Summer School Girl No. 2

I decided to bring out Summer School Girl for today.  I am really liking her this Summer.

And not that this needs repeating, but I am also really liking this sailor collar jacket.  It never ceases to amaze me how I can have a piece of clothing for years without it being anything particularly special.  Then, all of a sudden, it becomes the "it" piece of clothing for a particular season.  Why does this happen?

It is largely because of my experience with this jacket this Summer (and a similar experience with a coat this past Winter) that I want to give shopping my closet a go.  I am anxious to find what other "it" pieces of clothing are hidden in the depths of my closet.

jacket: JCrew, from my closet
blouse: Gap, from my closet
tie: fabric belt taken from an Anthropologie dress
skirt: Gap
socks: ?, from my sock drawer
shoes: Prophecy

Getting Closer

It wasn't any easier today to figure out what to wear than it was yesterday or the day before.

I was really struggling with what I should do today.  I slept in ... consciously ... but when I got up I was upset with myself for having slept in because I had so much to accomplish today.  So I wasn't in the best frame of mind to figure out what to wear.  The first decision that I made was that I wanted to "redo" one of my less satisfactory outfits.  That was fine.  The problem was I had no idea how to turn the outfit into something "better".  Today's outfit really isn't a "redo" of the less satisfactory outfit.  But it gives me an idea of how I might turn the less satisfactory outfit into something "better".

blouse: Gap, from my closet
shorts: H&M
socks: ?, from my sock drawer
boots: Fluevog, from my closet

Gun Metal Lavender

I am so pleased!

I loved the dress that I wore today as soon as I saw it ... in the JCrew catalogue.  I haven't had that much luck with JCrew dresses, so I was hesitant to order it.  When it went on sale, I decided that I would take a chance on it and order it.  When it arrived, and I got to see it "in the flesh", I loved it even more than I did at first.  But, truth be told, I didn't know what to do with it.  Then, one day last week, I was playing around with some of my clothes, trying out some outfits, when, on a whim, I decided to pair the dress with the blouse that I wore today.  It was an eureka moment.  I floated on it and added the belt and the shoes.  An outfit was born!  Today, I finally got to wear it out.  As I said, I am so pleased!

blouse: Gap, from my closet
dress: JCrew
belt: H&M, from my accessories collection
socks: Hue
shoes: David Dixon for Town Shoes

Setting Things Right

About a week or so ago, I wrote that, when I wear an outfit that (for lack of a better way of saying it) I don't like, I feel a need to make something of it that has more lasting appeal for me.  I call this setting things right.  I don't really have much to say about the outfit that I wore today other than that, by wearing it, I was trying to set things right.  One down, two to go.

On my way home today, I thought that today would be the last chance for this dress.  I have always liked (and still do like) the dress on the hangar, but I have had some difficulties wearing it in a way that I like and, believe me, I have tried more than once.  If things did not work out today, it would be the charity bin for the dress!  I am happy to report that the dress is safe; I am happy enough with how I wore the dress today to keep it for a while longer.

jacket: Gap, from my closet
dress: Club Monaco, from my closet
flower pin: H&M, from my accessories collection
socks: ?, from my sock drawer
boots: Fluevog, from my closet

Boring

Today is the fourth day of extremely hot weather.  On this fourth day of extremely hot weather, I had a revelation: What I wear gets extremely boring after even a short period of extreme weather, be it extreme hot or extreme cold.  (I will stop saying "extreme" and "extremely" now.)  I should probably clarify what I mean by boring.  By boring I mean repetitive, a lot of the same on different days.  I could say that the weather saps me of all my creative juices.  Or, I could say that the focus becomes more on surviving the weather (staying cool or staying warm, as the case may be) and being imaginative in dress falls to the wayside -- which may actually be saying the same thing.  Whatever the reason for the boring wardrobe, it is boring.  The good news is that I am not bored by my boring wardrobe, at least not yet.

dress: Gap, from my closet
jacket: JCrew, from my closet
socks: ?, from my sock drawer
shoes: army surplus store, from my closet

