Visiting Family Affairs.

Yesterday was pretty much the dreamiest day of all. A gaggle of us (Emily, Liz, Rosie,Christina, and I all woke up and made our way over to the Family Affairs studio. Once there we were treated to muffins and coffee in adorable mugs by Nina, who hosted us for a little while to introduce us to her newest collection, chat about our favorite movies streaming on netflix, and play a good round of dress-up.

Having seen a lot of Nina's previous collections all over the blog circuit, I knew I was going to love everything already, but it was so exciting to see the new things! I can't wait for spring and summer all over again. The prints are all drawn and hand-screened onto dresses in cuts that are pretty much perfect--girly and delicate without being too prim or over done, with just a hint of silliness.

 

 

It was a real treat just to hang out in the airy, lovely space, with little touches of inspiration here and there. I think we all cooed over the flowers several times!

Out of all the prints in the new spring line I think my favorite are the little yellow phones. As soon as we got upstairs I found myself eyeing that print, sandwiched between the sailboats and gems on the rack. It was even more exciting getting to try the dress on, solidifying my love for it completely.

The gems are also pretty special, and this dress is pretty much a perfect shape. Nina also showed us a plain white version that would make a gorgeous, simple little wedding dress, but most of us have a pretty intense penchant for short white dresses for anyway of the week so that one was a dream as well.

(via toujours toi on instagram/twitter)

Both Rosie and I tried on the 5th Ray Dress, one of the dresses for this coming fall, and I was instantly, hopelessly in love. I don't know why on earth I don't own anything in this color, and I instantly started mentally saving my pennies for the day when this dress will be mine. It's really hard not to daydream about all the things I want to wear it with!

After hanging around snapping endless pictures with our big cameras and our phones (these dresses are pretty much perfect for instagram and iphone photo filters!) we got to make grabby hands at the clothes from previous seasons and prance around in some of those. This was particularly exciting because a lot of the dresses are ones I've been seeing on other bloggers for the past few months, and it was really great to finally see them in person!

Ladies posing in the Bonnie's Boat Dress and the French Kiss dress.

Rosie in the Peaches Dress, which later she purchased for all her late-summer gardening plans.

Liz rockin' the Fantasty Skirt and Banana Split top.

And then, besides all the lovely dresses and blouses, there were the housewares (like the lampshade in the feather print that presided over our muffins and coffee!). Little saucers, holding some earrings and rings that are also part of the spring line, and pillows for couches, and later we even got to take a peek at a comforter featuring several of the prints all at once. 

It was a really wonderful morning, the perfect activity to do with a few gal pals on a day when the weather was really pretty much perfect.

For instagram prettiness and hilarity, you can head on over to Emily's post on the day also! I didn't repost many of them here because this is already pretty image-heavy, and I know we have a lot of the same readers anyway so that there won't be too much of the same thing popping up in everyone's readers!

Blogger Picnic.

Kallie and some of her outfit details//

Cameras on blankets

Emily, dreamiest gal

On Sunday I arrived in New York City, just in time for the annual blogger picnic at Sheep's Meadow in Central Park. I think everyone in this little contingent of blog-friends we have going on has said almost the same thing--the most exciting part about fashion week is that everyone comes to town and we get to hang out with all the people we wish we could throughout the rest of the year.

Emma and Liz taking a break to check up on the internet.

I've kind of been looking forward to the whole thing for weeks! The day was perfect (somehow, the weather has seen fit to be all we knew it could this week, sunny and clear, a little bit cool and breezy) and it was so wonderful to hang out on blankets snacking for hours and chatting.

Christina of For Show hangin' with some balloons.

Katie Louise Ford being flawless.

I'm pretty bad about snapping pictures of things. This year I actually brought my camera, so that's a 100% improvement from the last two times when I left the stupid thing at home because I didn't want to carry it around. I still don't really want to lug it all over the place, but generally it's worth it after the fact. The downside is I'm still pretty bad about taking the pictures themselves. I'll get better at it, stuffing myself into new habits. 

Kennedy Holmes and Wray

Liz and Rosie, discussing serious things.

And of course, between all of us snapping little moments on our phones, instagram is covered in all kinds of this magic!

Wearing the Book: The Great Gatsby.

