The Hats I Don't Wear.

A side effect of collecting vintage is I've ended up with a pile of vintage hats that split their time being housed in various picturesque hat boxes, or hanging on nails on my walls. Rarely they'll end up on my head, although I often plan to top off an outfit with one. It just never quite makes it out of the house, since I don't like to fuss with my hair much once it's done, and I find that vintage hats are much tricker to wear without bordering on costume.

Most of the ones I've collected have come from estate sales, where it's easy to drop 5$ on a hat because even if I don't wear it ever, it'll look cute on the wall or thrown haphazardly over a lampshade, but over the last year or so I've started dropping more than just pocket-change on some of the prettier, more confection-inspired looking ones. 

It doesn't increase the frequency with which they're worn though. 

I'm not super familiar with hat-wearing, it's an area of vintage-wear that I've been pretty lax in learning about. Which styles require a hatpin? What do I do with my hair? How far back on the head should this thing sit? Is there a way to hide bobby-pins? So most of the time, rather than even bothering to google, I just sort of try them on at home and then leave the house in something expected (straw cloches in summer, little knit hats with pins attached in winter, sometimes a beret if I feel jaunty.

These are three of my favorites, three that I pretty frequently try to sneak into outfits, but I've got piles of them lying around. Eternally searching for the perfect 60s daisy hat, for no real reason except a strange summer-hungry craving. 

I love a good mid-blink outtake. 

I'm also sick of winter, like everyone in the poor Northeast right now, thinking about how the season didn't end until late-April last year, dreading going outside. The beginning of the year has been off to a bit of a rough start (trips to the ER for some fainting spells--I'm fine--flu shots followed by nasty colds, the highs and lows of applying for new jobs), so today was a big push for back to blogging, applying makeup that makes me happy, giving up leggings and sweaters for something, anything, else. Fingers crossed I can keep this up, I think there's some fun blog-stuff in the works for the next few months! In the meantime, bathroom dress-up and indoor outfit posts are on the agenda. 

Winter Blues.

Coat: Vintage, Skirt: Delia's (last summer), Boots: Bean Boot knock-offs from who knows where at this point, Hat: J. Crew Men's, Pin: Vintage, Bag: Coach

It's getting to the hardest part of winter. I suppose I shouldn't put this in writing in case it gives me some kind of bad luck, but I'm not as miserable about the season as I usually am this point in the year.  I'll even admit that it's been kind of lame--we're pretty light on good snow so far (the weather is, of course, saying we're going to be covered in piles of snow this week but for now I'm desperate for the tiniest of dustings to cover up the bare trees and piles of salt and dirt lining the roads). I've a few outfits I haven't gotten to wear or photograph yet, and I'm determined to get them into rotation.

It helps that I visit Vermont on a regular basis, which is pretty much a prime spot for winter activities and views. This weekend has been perfect weather-wise, hovering somewhere in the 30s (basically a heatwave, I've been ice skating in the single digits until my face is numb lately) with little bits of sun and snow dustings.

I'm not sure if this qualifies as a coat exactly, but with a chunky sweater in warmer temps it works fine! This is one I left behind in the spring at an antique store, and re-discovered just in time for winter. It's one of those 60s suit/jacket/skirt sets, but I've been wearing the jacket poortion on its own. It's a shape I'm also not used to, but I love the color and feel of the wool so much!

These are the things keeping me from getting actual winter blues. Good coats, and mini-adventures in pretty scenery (somehow, everything looks better in snow), and enjoying things like piles of mossy logs.

We'll see if I feel the same in a week, whe I'm forced into a puffer coat for 7 days straight and the snow is more than just picturesque. 

Swans in Snow.

