Equestrian Feeling

Between the boots, the camel skirt, and the crisp white blouse, I feel as if today's outfit has a bit of an equestrian feel to it...all that's missing is the horse. I had been searching everywhere for a camel colored wool skirt, and I was just thrilled when I found this one at a neighboring town's Salvation Army!

Conveniently enough, my backyard opens onto a golf course, and yet I haven't taken advantage of this for photos until today.  I was very gung ho about taking photos there, but once we trudged out to the middle of the course I realized that my boots were half buried in snow! Oh well, if you'd like to see another photo of them, I wore them in my first post.  

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  I can't believe February is almost upon us!

Photos by Dan. (Except for the third photo of the icicle - that was me!)

White button-up blouse: Gap (last summer)

Camel colored wool skirt: thrifted.

Braided leather belt: thrifted.

Brown leather boots: TJ Maxx (last winter)

Sunglasses: Borrowed from Dan (NYC street vendor)

Olive green tights: tight swap with a friend in college.

Pearl ring: used to belong to my mother.

Watch: gift from Dan

The Doucette House

Today Dan and I decided to mix things up a bit and take our pictures somewhere besides my house/backyard/street, so we traveled a whopping three blocks to the Headquarters of the Edinboro Area Historical Society, The Doucette House.  As you can see, we are still waiting for a reprieve from the snow.  

I borrowed this chunky turquoise ring from my mom the other day, and I've been wearing it all the time.  I feel like it goes with everything!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Photos by Dan.

Black pea coat: thrifted.

Tan scarf: street vendor in NYC.

Olive green cardigan: borrowed from my mom.

Brown belt: also borrowed from my mom.

'90's Limited floral printed skirt: thrifted.

Black opaque tights: Express.

Brown leather ankle boots: Etsy.

Turquoise ring: my mom's.

Antique necklace: once belonged to my grandmother.

Out of Print

Today, Jennifer of Sally Jane Vintage recommended the new online magazine Matchbook Magazine, and let me tell you, it is wonderful! Here is a sneak peek at my favorite page so far (I'm saving the rest for the weekend. I'm very proud of myself for resisting the urge to hastily scim through every page right away and to instead wait until I have the time for an attentive read through.)

From this page, I was directed to Out of Print, where bibliophiles of all ages can purchase a t-shirt of their favorite novel. Look at these amazing tees and sweatshirts! I already asked Dan if I can break my strictly second hand resolution to purchase these items, but luckily he talked me out of it.  Since I can't purchase one for another year, I recommend everyone else go purchase one so that I may live vicariously through you.  Please and thank you.

Santigold's L.E.S. Artistes

Santigold - "L.E.S. Artistes" from Downtown Music on Vimeo.

This week's music video is a personal favorite for its creativity.  The first time viewed it,  I was initially impressed by the chic outfits worn by the girls flanking Santigold.  As I continued watching, I was captivated by the different violent scenes portrayed and how food ribbon were used as special effects instead of your typical blood 'n guts...how cool! I think my favorite part of the video would have to be the gentleman leaking brightly colored gum balls into the street, but the lady with the strawberries is a close second!

Natasha Khan

one. two. three.

Staying on the theme of inspiration, I feel compelled to pay tribute to Natasha Khan of Bat for Lashes.  Natasha, were it not for you, my dear friend Claire and I would not have been inspired to wear gobs of glitter on our faces all throughout our college years.  Natasha's style is so wild and unexpected, which makes it so much fun to recreate in real life.  I love how she mixes elements of nature, such as peacock feathers or deer antlers, into her outfits while infusing them with bright colors and extravagant make up.  And now, a look back into some of mine and Claire's favorite glittery memories.

My Style Icons

The following ladies have (or had) incredible style that has influenced me greatly.  Some, like Audrey Hepburn, might seem cliche to list, but I would be remiss not to give her credit.

 Zooey Deschanel

As you may have guessed from my recent She & Him post, I am a very big fan of Zooey.  One of my dreams is to raid her closet of all of the vintage dresses and opaque tights that she wears so well.