The Great Gatsby book cover via this isn't happiness// Dress: Anthropologie 2010 (dyed), Shoes: Madewell, bag: Vintage, Belt: J. Crew

Oh dear. It's been a long time since I did one of these--almost a year, if I'm going to be truly honest. I tried to come up with things a few times throughout the past several months, but nothing really seemed to come together and there didn't seem to be much point in forcing it. This outfit actually started as an attempt inspired by a different cover, but going through my pinterest (which, admittedly isn't very full of book covers at the moment) I saw this one and thought yes, that is a much better fit. Things just go better sometimes if they happen backwards.

I'm always on the lookout for new covers of this book (aren't we all) because even though it's required reading at some point, especially for an english student, I'll never love it one drop less. I don't even own any interesting coves of it myself, although I do really love this one a lot, and even carry it around like a friend when I visit the bookstore sometimes (I'm one of those weirdos who visits books they already own or have read in the bookstore just to be near them or say hello). And of course this one is great because it's a little bit decrepit.

I haven't worn this dress since last year, but I do still love it an awful lot. It's still my most successful dye-adventure to date (there have been some disasters since then that you've not been privy to), but somehow it's a little too, I don't know. Girly maybe. I'm going through a thing these days where I can't decide if I want to be really frilly and all pink and light colors or low-key with the simplest of jewelry and chambray dresses. There's no reason on any Earth why I can't do both, but it's a thing lately. Maybe it's the entering late twenties-ness of this year.  

Dressing this summer has been interesting, since I've been really adopting a less is more kind of mindset. I just can't be bothered with a lot of accessories or extra bits this year. Every time I tried to do this book dressing thing I always felt like I should be wearing more, like it wasn't a real outfit if I didn't involve more layers. I guess this one is pretty obvious color wise, but I think I'm usually putting too much pressure on myself and the rest of the world to always be clever.

Except that it's summer and sometimes all you need is an easy dress and a pair of flats and all the rest can be forgotten.

Previous Wearing the Book posts:

Ulysses

St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves

Worn Together: Sponsor highlight on jessjamesjake

Sheer Rose Wrap Dress with Leather boots.

Well, worn together theoretically at least! Right after my last post I was at the mall killing time and ended up with a tube of dark, plummy lipstick. Just like that I wanted fall. And after all that pontificating about holding on to summer and how much I wanted it to stick around! All it took was a little tube of color to change my fickle mind. 

So of course now all my outfits have a decidedly autumnal tilt to them. As nothing I'm looking at in my closet suits what I want right now (then again, when does it ever?) I thought making an imaginary outfit from my lovely sponsor jessjamesjake would help distract from all the summer dresses and shorts I'm still wearing.

Eyelet Sweater with Bow Tie Brooch.

 

Right now is the ultimate challenge for getting dressed, since we've officially hit cool mornings and nights but the middle of the day is ridiculous, but I'm pretty sure I could wear this exact outfit right now with little difficulty or feeling out of season. 

Mostly I've just had my eye on that dress for a few weeks, I need new leather boots for the fall very much, and I'm really, really (more than usual) obsessed with bows lately. Particularly in jewelry (which is dangerous, because Jess also has this necklace and this hat, the latter which I waned to work into an outfit but I don't think I've got the brain for hats right now. But it's basically perfect and I'm going to be kicking myself in the winter when I've got a coat that would go perfectly with it--because isn't that how it always works out?).

Please hop on over to jessjamesjake on etsy for more vintage goodies!

Summer Cling.

I'm still reveling in summer imagery, trolling pinterest and tumblr for outfit inspiration and images that recall the sort of feeling of the season. Like, if I could sum it up in pictures, I'd have it all sorted out and I could start looking forward to fall instead of dreading saying goodbye to summer.

 Karla's Closet// it is beauty that captures on flickr

Suddenly everyone has got autumn on their breath. The idea of fall is planted; suddenly nights are cooler and the days aren't even that bad now that the heat is golden. But for once in my life I'm digging in my heels and trying my hardest to believe it's still full-fledged summer. How could it be the end of August already? I can't believe a month ago is already a month ago, because wasn't it only just June?

Edith Miller striped essentials// dinner for me a tristan on flickr

I know I should be preparing for fall with sweaters on the brain, planning the first few outfits for the days when it's cool enough to wear tights, dreaming of apple orchards and leaves and tentatively sipping hot chocolate while wearing corduroy blazers but all I want now is soft serve and hamburgers, high-waisted denim, the burn of chlorine, sweaty necks, and the bliss of green leaves.

