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Pausing

Dress | Maje
Belt | Asos
Jacket | Levi's
     I'm going to take a pause from blogging. I started this blog as a New Year's Resolution (in 2016) and can't believe it has already been over two and half years! I've started to update less and less and find myself wanting to update less and less, so I think a break is in order. I needed a place to put the creative energy that didn't fit elsewhere in my life and this was the perfect receptacle. 
    I'm planning to take the time I spend on this (because even when you have a wildly amateurish blog, it still takes a fair amount of time to take the photos, edit them, write the posts, etc.) and pour it into my 2018 New Year's Resolution: learning to sew. I've always wanted to learn to sew (it'd be amazing to be able to alter my own clothing, even in basic ways) and who knows, I'll probably still update every once a while with outfits I love, sewing projects, reviews or god knows what. 
    I'd certainly say that I've had fun. This was my first ever post and since then I've dragged my friends into this, dressed like the Gilmore Girls for a weekthrown in my two cents (which, momentary sidebar, if you google "American Giant reviews", photos from my review are freaking first-page-of-Google-images, which is nuts to me), gotten married, dyed my hair pink, and most importantly, finally started using Adobe Lightroom (but only after my brother kindly bought it for me - some of the quality on those early images is tough to look at haha). If you've read, commented, helped me photograph or just stumbled on here looking for my American Giant review - thank you.  If you have a fashion blog, I still plan on reading and commenting and have a greater appreciation than ever for the work that you put into it - so a double thank you to you.
 Thanks for stopping by!

The Beginner's Guide to Pink Hair: Now What?

dying hair pink
     Ok, so now I have pink hair, but what does that even mean? What surprised me the most was not the color change (although the first morning, when I woke up and looked in the mirror I didn't recognize myself for a minute) but the texture change. Everything you read says your hair texture will change and that is completely true. I'm not mad at it, and I think my stylist did an amazing job shielding my hair from damage as much as she could, I'm just adding my agreement that this is an outcome of bleaching. My hair has always been very soft. It now has a texture that is more like dolls hair, and is a lot dryer. It also tangles. I have to spend a lot more time on it, brushing it frequently as it drys. The upside has been that it is now pretty easy to braid! My hair usually slips out of braid, but this hair doesn't do that. I've been watching a lot of YouTube tutorials and am excited at the braiding possibilities. 

The Beginner's Guide to Pink Hair

   
     I recently was able to fulfill a longtime dream and have my hair dyed pink. My hair had never been dyed before (that is technically called virgin hair, but I don't love that term, I'm not sure why we need to be referring to hair as virginal) and, in general, I don't have a lot of hair care and styling knowledge. I did as much online research as I could, beforehand, but thought I'd write the kind of reflection I was looking for when I did it, in case anyone else out there has similar ambitions ☺.

Picnic

     So, turns out I'm very into this jean jacket, despite my early reservations. Last week I wore it several days in a row, including on a sunny Friday with this checkered dress. I love how the light color goes with so many things and how it easily dresses down any outfit. I usually wear a leather jacket with this dress, but it was too warm for that, so I picked up the denim jacket instead and popped the collar because it felt right. 

Headed South

     A few weeks ago I mentioned my friend, Cait and how she was soon embarking on an epic adventure. Well, this coming week it is happening, so I wanted to share a link to her new blog Headed South. She and her partner-in-crime will be spending the next year traveling from Alaska to Argentina by bicycle. Not by motorcycle. Bicycle. It's a crazy feat of endurance and perseverance much less the adventure of a lifetime. I'm very sad to lose her company for a year but also so excited for them and excited to follow along on their journey.
     How's a girl to soften the blow a bit? I guess by wearing safeguarding some of Cait's clothes while she is gone. I mean, this dress would otherwise be so sad in storage for a year. Now it gets to hang out with me. 

Trending

     Well, I never thought I would buy a light washed jean-jacket in my adulthood, and yet here we are. Isn't it a little weird how that trend-creep often happens? First, you see the item in question and decide it isn't for you. Often, with these things you first have a strong reaction, it's not just a no, but a hell no. Then, you start to see the garment everywhere and your position is only strengthened.

Monday Perusal

Jacket: Uniqlo | Sweater: Gap
   Jeans: Frame | Shoes: Coclico
    Purse | Mansur Gavriel 
     I plan to get back on the posting horse with a few recent outfits and some additional fun conference dressing. Also, here is a link roundup, because it has been a while and a lot has happened. 

For your early-week perusal:
1. There really is no other place to start than the dress. What did you think? I loved the tiara but wished the sleeves had fit better. I was also going to argue she needed more embellishment but then Robin Givhan changed my mind.

