Daily Outfit: Zebra-Print Zebras

Yesterday's outfit centered around a top I'd picked up on sale last weekend at H&M.  The print was what sold me on it.  From a distance, it's basically an abstract black and white pattern...but then you look up close:

It's a zebra print with zebras hidden in it!  A little cheesy, but I love it.

Hoping to take this weekend fairly low-key...catch up on some of the sleep that I lost over the past week, just going to bed a little too late and then waking up before my alarm went off.  Anybody have exciting weekend plans?

Summer Days

This outfit is back from a couple of weeks ago...it now seems unimaginable that we'd been having weather down in the 60's, given last week's Northeast heat wave.  Makes me warm just looking at this outfit.  Jeans and a blazer?  Granted, this would still be absolutely appropriately-warm clothing for inside my lab.  That's the challenge I have every summer...how to make it out of the house to the T to the Lab without overheating while still being able to be warm all day at the Lab.  Sweaters help some, but what do I do with my legs?  Bare legs and sandals are necessary during a week like last week, but not comfortable for long stretches of time in frigid air conditioning.  Maybe I need to bring a pair of leggings to put on once I get in.  Anybody have tips on how to handle major differences between outdoor heat and indoor cold?

So I've been fairly busy, mostly with my General Exams for my Ph.D. program...a combination of a 3-hour oral exam on my planned dissertation area and three fields relevant to it that I'd chosen and studied (which I took and passed two weeks ago), two 24-hour written exam papers (which I took last week), and one journal-level article (have most of a draft done, planning to finish over the next week).  Other than that, I've been trying to spend more time cleaning the apartment, definitely inspired by reading old entries in UFYH -- take a look, if you like being pushed to clean things and don't mind some bad language and sparkly GIFs.

I've also been crossing some things off the 101 in 1001 list, including a trip to a Cirque du Soleil show yesterday (amazing!) and trying a bunch of different variations on green smoothies (now that my community farm share has started for the summer).  Banana and apple and romaine lettuce is actually pretty good:

Not so good?  The one I tried with grapefruit, lime, kale, and cilantro.  I'll take my smoothies with less bitterness and my cilantro at times other than breakfast...

Well, May's gone fast!

Here I was thinking I'd post a lot this month...after all, I was participating in Me-Made-May, which would be a great reason to keep up regular posting. Oh right, except for that fact where I was traveling to NYC for three weeks this month to work on a show. Which was absolutely amazing! It was a fantastic, mind-blowing experience, and I can only hope I'll get to work again with the terrific team I worked with for this project. A number of us from the lab basically came into an (already spectacular) existing show, did an experimental week-long run of adding several new technological components, and then packed everything back up and headed back to Boston. I learned so, so much during the process...it wasn't a resounding success, by any means, but we did an amazing amount with the short time and few people we had. It's taken me a week just to recover from the experience. I did keep up with wearing my Me-Made-May outfits (almost every day...had a couple of slips when I started running out of clean clothing), but I barely had time to sleep, so didn't get pictures of what I was wearing! We had many days of getting back to the hotel at 3-4AM, back at the theater by 9AM (or, if we were back at the hotel by 9PM, we all stayed up writing code together past midnight). By my "must have 8+ hours of sleep per night," that's an amazingly brutal schedule. It was such a terrific experience, though. Probably some of the best weeks I've had in my life (though I could have used a touch more sleep).

So! That's what you missed from me, this month -- living in the theater and writing thousands of lines of code! (I absolutely adore my work...) I also wore a number of outfits with self-made and refashioned things, and successfully managed to pack for two and a half weeks with me-made pieces in every outfit. The weather on the East Coast changed drastically, from cold and rainy a couple of weeks ago to a weekend in the 80's. And I randomly got a haircut today, basically because I'd been thinking a lot about it and was finally so overheated that I gave my boyfriend the scissors. I'm still not sure what I think about it; the last time I had hair this short was literally almost 20 years ago.

My hair also seems to have gotten a lot curlier/wavier since the last time it was this short.

Today's outfit is a refashioned dress and thrifted sandals...trying to dress up a bit after a couple of weeks of jeans and jean skirts and tops! (Parameters for my outfits in NYC included: need to be able to walk 30 minutes from hotel to theater, need to be able to deal with a range of weather conditions, need to work for tech work and sitting in our "control room" off the wood shop.)

And here's another outfit, from a couple of days ago... I refashioned this dress a bit ago. It used to have long sleeves and a giant lace collar. With both of those gone, it became a great piece for a summer day.

How has everyone's May been going so far? I hope it's been a good one!