Red Hot

Red is one of my favourite colours.  The colour of passion and anger.  While it would be dramatic to say that I wore red today because I was feeling passionate or angry, nothing would be further from the truth.  Here is the banal truth: I wanted to wear this pleated skirt today.  It is a recent purchase and it only came in red.  I couldn't think of anything else to wear with this red pleated skirt but some kind of red blouse.  This blouse is the only red blouse that I have with short sleeves.  I have more red blouses/shirts with long sleeves, but it was going to be way too hot today to even contemplate wearing a long sleeve blouse/shirt.  (However, now that I am thinking about my long sleeve red blouses/shirts, I think that they would look good with this skirt.  I will have to file away those possible outfits for cooler days.)  (In case anyone is wondering why I couldn't contemplate wearing a long sleeve shirt when I wore a jacket, the jacket was a necessity for my overly air-conditioned office.  It was doffed any time I set foot outdoors.)  So there you have it, the mystery behind today's outfit.  No passion, no anger and no drama.  Okay, maybe some passion ... as always ... for clothes.

jacket: JCrew, from my closet
blouse: H&M, from my closet
skirt: Urban Outfitters
socks: Hue
shoes: Prophecy

Breaking The Rules

Yesterday, I wrote that today I was going to be attending a smallish seminar on business attire.  So I attended the seminar, and I learned that I am doing at least two things wrong.  First, I am wearing skirts shorter than knee length.  Second, I am venturing forth into the socks with shoes territory.  Not advisable apparently.  All I can do is let out a deep sigh, utter, "Ah well", and move on.

Made Over And Rituals

Whenever I get my hair done (cut, coloured or whatever), I always feel made over, no matter how little (or how much) of a change there is in between the before and after.  Creating new looks with clothes, if not shopping for new looks, after a visit to my awesome hairstylist has become a ritual.  On the occasion of yesterday's "makeover", I purchased some white shoes.  They are "oxford style" shoes with a heel.  I almost (almost) walked away from the shoes.  I am so ecstatic that I didn't.  I love the shoes, and I have already planned some outfits that (at least in my estimation) will only work with the shoes.

Speaking of other outfits, I was completely stunned today when I found (and bought) a romper.  I know that rompers are quite the trend this Summer, but I never, not even in my wildest dreams, pictured myself wearing one.  Not because I have anything against rompers, but because I just didn't think that there would exist a romper that I could wear.  But there it was, today, the perfect romper for me, and, now, it is mine.  It  is in a solid blue (almost navy but not quite) colour with some ivory ribbon detailing.  It has a bit of a sailor feel to it.  It reminds me of the blue gym suits worn by girls in the 50s and 60s.  I just love it.  And it will work with the shoes that I bought to mark the occasion of getting my hair done, which shoes, did I mention, I also love.

Wow!  I am really overflowing with love today!

Destination Hairstyle

I have finally found my "destination hairstyle".  The question now is will I have the patience to "grow into it".  It should take several months.  I don't have a good track record of growing my hair, even from one short hairstyle to another.  I can only try I suppose.  Only time will tell what happens.

The outfit that I am wearing was inspired by the DSquared Spring/Summer 2010 ready to wear collection.  I didn't actually wear this outfit today.  That means that today was the first day since I started this blog that I put an outfit together just for the purposes of this blog.  I have had this dress for a couple of years now (at least), but I have yet to wear it.  Every Summer I think about how I might wear the dress -- what shoes would I wear with it, what jacket/sweater would I wear with it.  When I saw the DSquared Spring/Summer 2010 ready to wear collection, I thought that the dress would work really well in a "glam camping" look.  I am hopeful that I will wear the dress this Summer.  In the meantime, I have really been wanting to see the dress on me for some time now.  When I decided today that I was going to play "let's do a photo shoot", I immediately thought of this dress.

Photos of what I actually wear will return tomorrow.

jacket: Gap, from my closet
dress: H&M, from my closet
boots: Hunter, from my closet
sunglasses: ?, from my accessories collection