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

23. Dressed for the Morning

In my days off - like today - rather than change immediately and become efficient, I like to lounge and linger. This photo was straight off bed, no hair, no make-up, heck - not even coffee!













Several years ago it was fashionable to have a long belted cardigan. That year I found a blue knit silk wrap cardigan on sale and bought is to be my summer robe.

 I love my morning robe - it is pretty with dressy details such as puff sleeves and eyelet, it doesn't look too 'private' and the light silk knit is ideal for the warm season.

Today I paired it with a grey boat neck tee and plaid shirting pajama bottoms.

Which have all the right details - button placket, matching flower fabric waistband, elastic and a drawstring. Needless to say, those were bought in New York. I haven't seen anything that cute this side of the pond, ever. (Night gowns and all jersey pajamas are the mainstream here.)

Whereas my house mules are so over the top I sometimes wonder... I am not a flashy person and that silvery shiny leather is not me. (Or is it?) The leather is soft, the last is a pleasure, and the square toes make them look more like a shoe than a slipper. I love the detailing - why can't I find shoes like that?

This was my look this morning - now neatly folded away. The day has begun!

gown: In Wear (2008)
pajama pants: Macy's (2009)
tee: Banana Republic (2005)
slippers: Lina, bought in Finland (2011)

linking with: Visible Monday

22. A Denim Make-Over

You'll notice I have moved, and my mirror image no longer has a clean background. I will have to work on that... In the meantime, I thought I'd show a nice summery outfit. It has been pretty warm here lately, and this outfit is both easy and good enough for "town".
Skirt is a recent make,  and if you are visiting for the how-to, please scroll down.

skirt: me-made 2013
top: Liz Claiborne 2006
belt: H&M 2002
shoes: Vagabond 2009

Some close-ups of my favorite parts as the main photo is so grainy:

 I love the cross-hatch pattern and inky blue of the top, and the unabashed hippie vibe of the belt.

These babouche flats are a dream. They are comfy and pretty - I especially like the reverse applique.




Now for the Refashion Part:

Stonewashed denim may be in again...

... but this 90's full skirt certainly isn't!
It was good lightweight chambray, so I grabbed it. It was a full circle with some hideous netting flounce underneath.

 

I removed the lining and the flounce, opened up the seams and spread it out. It was huge. Large enough to be making something substantial with it.

I took the Marcy Tilton V  pattern. As it is a tunic, I folded away the tops and used just the bottom parts to create a skirt. I love Marcy Tilton for her shapes, her patterns always have a twist.

I am not fond of pale denim. When the skirt was finished, I threw it into a dye bath. I wanted a dark indigo but ended up with a medium blue. Well, sometimes you can't have it all...
The skirt has been previously shown with different tops and accessories in posts #15 and 16.

I am very happy with the skirt, it cost me all of 1€  in material plus the dye (and several hours worth of work).

linking with:
Refashion First Friday
Recycled Fashion
Visible Monday
Mix-It
Me-Made-Mittwoch

20. Freezing in red and brown

It's freezing again. There hasn't been much summer yet, I see some people wearing their winter coats (fake fur looks so wrong in May) or tights and boots. I refuse to wear winter garb anymore, there will be a long winter to do just that.
Instead I grabbed some darker colors and a bit heavier materials. Everything is cotton, but just thicker. (Yes, those are bare legs. I refuse tights in summer.) At home I wear woolly socks and wrap myself in a blankie, that's how cold it is.

skirt: Flare (Stockholm 2010)
tee: Pimkie (Wien 2013)
cardi: a recent remake
shoes: Gabor (2010)

A close-up on the beautiful patterns that work surprisingly well together:

I love the earrings, they are a recent acquisition from etsy. This is how I wear my florals!

It's funny to think that next week this time I'll be working. I'm cramming for last exams (Monday Tuesday) and then off I go. I am not particularly looking forward to my new job, but a girl's got to eat...it's one of the realities in life.