Me-Made-May, Days 1-3

So it's apparently May, and thus the beginning of Me-Made-May, where I've taken up the challenge to wear at least one piece of refashioned or self-made clothing every day this month. It's going to be a challenge to make this happen, especially since I'm traveling for most of the month. We'll see how well my self-made wardrobe packs! The first three days of the month have been rather cold so far, and most of my me-made wardrobe is better for the summer. Here's most of the things I'll be pulling from this month:

6 skirts, 6 tops, 8 dresses. I've got a couple more not-pictured items to choose from, and hope to make another couple of weather-appropriate pieces over the course of the month.

Day 1: Me-made top, thrifted skirt and boots.

Day 2: Me-made skirt, thrifted dress, Payless shoes.

Day 3: Me-made dress, thrifted sweater and boots.

Sunshine and Skirt from Sheet

This skirt was my refashioning project this weekend. It started out as an old bedsheet from the dollar-a-pound that I'd gotten for my fabric stash probably two years ago and then promptly never done anything with. I have a bunch of other vintage sheets that I want to dive into soon! The cotton is really easy to work with, and it's easy to find sheets with fun prints. (I also signed up for So Zo's Me Made May, so am going to want to add a few more spring pieces to my self-made collection before then.)


Source

I used this 1969 Simplicity pattern. I'd definitely make this one again, as it came together fairly quickly but still has some nice details like the darts on the front and the waistband that makes the top very neat.


Funny story...I was really pleased when I finished this with how I'm improving the construction quality of what I'm sewing and perhaps it doesn't immediately look homemade. So I wore this today to go walk around Harvard Square (needed to get new running shoes), and while I was there I walked through a couple of stores looking for a new white shirt. I was in American Apparel and one of the saleswomen there comes up to me and says, "I know this is going to sound funny, but I could swear I had a pillowcase and sheets in that pattern when I was a kid!" (She was confused that the same pattern would have been sold to a clothing company as well...at least I cleared that up for her!) So I suppose it is obvious that this might have been a sheet, at least to those who recognize it.


I hope everyone's had a nice weekend! I was glad to get some time outside today...the weather's acting more like the end of May than the middle of April. Even though we've had a fairly mild winter, I'm still really happy that spring seems to be here! This is the first time I've actually gone out in short sleeves and bare legs for months...certainly enjoying the moment of time before it moves into the heat of the summer. Which...well, tomorrow and Tuesday are supposed to be in the high 80's. So that could be soon.

Other than that, I've been keeping busy with work and such. We've got our big demo week coming up the week after next, so a lot of coding and creating that has to happen before then. Then my group's next big project launches in a month, so that's been keeping me busy as well. It's been great to watch things come together, though...always exciting when code works!

Everybody Everywear: Pink and Red

Today, for Valentine's Day, the EverybodyEverywear challenge is to wear red and pink outfits. I haven't done an EverybodyEverywear day for a while, but actually remembered to jump in on this one! Tricky, though, because I realize that I don't actually own a lot of pink. Pale pink is one of my least favorite colors (and pastels don't look great on me in general), and I seem not to have any hot pinks...so this pink skirt was one of my few options. (Also, red and pink has always been one of those combinations that I feel is a "holiday" matchup...like black and orange or red and green. I guess it's appropriate today, though!)


I've been having a fairly quiet day...the boyfriend and I had dinner at home and are settling into our general Tuesday night TV routine. We chose to go out to a nice dinner last weekend instead, since I always prefer not trying to go out to eat along with every other couple in the world. If you're celebrating Valentine's Day, hope you're having a lovely one (even if you're not celebrating, hope you had a nice day)!

Blazer Challenge #5 and FBFF on Trends

(Well, I was going to post this yesterday. And then I was out for dinner with family, and it got very late...so. How's everyone's weekend going?)

Fashion Beauty Friend Friday is the creation of Katy of ModlyChic, and currently takes the form of a monthly set of questions for bloggers to explore on a particular Friday. If you're interested in others' answers, Katy's linkup can be found here

1. With Fashion week just around the corner, we are all beginning to focus on the upcoming trends for fall. But what about the trends hitting stores now? What are you coveting?

Hmm, I suppose all the stores are already into spring clothing, aren't they? Spring currently feels far away from the cold rainy January we're having (if it still mostly feels like fall and not winter, spring must still be months and months from now, right?). Right, spring trends. I'm looking forward to experimenting more with bold color-blocking, get out of my one-color-plus-neutral-colors tendencies:

Colorblocking by elnajay

Bold graphical prints are also supposed to be "trendy" this spring, which is great for me because I have a handful of beautiful print dresses, including two Catherine Ogust dresses that I absolutely love (though am surprised they haven't made it on the blog, yet)!