 Jean Seberg

I took a French film class in college was required to watch Breathless.  It was there that I fell in love with Jean Seberg's striped tee and pixie.  She looks so chic throughout the film.  If you haven't seen it, you should really check it out.

Maggie Gyllenhaal

One of my favorite Maggie Gyllenhaal films, between Crazy Heart and Donnie Darko, is Secretary.  I had a receptionist job throughout college and I liked to use this film as a guideline for how to dress for work.  A lot of the outfits work for my current gig as a librarian, too!

Regina Spektor

I really admire Regina's fun, quirky, classic style.  I especially love her music video for Fidelity in which all is black & white until near the end of the video where there is a burst of rainbow color.  Also, the first time I ever painted my fingernails candy apple red was in her honor.

And, of course, Audrey Hepburn.

Man could this gal wear a hat.

one. two. three. four. five.

Another sunny day?!

Well I'll be darned...it was another beautiful sunny day here again! Today was the typical Sunday: church, lunch out with Dan, and then running errands with my uncle who is staying with my family for awhile.  Dan and I did find a moment before he headed back to Bradford to snap these photos of my church outfit.

Tonight is a very important night in my neck of the woods, as the Steelers will be playing the NY Jets to see who will be going to the Super Bowl.  Now, normally I'm not a big sports person, but the Steelers are Dan's team and so the are my team by default, and you can't help but get excited when your team has a shot of making it to the Super Bowl, can you? Of course not! Good luck, Steelers!

Photos by Dan.

Navy blue wool jumper: thrifted.

Cream blouse: thrifted.

Bow pin: consignment.

Brown sweater tights: JC Penny.

Brown ankle boots: Etsy.

Dooney and Burke knock-off purse: consignment.

Sunglasses: Ray Ban.

Sunny Saturday

Today was the most beautiful sunny day! Around here, winter usually lasts from the end of November to the beginning to mid April...it lasts far too long.  As you can imagine, this means that sunny days are few and far between.  Very few, and very far between.  So when the sun is shining, I try my best to appreciate it to its fullest and keep the memory close so as to last me until the next sunny day.  I love sunshine, and as soon as it visits me I am hopeful that spring is just around the corner, even though that idea is absolutely ridiculous.  Perhaps the only good thing about our long winters is that I am given ample opportunity to wear all of my winter threads, of which I have many.

This wool Woolrich sweater has been just perfect for this fourteen degree day! It is quickly becoming a wardrobe staple, as I am usually always cold.  I wore it, along with this vintage hat and my new boots from this post on a trip to a thrift shop in my neighborhood.  Because this thrift shop is only open Tuesday and Saturday mornings, I haven't visited it in years.  Well, it certainly was bustling this morning! I wore my hat inside, which got me a few quizzical looks and one compliment from an older lady, who I have a feeling is probably a kindred spirit.  I had luck there, as I found a pair of brand new '90's brown leather lace-up ankle boots in my size.  Now I have black and brown boots...perfect!

The rest of my afternoon was spent reading a book for a book club I just started.  Now, Dan and I are going into town to eat at Molly Brannigan's, thanks to my brother and his thoughtful Christmas gift! Crossing my fingers for more sun tomorrow!

Photos by Dan.

Vintage hat: thrifted.
Woolrich sweater: thrifted.
Chambray shirt: Gap (last summer).
Jeans: J Crew Factory (Christmas gift).
Black ankle boots: thrifted.
90's Coach purse: Ebay.

Etiquette

For some reason, I've always had a thing for etiquette books.  In high school, our library had a vintage etiquette book from the 1950's that I checked out multiple times to marvel at how vastly things have changed since then.  In college I took a class designed to prepare you for life after college which included a fancy etiquette dinner where we were taught about the different meal courses, when to use which silverware, how to make polite conversation, etc.  It was a blast! So when I found this gem at a flea market a town over, I knew I couldn't leave without it.  Even though I enjoy reading about etiquette, my favorite thing about this book is it's early '60's illustrations.  Take a peak:

She & Him!

