Here's my Bastille Day outfit; this was right before I got sick (going out that night might have dealt me the fatal blow, in fact). My friends and I attended a Jazz Age Paris-themed literary event featuring local authors reading excerpts from 1920's books, an absinthe bar, accordion music, and a couple of really talented belly dancers who choreographed their numbers to 1920's songs. Upstairs was a tiny cinema where they were showing "blue" films from 1920's France. Whoa. Those were the days before waxing, for sure.
I put together the most 20's looking outfit I could assemble, using this old standby of a cocktail dress that I've had for years. It has a sheer, beaded black layer over a rich red lining. I even created the "bee stung" 1920's lips, but you can't really tell when I'm smiling, or smirking, or whatever I'm doing here. In all the photos where I attempted a serious, femme fatale face, I ended up looking like I was about to throw up, so I didn't post any of those.
Yesterday my mystery illness (Is it a cold or a flu? It has elements of both.) reached a climax, so I stayed home sick. That turned out to be a good call because I actually feel a lot better today after spending the day relaxing. Being home during the day is always interesting: yesterday I heard and saw
San Francisco's famous parrots (their flight path seems to go right over our house); I observed first hand the staggering number of hours that Georgie sleeps during the day (16 hours is my ballpark estimate); I watched numerous hummingbirds jockeying for position at the hummingbird feeder; I also realized just how preposterously incorrect our weather forecasts are. At around 11 am I checked two different weather apps on my phone; both said it was currently 60 degrees, with a high of 66 expected. At the time our outdoor thermometer was reading
82 degrees. Do not ever believe weather forecasts for San Francisco. They can err wildly in either direction, but they're rarely ever correct.
Dress: Sue Wong
Necklace: from Nordstrom ages ago (it was actually a multi-strand necklace that I took apart and reassembled into one long strand)
Shoes: John Fluevog
The outfit is from last week. I'd been wanting to wear this top/cardigan combo again, but had struggled with how to make the outfit look different from the first time I paired them. The maxi skirt offered the perfect solution, though to be honest I think I still prefer the original outfit, and would probably wear it again verbatim. Hard to believe the original outfit is nearly 2 years old. 
I wore this outfit on a day that I was going directly from work to meet a friend for drinks. Thus it needed to be comfortable enough to wear all day, and warm enough for the chilly evening without requiring me to haul around an additional jacket; it also needed to be suitably fun for an evening out. I thought the pirate flair of this outfit accomplished the fun element, while the stretchy layers and flat boots gave me the warmth and comfort I needed.
Jacket: Forever 21 (original buttons replaced with vintage ones)
At any rate it provided the impetus to wear these cords again, which as you may recall are down to their last few wears. A careful examination of the nap proved them to be still wearable for probably a few more times yet. Next time I hope it's actual inspiration, and not illness, that brings them out again.
Over the weekend Mark and I attended our friends' wedding up on Mt. Tamalpais. When we met up with our dog sitter to drop Georgie off, she had brought along an adorable pit mix puppy that she's fostering, and of course I instantly fell in love and have been obsessing about him ever since (I think the dog sitter brought him along expressly for this purpose). We've been discussing the pros and cons of getting another dog for awhile now; obviously it would be a lot more work and more expense and hassle when we go out of town, but it would also be fun for Georgie as well as a chance to rescue another dog who's in need of a home. Plus, twice the snuggling potential! Perhaps there's another dog in our future...
Top: H&M
I put together the most 20's looking outfit I could assemble, using this old standby of a cocktail dress that I've had for years. It has a sheer, beaded black layer over a rich red lining. I even created the "bee stung" 1920's lips, but you can't really tell when I'm smiling, or smirking, or whatever I'm doing here. In all the photos where I attempted a serious, femme fatale face, I ended up looking like I was about to throw up, so I didn't post any of those. 
I'll be honest with you; since being back from my time off I haven't been terribly inspired by my wardrobe. For one thing I've been sick, which has left me feeling lethargic and decidedly unimaginative in the mornings. I've also been exceedingly stressed out at work, which hasn't helped. I've photographed only half of the work outfits I've worn since my break, because the rest were just too boring. I think I have the sartorial equivalent of writer's block.
