2011: In Review.

I sort of can't deal with this year. Not that anything particularly bad happened in it, but rather that it has flown by so fast that I'm having a hard time conceiving the fact that it's over. Even on a day-to-day basis I'm constantly shocked that it's already the afternoon! By Wednesday I'm scandalized that Thursday is tomorrow!

That said, it's been quite a nice year, and I really must thank all of you for reading and commenting, e-mailing, and all of that! I'm so grateful for everyone, and for this little community that exists. This year especially I've met so many lovely people and new friends! So to wrap things up, here are some highlights from my year!

January

I got bangs! After pining after them for years, I ended up with bangs and chopped off my hair.

February

On day in February it was unseasonably warm. 

March

I tried to have auburn hair for a little while. I'm starting to get the itch for it again, but we'll see if I ever have the nerve. Shortly after this post, I accidentally put that sweater in the dryer and  it was lost to the shrinks.

April

I recreated my favorite movie's poster, and have really been dressing with this sort of thing in mind ever since, especially now that we're heading into the cooler months again! I also cut my hair the shortest it's been in ages, and haven't touched it since!

May

I saw Jane Eyre and started obsessing about that too. John and I started taking more day-trips and visiting historical sites from my childhood.

June

Like Clermont. I had meant to get back there in the fall, but somehow it seemed I kept missing the height of the leaf changing season because of colds and things, so I suppose we'll have to go again in the spring! It was one of my favorite places all year, and I ended up with a dress that I never expected would be one of my favorites!

July

The final Harry Potter movie came out and I had a little party to go with it, and perfected my costume. I've been heartbroken ever since, really, but that's alright! It was so much fun!

August

I turned twenty-five! And went to the beach, and marveled that summer was almost over.

September

This month was slow, as I was floored by two sinus infections! The highlight was probably when I met up with a bunch of my absolute favorite blogger ladies in NYC, where I forgot to take pictures! 

October

I attempted to levitate in a park, while wearing tweed. 

November

I dressed like a book for the second time!

December

And this month, I embraced color again!

Happy New Year everyone! Love to you all!

Christmas Special.

Happy holidays to everyone! I can't fathom that Christmas, along with everything else, is here and has gone by so fast. There is something really strange about this year in particular that seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye, and I'm totally bewildered at the whole thing. But I suppose that's what happens, and in the meantime I'll look for, and gladly participate in, any excuse to dress up.

Dress: Vintage, Tights: J. Crew, Shoes: Nine West circa 2007, Hair jewels: Vintage

I haven't had a proper Christmas dress in years, but this year when I was shopping for some extra goodies to wrap up for the holiday, I had a particular dress in mind at my favorite vintage/antique store. The dress was mustard colored, a kind of brocade almost, with a full skirt and velvet bow at the waist. I remember it was there last January, but I didn't buy it because I wasn't entirely sure if I needed it, and it had a really funny crinoline inside. It had been there all summer long, just waiting, and finally I decided it would be a perfect holiday dress--I would just sever the damaged and uncomfortable crinoline from it's shell and deal with the rest that way. But of course, it was nowhere to be found. No matter how much I pawed in the piles of dresses and suits did I find it. I did however, head to the dressing room with an armload of other dresses to  try on, and this was among them.

It's pretty much a perfect Christmas dress, and I have every intention of dousing the whole thing with pink accessories to make it a Valentine's day frock. The downside is that I tore a hole in the arm while reaching to arrange one of my tulle bows, but these things can always be mended, and as any lover of vintage garments knows, there is no use crying over a split seam.

And anyway, it was a really exciting chance to wear my favorite little hair decorations. I've had these little jewels for ages, and they are always just the thing to stick in when earrings or necklaces seem like too much. And of course I feel weird and naked without something on my head, so this hugely ephemeral black bow had to go on, if only to make things ever-so-slightly more theatrical!

If you follow me on twitter or instagram you have seen all my various wardrobe changes and adventures, but this is one of four outfits I ended up in today. One of them involved a dish towel. 

A big thanks to my mom for taking pictures today, so I didn't have to freeze alone with my tripod!

Now I'm going to get tucked into my PJs as fast as I can, and see if I can't squeeze in enough time to watch the Downton Abbey Christmas Special! I've already been spoiled for it, but I still can't wait!

Princeling.

This is, by far, one of the greatest pieces of vintage I've collected. My lovely hair stylist gifted several of her beautifully-curated vintage pieces from her own collection last year, and this was one of the things I ended up with. It's a bit delicate, and I've always found it challenging to wear (it's basically a top, but um, I didn't get any proper outfit shots of it), but I love it. The pattern is kind of amazing, it's got puffed sleeves that point at the wrists, a million buttons, a little collar, and gold thread woven into the design. And the colors! If I were skilled in the least, I would write a sonnet about these colors.