My dresses, both thrifted at different times and different places, are like this one on Ebay:


2. How do you incorporate new trends into your wardrobe?

Generally I bring in new trends via thrift stores...realistically, there are very, very few "new trends" these days that haven't been trendy at some point in the past as well (whether in the last few years or decades ago). So it's usually possible for me to find things at the thrift stores cheaply to try out a new trend and see how it works with my personal style. Sometimes items need a little updating (the print is trendy but the long length too dated), but there's generally inspiration for a low price!

3. What trend are you seeing and not loving?

I know that pastel colors come back every spring, but I also know they're not going to be finding too much of a home in my closet. Pale colors never look as good on me as saturated shades and darker colors.

Also, crop tops/bra tops are exceedingly far away from my style. I'm not even sure where one could wear such an outfit, except to the beach or at home...

4. Do you feel the pressure to constantly update your closet with the latest trends?

Not really. As someone who follows a number of fashion/style blogs, I'm certainly much more aware of trends than I used to be. Sometimes I get drawn to styles and start becoming more aware of them when I browse the thrift store, but I don't feel like I need to.

5. Where do you find inspiration that takes the trend and makes it accessible to you and your personal taste?

Mostly from blogs, but also from people I see around the city...I love looking at what everyone wears on the subway!

I also wanted to share my fifth blazer challenge outfit...this one paired together two of my favorite pieces, the dress and the velvet blazer. This is one blazer I didn't thrift recently...I got it at Forever 21 at least 6 or 7 years ago, and have worn it fairly regularly since. Velvet is definitely one of my favorite fabrics, especially this silky-soft one!



I'll post a linkup tomorrow for anyone who wants to share a favorite blazer outfit!

Blazer Challenge #4

In searching for another blazer variation, I ended up with basically a copy of this one from last February, except with black patent-ish boots instead of black patent oxfords. It had to serve for a day at the lab, including this Creative Fabric class that I've been taking over January (at some point I'll have to show you all the sculptural skirt project I've been working on for that), and a belated holiday party dinner with my boyfriend's office. Also, I needed an outfit that could work with the rain/sleet mix that was predicted for the evening. This dress is one of my favorites, with its bold print and bright colors; always nice to liven up a gray day.

I seem to still be avoiding whatever cold my lab group is spreading around...but more sleep than normal is necessary, just in case!

Blazer Challenge #3

Just a quick note tonight...going to try to get some sleep tonight, as I'm hoping not to come down with the cold that two of my officemates just got today.

For this third blazer outfit, I tried to keep a somewhat simple base to let the houndstooth blazer stay the focus. I think this is a blazer; it's lined, so I'm not sure if it's actually more of a jacket. Everything is thrifted except the shoes (Payless), jewelry (gifts), and tights.

Blazer Challenge #2

Today was sunny, after a hard rain last night...and in the mid-50's! Definitely warm enough for me to promptly decide that it is now spring and I should wear bright colors accordingly. Therefore, I pulled out the bright green blazer. Since I'd gone the jeans route yesterday, today was time for a dress...I stayed fairly simple in color, since the blazer was enough boldness for one outfit (though I briefly debated wearing it with one of my crazy floral dresses).


With the warm and sunny weather, my mood was definitely lifted today. (I joke that as soon as I realize how much the weather affects my mood I'm going to get out of Boston and head straight to California...) Also, today was actually a really productive day of meetings at the Lab, which was encouraging. Multiple projects seem to be making a lot of progress in the planning stages(and I'm hopeful that this progress will stick for a while). I'm getting excited by ideas, hoping things can start being turned into concrete designs and programs and implementations and experiences soon...

Blazer Challenge #1

All right, folks...I've decided to start a Blazer Challenge! The type of item in my closet that definitely gets the least used is my set of blazers/suit jackets...I counted this morning and I definitely have at least a dozen (all thrifted), most of which have (gasp) never been worn. Ridiculous. So this week is going to be a blazer-wearing week...let me see how many different ways I can come up with to actually wear my blazers! I'm going for at least 5 (workday) outfits, with bonus points if I find a couple of weekend blazer outfits too. To make this a bit trickier, I also have to wear a different blazer every day. Can't just stick with my one easy black blazer.


I think blazers are especially tricky for me because of how dressy they can make an outfit feel. I'm already often on the upper end of dressed-up at the Lab, and am careful how far I want to push that. (Though I've certainly developed my style a lot since the first year when my coworkers would ask if I had an interview any time I wore a skirt).

