Regal

Sorry for yesterday's lack of post; it turned out that a night of insomnia followed by a morning at the dentist was all I could take for one day, so I stayed home in my grubbies.

Today's outfit is a mix of jewel tones and has an interesting makeup. It is actually 2 layered skirts; the gray one hiked all the way up, the teal one hiked up to my ribcage, and the belt holding everything in place. I love all the soft drapey fabric together, and the richness of the colors prompted one of my coworkers to say I looked regal.

I'm not even sure what to call the top, as it's somewhere between a cardigan and a wrap. The long wings that drape down the front can be wrapped around the waist and tied in the back, flung over each opposite shoulder like a wrap, tied together and draped behind the neck in a loose cowl, and a multitude of other configurations I probably haven't even discovered yet. Over the weekend I was looking for a colorful turtleneck to take with me on my upcoming trip, but settled on this instead because I felt it was more versatile.

Top: I'm not sure; the tag just says, "S"
Gray skirt: Same as the top
Teal skirt: LA Made
Tights: American Apparel
Shoes: Steve Madden

Bubblegum

The opportunities for showing off my latest tattoo are dwindling, so today I decided to go bare-legged again. I can feel that autumn chill in the air, despite the fact that it has been sunny and beautiful for the last several days. As usual I will probably miss the best Bay Area weather of the year, since my annual European vacation will have me in chillier parts of the globe during the first half of October. Paris will probably be fine, it's Reykjavik where I'll really get a taste of winter a couple of months too early. I've got just 6 more workdays to go before I take off, so I'd better enjoy what I can of the Indian summer! Wow, only 6 more days!

When I put these two shirts together, the thing I really liked about the combination was the fact that the cut of neckline on the olive top mirrors the angle of the stripes on the long-sleeved one. It's more apparent in the headshot to the left. Because the two shirts are fairly subdued in color, I added the scarf for a bit more pop. The belt, boots, and earrings also added some contrast and a neutral counterpoint to all the bubblegum pink.

Striped shirt: F21, thrifted
Olive shirt: Susina
Skirt: Lemon Twist
Socks: Sock Dreams
Boots: Bata

Unkempt

I had my hair cut and colored last weekend in preparation for my best friend's wedding, in which I'm the maid of honor. My hairdresser, Michele, has a real knack for styling my hair with that tousled sort of look, like I partied all night and have just rolled out of bed. When I've tried to duplicate it, however, my hair just ended up looking frizzy and unkempt. That is, until I tried out a couple of different products that I'm liking very much, and which I will share with all of you, in case you're still searching for that rock n' roll style without the hangover, lingering groupies, and astronomical hotel bill.

Both products are by Redken. The first is Elastic Works 09, which I put in while my hair is still wet. Crunching my hair as I blow dry adds a few waves, which I can then exaggerate by spraying Urban Experiment 8 onto my dry hair and crunching some more. This second product really adds the texture and separates the random waves. It also prevents that frizzy look I hate so much.

I didn't really feel like a rock star today as I attended meetings, wrote reports, and answered emails, but at least I sort of looked like one, or at least my hair did...

Striped shirt: Promod
Navy shirt: Aziz
Belt: Oscar
Skirt: Sunhee Moon
Socks: Sock Dreams
Boots: Modern Vintage

Good Advice

I'm back from my offsite meeting which, despite the immense hassle getting to, was both productive and enjoyable. Not only that, but the weather in Santa Cruz was spectacular, and I had a lovely suite overlooking the ocean. Today it was back to the usual routine, which also means back to the outfits...

A couple of months ago I asked my readers for some advice on whether to remove the attached belt on this dress. The unanimous response was yes, cut it off, so I did. Actually, I didn't do it; I was too afraid to go anywhere near this dress with a sharp object, so I took it to my local dry cleaner/alterations shop and had them do it for me. It was a couple of bucks well spent; I much prefer the dress with a solid color to break up the pattern at the waist. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback; your advice was good indeed!

Dress: Diane von Furstenberg
Jacket: Old Navy
Shoes: Joy Chen

Be Back Soon

I'm taking a couple of days off from posting while I attend a workshop in Santa Cruz. I'll be back later in the week!

Ballerina

I messed with my camera settings today and didn't have time to change them back, so the photo quality leaves a little to be desired. However, it hopefully shows the navy blue color of my waistcoat, as well as the white pinstripes on it. I hit upon this combination of navy and soft pink by accident, but I quite like it.

These shoes were sent to me in a care package from Sal. My first thought was to pair them with my teal Anthropologie skirt, but then I spotted this tulle skirt hanging in my closet and thought it would make an even better match. These shoes are quite demure, and paired with the tulle they have a ballerina quality that's very pretty. Adding the structured waistcoat kept the whole thing from looking too dainty. I couldn't resist adding a little Photoshop magic to the closeup shot to accentuate the softness of the look.