Swan Skirt: c/o Sheinside, Sweater: Christmas gift, Boots: Old, old circa 2009 Christmas gift, Necklace: Camille Carnevale, Hat: Vintage from Laura's Vintage

One of the funny things about chronicling outfits here, is the little white lie that goes on when it comes to outerwear. I have quite a collection of coats that rarely get photographed mostly because I, a creature of consistent habit in specific areas, wear the same two throughout most of the winter. For blog posts, I hardly bother throwing on a coat unless the coat is part of the point. It's 10 degrees today, so I threw on my puffer coat and ran around the corner to photograph this outfit, tossing the coat on the ground between shots, until my red fingers couldn't press the button anymore. It just looks better without it for the purposes of these pictures!

I had my eye on http://www.sheinside.com/White-Swan-Print-Midi-Skirt-p-184794-cat-1732.html>

this skirt in late summer. It popped up somewhere (tumblr maybe?) and I promptly stuck it in my pinterest, the outfits folder or the wishlist one, I can't exactly remember which. A few weeks later, an email from Sheinside showed up I barely hesitated for which piece I wanted to try.  How could I resist swans wearing little crowns? 

Temperatures then promptly dropped to just around or below zero, making outfits around this tricky. I think this it the first time I've ventured into tall boots and long skirt territory, a necessary move, rather than miniskirts or little flats. But I'm quite happy with it, it's a nice bundled up feeling!

Despite freezing my fingers and toes to bits, I do really love snow. Nothing every photographs so good as it does in snow, and while I get home and curl up on top of anything giving off heat (tricks learned from cats), I sort of suspect I might be made for winter landscapes. 

But of course, this happens more often than not, and I can't resist sharing a good mid-blink shot, just to keep things grounded. 

Weird Little Jacket #300.

There are several vintage stores in my, well not immediate but within the hour, area that I frequent on a somewhat regular basis (not quite weekly but, almost). If there isn't something incredibly tempting using up all my clothing allowance for that week or so, there are usually a few items that I am always on the lookout for that end up in my bag. Practical items like slips and tap-pants, but I also have a really big soft spot for weird little jackets that otherwise I couldn't justify buying. I often get the impression they were part of a set that probably included a skirt or dress and at some point they were separated, so that now I get the added odd feeling of sympathy for the poor lonely pieces kept apart from their mates. As a result I have a weird little collection of cropped jackets that fall into the don't go with anything but go with everything category. 

Jacket: Vintage, Blouse: J. Crew Fall 2013, Skirt: Lucia Boutique, Boots: Christmas Gift 2009, Bag: Coach, Hair Pin: Giant Dwarf.

This one is one of my favorites though, and ends up in regular rotation. I got it two years ago but of course, this is the first time it's showing up on the blog (and missing a button, something I didn't notice until I was midway through taking these, I'm sure it's rolling around the floor of my closet somewhere). It makes me think of little drum major jackets, or a funny little circus girl, with the double layer of lace at the wrists and collar, so I have to be in the mood for frills if I'm wearing it. 

Is it a blogger faux-pas to post the same garment two posts in a row? Do I care? Does anyone? I've worn it a lot, even though it's an inch or two shorter than I like my skirts to be. I'm finding it goes with more than I thought, and walks the line being a little bit fancy and just a touch dressed down. I've been investigating patterns and wondering if my limited sewing skills could, under the supervision of my sewing expert mother, whip up something like one of these. It's a thought, anyway. 

The Carpet Coat.

I'm slipping quickly into a uniform again, slightly different from the last few years in that my sweaters are a little bulkier and less figure-hugging, but the hemlines appear to be going up. I'm feeling pretty good these days in something mini on the bottom, although yeah, this is made easier by the fact that we haven't had much in the way of disruptive weather (tomorrow is apparently going to end that absence of snow).  Maybe it's the haircut or the suggestion of 90s-meets-40s girl-detective climbing through the woods vibes so many mentioned after the last post that makes me wanna live up to those vibes. Mostly though, I think it's just something comfortable. 

Sweater: Target, Skirt: Lucia, Shoes: J. Crew outlet winter 2013, Coat: Bohemian Bisoux on etsy, Bag: J. Crew summer 2014, Pins: Vintage, Lipstick: NARS Dragon Girl

There is a very small window of time, seasonally speaking, where I can wear this coat. It's heavy, but lacking closures. I thought I'd missed it--we plunged into icy temperatures last week (making me take the last step and hand over my hard-earned cash for a big puffy coat for the first time since middle school)--but this week has been a strange bit of warmth, and out this beauty came from the closet. 