So I started off fairly easy today with this fitted navy blazer over jeans and a turtleneck. Not too fancy, but a nice touch to polish up a jeans-based outfit. However, I found that this one is a bit too tight across the shoulders...debating whether or not it should go back in my closet or in the Goodwill pile. I do like the way it looks, but comfort-wise this one didn't work as well as I'd have liked.


Also interesting to see how wavy/curly my hair gets if I air-dry it and then ignore it all day.

Anyone else interested in joining me for a challenge, break out your best blazer (or two or three)? If so, I can post a link roundup on Friday...

Outfit Log: Crazy Tights

Another outfit from a few days ago...this was Wednesday's outfit for a day at the Lab. I didn't have any meetings or demos that day, so I decided to be a bit more boundary-pushing in my outfit (at least for me). I'd thrifted these tights last winter, but not gotten up the nerve to wear them until now. (Dress thrifted, shoes from Payless, earrings from Express, I think?)


Also, how's everyone's weekend going? It snowed a couple of inches today (the most it's snowed all winter, in an unseasonably warm year), so I've basically spent the day at home doing some cooking and a little bit of cleaning.

I've been trying to pare down my closet a bit more, but am currently pondering what to do with the category of things that I think are nice and that I want to keep, but that I haven't actually been wearing...Most of them are pieces I've thrifted but not figured out how to work into my regular style. I'm thinking I need to do a fashion challenge of some kind for myself to push me to actually wear these...a week figuring out outfits that incorporate blazers? A week of only wearing my least-worn dresses? A week where every day I have to wear something unworn from my closet? (I'll wait till warmer/drier weather to do something involving a variety of shoes, I think. Right now I'm stuck in the same couple of pairs of boots.) What would you all like to see?

Outfit Log: Green Velvet

This was my outfit from Tuesday, when I wore another long-sleeve shirt that I made last weekend (for some reason, I was feeling compelled to make velvet shirts...I guess it really feels like winter these days, after a slow start). I started out with the shirt, pulled out the skirt in my closet that complemented the shade of green, and went from there. I'm not sure I'm a fan of the proportions here, though, especially as they look in the photographs. I generally prefer to tuck my shirt in when I'm wearing a fuller skirt, but this one bloused out in unflattering ways when I did. If the top were a bit longer, I'd wear a belt over it to define my waist. In general, I've found that I now almost always try to define my natural waist in the silhouette of my clothing. I've done that since I figured out it was more flattering on me, I guess. I think I need to now experiment more with variety on that theme, or at least being a bit more comfortable when an outfit (particularly a skirt-based outfit) varies from it.


Luckily, this shirt turned out to be incredibly warm and comfortable, especially because of the full cowl collar. I'm starting to think that keeping my upper chest and neck warm is a huge component to my feeling warm in general. (Does anyone else find that?) And being toasty warm all day is definitely high on my list of winter priorities!

Coral Velvet Shirt

Here's the shirt that I mentioned yesterday...my Saturday afternoon/evening sewing project. The velvet was leftover from a skirt that I'd made with my mom shortly after I got my sewing machine several years ago. I had just enough to finish this shirt...well, at least by making the collar out of two pieces instead of one, and by ending up with 3/4 length sleeves instead of full long sleeves. And cutting the body pieces the wrong way in relation to the nap of the velvet...well, that wasn't so much for lack of fabric as by accident.


This pattern worked up fairly quickly, especially since I decided to try using pattern weights instead of pinning my pattern to the fabric. And when I say "pattern weights" I mean a few cans from the pantry cabinet used to hold the pattern down. I'm now quite a fan, especially as pinning pattern pieces on is one of my least favorite parts of sewing. Well, that and zippers...but at least I'm getting slowly better at zippers. This top has a zipper in the back, which went in fairly well.


I also hadn't realized that the sleeve would end up having quite so much gathering on it. I'd originally tried to skip the gathering step ("I can just pin the ease in!"), only to find there was quite a bit of extra fabric...so, gathering it was. I think this detail probably is accented by the heavyweight nature of the fabric, too...if I made this shirt again, I'd do it in a lighter knit. I might make this again, now that I've figured out how to do it (including the fold-down collar detail).

All in all, this shirt actually makes it into the "quite wearable" pile, I think. I wore it out today for dim sum brunch with a friend (so many amazing pork buns! Why have I not eaten in Boston's Chinatown before now?) and running some errands. Comfortable, warm, and doesn't obviously look like I made it? Works for me!

Finally Friday

This morning started off gray and rainy again, so I decided to go for a comfortable outfit that feels less dressed up than it looks. This top (modified from an old shirt of my brother's) is incredibly soft and easy to wear, the black skirt is my go-to skirt, and the necklace is definitely one of my most-worn jewelry items. An easy outfit. (Though a little tight around the waist after going out for a nice dinner with family this evening...)