I feel very sort of, prince-like in it, like I should be wearing it with some Shakespearean tights and a sword. I keep getting the line, "pointy-eared elvish princeling" stuck in my head about it, something about the collar and the buttons and the way the swirly sides of it (not pictured, I know, how could I) fall.

Disgusting Colors.

I bought puke-colored tights. They were the kind of purchase that involved little-to-no thought. I bought them because I loved the color--not even that. I didn't love the color, something about it attracted me to it, even though I had not the foggiest idea what I would wear them with. Since then I've been trying to figure it out. I'm not entirely sure this is successful, but nothing goes with them. Navy might work quite nicely, but I can't seem to find anything navy in my closet that works as I'd like it to. Shoes are a nightmare with this color. Brown only makes it look more unappealing, black is too witchy.

So I figured I'd just go with it, and throw on some of the more obnoxious colors I have and pretend I meant it. There are several colors I love because they are disgusting. Puke green is one of them. I also love that shade of mustard that is more green than yellow. So revolting that it goes all the way around and becomes appealing again.

Coat: J. Crew circa 2008, Dress: Darling Vintage, Tights: Anthropologie, Shoes: Nine West 2008, Belt: Vintage, thrifted.

Trying to spice up my outfit poses. Ashley is the queen of this. Lady can take the silliest and most hilarious poses and still be the most gorgeous creature on the face of the planet. 

These were taken shortly before two of the buildings tenants showed up and I wanted to dig a hole and live in it, because somehow there is almost nothing more mortifying (still) than getting caught taking outfit pictures, even if someone else is taking them! 

Pictures taken by John.

Don't Eat the Glitter.

I love glitter. When I was little, I used to think it would be really great if I had a pool full of glitter, and I could swim in it (in hindsight, this would be the most uncomfortable thing ever. I also wanted a pool full of sunscreen, so I could just dip myself in it without having to worry about apply the stuff all over. This made sense to me at the time). My favorite thing was when my mom would make something involving glitter, and it would be sticking to everything for days. I love handfuls of the stuff, and usually have to keep myself from eating it (I know doing so is a really, really bad idea. Not only would it taste awful, but it would probably be almost impossible to get out of your mouth. It's up there with bars of soap from Lush and new tubes of lipstick in the list of things I want to eat but absolutely should not).

I also really love nail polish. I hardly ever wear it, since I work with food so I can't really wear it anyway, but sometimes I have enough days off in a row that I can justify the application. So even though I hardly ever buy it, I splurged and made this golden glitter polish by FACE at J. Crew my own. Normally when I need to feel sparkly I put on Moulin Rouge, but this works almost as well and it stays with me all day!

It's really hard not to stare at my nails all day. I keep wiggling my fingers around in different light to see what they do, and have had to hold myself back from applying more than three coats. Plus, then I don't feel like I need rings!

Wearing the Book: Ulysses

I've never read this book. I've never attempted it (I think--I might have attempted it once for a class where I was required to attempt parts of it). But I have two copies of the same edition of it, because I loved the cover and typeface too much to leave it behind. The blue one, pictured here, is the first one I bought and I was beside myself with joy at the cover. I have it in green also, the same exact one, which I am less in love with but I had to  have it so that they could be twins. 

Dress: Anthropologie, Sweater: J. Crew 2010, Shoes: Nine West 2008, Belt: J. Crew

It's also one of the first covers I knew I wanted to dress like. I suppose this outfit is a bit literal, I was hoping to be a bit more abstract with it, but if I keep trying to find the perfect match I'll never get a move on with posting in general or this little series! I've been feeling lately that I want to wear more complicated outfits--more layers and things as though being able to find the perfect arrangement of clothing and accessories will make me seem an expert dresser. But most of the time, I don't really know what exactly to do to achieve what I have, vaguely, in mind.

I also don't know why I'm being a real Misery Bear in pictures these days. It's just so hard to get used to the self-timer again, and to run around my neighborhood looking like a loon in heels. But the light disappears early now (it was gone by four thirty today!) so I've got to buck up and figure it all out again!

P.S. Ever since Emily's pig-tail tutorial it's been my go-to hair-do! My curls are a bit short, but for now that's alright!

Look at the inside! It is amazing!

Previously:

St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised By Wolves

We are not a Codfish.

But apparently we are, because we can't seem to keep our mouth shut in pictures! In defense of myself, I've gotten sick, again, and after a week or so I finally feel as though I can dress like a human being again. I'm still facing the challenge of blowing my nose while wearing lipstick (it's second in difficulty only to putting a shirt on while wearing lipstick--which SEEMS like an easy thing to do, but not so much when you're in a fitting room. Or maybe that's just me) but I've got to stop feeling sorry for myself and get back into blogging regularly again!