The skirt was also an impulse buy, something I didn't want to try on because my vintage navy trousers come with 16 buttons, and while it's certainly on the short side it's delicious. That just seems like the right word to use with velvet. It's a kind of fabric that seems pretty edible, or at least so substantial it would stave off hunger. The color doesn't seem too keen to show up in any kind of picture, but I give you my word it's a shade of burgundy I wish I could buy in a lipstick (you probably can, it's just it never lives up to it you know?).

Should I be coming up with more insightful things to say about outfits? My skin is a disaster, work is so busy I barely have a moment to sit down most days, and I haven't put my laundry away in weeks. These days it's mostly enjoying sweaters again, feeling cute in short skirts, repeating the same outfit three times in a week if I want to. All I've got are the random vibes I wanna live in for the day, and go on some walks in some sorta creepy areas. 

Pins and Leaves.

Sweater: J. Crew (current season), Skirt: Thrifted, Shoes: Vintage via allen company on etsy, Bag: J. Crew Summer 2014, Necklace: Camille Carnevale via Fort Orange General Store.

I cut a whole bunch of hair off. It's been in the works for a while, one of the hair-threats made constantly but not often acted on. It's been ages since I've had hair this short, but I was due for a change. I have moments when I realize I've had the same hair since I was 4, and think I need a change. That, and the ends were getting scraggly. My hair has been changing over the last year and a half or so (that's a post for another time) and I just don't have as much of it--so it went.  I mean yeah, Tolkein-style elves don't have short hair but I can't spend my whole life emulating the Eldar. 

My Halloween costume may have contributed to the decision (but not that much).  I'm generally pleased with it, although getting back into the habit of pin-curling is taking a little bit of getting used to. Today is the first day I'm actually pleased with how it came out--although I left the roller pins in that front bit to try and get the waves cooperating. I also kind of liked them. Oddly attracted to or comforted by bobby pins. 

I've also fallen into the part of the season where I wear, almost exclusively, slightly unflattering baggy sweaters. Maybe it's too much Twin Peaks, or an inability to deal with a chilly draft, or the general resurgence of weird lumpy, fuzzy sweaters happening right now in pretty much every store as part of a 90s revival. I'm super okay with this, having spent that decade planted in childhood. I wasn't quite old enough to actually participate in a lot of the trends happening, instead looking up to babysitters embodying everything awesome about that time period. By the time I was watching 9-year-olds it was the early 2000s, and we were all dressing like outer space was gonna happen any minute. 

This fall is living up to sweater weather--holding on till the last minute, my neighborhood is really bringing everything it's got to the leaf show. The last few years have been kind of rainy, with the leaves peaking at different points, and hovering in the distinctly brown range of colors. This time everything is golden. Days, if not sunny, are moody and overcast. I might be stalking the Christmas offerings at Trader Joe's, waiting for my favorite seasonal tea to land, but for now it's pretty exciting to be able to wear impractical shoes in the changing leaves. 

Creepin' it real.

I'm cheating a little bit. Last year I wore the same dress to the same weird little cemetery (is that rude, saying it's weird? It's only that it's clearly not very visited and yet, the grass gets mowed and there are sometimes flowers here and there), but nothing really came out so, I don't know. I had visions of the same dress with a few tweaks, in a different spot, but then ended up having a little hair malfunction and chickened out on going to the big fancy cemetery in the area (there are always people taking walks and things there) and just went back to this one. 

Dress: Laura's Vintage, Tights: Nine West sometime pre-2009, Shoes: J. Crew Outlet holiday 2013, Necklace: Brimfield find gift from Emily.

I'm kind of in shock that we're already at the end of October. I've been celebrating creepiness since the first, compiling a playlist that appealed to a specific brand of creepy that I can't seem to describe but I know what it is on some metaphysical or aesthetic level. That first day of Halloween (I'm totally allowed--Christmas gets months, I'm allowed to stay creepy for 31 days). I've got two costumes planned (still working on those, if I'm honest) for two nights of partying. 