Top: H&M
Waistcoat: Guess
Skirt, hat, tights: Noa Noa
Shoes: Tsubo

Seatbelt

This pretty dress is another from the Red Dress Shoppe. This is not the second of the new ones; I didn't feel like ironing this morning so that one will have to wait. By the way, let me just state for the record that I have no affiliation with the store, I just really love the clothes, the prices are very reasonable, and the service is excellent. I'm always happy to recommend a business when it meets that description, especially when it's small and independently-operated. The Red Dress Shoppe also has a blog now, which you can see here.

On a completely unrelated note, I have this to say to car manufacturers: If someone would design a seatbelt that doesn't leave wrinkles across your lap and between your boobs, I would buy your car for that feature alone. Is arriving to work looking freshly-pressed really too much to ask of our vehicles?

That said, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this particular dress did not wrinkle nearly as much as I feared it would. Too bad I didn't know that before I spent the entire trip to work fidgeting with my seatbelt and trying to keep it loose enough not to crush the fabric. By the way, I'm considering taking a couple of inches off the hem of this dress so that it hits just below the knee. Do any of my lovely readers have an opinion on this?

Cardigan: e-klah
Belt: came with a Noa Noa skirt
Argyle print tights: Sock Dreams
Shoes: Steve Madden
Bangles: a present from Sal

Arte y Pico Award

The lovely Jane from Work That Wardrobe, domestic diva and master of self control, has nominated me for this beautiful Arte Y Pico Blog Award. Truly, I am touched. Thank you Jane!

The rules of Arte Y Pico are - you must pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting content, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language! Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to their blog. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself. The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of the Arte Y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

It's really tough to choose just 5, but here goes:

What I Wore Today: It was Kasmira's blog that originally inspired me to start my own, so of course she is influential. But it's her flamboyent style, her knack for putting together unexpected color combinations, and her fun personality that really make her deserving. And if you haven't seen her ballerina jumps, you're really missing out.

Already Pretty: What's not to love about Sal? She writes funny and thought-provoking posts, she has a great sense of style, and her personal mission is to help women feel good about themselves. She even shares her blooper photos for the amusement of us all. We b'love you, Sal!

Super Kawaii Mama: SKM is so gorgeous, her outfits so spectacular, and her hair so ridiculously perfect, she makes me want to weep with joy, not to mention jealousy. But wait! Watch her little hairstyling instructional videos, and you'll discover that she also apparently has a fun and adorable personality in addition to her enviable Aussie accent. I can't decide if I want to hug her or slap her.*

Esme and the Lane Way: What is it with these Melbourne beauties? That city surely deserves a prominent place on the fashion map if the rest of the population dresses like Esme and Super Kawaii. Esme's outfits are sublime, and her photos have a soft, magical quality. Her modern takes on classic looks are truly inspiring.

My Life as a Cat Nanny: Last but certainly not least, there is the lovely E in Minneapolis, who kindly shares little slices of her life, and lunch, with her readers. We can fret with her as she prepares to attend a wedding, anticipate with her as she waits for her boyfriend to move back, and laugh with her as she looks after those crazy cats. Plus, her bento creations are truly works of art.

*Joking, of course! I would never slap you, dear; I wouldn't want to mess up your hair. ;-)

A Tiny Rebellion

This was one of those days where I really resented the real world for intruding on my fun. All I wanted to do was to stay home and snuggle with my sweetheart, but that time-sucking annoyance called work got in the way. As a way of flipping the proverbial bird to the workday, I didn't put a whole lot of effort into this outfit; I simply reworked a previous one. Not only that, but I didn't even pluck my eyebrows this morning. Ha! Take that, Sleep-Robbing Alarm Clock, Stress-Inducing Traffic, and Mind-Numbing Meetings! It was a tiny rebellion that went wholly unnoticed, sure, but it did allow me to reclaim 3 minutes of my morning, during which I enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee. Boy, when I decide to stick it to the Man, watch out.

One important feature of today's ensemble is these MIA boots. Remember the boots I told you about yesterday, the ones I broke my shopping moratorium for? Well, these are the ones -- sort of. I originally bought these boots several months ago in metallic silver for a Barbarella-inspired costume for Burning Man. After tromping around in the desert and even dancing until dawn in them, I marvelled at how comfortable they were and how well they held up. When we got back, I decided I'd take a look at what other colors they were available in, and ended up seriously torn between the cream and the black. Not wanting to go overboard with breaking the moratorium, I decided I'd buy only one of the colors. I asked Mark for his opinion, and he advised me to get the black pair, which arrived yesterday. And then what did my adorable boy do? He showed up last night bearing the cream pair! So here they are, my trifecta of shiny go-go boots. I felt just like a drum majorette in these little cuties.