Andrew Bush//

Cucumber Mint Lemonade

But then I've always been pretty sentimental about summer. 

wild youth// Lana del Rey

Eventually I'll get there, I'm just as much a sucker for a good crunchable leaf turned orange, not to mention cider donuts, as I am for driving with the windows down and eating popsicles. It's only right now that the trade doesn't seem even. Maybe if the last winter didn't seem so long, and if I didn't miss green growing things so much in winter, I'd feel a little less clingy about summer.

untitled on flickr// Esther from the Sticks

There's just still too much to do at this point for summer to be over! And I mean, it isn't really. We're always fooled by September, trickster that it is, into thinking things are going to be crisp and neat, when really it's the one that will turn on you almost more than any other month.

Tote-ing the Line.

When Anabela posted about the endless bummer tote I wanted it. I had to have it, because there are parts of this summer that really are an endless bummer (not big ones, just little, strange happenings that aren't really all that great) and I also had to wait till payday to buy it, but finally it's in my hands and we've been pretty inseparable ever since. 

The only downside is I keep adding things to it, because it fits everything, including an empty cupcake carrier, and I'm the kind of girl who overpacks to a spectacular degree, but other than that I'm in love. Again. Because I already have this one (gifted to me by Anabela last summer, it was my go-to tote this year when the weather got warm), this one, this, and the mini meow. And that's only the fieldguided portion of my tote collection (although honestly, the reason I have all these is because I love a good tote, and I always feel a little bit special when I'm carrying all my grubby posessions around in these bags).

Skirt: Love All Skirt c/o Modcloth, Shirt: J. Crew, Shoes: J. Crew

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how I get dressed. I suppose it's a preoccupation on this blog, since it's in part what it's about, and it's a bit obvious but, you know. Most of getting dressed is, and this is going to sound both silly and pretentious, about feeling. Maybe it's why I usually identify my dressing process as something akin to costuming, because it has to go along with the mood of the day (the best costume of the day, to borrow from someone infinity more in tune with wardrobing a costume than I). 

I picked this skirt out when Modcloth offered to send me a few things because it seemed pretty much perfect--and it is--but then suddenly I couldn't quite get the sweater I thought would be perfect with it to work (maybe I shouldn't try wearing sweaters in August). Eventually I just let it sit, because even though I loved it and a bunch of things looked good with it, nothing was really exuding the mood I wanted, especially not for a first wear and I get that thing where I want the first time I wear something  I love to live up to the greatness of the garment.

And then I remember, Kater, you're talking about clothes. It's supposed to be fun and make you feel good. And phrases like 'greatness of the garment' are pretty obnoxious.

In the end the answer was obvious: chambray, especially since I've got so much of it. The rest just falls into place somehow, like some weird part of my brain says yes, wear the red wedges even though the skirt is a bit on the short side, and you need a little friend so wear the seahorse since you won't wear him in the cooler weather.

Creepy hands to show off my weird shades-of-red-and-pink nail polish and hair, which I styled off this tutorial.

In the end there is little logic to it. I wear what I wear because it feels right, because even when I try to make an outfit look like something before hand, if it feels off in the confines of my silly costume-obsessed being, it doesn't matter. It's not really about physical comfort, although sometimes that's a part of it, mostly it's feeling like yes, but that I can sit inside myself and not actually think about what I'm wearing because it's exactly how I feel like dressing that day.

Seahorse pin from Reruns

So that's my two cents, today, about getting dressed, tote bags, and what I wore today!

The Favorites.

This is the third time this week I've worn this dress, I think. It might be the fourth. I've mixed things up a little bit each time, but for the most part I haven't bothered with too much layering or adding of belts. These days I find I'm waffling between being really ridiculous with my accessories and outfits, all flower crowns and pink blush, high heels and floral bags, and being relatively simple and keeping the frills under wraps. I have to have a bow somewhere, but it's this little striped ribbon (it came on the sweetest little package from dearest Jen), and the polka-dots are pretty un-cloying even if they are a bit (relying on an over-used word here) whimsical. 

Dress: Madewell, Bag: Vintage, Shoes: also Madewell, Earrings: Cube as can Be Earrings gift from  Modcloth

Of course, I've never met a chambray dress I didn't like. Liz understands, especially when it comes to this particular one because we both bought the same version of the dress last winter, and tweeted about how much we both needed it when it popped up at Madewell.

