30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 30

Here is the last day's challenge:  something from my favorite store.

This puffy green jacket doesn't look like much, but it's really cozy and perfect for low-key days where you just want to wear something comforting.  I got this from Marshalls after stalking it for a week.  Marshalls is a great store, not necessarily my favorite, but as many of you already know, it's a great place for stalking designer brands at lower costs.  They have everything from Anne Klein and Oscar de la Renta scarves to Missoni knits at their similarly-marketed store, T.J.Maxx.  They are also a good place to scour the new trends for cheap, and they always have affordable basics such as socks and camisoles.  Perfect for any fashionista, or just anyone looking to save a little cash!

We finally made it!  Today is the last day of the challenge, and it is also the last day of consecutive posting.  I have exams and all sorts of stuff to do the next few weeks, so I won't be able to post as much.  It was really interesting to go through my closet this month, and figure out what trends I gravitate towards and dig out some sentimental pieces I had.  I hope you also enjoyed it! 

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 29

My favorite brand.  I don't really have any particular brand loyalty whatsoever, but this cardigan should be familiar to a few of you.  This is the black lace cardigan from the original Rodarte x Target collection.  The pieces from that collection were phenomenal, however, this was the only one I bought.  I don't wear it as often as I feel I should, but when I do, it makes its unique mark!

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 28

An outfit that I am ashamed to wear!  Is it no wonder that it's workout gear?  Here it is, in small view, to prevent your eyes from burning:

Basically, an old shirt and a pair of Adidas pants.  Pretty basic right?  Not at all glamorous!

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 27

A hat!  Now this little straw number posing on my lamp is my trusty straw fedora.  It's great in the summer for taking walks or just for completing an outfit.  This is probably the only hat I can wear besides a beret or a newsboy hat that I can decently wear?  I picked up this one in TJ Maxx or Marshalls, next to a felt fedora.  I realized later how useful having a decent hat could be.  I should have bought both hats!  Does anyone have any fine millinery crafts to share?

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 26

A mismatched outfit I would NEVER wear.  Now, the pieces separately might be a little out there, but still wearable.  But together they are just over the top!  From top:  fedora, sunglasses, Zac Posen for Target shirt, belt, vintage skirt.

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 25

Shoes I love but I don't wear a lot.  These are my hand-painted Converse.  I spent about 2 weeks on these?  You can't see it really well, but these have stars and supernova and galaxies all over them.  I also water-proofed them, but they are kind of my babies.  These were made using acrylic paint and glossy varnish/medium.

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 24

My favorite shoes.  Well, fall/spring shoes I guess, since it's too chilly for sandals still, even in May!  On Tuesday, it even started raining!  Which is a big deal here, since we get pretty dry this time of year.  These flats are from Naturalizer, which sounds like a stuffy unfashionable brand, but their shoes aren't bad and they are actually pretty comfortable.  I always have to wear socks though, but I still need to break them in a little.  I love the strap, since it doesn't rub against my foot and it helps keep the shoes on!

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 23

A lucky piece of clothing.  This isn't exactly lucky, but I've had this scarf since elementary school.  Either my grandparents or my parents gave this to me, and it's pretty much been a constant, treasured part of my closet every since.  Every time I wear this I feel sophisticated and put together, which is a miracle at six-thirty in the morning!  Do you have any lucky pieces, or clothes that make you feel like you're on the top of the world?

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 22

Something I wear in the summer:

Which is just an ordinary black jacket.  However, I can't wear this is the winter because of the short sleeves, so it has be relegated to my summer clothing section.  It's interestingly detailed in real life, but it photographs pretty bad indoors.

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 21

Something I wear around the house...which is

Just this old tee shirt.  Hey, it's big, it's soft, and it's comfortable.  And it tells you to recycle!  How could you resist that? 

What do you wear in the privacy of your home?

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 20

My jewelry box.

Again, pretty messy.  The box is just a small gift a friends gave me a few years back.  I love the dragonfly though!  Larger pieces of jewelry hang on my wall and in the drawer, which you can sort of see below the box in this photo.

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 19

All of my jewelry!  Ready?  This is going to be messy:

Ahhhh!  As you can see, I was pretty rushed when taking this picture, and everything inside is all jumbled up.  I need to organize it soon!  There are a few pieces from Halloween, a necklace from vacation, a dogtag, and other bits and pieces inside.

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 18

Jewelry I made:

I made this watch necklace a few years ago, and it's still one of my adored pieces.  I had the chain already, and when the watch face arrived, I simply strung them together.  Voila!  It's my current substitute for a pocket watch.

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 17

Clothing I altered:

This shirt may seem simple enough, but what really adds pizazz is that frog clasp on the neck of the shirt.  To me, that's the most unique part about it!  You'll never find anything like this(at least, that I didn't make!).