Blue wrap dress: Forever 21
Jeans: Joe's
Scarf and handbag: Banana Republic
Necklace: Dana LeBlanc Designs (via Etsy)

Confession

I have a confession to make. About a month ago I placed a self-imposed clothes-shopping moratorium on myself, which I have now twice broken. The first time was for a pair of short black boots, which just arrived today from Amazon and which will be making an appearance soon, no doubt. I found them on sale for $23 and figured I could justify breaking the moratorium for such a great deal.

Then the other day I spotted this dress at The Red Dress Shoppe. Recognizing its potential for a myriad of different looks, I was intrigued. But when I saw that it runs small in the bust, I knew I needed to get it. So many fitted styles like this have darts in all the wrong places for my figure, but this dress fits like a dream; in fact, it looks and feels like it was custom-made just for me. I've already thought of at least a dozen other looks I can make with it, and have earmarked it as one of my top picks for items to take with me on my trip to Paris. I think it'll look great with colorful tights or turtlenecks, with a blazer and boots, topped with a bright cardigan, with a tie-neck blouse underneath...

Oh, I also ordered a second dress from The Red Dress Shoppe the other day. Oops.

The rest of the outfit:

Belt: Came with the dress

Tights: Noa Noa

Shoes: Bronx

Hat: Seeberger

My full-length gray slip just barely peeked out from beneath the hem of the dress, and is visible in the second photo.

Dark

Today's outfit was tough to photograph because the dark colors all end up looking black, so I'll explain a little better about what I have on. The tunic top actually is black and is from H&M. The skirt, however, is a dark olive green; it's from Noa Noa, a store that I absolutely love but am thankful doesn't have any stores in the US, if only for the sake of my pocketbook. It's bad enough that I seem to run across one every year when I go to Europe, no matter where my spontaneity takes me.

The clocked argyle socks are from Sock Dreams, scarf from H&M, belt by DKNY (thrifted), shoes by John Fluevog. The silver bangles arrived last week in the care package sent to me by Sal; I've already worn them several times and they are just perfect for adding a little contrast to a dark outfit like this one. I'll be wearing more of Sal's care package goodies in days to come.

United

This La Redoute top is perfect for uniting all these colors; the pattern contains purple, yellow, teal, and a coral red. I have lots more ideas for different ways to wear it; sometimes I actually get frustrated because I can only wear one look at a time, and have to remind myself that there will be more days to try out other combinations. Today I paired it with this purple skirt from Sisley, yellow tank from Chadwick's, Modern Vintage boots, tights from Monsoon, and necklace from Baker's.

I'm going to keep this post short because Mark is probably on his way over as I write. Have a great weekend everyone!

Birthday Dinner #1

Here's another quick post before I run out to meet my best friend Laura, who is taking me out to dinner for my birthday. Tomorrow I get to go out with Mark, so I feel truly pampered this week. Here's the outfit for Dinner #1, at Street. Leopard blouse from Forever 21, black and white top was thrifted, pants by Level 99, belt from the Red Dress Shoppe, shoes by Jo Ghost. This outfit features some subtle pattern mixing, which is more evident in the close-up photo.

Picnic

Pretty much nobody even saw this outfit today, because it was our department's annual picnic and the building was nearly deserted. Since I completely forgot about it and didn't dress accordingly, I had a good excuse to stay behind and enjoy a quiet, productive day. I wasn't even irked at the thought of having gone to all the effort to put together this outfit for nothing, since that's pretty much par for the course every day where I work!

This rarely-worn blazer is from Promod. Normally I'd feel guilty about how infrequently I wear it, except that it's such a nice cut that I know I'll get years of use out of it, and wearing it infrequently means it'll look great for a long time. I liked how the buttons on the pants and blazer were nearly a perfect match. The purple tank was thrifted, pants from Anthropologie, shoes by Jo Ghost. The necklace is one I found on Etsy.

Reveal Your Teal

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, everyone! I had a wonderful birthday; Mark came over bearing not only a present and a very sweet card, but also flowers and birthday cupcakes! The boy is adorable, truly. He's taking me out to dinner on Friday, so perhaps I can convince him to make a guest appearance when we're dressed up to go out.

Today is my 100th post, so I decided to do something a little special and wear the outfit I designed especially for the Cuties' latest Blogger Challenge. Now I'm not a fan of football (the American variety, anyway), but I will enthusiastically 'reveal my teal' for my San Jose Sharks, and anyway hockey season is quickly approaching and I'm pretty stoked about it. "But Audi, didn't you say that you don't watch any TV?" Why yes, that's true; I don't watch any TV at my apartment because I don't get any channels. However, Mark gets all the channels my little heart could desire, and right now it's desiring to see a few slapshots and maybe a cross-check or two.

