Whispering Forest Gown

Mr. Bleu and I are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary this year and he very sweetly suggested that we have a ceremony to renew our vows.  At first I was so touched and thrilled by the idea that I started planning.  The more I thought about it, the less excited I became.  The first go round was extremely stressful and expensive that I really didn't think I wanted to go through it all again.  However, 20 years of marriage is a thing worth celebrating and it needed to be done right, so in lieu of a ceremony, we went to the chapel that I always wished we had used for our wedding (but we didn't have the  money), bought a new dress and a new suit, and booked an hour with a talented photographer just to capture our moment in a less stressful and more private way.  It was truly wonderful and so much fun.  I couldn't find anyone to do my makeup, but I did get my hair styled and it was a beautiful mild evening. I originally thought I would wear a dress I already owned, but nothing felt quite right for what I wanted.  Fortunately, Teuta Matoshi has never let me down and I found the perfect gown for the occasion.  For a full dress review, click on my YouTube video below.

 Outfit Info:  Whispering Forest Dress from Teuta Matoshi

A Fall Tea Dress

I wasn't planning on doing a sewing project right now, but I have been accumulating so much beautiful fabric for the past year that I thought I would use a day or two from my vacation to start using it.  I began with a fall apron and it inspired me to keep going and finish this Tea Box print dress.  I have loved tea boxes and biscuit tins for most of my life and spent some happy childhood years helping my mom build her collection which now hangs all over her kitchen wall.  I even collected a few for myself along the way and was delighted to see a few of them turn up on this print.  Even though the theme isn't necessarily fall, the colors certainly feel autumnal and fit perfectly with the landscape.

Outfit Info:  Fabric from Hancock's-Paducah. YeMak Cardigan.  Sewing Pattern is Butterick Retro B5748. Bettie Page shoes.  Viviene of Holloway Petticoat.

Stepping Away

It's that time of year when I start packing my bags for our annual get-away.  Yes, each year we take a few days for some alone-time, but also some much needed rest and relaxation and believe me when I say I take it very seriously.  Although it may sound very dull for those who use their vacation time on adventuring, I prefer to spend these days sleeping up to 13 hours in a stretch, taking long walks in quaint neighborhoods to admire old houses, sharing quiet meals, having a day at the spa (including sauna, hot tub, and massage), and just generally making life slow down for a while.  I look forward to this trip every year, and as I write this post I've got one foot out the door.

Outfit Info:  Lily Houndstooth Dress from Dolly & Dotty, Shoes are old, Petticoat is by Leg Avenue

Collectif Returns?

The Collectif fan groups are abuzz with the word that Collectif's new owners will be re-vamping and re-opening the brand in the coming weeks.  There will be changes and many of them sound positive such as expanding their size range.  I know there is reason to doubt, but I really hope this gets the brand back on track and better than ever.  In celebration of this event, I thought I'd don one of my very last Collectif purchases.  I've always loved the Dolores style and who can resist Atomic Space Cats?  These are the things that drew me to the brand initially and I hope, hope, hope they come back better than ever.

All of a Kind of Autumn

There are some lessons we just never learn and the fact that Fall arrives whenever she pleases is a lesson I am finally starting to grasp.  I'm forever trying to hurry autumn along here on the blog. I want beautiful colors and crisp mornings, but this year I am content for summer to hang around a little longer.

This year we're working on a little construction project and the last thing we need is to be dealing with the cold weather and the endless rainy days.  So, if fall can just stay put for a few more weeks, I'm more than happy to set up some pumpkins and use my Lightroom skills to turn the greens way down in order to create an autumn look while still keeping summer close.

Naturally Midnight made herself at home in the background.  She's very photogenic and she knows it.  Truly I think when she saw my black cat bag perched on the table she felt a little competitive, and hopped up there to push this usurper aside and show her how it's done.

Today's outfit is a thrifted Unique Vintage dress.  My style is rather colorful, and I love that, but there are so many things in my wardrobe that just don't seem appropriate for my current job, so I am always on the look out for more subtle prints and styles that still feel like me, but are also right for the office and this dress fit the bill perfectly.  And I think I'll leave it at that for today's post.

Harvest Time

It's that time of year in the Mid West and perhaps the entire country when we harvest festivals abound and every time I turn around some surrounding small town is celebrating.  I love them all from apples to sugar cane, though I do tend to alternate years on a few of them so we don't spend every single weekend festival-ing.

In case you're wondering, I don't have an outfit for every festival, (wheat and sugar cane themed dresses are rather hard to come by as it turns out) but if it involves fruit, then yes, I do have a dress for those occasions, and this dress was my apple harvest dress for this year.

There are several local orchards on park grounds that are open to the public and a friend of mine is trying to start an apple-picking tradition as part of our celebration.  I love the idea and think it's just another great excuse to wear this dress which I purchased during a recent sale from Unique Vintage in anticipation of the harvest season.

 I'm ready to celebrate our agrarian triumphs in whatever form they take and I'm ready to do it in style, so bring on the harvest festivals!

Outfit info:  Apple Dress from Unique-Vintage, Apple Purse from SheIn is old, Bettie Page Heels, Leg Avenue Petticoat.

Simple Style

I think sometimes I come-off as a little snobby about my tastes in clothes.  I'm not a fan of wearing yoga pants unless you're physically at the gym.  Same goes for sweatpants.  And T-shirts and jeans have their place in the world as well, it's just not at a fancy wedding.  Saying all that doesn't mean that I don't like casual wear, but I don't think that casual wear can't be stylish as well.

The typical reasons for choosing something casual are: that it takes too much time to put on something nice/cute,  or stylish clothes are just not as comfortable.  Both are completely inaccurate statements and to prove my point, I thought I'd show you one of my favorite little casual Sunday morning dresses.  This dress is basically just a long T-shirt and is super comfortable.  But, it also has a fitted waist and has an eye-catching printed belt to make it a look a little extra.

Check out that bow on the back!  These are the little things that make a piece of clothing, and by extension an outfit, interesting.  

Floopy loopy earrings?  Why not.  They're a little heavy, and I probably wouldn't wear them all day, but for a daring accessory that I'll wear just to grab breakfast at a little cafe, they're kind of awesome.

As far as footwear goes, I've always felt that a pair of flats feel just as comfortable and look far nicer than any pair of sneakers or flip-flops on the planet.  Add some details to the flats, like these rows of straps, and suddenly they're more visually interesting too.  Seriously, these flats are more comfortable than any pair of Chuck Taylors I've ever worn.  

The best part of all is that this outfit took me less time to assemble and put on than stretchy pants with a baggy sweatshirt and a ponytail under a baseball cap.  Seriously, it takes more time to wiggle into those stretchy pants than it does to just slip on a dress like this.  I think I should also add that this T shirt dress was thrifted from ThredUp, so it cost about $15 before shipping.

As far as ease and comfort goes this outfit checks all the boxes, plus looks far more put together and (I'm sorry to say this:) far more appropriate for going out to breakfast or really to do anything than does the afore mentioned stretchy pant ensemble.  Yes, I am aware of how snobby that sounds, but our world has gone off the rails on comfort and someone has to be the voice of dissent.

Comfortable can look nice as well, and looking nice doesn't take nearly as much time, effort, or $$ as many people think.  It's not only possible to feel comfortable and look great, it's worth it.  I'll step off my soap box now.

Outfit:  Fervour dress is from Thredup, bag is Betsey Johnson