sightseeing outfit 1 :: Solvang

We just returned from a very chill trip to Solvang.  The purpose of the trip was to attend the PCPA outdoor theater production of Shrek:  The Musical (which was excellent, by the way, although freezing outdoors at night).  Otherwise we were just enjoying the hotel pool and jacuzzi, eating delicious food, visiting the miniature pony farm, visiting Ostrich Land USA, and similar fun and low stress stuff.

Outfit details:
top w/ lacy overlay:  old, J. Crew
tailored shorts:  Loft (hard to tell here but they are very dark denim and sort of high waisted)
sandals:  Tevas
bag:  Good West Co.
sunglasses:  Oliver Peoples

The bag, shorts, sunglasses, and sandals are all new this year and I'm very happy with them.  As I mentioned before, I'm just starting a one year journey of not buying any new clothes, and at this point I'm feeling very well equipped for the year, although it will be interesting to see how my feelings evolve over the course twelve months  It just occurred to me that I jumped into this project without having found or purchased a trend I'm really interested in:  wide-legged pants.  Oops!  I wonder if I will still want them next year?  Or will I ask for them as a gift at Christmas?  We'll see.

family date night

I wore this outfit for a "family date night" to see the movie The Secret Life of Pets and go out to dinner at Lazy Dog--our favorite.  I feel compelled to point out that the green wall totally distorts the green of the pants.  In real life my pants are a crisp clear army green (or a bright clear olive??), not the brown-green that shows in the photos.  Nonetheless, here you go--a quick outfit post.  These new clogs are wildly comfortable for a clog.

By the way, I'm starting out on a one-year journey of no clothes or shoes buying.  It's not really a spending freeze, but more of a much needed break from the addictive cycle of buying more and more clothes whenever I see anything that strikes my fancy.  I'll be blogging more about it here, so stay tuned.

Outfit details:
top:  Emmerson Fry
pants:  Banana Republic (here --now on sale)
jacket:  new!  J. Crew
clogs:  new!  Uggs
bag:  Madewell

Thanks so much to all of you who have visited and commented!!  I'm thrilled whenever anyone clicks through to say hi.

summer dress 1

Hello! Summer heat and summer dressing are on my mind.  These photos were taken a few weeks ago when we went to an outdoor party and I wore this dress, hat and sandals.  I have so many thoughts about wardrobe and dressing these days--well, always!  I think these photos are not so flattering and I probably could have chosen lighter colored sandals and I also think the hat looked cuter/more appropriate at the outdoor party than in these photos.  I also think "flatteringness" is not necessarily the ultimate goal.  Maybe the feeling of a garment or the emotion it evokes is just as or more important.

This dress reminds me of retro summery times--70's childhoods and also somehow grandmothers in "house coats" or house dresses.  The fabric is a madras plaid and it has a built-in slip/lining.  I'm hoping I get a lot of wear out of it.  The summers get very hot here.

I'm hoping to have more outfit posts soon, but we are running out of places in our yard for photographing them.  We are having some construction done, so the yard is a mess.  But do look for more posts upcoming.  And I also hope to post more about beauty and skincare as well.  I feel like in these troubling times (we are living in scary times right now, yes?) that the topics of fashion, skincare, and beauty are so so comforting to me--like a smooth worry stone, as I go through lists of capsule wardrobe ideas or beauty rituals in my mind.

One more thing--if you like seeing these outfits, I'm also snapchatting my outfits on a somewhat daily basis over on my snapchat--@faeriemb--along with dinner ideas and podcast recommendations and thoughts and stuff.

Outfit details:
dress--Bridge and Burn
sandals--old, Zappos (Franco Sarto I think)
hat--purchased online--Wallaroo hat company

saturday walk downtown

Hello!  I wore this outfit when the boys and I walked downtown last Sunday.  It was still chilly last weekend (thus the light jacket) but next weekend it is supposed to be 99!!  So I guess we should have enjoyed the cooler weather while it lasted (secretly I don't like the overcast "May gray" weather we get every year).

After our little excursion downtown we stopped at the gas station and bought M&Ms and when we got home we mixed them with popcorn and watched Despicable Me.  Very fun mom and sons time.

jeans:  high-waisted Levis via Zappos (style 721)
top:  white tee from the Gap
jacket:  old, from the Gap
sandals:  random white Bass sandals from Zappos (last year; now I can't find Bass on Zappos anymore :(
bag: Madewell

tank dress

 I wore this dress on Easter. It feels like such a long time ago now!  It was also much warmer then (in March!) than it has been lately.  We always get the "May gray" weather in this area, so winter tends to be warmer than spring.  Go figure.  Anyway, I bought this dress at Loft in medium and then altered the side seams so the armholes wouldn't gape.  I think this is going to be a great dress for summer, once the weather warms up.  I've really worn it only once so far, but the hot season is coming and then I will love it.