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 16

Matching clothes!  Unfortunately(or fortunately) this hasn't happened before, so here's a substitute:

 Mossimo Supply Co. Juniors Skinny Cargo Pant - Quartz Grey

I'm sure lots of people have skinny cargos, if not that pair (From Target, incidentally). 

Have you or anyone else worn matching clothes before?  Any embarrassing or hilarious stories?

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 15

Newest purchase:

Is this simple striped tank top!  I had to alter the strap length, and it is still a bit low, but I love the light stripes and the ruffle detail!  Unfortunately, it is raining tomorrow, so I'll have to wear it sometime this summer.

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 14

Cute socks!

Sorry that the lighting and shadows make the bottom of the socks appear grimy, but aren't these the cutest socks you've ever seen?  These are a gift, but I would probably buy these myself, too.  There is an adorable little puppy flying on a broomstick on these!  How could I not?  I find a pair of cute socks are an unusual, but cheery, way to brighten up an outfit.

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 13

An outfit I want.

Can I look like this all summer?

Part of ShopRuche's  spring/summer lookbook.

Everything is perfect:  the wedges, the ruffled top, the sweater....dreamy.  In fact, the entire lookbook is a delicate garden party filled with lacy dresses, airy scarves, and beautiful prints.  I recommend you check it out!

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 12

A piece of jewelry that everyone compliments you on.

Strangely, for me, it is this labradorite pendant.  This photo does not do it justice, as in real life it flashes a stunning blue gray in different lighting.  I actually wire-wrapped the stone myself, and bought a chain to string it on.  My wire-wrapping skills are amateur, but it stays put!

One of my friends is always fascinated by this necklace, and once commented that she liked it best out of all the necklaces I owned.  I don't know why, but that comment has stuck with me since then.

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 11

A piece of jewelry a grandparent gave me.

  My grandparents gave me clothing, not jewelry, as a child.  However, my mother gave me this necklace to take care of, so it's sort of mine?  It was a gift from my grandmother to her, and so it's pretty symbolic now!  It's a pretty amethyst color, but the clasp is rather funky, and it requires a bit of fussing to remove.  However, I really love the style of this necklace.  They don't make them like these anymore!

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 10

An outfit I wore on a special day. 

 

This one has also a bit of an unusual story.  My grandparents bought me this dress in elementary school, and I dug it up and wore it to a dance just recently!  It still fits, since when I was little, my grandparents shortened the straps for me.  I guess it's not so bad keeping old clothes some time, as I found a good use for this dress.  You can't really see it in the picture (which was taken indoors with bad lighting), but the dress has almost a cave painting-like pattern on it, with trees and animals and people.  I wore this to a dance a while ago, so that's what I'll always remember about this dress.

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 9

A dress/skirt

This skirt has quite a bit of an interesting history.   I found this skirt one day in my mom's closet, and decided to try this on.  It must have been at least 10 years old, judging from the fabric and the pattern.  It seems to made out of some polyester/synthetic material that feels quite unusual.  The pattern is very vintage, but I like it!  It reminds me of that joke with "what is black and white and red all over".

The answer?  My skirt?

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 8

Your most expensive piece of clothing.  Again, I'm cheating, since technically this is jewelry, not clothing.  I usually don't buy expensive clothing, since I know that garments made to last (wool, silk, etc) won't get much use here on the sunny coast, and that lightweight fabrics are more easily harmed.  My mom gave this gold butterfly necklace to me a long time ago, and even I have no idea how much it cost.  It must be pretty expensive though!

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 7

A cute outfit.  I'll admit, I didn't have an outfit on hand, so I quickly pulled something together out of the items from the other days of the challenge.  It's quite simple and not that sophisticated, but whose judging?

It'll be perfect for an outing with friends.  Striped top, black cargos, a stack of bracelets, a braided belt, and a silver necklace.

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 6

A pair of pants that aren't jeans.

 These are (one) of my black cargo skinnies.  I know, one?  I must have 3 pairs of cargo pants right now.  I would blame the military fad, but I secretly wish it holds on, at least till next winter!  Theses pants are rather thin and stretchy, and are quite short in length, which is perfect for me.  The only problem I have is that they do not have pockets on the back, which annoys me.  I have to be careful what I wear with these!  Another thing that annoys me about black clothing is that no matter how carefully you wash them, they fade and collect lint.  These cargos are already showing a dark gray-blue edge on the hems.

I'm not really a fan of the really skinny jean either, but it seems like the only thing in stores lately.  Bootcut/flares jeans and pants are coming back, but I fear the coming is slow.  Stores, get the message already!  I still want to hold on to my cargo skinnies, though!

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 5

A favorite pair of jeans.

