Debate Crusher

This outfit was from the day I lead my team of classmates in a rousing debate, utterly crushing our opponents. It was a pretty glorious thing to witness. 25 extra credit points, heeeeyyyyy. This is one of those outfits I privately refer to as "ragamuffin-chic". Like I could be scrubby wild thing, but hey, I'm also cute. A lot of my outfits I wouldn't consider fashionable, they are more like a collection of odds and ends, baubles, and trinkets. It's definitely my natural habitat, but it's also weird to actually wear, because you are exclaiming "Hey, this is me!" in public and that can be kind of odd and scary. 

I obviously went for a lot of red and blue, but I also threw in some gold pins and gray boots because why not? The hat was a cheapie find at an Asian market where you only pay in cash, and it's a little ridiculous, but also fun. I wore the jean jacket to tone down the fanciness of the skirt, and matched my scarf with practically everything. Not sure if I would wear it again, but it's the kind of inventive outfit you make up and just go for it. Same old, same old. 

 Scarf - Old Navy

Pins, jacket, sweater - thrifted

Earrings - Flea market

Boots - Modcloth

Skirt - Ruche

<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

40 Years

I distinctly remember this day; it was a few days after I had gotten my hair lightened and I was still marveling at its boldness. The air was humid and the day was overcast, the sky heavy and still. On a whim, I brushed gold eyeshadow over my eyes and bridge of my nose, like a shimmering mask suspended holographically over my skin. I was so disappointed that it didn't show up well in my photos. I was wearing a simple dress with a simpler vest thrown over the top, but everything still felt too hot to the touch. I wanted to wear something easy to go to work, and this fit the criteria. 

The outfit is indelibly inscribed to a certain memory from that work shift; I work at a coffee shop and a man pulled up in his car, and the normal exchange of a cashier/customer was exchanged. And then, and then, and then! he asked me if my co-worker was "my daughter". My daughter! A girl only a few years younger than me, but apparently so mature I appeared, he legitimately thought she was capable of being my offspring. I had the strong suspicion he was fishing for information on whether or not I was old enough to hit on (sigh) or he lacked all reference to time. I'm more amused than offended by such a out-landish question, but idea that somebody's age radar can be so wildly askew is rather interesting. Do I WANT to look older? Do I want to look younger? How will I look as I age? I hope that wherever life takes me, that I will grow into a strong and beautiful character, that my view of myself will mature and grow as my body ages, changes, and decays. 

(p.s. I'm in my early twenties)

Dress, vest, necklace - thrifted

Earrings - World Market

Sandals - DSW

<3 The Magpie

The Twilight Hour

I wore this outfit for my finals last semester. It's hard to tell in the thick twilight blue, but my lips were as red as my dress. Worn together, the effect was vivid, almost shocking in its brightness, and illicited many comments. My inner streak of mischievous glee delighted in the visual uproar it produced. I was never in the tangled webs of drama in high school, but in some ways, I do have a strong sense of flair that errs towards a dramatic aesthetic. Perhaps you think I am exaggerating at its results, and maybe I am unintentionally, but try wearing a red dress with red lipstick for a day, and see what you get.

The beaded cat-eye necklace I am wearing was something I put together from another necklace and an antique store find. There were a bunch of large marble-like glass stones with tiny embroidered beads around the edges, and this one was the coolest, with its golden eye, blue fringe, and slit pupil. It wasn't meant to be a necklace, but it did have a small loop that I attached to a necklace cord. I love wearing it for the drama and the sheer strangeness of it - that sense of the dramatic coming into play I guess. I paired it with some beaded earrings from World Market because the colors matched.

I wish I had taken pictures in earlier light, but had to do what I could with what I had. I do love the rich blue of the twilight hour; it is my favorite color yet. When the sun falls and the eastern horizon sinks towards black indigo, the sky turns a luminous saturated blue like the clear clarion call of a bell echoing through the evening as it pulls the whole world towards night. I have a very clear picture in my mind of what my favorite color is supposed to be, but when someone asks, I usually just say "blue", as the real shade is attached to a certain time and wondrous effect, but that can be too difficult to describe.

As for the dress, it is pretty simple, almost too simple for my usually complicated tastes, but I fell in love with the bell-like sleeves and rich hue of red. I hope I will find another chance to wear it and not tire of it quickly. I will have to make myself wear it again, maybe to work, in an effort to get the most for my money. Serves me right though, I know better then to get something I don't like, and although I do want to wear it again, I'm just trying to decide how useful it will be in the gamut of my wardrobe.

Dress - thrifted

Necklace - made

Earrings - World Market

Boots - DSW

Coat - gift

<3 The Magpie

$th of July

I decided that putting up pictures from the 4th of July is better late than never. This was the day I got to see my best friend Bekah right after she just come home from a trip to India! So as you can see, she had the Indian style dress, and her henna game was strong. I hung out with her and her family that day, and then we all went to a field behind my church to watch the fireworks. We also played around with lightpainting techniques which you'll see later in the post!

This red dress is one of my favorites - a light cotton frock in the brightest of shades. I found it at a thriftstore for only $8, and it turned out to be from Calvin Klein, so double the score. I wear it with a red camisole in a matching shade of red since I cut out the insert in the front. It had a weird sag and was always too low, so snipsnip. I love pairing this dress with with my red rose jewelry and red red lipstick - might as well go all out for the 4th! Speaking of which, I drew little stars near my eyes that spilled down to my cheeks with a gold eyeliner pen. Sometimes you just need to draw galaxies on your face, you know?

I am looking forward to wearing the dress more in the summer, as I feel it is best served on a sunny day with no heavy layers in sight. I'm still enjoying the cooler weather though, so hopefully not TOO soon. Have a great day all!

Dress - thrifstore

Earrings, necklace - boutique/street stall

Shoes - DSW

<3 The Magpie

Macaw

 

Somebody wise and renowned once said "Never wear yellow eyeshadow with blue eyeliner and bright red lipstick", but apparently I never got the memo. I personally thought it turned out great! I don't know any real makeup routines, and I got into it later in life than most girls, but I kinda just move colors and stuff around on my face until I get something I like. I've gotten a little better at it than when I first started, figuring out what works for oily skin and what colors go well with a generally olive complexion (most!). Maybe one day I'll look up makeup tutorials on Youtube channels and get really good at it, but videos bore me in general, and I'm kinda addicted to cheap drugstore makeup. So pretty much, I'm lazy as crap and not willing to spend the extra time and $$.

This dress was a thriftstore find (surprise, surprise) and I wear it to work all the time in the summer. It's a tiiiinnnyyyy bit little-kiddy, and not high fashion by any means, but it's cute and I get compliments on it all the day long, so I'm not complaining. I just wear it over a coordinating camisole and matching jewelry, slip on some sandals, and I'm out the door. My makeup probably took way longer than it took to create and wear the outfit.

The overall effect of the bright colors together reminded me of the tropical parrot, the macaw, hence the title name. I'm definitely not one to shy away from colors, there just has to be something holding them all together, an underlying backbone so to speak. I keep all the colors to a specific spectrum, and they all have to coordinate; it's not just a slapdash thing. It's difficult to describe, but it's like a mental closing the circle thing. Similar to when the conclusion of a story ends in a way that throwbacks to its beginning. A full circle. Everything has to mesh. I could just be crazy, who knows? I just know what feels right and my personal style is a way to indulge in that artistic compulsion.

Dress, necklace - thriftstore

Earrings - boutique store

Sandals - DSW

<3 The Magpie