For Funs Sake - Part 2

Dress | Self-Portrait
Shoes | Manolo Blahnik
    Today I present Part-the-Second of my photo shoot, featuring partner-in-crime Cait. In addition to being fashionable, she is also an adventurer, and is embarking on an epic bicycle trip soon. She is starting her own blog where you can follow along on the journey and I will follow up with a link when it launches. In the meantime, let's all appreciate her Self-Portrait dress (which just for the record is lined from the top to the mid-thigh) and Manolo Blahnik heels. 

For Funs Sake - Part 1

     I had a birthday recently (woop), and for that birthday I asked a best friend to do a photo shoot with me. Being a creative director for a photo shoot is something I've always wanted to do and that sounds so exciting and creative: planning the outfit, picking the location, thinking about what sort of photo I want to create. It's my way of being an extremely amateur Grace Coddington for a day, while also getting to be an extremely amateur Cindy Crawford, and actually model in the photos as well. This whole experience is probably nothing like the real thing, because in real life I'm sure there are a lot of people vying for a small number of positions in the industry, toiling away and dealing with creative, demanding people for hours in all sorts of climates. This day, as you can imagine, was just fun.
      I knew I'd picked the right woman for the job when, instead of looking at me like I was delusional, she finagled us a fancy camera (thanks JT!), a fancy cameraman (thanks DP!), and suggested we get our makeup done (I mean, if we're doing this, let's do this). We did all of those things, so this post and the next one will feature those photos (one of me and one of her) and, because they came out really nicely and cropping the background just ruined the vibe - they will also feature my face. Fun.

Style Dtour: Boston

     As I've mentioned before, I like to souvenir shop at secondhand clothing stores when I am traveling in a new city. This time it was Boston and I was pretty pleased with what I found. I was also incredibly pleased with the Boston museums. I had a chance to visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Museum of Fine Arts and highly recommend both of them. At the MFA, your ticket allows you to go back to the museum within 10 days, and I wish I'd had time to squeeze in another visit. It is a really large museum and I made the mistake of going there the first time around dinner, so my stomach eventually won out over my desire to stay longer and see the whole collection.
Diane Von Furstenberg 

Conference Me In

    I flew to a conference last week (and forgot to remove my name-tag in some of the photos) so I was forced to plan my outfits out ahead of time. It was in Boston and I basically under-packed for the weather. I wish I had brought one extra layer to put over a sweater/ underneath my coat. I wish even more that I had brought a hat. Next time.
     First up, my solution to standing out in a sea of black suiting:
Linen Pants
Sweater | 360 Cashmere
Pants | Halogen
Shoes | Coclico Arya

Don't Worry, Be Yonce

Dress | Thakoon    ||    Jacket | BlankNYC
                                                                             Top | Banana Republic (secondhand)
                                                                     Jeans | Rag and Bone (secondhand)
     I fell out of the planned outfit rhythm last week, and so there isn't much to write about. (Maybe just asking why I felt it was necessary to wear such a skinny belt with those jeans? Especially because they didn't do a lot to hold them up.) There were some unexpected meetings and then weather issues, so I mostly just went jeans and a sweater. 
     As such, I decided to do a Monday night link list, because why not? I'm back at it this week though, dressing for a conference.

For your start-of-week perusal:
1. It might not be my personal home decor taste, but I loved this: These Maximalist Sisters Live Together in a Color Explosion (A Cup of Jo).

Almost 2015

Blazer | Theory
Shirt | Madewell
Skirt | See by Chloe
       I was trying to figure out if there is a common thread (chuckle) that runs through these three outfits, and it came so close to being 2015. The jacket below: purchased in 2015. The dress at the bottom: purchased in 2015. Unfortunately, this first outfit thwarts us, because that blazer? 2014, baby. Honestly, I feel like the overarching themes of this blog are 1. sarcasm, 2. navy and 3. never get rid of any clothing - just keep them until you run out of closet space and then try to think of other creative places in your apartment to put them. I mean, what else are you really doing with the space under the bed?

New Heights

Outfits clockwise from top left:
1. Top: Banana Republic | Skirt: Uniqlo x Lemaire | Shoes: Coclico
2. Blazer: J. Crew | Top: Champion | Jeans: AG | Shoes: Asics 
3. Top: Lanston | Skirt: Kate Spade 
4. Top: 360 Cashmere | Pants: Rag and Bone | Belt: Talbots
   
     Week #2 of my pre-planned outfit experiment was a sartorial journey through a warming climate. #4 is basically just a cashmere tank-top, which is a totally unnecessary but awesome garment that I'm glad someone decided to make. Monday was the coldest, and will also be the focus outfit of the week, although you'll have to excuse the fact that my skin appears to be jaundice in these photos. As far as I can tell it was a weird side effect of the background wall color, and frankly I don't have the photoshop skills to fix it. 