These are nothing specially really, pulled off the rack on sale for imperfections.  I don't mind, but I really should have found something in a smaller size, as these jeans are quite stretchy!  I love the fact they have an off-kilter button and an even dark rinse though.

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 4

Today is a shirt that I haven't worn yet.  I recently bought this shirt from Aeropostale, after being brought along for a trip to the mall by my friends.  This was, incidentally, the only thing I bought.

From this shirt alone, you may have realized I have a love for stripes!

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 3

Today is...a piece of clothing or jewelry that was a gift.  Is it cheating that mine is technically an accessory?  My grandparents brought back this thick, patterned scarf on their trip to visit us a few years ago.  The scarf itself is wonderfully cozy and has a fun woven pattern.

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 2

It's day two of the challenge!  Today is:  my favorite shirt.

I bought this at a dinner for charity in a silent auction a few weeks ago.  I've tried to find out more about the brand, Trafaluc, but I haven't any luck!  It's one of those blogger T-shirts that are so popular these days, though I don't know if it's an actual blogger that's featured on the shirt or if the shirt is just "inspired by" those shirts.  The bow on top is a quite amusing addition.  I'm been really liking clothes with 3-D details!

30 Day Clothing and Accessories Challenge Day 1

I got this idea from Flying Saucer, who is the writer of a wonderful blog.  I figured that I needed to post more, and what better way than to post a picture, every day?

POST A PICTURE OF….

1. Your closet.
2. Your favorite shirt.
3. A piece of clothing or jewelry that was a gift
4. A shirt that you haven’t worn yet.
5. Your favorite pair of jeans.
6. A pair of pants that aren’t jeans.
7. A cute outfit of yours.
8. Your most expensive article of clothing.
9. A cute dress/ skirt.
10. An outfit you wore on a special day.
11. A piece of jewelry that a Grandparent gave you.
12. A piece of jewelry that everyone compliments you on.
13. An outfit you wish you had.
14. Cute socks.
15. Your newest purchase.
16. You and someone wearing matching clothes.
17. An article of clothing that you made or altered.
18. A piece of jewelry that you made.
19. All your earrings, rings, necklaces and/or bracelets. 
20. Your jewelry box.
21. Something that you only wear around the house.
22. Something you only wear in the summer.
23. An article of clothing/ accessory that you consider lucky.
24. Your favorite pair of shoes.
25. Shoes you love but hardly wear.
26. An mismatched outfit that you’d never wear (go wild: earrings, belts, crazy skirts etc).
27. A hat.
28. An outfit you are ashamed to say you wore.
29. Something that is your favorite brand.
30. Something from your favorite store

Day one:  my closet!

It's really messy right now, with blankets on top, shirts and tops on the left, and pants/shorts on the right.  On the shelves are scarves and the like.  Does any one else have a messy closet?

Bag Musings

I'm not really a bag person.  I've become more of a shoe person I guess, since buying quality flats (like the Cantara from Naturalizer) and not wearing the same things every day (and yes, I do count myself as a style blogger sometimes.  Shocker I know).  But lately, I've found myself gravitating towards buying a bag.  One bag, one bag only.  Because I have backpacks for lugging around binders and little purses suitable for carrying around a total of a wallet and a cell phone and I have messenger bags that I don't know what to do with, but I need an in-between bag.

This prompt realization, of course, led me to hours of searching on Etsy.  I've come to realize that I want (Very specifically) a vintage, leather bag, which should be medium-sized and not white, ivory or cream.

Vintage Etienne Aigner Brown Plum Shoulder Bag with Metal Logo

 Why vintage?  Well, modern bags tend to be more expensive but made with cheaper materials (canvas, pleather, polyester).  Also, most modern styles are too ostentatious for my liking.  A more personal reason for me is also that I don't like buying leather, though it is usually better quality and more biodegradable than it's pleather counterparts.  Vintage solves that problem for me, as I know that it's less wasteful than buying new (except for shipping).

Back on the subject of bags, I sort of want to lug around all my folders in there, too.  Which leads me to this: REDUCED Vintage Leather Handled Satchel - Briefcase OxBlood Color

Though it'll be less practical, I suppose, since toting around a large briefcase is mildly suspicious at best for anyone not wearing a three piece suit(when will they come back in style?  Don't hold your breath).  But I blame my real love of satchels and school bags (backpacks are so boring) on the one and only, Proenza Schouler PS1:

Believe me, if I had an extra $2000 to spare (plus tax), my qualms about modern handbags would go out the window.  I can't even explain why I like it so much.  My adulation can be, at best, described as a combination of why-is-this-so-beautiful and holy-cows-who-has-two-thousand-to-spare.  But to whomever has change to spare and is feeling quite generous, I'm here on this blog! I would appreciate that bag!  *hint hint*

What do you think, fellow bag connoisseurs of the world? And is anyone related to a millionaire?


Image from net-a-porter.com