But in the meantime I've started off the week wearing outfits that are borderline costumes, moody and dark and a little bit strange--not entirely what I might wear during the rest of the year, but enjoying the opportunity for some extra inky blacks. 

I also have to admit I maybe scared myself in the cemetery. I know there's nothing to be afraid of but, you know. Despite my love of Halloween I don't watch scary movies. I don't read scary books (I once gave away a book of short stories that gave me the creeps rather than keep it in my house), although I like strange stories about scary things. I just don't like to be outright terrified, or get that thing at 3am when all rational thought has been siphoned out of the mind and I'm convinced some terrifying entity is in my room. As a kid I remember being scared of cemeteries, even driving by I pretty regularly did the whole holding your breath thing (there was one on long island that was next to a stop light and I was sure I was going to pass out every time), and so I suppose there's some residual feeling there.

Also I always worry that I'm somehow being disrespectful, or that I'll get in trouble, and so I ended up being a little jittery and didn't get exactly what I wanted for this post before skittering back to my car and heading home for some editing and leftover pasta. 

So I guess I'm a fake creep. But I like stories about monsters and ghosts, as long as the aren't malicious in nature. I guess that's the difference between scary and creepy at Halloweentime--the little shiver, but not the full-on rattle.

First Falling.

It's fall for real. I've spent more days than not the last few weeks in tights, remembering how much more myself and better I feel in these kinds of clothes. There's an urgency in autumn, like we know the leaves are going to change and there's only a good week or two when everything is really aflame, and already I have the tiniest of knots in my gut that's dreading the long winter. Of course there's nothing to be done about it, and the weather is a boring topic, as though there isn't anything more interesting or original to write or think about, so I might as well slurp up these golden days and enjoy them. 

You know (you don't) I first saw this dress almost exactly a year ago? A little shop in Burlington, VT had it, and even though I had an extra little cushion of spending money burning a hole in my pocket, I left it behind. I even went back at the end of the day to visit it, think about it, and then never did a darned thing about it. It popped up here and there on other blogs and online shops, and I kept thinking about it on at least a monthly basis. Finally, a few weeks ago I thought well, if you're still mulling it over a year later you might as well bite the bullet and go for it. It has planets and stars on it for goodness sake! Why did I wait so long?

Dress: Family Affairs Life on Mars Dress, Tights: look in burgundy, Socks: J. Crew, Boots: Steve Madden Fall 2013, Bag: J. Crew (sold out), Jacket: J. Crew fall 2009

Then of course I had plans. A hat that is a favorite but has never quite gone with anything, a certain bag, hair-do, shoes, hosiery. It all fell through. My hair was flat and un-set from a night staying up too late laughing over dumb tv-shows, there was a promise of a sunny fall afternoon but the shoes were wildly impractical. A pair of tights purchased the previous afternoon (rainy, feeling urge for a new treat, drawn to the color) threw a wrench in the whole thing so that I just went well, throw on the big ugly socks and boots that are falling apart and do that whole honest-outfit blog thing. 

I mean, it's better that way right? I love a good gussied-up bit, with everything matching in that slightly-off just-so kind of way and I do often run around in some pair of slightly impractical footwear for the sake of my own amusement, but I also end up throwing on the boots that are peeling at the sole, or the flats that offer almost no support anymore. Not that either is really better, just, I suppose since the last several posts have been a little fantastical it's nice to switch the gears for something a little bit more indicative of my every day. 

These are also the really choice weeks when outfits are pretty much exactly what I want them to be. in a month or so it'll be cold, and I'll end up in flannel-lined jeans or thick leggings and 3 sweaters, sad that I can't wear dainty little shoes because of the salt and snow. But you know, for now everything is burnished gold and red and it's all walks outside and everything smells like dirt. In a good way. 

Thanks to David for snapping a bunch of these!