Black and White and Floral

One of my cool-weather looks; the weather here is usually never THAT bad, but it can get chilly, so if I want to wear an outfit, I need my layers. Either that, or I pretend I am brave. (Which is like never, because I end up hating myself for being so dumb!) The piece this whole look is based around is the black and white dress with interesting floral graphics I am wearing. I found it at a thrift, but has an H&M tag. It has a strange shift-like cut, and the bubble skirt was a little off-putting at first, but I tried it on with a waist belt and I was sold. I used my snug black cardigan to create the defined-waist look I prefer, but I could see myself wearing it in the spring or summer with a waist belt and black ballet lace-up flats. I called the dress "black and white", but there are many values of silvery-gray and I played upon those values with my accessories: hence the silver scarf and earrings! I even tried skew the colors of the boots to play upon the overall look. Yeesh, when I have a theme, I really run with it! The outfit is nothing special, but it was fun, cute, and I really wanted to make the dress wearable for everyday events. So for that purpose, I think it worked out just fine.

It's funny how much "non color" I wore, considering how much color affects my clothing/makeup choices, but in my mind, black and white and silver and gray are their own colors when I am wearing them - although next time I might wear a bright lipstick for that little extra pop. ;)

The tree, cloud, and sunset photos were all taken the same day while I was hanging out with the friend who kindly took my outfit photos, and we hit up a park later on. It was so beautiful!

Dress, cardigan, boots - thrifted

Scarf - Target

Earrings - Tilly's

<3 The Magpie

The Red Teal Blues

I simply could not get the formatting of the photographs for this post to look how I wanted them to. I guess that's what to expect when you're a total noobie!  My title for this post really says it all; the colors I am wearing are bright, saturated, and punchy. Black toned it down, but if I simply took off my sweater, the brightness would go up a hundredfold! I was inspired to wear the blue and teal accents because of the color of the flowers in the print of the dress. Looking back, I wish I had worn bright red lipstick, but maybe that would be overkill? This is one of those outfits that puzzle me. It's very much me and my style, but would I wear it again? And in that color combination? Was the weather cool enough for the cardigan but also warm enough for those kind of espadrilles shoes? It seems very much a color experimentation; the kind of outfit that I look back on and REALLY want to know what people thought when they saw me. Did it make them think at all? I don't care if they liked or disliked how I looked, I just want to know what people thought OF it. Dos that even make sense? I want to subtly push color boundaries and norms, and wear unexpected outfits out of seemingly mundane things. I wouldn't say I'm a crazy dresser, nor do I try to wear something for shock value. Merely, what I wear is an extension of how I think, and who I am, and the ideas that I want to experiment with. In a way, I'm trying to be a truer version of myself, down to my scratched and faded fingernail polish and secondhand clothes. 

The color breakdown goes like this: long teal earrings matched the ribbon and flower print, and the bright cobalt blue of the bag hints are hinted in the flowers as well. The black cardigan helped ground the brightness of everything, and the strappy shoes finished the outfit and made a full circle by referencing the black of the sweater. Black, teal, teal, red, cobalt, mixed colors, black. The final sunset pic was from that night and seemed to fit my overall fondness of vivid colors. 

Cardigan, bag - thrifted

Dress - flea market

Shoes - Modcloth

<3 The Magpie

Periwinkle Skew

This dress was an unusual buy for me, covered as it is in a mottled floral pattern, and patterned in a "trendy" cut, but something about it spoke to me, and finding the scarf and the hat at the same time seemed to be a sign that it was meant to be. I loved the electric periwinkle purple-blue of the scarf, and the way you can pull out one of the many colors in the dress. I also liked that it was long-sleeve as that can be hard to find even in the winter. I hope I get another chance to wear it before spring as the days are heating up fast. I don't have much to say today because I have a terrible headache, but I really enjoyed wearing this outfit and taking the pictures was fun.

Dress, hat, scarf, coat - Target

Earrings - World Market

Boots - Modcloth

Bag - thrifted

<3 The Magpie

Gold Eppaulettes

This is one of those perfect summer outfits; light, airy, simple and uncomplicated. I needed a light sweater in the morning, but by the time I took these pictures, I was sweating the moment I put it back on. I've mentioned before that I have a backlog of photographs that go back quite a few months, so I'm trying to pump them out to finally catch up to this modern era ;). It's only a few months back though, promise. I'm wearing my favorite top again! That thing goes with everything, I swear. Black and white plaid?gingham? is a neutral for me. I can wear it with almost everything. I wish the fabric pattern itself was more popular, so I could find more dresses and skirts with it, but for now, I'll take what I can get. I am eyeing a certain dress on Modcloth that is entirely black and white gingham, but I'm also trying to not spend any money on clothes this year! We'll see how long that lasts, haha. If only there was a good sale to sway my mind...

Aside from the fitted shirt, the skirt is a bit reminiscent of my high school days, but it's shorter and less uniformey (is that even a word?) than my real school uniforms were, so I felt okay wearing it. I added light blue accents with my earrings and statement necklace and the gold shoulder designs on the sweater, and summed it up with my sleek (and comfy!) gold sandals. I love those things. This outfit is pretty minimalist for me, and I'm proud that I was able to create something with sleeker lines. My natural inclination is towards outfits that are more elaborate, but there's only so much you want to wear in the summertime. I'm hoping to experiment more with cleaner proportions and lines while still staying true to my style. I'll be sure to let you all know of any successful enterprises.

Shirt, sweater, skirt, bag - thrifted

Earrings, necklace - gift

Sandals - DSW

<3 The Magpie

Staring At The Sun

As I've been experimenting with this blog, and the photographs therein, I've been keenly aware of how amateur my efforts are. I know what a good layout looks like and what good photography consists of, and mine has definitely neither. I've tried to research it a bit, but didn't find much in depth or didn't understand what I was reading. I AM an amateur though, and this blog has been just a fun hobby. This next year I would like to do a lot more, but for now, amateur is the voice of the day. Keeping in mind that I am a beginner, I really liked how this series of photos turned out. Just me, my tripod, the sun and the wind.

The gingham black and white crop-top I am wearing is one of my favorite tops (and thriftstore finds) of all times. I love wearing it with higher waisted skirts or pants, and I love how it's neatly fitted to a smaller waist. The skirt I found at a flea market for $12, which isn't terrible. It's long, and can look dramatic if I pair it with the right things. It's like an elegant hippie skirt. I wore my favorite cross-strap black flats, and ran along a cornfield while the sun dipped closer to the edge of the land. I only got stared out once, as a car drove along the mostly-dead side road I had pulled off on. They didn't seem to mind though.

I love the contrast of the blue and bright red. I have started to wear red so often, that I've made myself space out the days between red outfits because it is such a striking color, and I don't want to make them all appear the same.

Shirt - thrifted

Skirt - flea market

Shoes - DSW

Earrings - World Market

<3 The Magpie