The nice thing about this one is the waist, nice and nipped in, whereas my other denim dresses tend to be a bit more billowy and shapeless. I'm pretty good at rationalizing a purchase when I have to, which explains why a lot of my wardrobe looks the way it does. I suppose I've never been able to get out of dressing in a uniform, no matter how many years push my farther and farther away from the ones I wore in school. 

This post is a bit all over the place--I just have a lot of thoughts on things I'm wearing right now, because they're sort of simple, and yet I actually feel pretty put-together without too much fussing. Despite my loyalty to hot pink and coral lipstick, my new favorite shade is this one, because it's kind of perfect for the airy, summery, dreamy kind of day I want to have.

My low ponytail, with a little bit of a puff at the back, is pretty much my everyday hair. My crown braid might have finally, for the most part, worked last week, but in the early morning when I'm all bleary-eyed and trying to gather myself together when I'm already dangerously late to work, I really can only be bothered with a little bit of hair-teasing and a ribbon. 

I'm pretty minimal with jewelry these days, hardly ever do I sport both a necklace (even a tiny one, since I'm partial to those) and earrings. Most of the time I stick to the latter. For years I've been wearing a tiny pair of floral studs, but I've been on the lookout for something a little cooler. Since they came in the mail I've been throwing on these, courtsey of a gift certificate sent to me by Modcloth, and they're kind of perfect. I always think I want bigger jewelry, but hardly ever do much else with them besides start at it in my jewelry bowl, so these will probably be getting a lot of wear for a while. 

And of course, my beloved leather tote, coming apart a bit at one of the handles, filled to the brim with books and pens and a lot of things I only think I need with me for the rest of the day. My feet are suffering, if you can spot it, after made an unwise shoe choice last week. It's the summer of blistered toes in a good way though, so I'll keep complaining to a minimum.

Those Days.

Top: New Girl Courage Top c/o Modcloth, Jeans: J. Crew circa 2010, Shoes: Nine West circa 2008, Bag: Thunder in our Hearts Tote from fieldguided

Yesterday I did almost nothing, or, it felt like I did almost nothing. I didn't leave the house much, although I got a fair amount of chores done and even snuck in a bit of writing over a bagel into the day, and when I did I knew I didn't want to wear something fussy. All the same, my summer uniform of patterned shorts and some version of an eyelet or chambray blouse was just not feeling right. 

To top it all off I'm feeling weird about my body again. I don't really touch on that much on here, because in general I'm pretty pleased with it, but recently I've gone on a really unhealthy eating spree (if you follow me on twitter you understand my deep love for pretzel crisps) and I'm really feeling it. I'm in that place where my jeans feel snug and I'm grump about it, even if it 's for no reason. It's hard not to feel like that sometimes.  

Nevertheless, I threw on something pretty simple but a little bit special. When Modcloth offered to send me a few items, I knew this top had to be in one of my picks, and I've already worn it a few times.This week I'm a little bit sick of accessories, normally I'd have tossed a belt on with the little peplum waist of this top, but everything I tried just felt too too, if that makes any sense. The weather was so uncooperative, rainy and spitting one minute and sunny and perfect the next! I had to play the do I want to risk getting the camera wet game, and ended up only getting a handful of shots before a downpour started and I skittered back to my car just in time to avoid a parking ticket.

The upside of yesterday, besides the really delicious bagel, is that my hair is growing long enough for an almost-proper crown braid. I need a trim something awful, I keep pinching my crunchy ends and hiding them inside curls, but I'm so excited that I'm starting to have honest-to-goodness long hair again that the thought of losing even a quarter of an inch is tragic!

Instagram Round 2.

It's August. Somehow that happened, and now I have that feeling I get every year when summer is almost over, worrying that I need to squeeze every last drop of it out before autumn (even though I've started to get those pangs for cool weather). August is the annual hinge where my birthday happens, school supplies and sweaters start making their way into store windows, and towns start to clear out while everyone heads for the hills to slow down before gearing up.

The nice thing is the whole lot of summer so far is chronicled on instagram. I think for most of you this will be a repeat, but I like having them all together neatly lined up in a row!

- Vintage finds from a day out with Jess.

- Our  peonies went crazy this summer, every day I snipped armfuls and threw them all over the house!

- I had a beautiful, wonderful, dreamy day with Courtney that I need to repeat!

