looks like i may have always been a size eight shoes

the look:

shirt - old gap
tie - h&m
jumper dress - lands end
pullover - zara
skinny cords - old hue
coat - old kensie
beret - old american apparel
oxfords - old john fluevog

the tale:

believe it or not, minor inconveniences do stop me from clothes shopping. for example, today, part of the metro line in my home city was down, the part that would have taken me directly to a particular designer's shop, one that i have been wanting to check out for about a month now. i could have gotten to the shop taking a somewhat indirect route, but that would have taken more time than the direct route, and i considered the extra time an inconvenience. i hate inconveniences. so i decided to put off visiting the shop to another weekend. it isn't clothes shopping at any and all costs for me.

skinny cords

the look:

shirt - old gap
jumper dress - lands end
pullover - zara
skinny cords - old hue
beret - old american apparel
coat - old kensie
boots - marsell

the tale:

it is interesting how, after i spend some time dressing in a particular silhouette, sometimes, returning to (or trying) a different silhouette makes me feel uncomfortable. i like seeing myself in some silhouettes but not in others.   this has nothing to do with what a trained stylist would say suits my frame/build. i like what i like. i can't help it, nor do i want to.

hide me away cowl neck

the look:

dress and vest - old zara
tie - old gap
skirt - melow by melissa bolduc
cowl neck - american apparel
arm warmers - h&m
jacket - pepin design
beret - old american apparel
oxfords - old cydwoq

the tale:

there is no story today. okay, just this sad story: on my way home this evening (after dvd shopping) i passed by the shop that keeps me in marsells. the shop was closed -- good thing. but i did stop in front of its windows, where all the marsells were on display, and gazed longingly at them. hopefully, there was no drool. in retrospect, drool or no drool, i am sure that it was a sad display (me, not the marsells).

long days and nights cardi

the look:

dress - old zara
tie - old gap
vest and open cardi - old h&m
skirt - melow by melissa bolduc
raincoat - lululemon
beret - old american apparel
oxfords - old cydwoq

the tale:

quite often i feel like i am standing on the outside looking in ... where dress is concerned. i seem to have the tendency to locate myself not among like-minded persons ... again, where dress is concerned. sometimes that i don't dress like many around me makes absolutely no difference. other times, it seems to make a big difference. if everyone advocates looking beyond the outside of an individual, why is it that clothes aren't included as part of that "outside"?

pipe me aboard jacket

the look:

grey dress and brown jumper dress - old zara
tie, arm warmers and scarf - h&m
skirt - old gap
jacket - anthropologie
coat - old kensie
beret - old american apparel
boots - ixos

the tale:

here it is: the latest addition to my ever growing collection of sailor collar jackets. i think that i have already said this, but in case i haven't (or because it bears repeating): this jacket i find particularly charming. remarkably, a couple of months before i acquired the jacket, and even before i had even seen it, i, on a whim, acquired a knee length skirt (on super sale) in the same colour and canvas twill fabric as the jacket. i wasn't looking for the skirt when i happened upon it. i just thought that it was neat (and more so because it was practically a steal). who knew that a few months later, i would, again without looking for it, happen upon a matching jacket. the jacket and skirt do go so perfectly together. once the weather gets a little bit more spring-like, i am going to wear the two together and then their compatability will be apparent. coincidence? or something else? something else i think, for i remember reading somewhere that there are no coincidences.

a many layered dress

the look:

grey dress - old zara
brown jumper dress - old anthropologie
cardi - white apple
jacket and skirt - old gap
coat - old kensie
hand warmers and scarf - h&m
boots - ixos

the tale:

no storm yet. it is unseasonably cold -- hence my many layered outfit -- but in no way stormy -- unless you count the occasional rain (and, sometimes, but rarely, snow) shower. i must say that i love layers. these days dressing has been about answering the question: "what else can i put on top of this?" i recently had occasion to peruse the marc by marc jacobs collection for autumn/winter 2012, leading me to ask myself whether i had at some earlier point in the year seen that collection and whether i am currently being unconsciously influenced by it in my dressing. so hard to tell, really.  particularly when one looks at a lot of "fashion stuff". on the other hand, i feel that i have come to the realization that clothes don't matter to me other than in their potential to make me feel good and comfortable in my own skin (funny, huh, donning a second skin to feel good in one's own skin). i feel that this self realization drives the way that i dress. it isn't about how i look -- to others or to myself. it is about how i feel about myself in the clothes. which, i guess, isn't to deny that the fashion world could influence me nonetheless. many layers to this dressing business. at least for me there are.

a plethora of pleats dress

the look:

shirt and skirt - old gap
tie, hand warmers and scarf - h&m
dress - old h&m
pullover - zara
coat - old kensie
beret - old american apparel
boots - marsell

the tale:

there is one type of shopping -- within the clothing shopping category -- that i simply loathe. and, no, it isn't bathing suit shopping ... but close. given that i loathe this type of shopping, and given that i tend to engage in shopping as a form of therapy, what do you suppose would have driven me to engage in it today when i found myself feeling somewhat down after work. not therapeutic at all.  in fact, it was driving me further into the depths of despair. at which point i spied an h&m on the horizon. has anyone seen that massive ruffled maxi dress that is part of h&m's current conscious collection? if only it had been there in my size. trying it on was therapeutic. how much more therapeutic would it have been had it been there in one size smaller when i definitely would have made it mine? going back to that loathsome type of shopping: what is with all the padding?

inspirations no. 1

i don't usually post things that inspire me. but i had to make an exception for this short video. i love it.

off-kilter skirt

the look:

grey dress - old zara
tie, arm warmers and scarf - h&m
black dress and skirt - uo
coat - old kensie
beret - old american apparel
oxfords - old cydwoq

the tale:

i am not sure what it is about sunday nights lately. i have been having the worst sleeps. which means that mondays i am completely off kilter. today i was out of sorts more so than usual. if i had had my way, i would have just shut myself in my house for the day. it would have been better for me and, i think, better for the world. although having been forced to go out into the world in my state, i think that i did land on a different perspective on being anti-social (and i am talking "mild" anti-social, generally limited to no interactions with others): perhaps this is meant as a kindness, by keeping one's surly self to oneself?  Anyhoo ... i must share how awesome this skirt is in a breeze. it flutters in the most amazing, luxurious and feel good way. it definitely improved my mood. i wish that i had had more time to spend outdoors today. my mood would have improved by leaps and bounds instead of just by miniscule amounts.

surreal tunic

the look:

shirt and tie - old gap
tunic and skirt - melow by melissa bolduc
jacket - old danier
scarf and hand warmers - h&m
beret - old american apparel
oxfords - old cydwoq

the tale:

a bit of a historic school girl or school marm look today (before the jacket is added). perhaps it could be said that all (or the better part of) my looks are historic school girl or school marm looks.