{Style} Jungle Book...

Now I swear I wasn't trying to channel my inner leprechaun here or anything, but somehow my blazer, pants AND nails were all green yesterday... Coincidentally, I may have a new favourite colour, but that's totally unrelated,  I swear.

In other news, can we just talk about how sweet these jungle print jeans are for a second? I bought them at Zara a few weeks back and have worn them more times than I can count... I think a new obsession is born � Again. xx

Blazer- Zara | Tshirt- American Apparel | jungle print jeans- Zara | heels- ShoeMint | clutch- vintage Saint Laurent | necklace c/o Olive + Piper | bracelet- Betsey Johnson | ring- House of Harlow | watch- Michael Kors

Photos by Brittney Le Blanc

{Style} Muted Mints...

Outfit details: sweater- Joe Fresh; snake print jeans- Parasuco; spike pumps- Shoe Mint; necklace- Urban Outfitters; bracelet- Betsey Johnson; watch- Michael Kors

{Style} Easy Layering...

There's no easier way to play with layers than with a simple blazer and neutral tights... Once you've got those down, the rest is a cinch. Looking back at this outfit, I would have liked to incorporate a patterned sweater to up the layering ante, but there's no use dwelling on that now... Dang you, hindsight. xx

Outfit details: denim shirt- Forever 21; white blazer- H&M; leather skirt- Alice & Olivia; tights- Joe Fresh; cap toe pumps- Zara; clutch- vintage; bracelets- Forever 21 & Betsey Johnson

Personal Flair

I was happy to wear this dress without anything layered on top, so that all the interesting details showed. However, since a dress like this can't be belted, or layered over anything, there aren't too many options for giving it a personal flair. I threw on some fun jewelry and thought, "This is all I can do; I'm just going to have to let the dress be the star and settle for a fairly tame outfit." Then I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror with my fab new hair color. An interesting dress, pink skull jewelry and peacock blue hair; that'll do, that'll do indeed.

Dress: Escada Sport
Jewelry: Betsy Johnson
Tights: Hue
Shoes: John Fluevog
Hair: Michele at Colorbox

Spotted...

Outfit details: tank- Gap; coral blazer- Forever 21; leopard print jeans- Joe's Jeans (similar here); bag- Betsey Johnson; sandals- Michael Kors (similar here); necklaces- Pyrrha (similar here) & Bang Bang Bijoux

Summer's Eve...

Summer is in the air, and I for one couldn't be more excited to frolic the fairer months away in light layers, decorative sandals and no-fuss makeup... And the most exciting part? Somewhere out there awaits a patio, complete with fish tacos and margaritas with my name on it... Bring it on, summer!

Happy Monday, sugarplums! xx

Outfit details: tank- Forever 21; trouser shorts- H&M; bag- Betsey Johnson; gladiator sandals- Sam Edelman; necklace- House of Harlow; watch- Michael Kors

Light as a Feather...

Question: Did you guys ever play 'light as a feather, stiff as a board' when you were kids? I guess the feather print on this Forever 21 dress reminded me of those early days on the playground, where we hopelessly willed ourselves to float in thin air between breaks from the monkey bars or daisy chain-making... Oh, the good old days. Well needless to say, it didn't really happened for us � I guess eight-year-old Vickie's levitating skills never quite kicked in... At least I'll always have this feather dress though, right?

Outfit details: feather print dress- Forever 21; blazer- Zara; bag- Betsey Johnson; oxfords- Aldo; necklace- Pyrrha; bracelet- Blue Vanilla; watch- Michael Kors

What I Wore:

Mr. AIF had to go to Toronto this past weekend, so I was left alone to my own devices... In other words, sweet treats, non-stop Golden Girls reruns and a much-needed nail painting sesh� What can I say, I lead a glamorous life.

Happy Monday, lovelies! xx

Outfit details: dress- Decapolis (old); vest- Old Navy; belt- Betsey Johnson; cowl, bag, boots & watch- Michael Kors; bracelet- Marc by Marc Jacobs

Approximation

Inspired by my flapper-esque Bastille Day outfit, I put together this outfit, which has 20's daywear proportions. When I think of daywear in the flapper era, I always think of drop waist dresses with pleats, a look that can be approximated by wearing a fitted tunic-length top over a knee-length A-line skirt. This approximation also tends to be more flattering than an actual drop-waist dress for some reason. What I was going for was just a hint of a 20's vibe, not an actual reproduction of the style.

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
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Scarf: Asos
Skirt: Noa Noa
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson
Tights: Hue
Shoes: John Fluevog

Crazy Long Shirt

I saw this long, striped shirtdress on Asos and instantly fell in love. The fabric is very sheer and light, and I knew it would be great layered up for interesting office looks as well as more costumey outfits. As a dress, it really doesn't have a whole lot of shape, but worn open as a crazy long shirt I feel like it works really well. When I saw the picture on the Asos site, this is exactly how I knew I'd be wearing it.

For this outfit, I created shaping at the waist using my wide elastic belt. Without it the dress is very straight and boxy. You can tell from the back view that I actually had to scrunch a lot of the fabric together in the back to make it hang the way I wanted; elastic is really the best sort of belt for this application because once the fabric is in place it will stay there.

The dress nearly skims the floor on the long side; in fact, without heels I think it would be too long. But I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing heels whenever I wear this, so I quickly vetoed my initial idea to shorten it.

Shirtdress: Asos
Top: Max Studio
Ponte knit pants: Club Monaco
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Boots: All Black
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson
Earrings: Leslie Danzis

             

Formula

This outfit is sort of a repeat, as I've worn this dress/tights/shoes combo a couple times before, but the colors just go so well together that whenever I pull this dress out I'm stumped to come up with a better formula. Sometimes there's just no messing with a good thing.

Since the middle panel of this dress is a see-through lace mesh, I always need to cover the midriff in order to wear it to work. This time I used the blazer to cover most of it, and filled in the rest with the scarf. It was fairly cool that day, so the velvet blazer and tights kept me warm, while the sandals and bright colors made it seasonally appropriate.

The outdoor location is the patio just off our dining room (which really isn't a dining room so much as a hatmaking studio). You've actually seen this location before, but it was with the ugly blue building next door in the background. I much prefer this angle.

Dress: Betsey Johnson
Scarf: vintage
Blazer: Victoria M. Ortiz
Tights: Foot Traffic
Sandals: John Fluevog

Springy

This is the last outfit from before the trip, when it suddenly got really warm and sunny in SF. This outfit felt springy while still giving me enough skin coverage for the chilly temps that tend to set in at dusk. Because my feet have a hard time with peep toe shoes, I added some little half socks to keep my toes from being chafed.

If you only look at the detail shot, this outfit looks pretty glam with all the sequins and sparkly jewelry. But notice how the addition of leggings and flats brings the outfit down a couple notches in terms of dressiness. If I swapped out the leggings for black nylons and the flats for pumps, I'd have a perfectly good outfit for going out.

Top: Forever 21
Cardigan: Anthropologie
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Skirt: Noa Noa
Leggings: Foot Traffic
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson
Shoes: Bobbi Blu