Sequin Truths

Outfits, clockwise from the top left:
     1. Sweater: J. Crew | Skirt: Sally LaPointe
2. Dress: Theory
3. Top: Grana | Cardigan: Rag & Bone | Jeans: DL1961
4. Sweater: Clover Canyon | Jeans: Citizens of Humanity
     Well, my first week of outfit planning is off to an alright start. I think it was the most useful on Monday, making the transition from the weekend to the workweek a little easier. I scrapped one planned outfit for logistical reasons, and then downgraded another from a fussy jacket to a warm cardigan, on account of heavy wind and rain. In doing these recaps, I'll probably just focus on my favorite outfit of the bunch, in order to keep these posts to a manageable length. I'll give you two guesses to figure out which outfit that was this week, but suspect you'll only need one. 

History

Jacket | Vintage Mary McFadden Couture
Dress | Alice + Olivia Lillyanne
Shoes | Kate Spade
Clutch | Reed Krakoff x Kohls
     This was another outfit from the aforementioned wedding weekend (print and embellishment were highly encouraged), and take a seat, because there is a bit of a story here. This dress is contemporary Alice + Olivia (purchased in 2015 from Saks Off 5th), and this jacket is vintage Mary McFadden Couture (after looking into it I'm not sure of the exact year, but I think it probably around 50 years old), and after having both of them sit in my closet for a few years, I never thought to pair them together, until this night. Now that I have, it seems crazy I never previously saw how complimentary they were.

Proof

Wedding Outfit inspiration
Jacket | Veda
Dress | Rebecca Taylor
Clutch | Reed Krakoff x Kohls
Shoes | Matt Bernson
      I went to a wedding this past weekend, and was finally able to take a few photos of this dress! I mentioned it as one of my favorite purchases of 2017, but hadn't taken any photos of it previously. 
     It is a dark navy with metallic thread embellishments, and has a three-tired skirt that floats and moves in any breeze. I had planned to wear a pair of four-inch red suede heels (and a coordinating red lip) but an hour before heading out there was a short downpour, with a looming threat of more rain. I figured flats were more practical, as I'm not very graceful in heels to begin with. A leather jacket and blue and black color-blocked clutch finished off the outfit. 

Weekend Reading

     Today I bring you a themed weekend reading, focused on skincare of all things. A consistent skincare routine is something I don't really have, other than that I always wear sunscreen. Always. I read an article here or there, but I don't feel I know enough to be a savvy consumer who understands the science of skincare, and then can use that knowledge to confidently differentiate between products, routines and ingredients.  
     Also, to be honest, even after all you are about to read, I still wish I knew more. Which is probably why this string of articles, caught my eye:

1. What I saw first, although it is out of order, was this conversation piece on Man Repeller, talking about a backlash that ensued when, The Outline published their recent article, The Skincare Con

2. Essentially, the main point of The Skincare Con is as follows:
"Perfect skin is unattainable because it doesn’t exist. The idea that we should both have it and want it is a waste of our time and money. Especially for women, who are disproportionately taxed by both the ideal of perfect skin and its material pursuit." 

Manors

Top | Vintage
Pants | Rag & Bone (secondhand)
Shoes | Paul Green
Bag | Mansur Gavriel
     The backdrop here is the Legion of Honor, which is a museum in San Francisco. I never realized, until I looked it up to write this, but the building (per Wikipedia) is a full-scale replica of the French Pavilion at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, which was itself a smaller-scale version of the French Palais de la Legion d'Honneur. It was a gift to the city constructed in the 1920's and given by Alma de Bretteville Spreckels (great name), who was a philanthropist and also the wife of a sugar magnate (how sweet).

Sun's Out

     We have had an uncharacteristically warm week here in the Bay Area, and I've had a little time off, so I decided to capitalize and break out my warm weather-can't wear to work-but really like them, pieces. 

Top | JOA
Pants | Rag & Bone
Shoes | Asics Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66
     First up is this JOA One Shoulder Stripe Top, which I thought I'd featured on the blog before, but a quick search shows I have not. This was a total impulse purchase last summer, at what felt like the height of the deconstructed off-the-shoulder top trend and I pictured myself wearing it on my then upcoming trip to Hawaii. I totally love this top, even though it is a bit impractical, and is a liar (although I think that last part is why it was marked down so much - for example, still available here in pink, for ~$15 (affiliate link)). It was billed as a one-shoulder top, and also shown that way in the stock photo (below). The part around the arm should be able to be worn down (the way I have it) or up on your shoulder. 

