pale limbs from all angles.
Which sounds like an excellent plan!

blazer: Zara ( 2012)
pleated tee: zero (Wien 2013)
linen skirt: Mac Scott ( 2008)
silk scarflet: Japanese, thrifted ( 2012)
purse: David Jones (Wien 2013)
shoes: Bally ( 2010)

linking with:
Watch What I'm Wearing
Sunday Style
Visible Monday

2. Style and Art

For a while now I have been lurking around the blogs I have marked as my read. I have been especially charmed by a novel approach to dressing up - you may have guessed - Style Imitating Art.

This week's picture is a lovely mess of secondary and tertiary contrasts. Blue with yellow, blue with brown, but not any blue and any brown nor indeed any yellow. Pale, muted, dark or distressed, this color concept is spot on!
I love it.

The problem is that I do not own that many clothes and do not wear many colors. Yellow is a no-no for my complexion, so I was unable to complete the assignment.
However, this is what I came up with:

1. pale and muted blues and blue-greys, brown and a pale yellow doily in my hand.

2. Then I decided to try the look with more pale yellow. This shirt was thrifted and is just passing through my hands. A lovely cameo pattern with 70's exaggerated pointy collar and folded cuffs - sweet.

Not my thing, though. Can you tell? Or is it just me?

3. But here is what I actually wear and feel comfortable in: long-sleeve tissue tee topped with a wild caleidoscope floral tee, a smokey blue tights, granny shoes and my trusty grey-and-brown speckled skirt. I bought it in my first weeks in Vienna and have worn it all winter.
No yellow!! Does it still count?

tissue tee: Promod
printed tee and tights: H&M
necklace: blue silk cover wooden beads
skirt: Sandwich
shoes: Clarks (thrifted)

I am also linking up with
 Watch What I'm Wearing
Sunday Style
regards, juli
x x x