Jeans: Gap, Shoes: H&M, Socks: Haven't the foggiest, Shirt/Sweater/Hairthing: J.Crew

 (Kater, you should have ironed that shirt.)

Instead of blogging, I've been doing things like working (all the time), being obsessed with eyebrows (Michelle Dockery's), listening to new music (Florence), buying books but not reading them (Mindy Kaling's new book), and grumbling about the weather (it SNOWED, on HALLOWEEN. I was sick as a dog anyway, but the whole thing was really insulting).

I also bought the above shoes, even though I really do not need another pair of oxfords/brogues. But I've been meaning to wear something like this for ages, and things were just the right mixture that day for me to buy them. There are certain times when I can go ages without buying anything, when nothing feels right, and then one day I'm in a totally different mood and open to everything. 

I also have a lot anxiety about things. Actual things, not the vague, cryptic kind of things but honest-to-goodness objects. Suddenly these kinds of shoes are everywhere, and I love them, and we are perfect together in all their many incarnations, but what if they go away? What happens when I wear them out? I will be left heartbroken. It is good planning and forward thinking to buy them up now.

How Many Times.

This pin is my best friend. He is my little fox friend, and he hangs out with me on adventures and not-adventures. I suppose it's not very interesting to keep posting the same bits and bobs over and over, but it's a bit more honest in terms of chronicling a personal style. I don't want to say my little fox is my favorite one, because I don't want the others to feel bad about it, but I usually reach for him before anyone else. And are you sick of this scarf yet, or the chambray? 

Pin: Vintage, Bag: fieldguided 43rd parallel tote, Everything else: J. Crew throughout the years

This is also pretty typical of a non-blog outfit outfit. The kind I end up in on days when I don't feel like dressing up, but it feels wrong to throw on a pair of jeans and shirt by themselves. I've also found that I'm really interested in this vaguely borrowed-from-the-boys kind of outfit. The sad thing is that soon we'll all be swathed up in coats and things, but for now the weather is nice enough that a good blazer works wonders.

Pictures taken by John M.

Belated Birthday.

Oops! Once again, I forgot that my blog had a birthday! On the 14th All This Happiness turned four years old! It's a really weird feeling! Thank you all for reading, and for commenting, and for everything, it is such a delight to share with everyone and to get to know you!

Various posts are pending, but since all lately I get all dressed up and end up looking like this:

they'll have to wait until I can come up with something else!

love,

kater

Tweed Forever and Ever Amen.

In the interest of last post's topic, here is a silly shot we ended up with today:

In it, I am attempting to Wingardium Leviosa myself (my wand is cleverly hidden in my skirt folds so that I don't break the International Statute of Secrecy. Don't worry, Muggles can't read this!).

More importantly, this outfit features two things I've been meaning to post about for ages and ages. First, the dress is one I captured last summer on a day that had such luck as I have not been able to capture since. The funny thing is that even though I wear this dress to death and beyond, this is the first time I've really shown it! It's home-made, and the hem is slightly longer on the left side than the right (maybe, I can't remember, it might be the other way around) but who really notices that sort of thing anyway? It might be the most versatile dress I own--something about that particular shade of red makes it kind of perfect for autumn and summer all at once. 

Dress: Vintage, Blazers: J. Crew Fall 2011/Gap Winter 2009, Belt: J. Crew, Bag: Vintage, Tights: J. Crew, Shoes: Steve Madden

Seriously, I use the tuck pretty much every day now while I wait for significant growth. 

The other thing is tweed blazers. I have two, now, after searching for years and years. The first is one that's been on here several times, but honestly it's getting a little sad and I've had to fix the buttons 4 or 5 times. Thankfully, I found another tweed blazer so that I may live my dream of being Remus Lupin everyday. 

But the thing about me is that on a regular day I wear about 3 outfits. Or, I wear the same outfit but move bits of it around so that it looks slightly different, and tweak it throughout the day. My car is basically my portable closet. I generally have some kind of back-up hidden about my person at any given time, be it a shirt or scarf, or a different dress rolled up and stuffed in a tote. 

In the morning I wore the old blazer and a t-shirt with the dress, along with a brown belt. After work I switched blazers, lost the t-shirt (it was a bit warmer than I expected) and used a belt I acquired while working, which is the outfit you see above.

But then I was a little bit over that blazer, as it is slightly different from the first, and I went back to the original (this is sounding complicated, and really, if you're even reading this at all, you deserve all kinds of internet hugs) and belted it with the new belt instead of the old one, so that by the time I arrived at Barnes and Noble to eat a cupcake and read magazines I had transformed into the following:

My hair also came down, for no particular reason, but that, in a way, is a day in the life of Tweed Girl.

Pictures by John M.