ruffle it

top: the shopaholic, dress: ruche

One of my favorite things to do is bizarrely layer blouses over and under my dresses. 

This sheer blouse kind of spoke to me on Friday when I was choosing my work ensemble. I've often layered lace tops over my dresses (confession: doing that right now), and definitely cozy sweaters. But I don't own a lot of sheer blouses. I hate to say it, but I find them pretty inconvenient. 

I love the idea of sheer. Especially sheer sleeves, and lacey things. But I'm not a fan of the required camisole, because bra straps are obnoxious. And strapless bras are even worse. And no-bra is just dangerous. These are real issues of the clothes-wearing woman.

I usually go for the typical tank top underneath something see-through, but it always manages to look tacky to me. It's very hard for me to find sheer tops that I really like. The necessary undergarment is always distracting.

Enter the sheer + dress combo.

There are always solutions. I really love adding items to my closet that can be used for many purposes, and this top is definitely one of them. Tucked into a skirt, paired with skinny jeans, layered over a dress.
And the fact that it's navy is a huge plus. Navy is one of the most amazing remixing colors. It used to be a fairly limited color, but now that people have opened up to the navy + brown (which I adore) and navy + black combos, the possibilities are endless.

milkmaid braids

outfit: gifted // the shopaholic, earrings: chelsea girl designs on etsy,
sunglasses (remixed): ruche

Happy Friday, friendlies!

I'm incredibly excited for this weekend. My husband and I have planned an extravagant camping trip. I haven't been camping since I was a kid! Turns out most people hate camping (cue shocked exhales and shouts), which I find a crying shame. We had hoped to go gallivanting through the woods and around the lake with a fun group of people, but it has dwindled down to just us and my little brother. I'm actually fine with that, though. We bought a hippie canvas hammock and I plan on logging many hours in it with a good book in hand. 

On Tuesday I caught a glimpse of a milkmaid braid tutorial over at The Clothes Horse, so I decided to add that to this week's to-do list (also on my to-do list: find friends who like camping). 

I've always wanted to be more creative with my hair. In fact, for my birthday in October I was thinking about doing a "26 before 27" list (a list of 26 things I want to do over the next year, before I turn 27), and one of the things on that list is to learn how to french braid my own hair. 

I have yet to master the perfect ponytail, too. I'm lacking in the hair skill department. Maybe I should just take a class. Do they have hair handling classes?

Anyway. I washed my hair on Wednesday morning, and while it was still wet, I simply divided my hair into pigtails and pulled them across the top of my head. It was so much easier than I thought it would be! I was really excited. Such a quick and easy hairstyle for the week. I got a lot of compliments at work.

The only down side?

I was also asked to yodel, and called Bertha. One lady at work gasped because she thought I had chopped all my hair off. 

So, the jury's still out on this one. 

I personally love this style. Which is probably all that really matters. One of my favorite bloggers, Mara of M Loves M, wears her hair like this a lot, and every time I see styles like it I get all misty-eyed and jealous, and find myself wishing I could accomplish cute up-dos like that. Well, I have tried and conquered, so I'll keep trying my hand at new hairstyles!

Meanwhile, I'll be shamelessly milkmaiding it. 

miss tabby

Skirt (shop!), Denim (similar!), Sunnies (shop on sale!): Ruche 

Road trip style!

This past Friday we hopped in the car as soon as I finished work to head to sunny California. 

(Although for this trip, it was kind of a foggy, drizzly California).

I have a love affair with cutesie, ditsy, quirky prints.

It's a part of who I am, some innate desire to love on and wear the most bizarre and wonderful pieces of printed clothing. I love print mixing.

Dresses covered in apples or birds or other fair creatures are so colorful and full of personality, and I love being able to display my love for whimsy through my clothing. 

When I saw this skirt there was an immediate spark of attraction, and the rest was history. We were meant to be. 

When a man loves cats, I am his friend and comrade,

without further introduction.

- Mark Twain

I'm also a total cat lady, which made this particular skirt even more irresistible.

If the movie Aristocats was a skirt, this would be it. It's jazzy and sweet and and fun, you can practically hear the music. Everybody wants to be a cat. 

It's comfy and the perfect length for work. I love that it has pockets, too!

My first thought when buying this skirt was that I cannot wait to figure out different combinations to wear with it. I think normally with statement pieces like this, people stick with a pretty basic ensemble, like I did. Something neutral. I really like the idea of tucking a thin chambray button-up into the skirt, or maybe even trying a brighter color on top. 

My next challenge for myself when wearing this skirt is to stay away from only wearing white or black -- this skirt is too delightful to only be worn once or twice.