Sorry for the poor picture quality--I'm trying to get back into blogging and I just had Dieter take these pictures on my phone in random lighting.  I'll try to get slightly better photos next time.

dress :: Loft
shoes :: random brand from Zappos--Franco Sarto?
necklace :: Loft

What are you looking forward to wearing in summer?  I'm crazy about tank dresses in a midi length.

pants for summer

Sorry it has been so long since my last post.  I was shocked to see my previous post had a leather jacket.  It's been a long time since I wore that!  We are in pure summer mode now.  I've been trying to wear more non-shorts outfits for summer this year.  Dresses definitely are best for hot summer, but today the weather was cooler and allowed for a pants outfit.  I'm finding more and more that I prefer simple outfits and a simple palette of white, black, khaki, navy and blush overall.  Hopefully I'm honing in on my true style!  I'd love to post here more as I explore this.  I'm endlessly fascinated by the topic.

Outfit details:
pants:  Emmerson Fry Mick 3 pant
sweatery top:  Athleta
sandals:  Clarks
bracelet:  purchased in Brooklyn at a little "open studio" event with craftspeople and artists--unfortunately I didn't think to pick up her card, but I love this piece.
bag--purchased at the same event in Brooklyn.  The inner loop is stamped "Handmade by Cold Picnic"

I hope your summer is going well!  I'm off to Pasadena tomorrow with my BFF.

flared!

These pants are 4 years old and maybe it's about time to retire them, but I do love a high waisted flare jean from time to time. I might just have to update them. (with these maybe?)  Do you wear high waisted?  Flares?

Outfit details:
high waisted jeans:  J. Brand (old)
top:  Loft
leather jacket:  LL Bean Signature
shoes:  Clarks (very very old)

highs in the 60's

It's always super exciting when we have a stretch of cool days--so many more wardrobe options and the opportunity for jackets (and, let's be real here--sleeves!).    I love this outfit for its shoes, its patterned belt, its dark wash skinnies, its classic white button-up, and of course for its chic trench.  Well, I guess that's all of it!  No wonder I'm such a fan.

In other news, I've lost a few pounds and already my pants are fitting better and I'm feeling better.

Outfit details:
jeans:  Gap Always Skinny
belt:  J. Crew
shirt:  Everlane
trench:  Forever 21
shoes:  Gentle Souls via Garnet Hill
thin bracelets:  Moulton (and rings, not pictured)

stripes and pants

Just a quick post tonight to show you my new work pants!  I had become distressed at the number of times per week I was wearing jeans to work, and I wanted to dress things up a bit.  So I picked these up at the Gap on my trip.  However, now that I look at these photos the pants look suspiciously like these old Talbot's pants!  (I don't have them any more.  I was hoping these were a little slimmer in the cut, but I see now that they are not really.  Oh well!  It's nice to mix things up a bit.)

Outfit details:
pants:  Gap "perfect trousers"
striped top:  Forever 21
leather jacket:  LL Bean Signature
shoes:  Clarks

happy friday

I was feeling very "Pinterest inspired" in this outfit today. Inspired by my various pins, I'd been looking for a jacket like this for awhile.  I found it at Loft in the final hours of my trip to Kansas last week.  Ripped the tags off and wore it on the plane home.  Yay!

Outfit details:
jacket:  Loft
top:  Emmerson Fry
necklace:  Madewell
pants:  Jen 7 jeans via Nordstrom
shoes:  Clarks (old)

wrapped!

I got so excited when I found this wrap dress on the Banana Republic website that I bought it in two colors.  It was Black Friday weekend and we were looking for a skirt for Faith online.  I ended up buying this dress for myself, and even though it is a true wrap, which I love, it did not live up to my expectations (see this dress and this one --both wrap dresses that I love).  The Banana Republic dress is about two inches shorter than I'd like and the wrap is definitely not as generous as I'd like (although I do love the sleeves and the neckline).  So I'm basically pretty "meh" about it.  Dresses are super hard to find, so the search goes on!

Outfit details:
dress:  Banana Republic
leather jacket:  LL Bean Signature
boots:  very very old from J. Crew
watch:  Michael Kors

chambray + grey

The rain is over, but we are having a lovely bout of spring weather with highs in the 60's. I love it!  The weather bounces all over the place, constantly, but both this outfit and yesterday's are mostly made up of pieces from my "winter" capsule.  I haven't put it away yet as the weather has taken this dip and I love getting a bit more wear from these pieces before I store them.

I'm in love with this chambray top from J. Crew.  It was new this fall as part of my "Winter 14/15 Capsule."  I love it because it is a true chambray fabric, not a denim shirt, which I find to be harder to wear.  This fabric is soft and lightweight and even has some drape to it.

The grey jeans are the only item I kept from my one and only Stitch Fix box (last fall).  They are Level 99 jeans and they are pretty good but I constantly have to pull them up.  I need a jean that is more cinched in at the waist.  (BTW the reason I didn't continue with Stitch Fix is because I didn't feel like they really read my profile or responded to my requests.  And the timing was not right for me since I was just about to get into capsule wardrobes.)  I'd love to hear about your experience with Stitch Fix if you've tried it.

Outfit details:
chambray shirt:  J. Crew
grey jeans:  Level 99 via Stitch Fix
shoes:  Clarks
watch:  Michael Kors