Not much to say today...glad it's the weekend, finally (and perhaps a long weekend? Not sure whether I'll go into the Lab on Monday or not). Anybody have any exciting weekend plans? I'm hoping to get some craft projects done, catch up on some sleep, possibly go to the aquarium while my discount tickets are still valid, otherwise maybe not leave the house much since it's supposed to get colder over the next couple of days. We'll see what other adventures I can find!

Outfit Log: Gray Day

I woke up this morning to dark gray skies and rain. I suppose this outfit came pretty quickly from that, with the bold red necklace to liven it up a little bit. Everything thrifted except for tights (and necklace via Ebay).


Overall it was a quiet, somewhat low-mood day... hasn't been a very productive week at the Lab, and I'm looking for exactly what to work on next. I often have a hard time not knowing what my next project will be, not having yet come up with an idea that drives me to work on it...I'm impatient and want the ideas to come immediately! Because of that, I was doing a lot of thinking today about the idea of having an artistic practice, and what that might mean for someone in my field of performance technologies. I think I still haven't figured out for myself exactly what to do when I'm running low on ideas, or don't have a particular large project to work on...if I were strictly a choreographer, I'd go into the studio for a bit every day and see what I came up with. If I were a writer, I'd do a lot of freewriting. But with software or technology, there's more of a need for me to have an idea before I can start experimenting...so what could that sort of artistic practice look like? I suspect it's time for me to do a lot of little projects. Temporarily forget about "having to have an idea no one's ever had before." Forget about "having to have a giant, exciting idea." Try many little things, give myself the permission to have some failed experiments, and see what ideas come out of that work...

Outfit Log: Lace Blouse and Wrap Dress

I decided to dress up a bit more today, for a mid-week mood lift (though today wound up rather unproductive). I started with the silk lace-front blouse, then looked for what dress I could wear over it. The brown lace-up boots added to the somewhat Victorian feel of the outfit. (Everything is thrifted except earrings and tights).


I wore my hair down all day, then clipped it up when I got home and immediately forgot about it when I took these pictures. Yep.


Something I love about this black wrap dress is how versatile it is. The overall look can be changed quite a bit by what blouse I wear underneath. Other ways I've worn it on the blog:

January, 2011

April, 2010

March, 2010

Outfit Log: Print Skirt

I feel like I've been living in black turtlenecks this winter, as well as these flat boots I got at the start of the fall. I don't wear this patterned skirt too often, but I always enjoy it when I do...comfortable, swingy, and fun.

Somewhat of a quiet day today at the Lab. Trying to hammer out details of a project I'm working on...seems like a number of the projects I'm involved in at the moment are right at the stage where we all don't quite know exactly what form they're going to take. Potentially an exciting stage, but also somewhat difficult to navigate through. It will be interesting to see where things go over this next semester, both for these projects and for the smaller ones I hope to start soon...

Layering, Adulthood, and other Friday Musings

Today's outfit shows off one of my winter-survival dressing techniques: take a dress. Then wear it over a turtleneck and fleece tights. It's like you have two outfits on!


Today was a pretty long day at the lab, including a couple of hours of giving demos of our group's work to a large number of sponsors from China. It made me wish I was one of the couple of folks in our group who speak Chinese, as it's always a bit harder to demo through interpreters. Though it seemed everyone was having a fair amount of difficulty trying to translate concepts like "14 independent channels of lighting" or "frequency domain analysis".

I then spent the evening going with my mother to Ikea to pick up a few things for her, and ended up getting a new little rug and lamp for by my bed to replace the tropical-floral-print ones that I got when I moved into my first college dorm room. Another goal of sorts for this year (formed when the boyfriend and I came back from visiting his family for the holidays) is Operation Make This Place Look Like Adults Live Here. Better cleaning and decluttering is a huge part of this. As is very slowly updating a handful of decor items. Anyone who considers themselves a "grown-up," do you have any suggestions for how to make someplace feel like an adult home rather than a dorm room? We don't have any posters or things like that, but the overall impression still seems young to me...

I do believe it's winter, now...

It may have taken until January for Boston to get really cold (well, a high of 26 degrees today, which is not as cold as it will get this winter, though significantly colder than December's upper-30's-mid-40's kind of weather), but now we're in what I'd legitimately label as winter. Not my favorite season, but I think this one will be short enough that I can manage.


Thus, today's weather necessitated pulling out my giant leopard-print coat. It's bulky and on the bold end for my taste, but also very warm!

Now where's that snow?