Teal top: Red Dress Shoppe
Cropped jacket: A. Byer
Skirt: a cast-off from my sister
Shoes: Pink Studio

Go Sharks!

Birthday Suit

Since today is my birthday, I thought I'd go out on a limb and wear something that I'm not 100% sure is actually work-appropriate. Hey, if you can't get a little cheeky on your birthday, when can you? In case anyone is wondering, I am 39 today, and I don't feel one bit old. It must have something to do with the fact that I'm in love. =)

I got these shorts at Mango a few years ago and haven't yet been brave enough to wear them at work, and now I really can't figure out why. With the addition of the tights, button-down shirt and structured jacket, the whole outfit has the appearance of a casual suit, which is actually far dressier (not to mention more stylish) than what most of my colleagues wear on a daily basis. I think you'll be seeing more of these shorts in the future. The jacket is by Max Studio, shirt from Promod, tights from Noa Noa, and boots from Bata.

Sack

This is the first time I've worn this La Redoute dress. I actually ordered a different one, but this one came instead and I somehow wasn't motivated enough to send it back, so there it hung in my closet for months. The dress by itself is pretty much a shapeless sack, but with this obi belt it has a nice silhouette. I added the leopard pumps in order to be able to mix in some browns, since black and brown is one of my favorite combinations right now.

Dress: Sophie Tonarelli
Scarf: Banana Republic
Belt: Sunhee Moon
Tights: Falke
Shoes: Saks 5th Avenue

Mixed Denim

Georgie decided to join me for today's photo shoot and show off her newest toy, a stuffed platypus with a squeaker inside. Oh, how Georgie loves her squeaky plush toys. She loves them so much that eventually there are bits of fluff and stuffed body parts all over the apartment. Luckily there's a great pet store within walking distance of my place, so the beloved plush friends are easily replaced.

The upper part of this silver top is really ugly. It's just a simple tank, but the fit is horribly unflattering on me. However, I recognized the top's layering potential, so when I found it at the Goodwill for $3, I decided I could live with the limitation of needing to wear it under something else.

Today's outfit features a mix of denims, something I don't do very often. I think this is the easiest way to mix different denim pieces: choose two that aren't too close in color, and then have another non-denim item that separates the two. I don't think this outfit would work nearly as well if the top were shorter and the vest long enough to sit right next to the pants. It's also great if there's a difference in texture between the two denims. In this case, the vest is a classic rough weave, while the jeans have a smoother, slightly dressy texture.

Vest: Anoname
Top: Thrifted
Jeans: Joe's
Shoes: Bobbi Blu (OMG I wore the same pair of shoes 2 days in a row. What is the world coming to?)

Belt By Kimberly

This adorable belt, made by the equally adorable Kimberly, arrived the other day in the mail after I won it from her blog. She sent it with a narrower piece of ribbon to use as the belt part, but since today's outfit needed a heavier band to hold everything in place, I used this wider piece of grosgrain ribbon I happened to have from another skirt. Since Kimberly made the flower as a separate piece that pins on, I can put it on just about anything. Thanks Kimberly, your crafting skills rock!

The skirt is from an unknown manufacturer. It's actually longer and has a waist that folds over, but today I unfolded it and hiked it up to wear as a dress. The shirt is from H&M, leggings from Kersh, and shoes by Bobbi Blu. The scarf was a gift long ago from my sisters, and has colorful little martini glasses all over it. The earrings are from a vendor on the Charles Bridge in Prague.

Indian Summer

We're getting a nice stretch of warm weather here in San Francisco that calls for bare legs and arms once again. Dare I hope that our Indian summer has finally set in and will stick around for awhile? And here I was getting a little excited at the thought of pulling out my wool skirts and sweaters.

Today's outfit was another morning throw-together, so I started with this dress to make it easier. Come to think of it, I've used this dress as a starting point for a last minute creation before. The fit and length make it very flexible to work with; I can layer over and/or under it with great success, and the bold pattern makes the outfit interesting without needing to add too much more embellishment.






Dress: Crystal Candy, via Lady Language
Top: from The Red Dress Shoppe
Shoes: Joy Chen
Bracelet/matching necklace: Betsey Johnson

Jubilation

You can tell I haven't quite adapted to being back in the real world after my trip to Burning Man last week -- I forgot to take my security access badge off when I shot the photos of today's outfit. Hey, I never said I wasn't a nerd too.

Today's outfit was thrown together this morning and reflects my state of mind after last week's trip: relaxed, playful, and happy. The trip was absolutely amazing and wonderful in so many ways; I'm still filled with jubilation even though I had to go back to work today. The fantastic weather that has arrived in San Francisco this week doesn't hurt my mood either, and according to the forecast it is supposed to last all week.

Top and belt: Forever 21
Necklace: Etsy
Cropped jeans: La Redoute
Shoes: John Fluevog