- I vacuumed my car and then got some soft serve with sprinkles.

- Inspected creepy houses.

- Saw this fantastic sign with Jess while going on a run for some pizza.

- Hung out with some horses, got nostalgic heart-pangs and thought about taking up riding again.

- Found the label maker at work and decided to Potter-ify the espresso machine.

- Stayed out late and remembered that waking up is the worst thing ever.

- Took many, many pictures of my baby whale of a cat, Minnow.

- Spent most of my weeknights sitting on the porch being traumatized by book feelings.

- Made muffins and ate them all in one sitting.

- Way overestimated the amount of 4th of July cake we needed!

- Spent the holiday in Kim's backyard, until the fireworks started and we all ran out into the street to watch.

- Met this beauty, Sabrina.

- Wore this outfit once and then repeated it about 47 times. 

- Started running at dusk again.

- Made Minnow grumpy so she sprawled out on my dress in retaliation.

- Bought my Lana shorts as a bit of a joke, quickly realized they are meant to be worn every waking moment.

- Sansa the Corgi learned how to go up and down stairs!

- Amy and I started weekly pink lemonade and tart dates!

- But we did switch up the kind of tart a few times.

- All the same, followed suit and went with hibiscus beer, because it's fuchsia (and delicious).

- Discovered that my hair is finally long enough for a respectable crown braid!

Once again if you'd like to follow me my user name is katerspie, although I do usually post these on tumblr/twitter as well!

Previously on instagram: Spring!

Summer Del Rey.

The thing about summer is that I always have pretty specific, strange, nostalgic expectations for it. I almost said it's got more than any other season, but I live in the Northeast where fall reigns supreme, so that's not entirely true.

Going into any summer, or those days when I'm wearing 47 layers of clothing and my leggings are tucked into my socks, there is this feeling of longing and haze. I know that my memories of summer are a lie but the backlog of them is always really idyllic--all bike rides and thick, bare-legged in the grass, long into the night-time talks with stars and popsicles, lens flares and gauzy dresses. They waffle between something akin to Picnic and Hanging Rock-The Virgin Suicides and the kitsch amusement park bubble-gum smack versions of summer. And it was never really like that, it was hot and sticky like it is now, exhausted from withstanding sunshine, but I somehow can never keep myself from thinking that's how it's going to be.

Blouse: H&M summer 2011, Shorts: Thrifted, Shoes: Anthropologie 2009, Sunglasses: Faces, Flower thingy: DIY

Besides all that, there's always the music of summer. The stuff you listen to with windows down, hair a mess, sometimes singing because it's dark out and you feel like you're in your own universe in the car, even though the person driving next to you can hear every good-intentioned attempt at singing.

This summer it's a few bands but I feel down the Lana del Ray rabbit hole right on cue when the weather got hot and sultry. I'm not alone, it seems like a whole Lana del Ray girl gang has popped up on my various online outlets, suddenly we're all wondering why we're listening to this album on repeat, and why do we suddenly have the itch to wear piles of eyeliner and flower crowns in denim cutoffs?

The good thing is I'm not alone. Once again, my bosom friend and kindred spirit Amy is right there, on the same wavelength, so of course we tried out best to channel this whole Lana Vibe and be totally ridiculous in public.

I have large and small flower crowns for no reason, so it was quite exciting to be able to actually use them. If I had the nerve, I would wear this sort of thing (the smaller one, anyway) out and about, but I never seem to have the gumption to do it unless I'm with someone else. At some point I'll get a proper picture of my shorts, because they were twenty-five cents and are so high waisted they make driving a grumpy activity.

Shirt: Ancient family relic, Shorts: Forever21 altered by Amy, Shoes: Bought in Japan

I have to say though, that this is already one of the best summers in a long time. My room is a mess and I'm not entirely certain what I'm doing with my life at the moment, in a month I'm going to be on the other side of twenty-five, but for the first time in a long time I feel like I'm having exactly the kind of summer I dreamed about. It's somehow living up to my expectations, even if some days it's so hot all I can do is lie on the floor and thank my lucky stars for air conditioning.

This summer is all kinds of listening to cheesy music in the car, hanging out on porches until long after it's gone dark outside, flopping around in the pool with little to no sense of grace or poise, lounging on the grass, heartbreaking books, new people, horseback riding, short shorts and popsicles.