Style Challenge: Pattern MIxing or Whatever

 Style Challenge: Pattern Mixing

 sweater: JC Penney

t-shirt: men's from Old Navy with neck cut out

skirt: Triste via Gwynnie Bee

belt: Forever21+

tights: Target

Shoes: Not Rated via Buffalo Exchange

phone-tography by scrunch sock/pump combo queen ESCO

I would have preferred this outfit minus the sweater, but the skirt is hyper gathered at the back and hit me at the worst possible spot, so sweater it is. 

This skirt is the first item of clothing in this challenge from Gwynnie Bee that has been featured.  Due to the random nature of the clothing item queue, it's hard to make every item I get fit in line with the challenge parameters. I like this skirt a lot, but wish I had sized up, which I think would have taken care of the weird bulging in the back. 

Favorites: Bat-tastic

Along with the cooling temperatures (though it's supposed to be in the 90s again this weekend. Hopefully the last for this year), I've noticed some trees are losing their leaves. That's the definition of fall! It's coming!!! 

Yesterday when I was trying to take photographs outside at twilight like an idiot, I noticed some bats were zooming around eating the creepily large dragonflies that come from the weird hippie commune next door. What's more halloween-y than bats?!

the curio emporium via pinterest

Although it can be super creepy, I love taxidermy. I know some people take the same stand against it as fur, which I understand, but I'm in the camp of using and loving vintage furs/stuffed dudes as opposed to tossing them in a landfill. 

asos

 It seems like ASOS had a whole bat/halloween line going, but everything is sold out! Garg!

modcloth

I've seen the cat versions of these everywhere, but this is a great alternative. Wish it came in my size!

knob creek metal arts

Over my last several moves, I've ditched a lot of my books. They're just too heavy and cumbersome to be logically hauled around when my living situation is so temporary.  Now that I have fewer books, though, my cases aren't so crammed, and I could used some bookends to make book displays!

flez

 Do yourself a  favor and look at this link. Every one of these bat blankets are so cute.

themadplatters

I love the Victorian encyclopedia feel of the illustrations!

Style Challenge: Blazer-ing Saddles

Style Challenge: Blazer a New Trail

blazer: Ross circa 2009. I bought it for a Rita Leeds Halloween costume because the lining was very obvious when turned inside out

t-shirt: Torrid

pants: Dress Barn

shoes: Not Rated via Buffalo Exchange

seagull pin: estate sale

Genius me decided to try and take photos at 7:30 at night just as the dusk was settling into stupid-dark territory. As a result, my photos were mostly blurry. I'm still trying to get a hang of taking photos with the Camera + self timer. It's got a five second option and a fifteen second option. The former is way too little time and the latter is too much. Ten seconds would be perfect! Argh! Anyway, still trying to figure out how to pose and not look like a blob fish, or deeply confused.Smiling can feel very unnatural to me when I'm trying to do it on purpose, but the other option is my horribly angry and mean resting face. So, here I am, a deeply confused blob fish*.

Still not sold on the bangs, but they were working better today. These were taking after I got off a long and frustratingly boring and dumb day at work (power outtage, internet and pos network down almost all day), so they were a little janked out.

 

* I mean this in the best way possible. Blob fish are hilarious and speak to me on deep spiritual level.

Style Challenges: 2fer

Today's style challenge entry is actually two in one, because I'm lazy and what the hell.

Day Four: Pretty Pinks and Peaches

 

This day's theme was "Pretty Pinks and Peaches", so behold the only pink thing I own. If doing this challenge has taught me anything (that I may have already known) is that I actually have very little clothing in colors outside black, grey and dark blue. Eh, whatever.

sweater: Target like four years ago

skirt: Target like three years ago

top: men's shirt from Goodwill that I altered using this tutorial; originally from Target

shoes: Not Rated via Buffalo Exchange

beret: Forever21

exquisite slouched posture: my own creation

Day Five: The Flair is in the Hair

Ehhhh.  As you may or may not have noticed in the above photo, I had my bangs cut back in.

 

 It's been easily pushing ten years since I had straight across bangs, and several since I let my side styled ones grow out. I was getting tired of always wearing my front hair bobby pinned and sort of just went and did it.  I was hoping for them to be a lot longer, especially on the side... but they'll grow out in a bit. I forgot the reason that I started parting them on the side in the first place was to cover up the front of my hair which is rather thin. I'm sure no one notices it but me, but I feel like it looks like I'm losing my hair in the front area when it's not covered by the side part. Oh well! Now I'll remember for next time!

I took in these pictures of Cher and Marianne Faithful to demonstrate what I meant when I said longer bits on the side and she kind of did that, but not to the extent I wanted. Like I said, it'll work better when it grows out a bit.

 

Style Challenge: Black + White

I'm back with the outfit challenge! I've been struggling to find time/remember to take pictures, so it's been slow going. That said, here's "Black + White" day.

dress: Walmart via Goodwill

blouse: JC Penney

belt: Forever21 +

tights: Target 

 I realized as I was taking these pictures that this is essentially the same outfit I wore on the first day of the challenge. Damn it! Oh well. When you're broke, you wear the same shit over and over. Also, please enjoy the fact that I'm wearing my house slippers and, alternately, no shoes at all.

Style Challenge: Camouflage Cat

Style challenge day two!

C

"Nautical Preppy Stripes"

T-shirt: Old Navy

Jeans: Torrid

Cardigan: JC Penney

Whale pin: swap

Shoes: Buffalo Exchange

I had much higher hopes for this outfit, but after a rushed morning dealing with stupid insurance and dentist business (tl:dr, my insurance is bullshitingly non-existant and I have to wait until October for my amazing new insurance to kick in to get my tooth pain resolved), I just didn't have time to really get it how I wanted it.  

Attempting to take photos on my phone is turning out to be quite the adventure. Lesson number one: lighting outside at 7:30pm is dumb, but better than lighting inside at 7:30pm. Also, don't take photos after a full day of work. 

New cat friend!

Style Challenge: Never Thought I'd Miss a Hand so Much

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've decided to do a style challenge for the month of September! I'm hopping around the challenge, and only doing it on days that I work, since I usually put much more effort into what I wear when I am leaving the house, doing things other than sitting around on the internet all day.

 

Dress:  Walmart via Goodwill

Blouse: target via Goodwill

Belt: Forever21+

Tights: Target

Shoes: Buffalo Exchange

Beret: Forever21

Hand: Store Mascot

This was technically day three, "Greens + Yellow", two colors I have very little of.  I have no yellow clothing at all, only a few accessories, and aside from a sweater it is much too hot to wear, this blouse/jacket thing and hat are the only green things I have. 

Several months ago, as I was doing laundry, I noticed that my wardrobe is 33% blue, 33% grey and 65% black, with rando red or whatever here and there making up that last percent. When I was in late high school, I went through an unexplainable streak of thinking I had to wear bright colors, despite not really liking them (a period of time that was bookended by a literal black hole of a wardrobe). I don't know what the hell was wrong with me. I'm not a bright colors type of person, especially not yellow!  

I went to three different Forever21s to find this goddamn beret! After years of wanting to wear hats but never going through with it, I finally threw reservations to the wind and started wearing them last year. Great decision, or the greatest decision?

Anyway, I finally got someone to take a photo, though it's at work and as I was leaving for the day! I'm trying to get better at self taking wide shots with my phone/phone's self timer, and it's slow going. Bear with me and my grainy, awful snapshots!