Lands End

Top | Oiselle
Pants | American Giant (read my review here)
Shoes | Nike Cortez
     Today's post isn't really about fashion. It is about the fact that I went to Lands End, the place, since there is a clothing company also called Lands' End, and before you ask, I double checked and the place has no apostrophe in the name, per the National Park Service website. It was a perfect, fog-free day and I was pleasantly reminded how much natural beauty there is in San Francisco; it was also a perfect opportunity to play photographer. 

Review: Grana Silk Jumpsuit

Grana Jumpsuit Review
Outfit 1:    |    Outfit 2:
Cardigan: Halogen  |  Sweater | Everlane
Shoes: Coclico Banks Sandal
      As part of a Black Friday flash sale, I purchased the Grana Silk Jumpsuit, in size XS (I also bought the v-neck tank, and you can read about that here). It retails for $129, and I bought it for half-off. I was a little nervous, as finding a well-fitting jumpsuit can be tricky, and I wasn't sure if I would like Grana's silk, having never purchased anything from the brand before. I ended up really liking it, and wanted to share some photos, as well as a look at two ways I styled it. My bottom line is that (i) I think this was a great addition to my wardrobe on sale, but I probably wouldn't buy it for full price (although, to be fair, I feel that way about basically all clothing), or would wait to see if it goes on sale again, and (ii) it makes me curious about Grana's pant offerings, since these would be amazing as just elastic-waist pants.
Grana Jumpsuit Review Petite

Light

Modern Citizen Clothing
Top | Modern Citizen
Jeans | DL191
Shoes | Coclico
Purse | Mansur Gavriel
     I am somewhat surprised to say that I avoided all of the clearance sales that start after Christmas and continue into the new year, and that I have not bought any clothes, shoes, accessories or jewelry in the year 2018. Nada. This definitely isn't a value judgement - I like shopping. I think it is, however, a continuation of what I started to express in my year end superlatives post, that I am really happy with my wardrobe at the moment, although it could be better organized to display what I do have, for all those mornings I stand in front of it and feel like nothing I see speaks to me. Also, to be frank, I don't really have a ton of room left in my closet. My hangers are packed in tight and, when I am lazy about folding my sweaters, the overstuffed knitwear drawer is difficult to close. 
     I definitely do intend to buy clothes, shoes, and accessories this year, but for now, I suspect a clean-out and reorg is next on the docket.   
Modern Citizen Clothing Review
     

Did You Forget It?

Alice & Olivia Jacki
Dress | Alice + Olivia
Blazer | Theory
Earrings | Banana Republic
     Cause I didn't. I brought it. ☺ 
     It is a new year and a short work week, so I thought I'd rise, like a sartorial phoenix from the ashes, eschew the urge to pick comfortable, familiar outfits, and step it up this week. What better way to start the new year with a little clothing fun?
     This dress was actually my last clothing purchase of 2017, and is the Alice + Olivia Jacki Dress. It is a high neck sheath dress in Guipure lace (10 points to Gryffindor if you can tell me how to pronounce guipure - I honestly don't know). Normally, I would have paired it with a shapeless black cardigan, to balance out the fact that it is sleeveless and the v in the front is a bit low, but I decided instead to add a crisp blazer and some colorful, bejeweled earrings. The red in the earrings is a nice contrast to the blue lace, and is a little more festive than my typical minimalist jewelry. I thought people at work would think my earrings were too much for a Tuesday, but I actually got a ton of compliments on them, so there you go - statement jewelry is a crowd pleaser. 

Sparkle

Sweater | Rebecca Taylor
Pants | Citizens of Humanity
Shoes | Coclico
Bag | Mansur Gavriel 
     Happy New Year!! This is the last outfit that I wore in 2017, and it felt like a fitting first post for 2018, even though everything seen here was purchased in 2016 or earlier (did you follow that?). I decided to wear a sparkly sweater, in order to fully embrace the New Year's Eve spirit. This sparkly overlay kind of looks like gold leaf up close, and I like that it is spread out unevenly - denser at the neck and then lightening out across the body of the sweater.  You can't really see them in the photos, but the sweater has a zipper on each side. I like to wear it to work layered over a voluminous white button-down, and unzip the zippers half-way, in order to show the shirt underneath. My Main Squeeze, on the other hand, likes to reach over and unzip them throughout the day, to annoy me. I kept the rest of the look very simple, with my favorite 2016 jeans and black accessories. 
    Speaking of sparkly and new, I'm trying to decide if I should make any blogging-specific resolutions this year (and fun fact, my 2016 resolution was to start a blog, which, you guessed it, I did). I think they would generally be the following: