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The wind is a wild thing, howling down around me and tangling my hair. I remember this day; it was cold and blustery, chilling my bones despite the light of the sun. I spent an inordinate amount of time that day searching for good places to take photographs. I look for small niches, tucked away spots with preferably a wall or other item to be a subject matter or a background. And I HATE having any people around. If there are people in the area, I stay far away from them as I can. People's curious stares and even creepy vibes make me really uncomfortable, disrupt my flow, and show up in the photographs in the stiffness of my poses and face. If possible, I like to work alone (unless with a trusted friend), content to experiment with angles and comfortability of myself in the shots; it can take a few shots to get what I am looking for, so the less people watch me, the better. Plus, people in general are CREEPY. I don't have a very high opinion of the public in general, because of all the weird people (i.e. men) who have followed me, purposefully gone out of their paths to try to talk to me, or stared at me taking photographs from a distance. Sorry for the small rant there, I'm just a grouchy old hermit at heart. I just want to work on my stuff and be left alone, is that too much to ask?

This outfit was a mishmash of layers, textures, and attempt at pattern matching. The scarf and skirt are two entirely different item, but I saw them one time close by, and suddenly thought "Wow, those have potential together!" It's funny when that happens, and even funnier when somebody notices.. Guy in my class: "Did you know your skirt and scarf match?" Me: "Er...Yes, I did that on purpose.."

Do people not think it is purposeful?? As if it somehow, accidentally, magically, these clothes fell on my body in a perfect pattern-matching-extravaganza??? Really, I don't don't understand people.

Phew. Getting lots of things out of my system here. Anyways, I really liked this outfit. The layers and complexity of it appealed to me, and the matching patterns made it sing. I'm not sure if it is different than any of my other outfits, but it definitely felt like ME. 

Shirt, socks - Target

Scarf - World Market

Jean shirt, bag - thrifted

Shoes - Costco

Earrings, leggings - unknown

<3 The Magpie

White Pine

Solid cool weather post - wore this outfit a few weeks back, when I felt like showing off a new pine-green dress. I paired it with pure white tights and sweater, and gleams of gold at my ears and crown. Simple, classic, and easy, but with a touch of something extra. Even on my most basic outfits, I always have to add a certain tiny something that makes it fully my own. In this particular outfit, it was the gold leaf headband. I love the look of it, but unfortunately, it catches in your hair like nothing else, so wearing it always comes with some expectation of effort. I found the gold earrings for $6 at a flea market. I'd been craving pure gold at my earlobes for awhile, so of course I snatched them up as soon as I saw them. I remember there was a broad selection of earrings at that booth, but these were the only ones I liked. It's funny how that happens; either good finds are rare, or else I'm just picky. Wearing golden jewelry has a double bonus for me, because it matches my hair. I like how my hair is its own accessory, and I definitely try to play that up. It will be fun to wear this outfit during future autumns and holiday seasons with tights and boots or heels, and then in spring with bare shoulders and leather sandals. So many possibilities for a deceptively simple green dress. Even writing about this dress makes me want to wear it again; I'll have to try pull it out this week and wear it to school. I wish rich green was a more popular clothing color, as I love how it contrasts with my dark hair and golden skin, but for now, I'll have to content myself with sales online. 

ps. aren't those goats great? My neighbors have a whole flock of them. (herd? flock? ????)

Dress, boots - Modcloth

Sweater, bag - thrifted

Headband - Claire's

Earrings - flea market

Tights - Walmart

<3 The Magpie

Green Skirt, Green Bow

I suppose it would be more accurate to call the color of my skirt 'chartreuse', but calling it green is easier for people to digest. I used to not be fan of this particular shade, or even of green really, but as I have expanded my tastes and wardrobe color-wise, I find myself wearing colors I previously ignored. I think it's good for me to expand my color horizons, otherwise I would still be stuck in my teal-blue sea. I found this skirt at a thrift and consider it one of my lucky finds. It's so beautiful and flowy - I've worn it in different variations, both in warm and cool weather. These photos were taken only a few weeks ago, when the day was sunny, but a chill hummed in the air. We have guests over, so I only had time to snap a few pics, but I love how the light lit up the grass and spun through the trees with a golden glow. 

Shirt, dress - thrifted

Boots - Modcloth

Necklace - gift

<3 The Magpie

Daisy Train

Another summery outfit post. I have quite the backlog of photos, but am able to slowly work my way through them. I still can't quite believe I have my own computer! My own means of producing and creating my work... My own way to connect with the world and use a tool to create and draw inspiration from.. Truly, we are blessed to live in this tech-saturated world, where ideas dance at our fingertips, and the process from mere thought to full-bodied creation is shorter than ever before. People may decry the proliferation of media and how new technology can damage society, stilt creativity, and on and on and on, but really, it's only a tool, and although it IS a powerful tool, it only affects us as much as we allow it. For me, my computer has given me freedom whereas previously, my hands were tied to specific locations and times. Ironically, I am writing this on the computer at school, but the principle remains! I edited these photos on my own computer last night, and was thusly reminded and gladdened of the power it gave me. All the poweersss, yessss! *cackles maniacally* Ahem. 

This outfit is color coordinated, and so 'me'. Did you notice how the lipstick matches the bright magenta in the dress?? Do you see it?? CAN YOU TELL???!? Have I mentioned I'm a little obsessed with colors..? As for the turquoise eyeliner, I was on a turquoise-liner kick for awhile this summer. I go through turquoise spurts. Turquoise was my first color of non-traditional eyeliner, and one of my favorite colors to wear in high school, so I definitely go through turquoise phases that fade and then swing back in full force. Wearing it with the contrast of the bright magenta was also a plus!

I painted daisies all over my nails; hence the blog post title. I know they aren't that splashy, but they were so fun to wear! Daisies randomly became a favorite trend of mine, so hopefully I will get to show some more outfits with said flower in different shapes and forms. I was so happy when they actually became a mainstream trend, because that enabled all of my feels for them that had suddenly bubbled up from the dark recesses of my creative soul. Can anybody else relate? There should be a word for the surprising affection of a random theme.

Dress, bag, necklace - thrifted

Sandals - DSW

Earrings - Target?World Market? One of them. 

<3 The Magpie

Boyscout

These were taken in the heat of summer, when my face is perpetually flushed, my hair is eternally too long, and I can't quite wear hems short enough. I titled this post "Boyscout" because of my little yellow scarf, but "cub scout" would be more accurate. I was drawn to its graphic elements - the strong yellow versus the dark blue - and decided I didn't care that it was a cub scout bandana, even if my mom made fun of me for wearing something so campy. As for my hemlines, I veer between as short as I am comfortable wearing, or something decidedly matronly. I'm not sure why I can't find a style balance, perhaps I'm just a drama queen.

Boy scout turned out to be a great theme for me, as when I was taking these photos, a boy drove up (note: I'm all alone, purposefully far away from all the other cars) to ask me for directions, and then proceeded to do his best to hit on me. Poor child. He picked the wrong girl to test his smooth talk on. Aside from just generally being annoyed by the unwarranted attention, I can't help but laugh. I can be out in the middle of nowhere, and still, guys somehow find me. It's my latent power. :/

The sweet little dress I'm wearing is one of my long-time favs. I found it at Target ages ago and have worn it ever since. It's a tiiinnyyy bit on the short side, especially if I raise my arms, but it's perfect for the that eternal hot spell called summer, and super cute besides. I wore it with my shiny gold sandals and pretended I was 'effortless' and 'cool'.

Dress - Target

Scarf, bag - thrifted

Sandals - DSW

Earrings - self-made

<3 The Magpie

Sunday Teal

Work, school, work, school, school, work - that's all my life has consisted of lately. But a great thing has happened! I got a new computer!! It's been a few too many years overdue, but now I can finally start on working on my photographs and art - once all my photo editing systems download. I'm so excited. I can start to really work and develop my art, instead of waiting to use the nice computers at school. Hopefully that will also result in frequenter blog posts and better photograph quality. A new camera is next on my list, so cheers till then. 

I went thrifting with two girls from a class, and I found this skirt and scarf that day. It literally felt like they were meant to be worn together. I mean, just look at them! They couldn't bear to be worn apart! I loved the soft blue hues mixed with a few strong stripes of purple, and tried to accentuate that overall color scheme. These boots are newer acquisitions, and I love them dearly. They have a bit of a heel - which is a look I like - but are also very comfortable, which is much more important to the comfort-hungry soul that I am. I hope to wear this skirt more often, but there is only a small window of cold weather where I live, and I've been working too much to wear any of my fun outfits. Hopefully, the pace of my work will slow down, and the cooler air will linger, because I definitely want to wear my funny woolen skirts much longer.

Shirt - Target

Skirt, scarf - thrifted

Boots - Modcloth

Earrings - World Market

<3 The Magpie