Sweaters & Swedish Hasbeens...

Lately, every time we're about to take blog photos, this guy is there, sitting right by my feet. He's normally camera shy. At least, when I'm actually trying to get a picture of him, then he's camera shy.  But when he's not needed in the photo? Then he's just posing away.

This week, you may notice some new shoes in my posts. I've been wanting Swedish Hasbeens for years now, but I was never willing to pay the full price for them.  A few weeks ago, I noticed Amazon had GREAT prices on them. I decided it was finally time to order a pair! 

shoes: swedish hasbeens via amazon

sweater: Ally Hoot Vintage (etsy)

dress & earrings: ruche (old)

tights: target

I admit, I was skeptical about the clogs. Wooden soles? Comfortable? That doesn't sound right. But they actually are surprisingly comfortable. So comfortable that I actually ordered a second pair! (on amazon again, for another great price!).

I was pretty excited to find another dress to wear this sweater with! I normally paired it with my mint dress under it... but then I realized that it would be great paired with yellow too! I bought this sweater last year around this time from the lovely Marisa, and while I haven't blogged it (I don't think) I've worn it several times. It's so cute and warm, and I love how it can be paired with so many colours and patterns, and it just makes an ordinary outfit so much more fun!

Cateyes and Red Lipstick...

I've never not had bangs. Ever. In all of my 32 years.  I always felt that by having a high forehead, I needed bangs.  In the past few years, I've gotten comfortable enough to braid them back, or swoop them to the side. Both of these styles took a lot of wearing them around the house first before I dared to wear them out in public. 

dress: modcloth

cardigan: local shop

tights: joe fresh

shoes: spring shoes

belt: target

I suppose all of this look goes with what I said above: wearing it around the house to get used to the look before daring to wear it out in public.  Cat eyes with eyeliner, red lipstick... both took some getting used to.  I always wore very subtle makeup, neutrals, just to add to my natural look and nothing to bold.  Enter cat eyes and red lipstick, which practically goes hand in hand these days. 

Pies & Pin Curls...

Months after purchasing this dress, I'm still loving it.  I still could wear it everyday.  And ladies, guess what? It's back in stock (again!).  So don't do like I did, and miss out on it, only to stalk modcloth every day for months, waiting for one to come back in stock in your size. Order it now, because you definitely will not regret it!!

There's so many styling options with this dress, since there's so many accent colours in the print. I don't think I've styled it the same way twice without even trying. As fun as it is to pair with tights and cardigans, I can't wait to wear it in the summer without tights again and just fun, colourful shoes. 

I'm also becoming more and more obsessed with pin curls.  You can style your hair so differently with them just depending on the way you brush them out. And they're so easy! I sometimes use foam rollers at night to have a tighter curl, but a softer pin curl look is more my go-to.  I keep debating cutting my bangs shorter to have this look every day, but then I style my bangs a different way with pin curls and I think, maybe I should leave them long so I have more options.  I have a hair appointment this week, so we'll see what happens when I'm there!

     dress, tights: modcloth
     belt: target
     shoes: aldo

pretty pin curls...

i love vintage. that`s no secret to anyone who knows me, or who reads this blog. or, let`s be honest, glances at this blog.  but my  vintage-fashion was for the 50s-60s.  full skirts, swing dresses, the occasional wiggle dress, if i was feeling a bit more daring.  but lately i`ve been intrigued by the earlier 1900s... especially the 40s. 

 

a few weeks ago, after finding some new blogs to follow, with great 40s style clothing and hair, i decided to give it a try.  i followed a tutorial, pin curling my hair after a shower one night, and then sleeping on it.  i was so excited to wake up the next morning and brush out my pin curls, and have that 40s style.  the result? poodle hair. super pouffy, really tight, poodle curls.  it was awful.  i tried to brush them out, put in some defrizzer... no luck. my quick fix was to do a maiden braid, so that all of it was concealed. 

 

live and learn. attempt number two went MUCH better.  i tried it on completely dry hair.  same idea, pin curled it all, tied a kerchief around it, and slept.  the result was gorgeous.  or at least it was this morning.  something you probably haven`t realized is that how i look in my blog pictures, which i take when i get home from work, is 99% of the time not how i looked when i left the house in the morning.  my  hair gets messier and messier throughout the day.  it`s probably due to the fact that i don`t use much product.  my hair routine is wash, Moroccan oil on the ends, dry, and curl.  day two, add dry shampoo.  day three, put it up in a top knot, sock bun, or maiden braid.  

so this morning, when i was finished getting ready, i thought i`d snap a quick picture of what my hair looks like right away, so you can see the true dry-pin-curl effect. i absolutely love it.  it held up pretty well throughout the day.  my bangs did flatten, and some of the curl fell, but i think had i done it on freshly washed hair, and not day old hair, it may have stayed fresher.

i`ll keep that in mind for next time. but overall, it`s a great new hairstyle that will definitely become a regular for me.  while i admit, i felt awkward this morning with my uber short bangs, curled under, looking like a child, throughout the day it grew on me and i ended up feeling quite glamorous.  it took about 10 minutes to pin curl at night, and just a few minutes to brush out the next morning. so easy!

     dress: vintage
     coat and scarf: ruche (similar scarf available at modcloth and on etsy)
     shoes: spring shoes