She & Him - Don't Look Back from Merge Records on Vimeo.

Ok, I can hardly contain my excitement.  I'm a huge Zooey Deschanel fan.  I've admired her acting and personal style for quite awhile, and when I heard that she and M. Ward were going to be putting out an album together back in 2007, I was ecstatic! I purchased Volume One on iTunes the day it was released and have been listening to it faithfully ever since.

Volume Two's release last March helped me fight the winter blah's (around these parts it's not spring until mid-April), and Dan helped my dreams come true last summer when he got me tickets to see them play at the House of Blues in Cleveland last summer.  Here are some pics!

Anyway, when Dan informed me today that She & Him had released a music video to "Don't Look Back" today, my heart skipped a beat! It is my humble opinion that Zooey and Matt should be required to create music videos for each and every one of their songs, but hey, that's just me.

Please just view it.  You won't be sorry!

A Belated Christmas Gift

This weekend I got one of those surprises that I always secretly hope for after the holidays are over but very rarely get...a belated Christmas gift! You see, I got myself a new Macbook Pro around the beginning of December because my college laptop was beginning to go downhill, but I never ordered a case for it.  Of course, Dan couldn't have that (he's an apple fanatic.) He ordered this for me from Etsy before Christmas, but because it was shipping from overseas it took forever to get here.  As I told Dan, he's one of the few people who could make a gift like a laptop case personal...I really, truly love it.  My favorite part would have to be the wooden button clasp.  It's perfect!

New Old Boots!

So I didn't end up driving to Pittsburgh today.  I just wan't up to traveling the four hours there and back by myself.  I think I'd better wait for a day when Dan wants to go with me.  Instead, I went to a small town about thirty minutes away to try thrifting at their Salvation Army.  It was a beautiful sunny winter day here and I really enjoyed watching the scenery and listening to some new bands on Rdio on my drive down.  


Once there, I found my new loves - these '90's black leather ankle boots! I've been searching nonstop for a pair of boots like these, and I can't believe I finally found a pair - for $4.89 no less! Now, as you can see, when I purchased them they were pretty beat up looking, so I decided to take before and after pictures and fix them up a bit.  All I did was buy new shoe laces and polish them up with some black shoe polish, and voila! New shoes! Look for them in upcoming outfit photos!

Photos by me!

'90's black leather ankle boots: thrifted.

Nifty Thrifts

I've been having some pretty good luck thrifting lately, which is so exciting! It can be so frustrating trying to find items that fit well second hand.  I was pretty bummed yesterday, for example, when I entered the Salvation Army dressing room with a cart full of AMAZING clothes and left with only one blouse and one pair of shoes.  I've purchased a few really nice things lately, though, so I really shouldn't complain.  

I styled today's outfit around the navy blue polka dot blouse I'm wearing.  I found it at a Goodwill in Bradford, and I'd say it's from the 1970's judging by the collar.  I'm a big fan of polka dots, so I was pretty excited when I found this gem! The mustard yellow sweater was purchased while I was in college.  It was part of a skirt suit set, and a dear friend of mine and I would often plan days where she would wear the matching skirt while I was wearing the sweater...I miss those days.

Now, time for a confession.  The Dooney & Burke purse featured is a knock-off.  I wasn't sure if it was authentic or not when I found it at a local consignment shop a few summers back, but I bought it anyways because I really liked and it was well priced, so I wasn't devastated to learn that it wasn't real.

Tomorrow I'm debating using my day off to travel to Pittsburgh and try my hand at thrifting there.  I suppose we'll see!

Photos by Dan.

Vintage mustard yellow sweater: thrifted.
Vintage polka dot blouse: thrifted.
Jeans: J Crew
Polka dot socks: my mom's (we shared).
Brown leather loafers: Cole Haan
Green and brown knock-off purse: consignment.
Watch: Timex.
Gold earrings and pearl ring: both belonged to my mom growing up and were gifts to me.