remix: hummingbird dress

collection of old posts: 1 // 2 // 3 

Me and this dress go way back. 

These photos are all over the place, taken over the course of a few years (and a few camera upgrades), but I really wanted to show the mixology of this one simple piece. It is probably the most creatively layered item in my closet. I generally love a good dress because it's so independent, but it also plays well with others. Wear it alone and it's good to go. Tuck it into a skirt, and it's a secret blouse (no one will know!). Layer a sweater or loose top over it, and it's a featured skirt. With a tank-top dress like this one, you can also get really creative in the winter using a thin turtle neck or button-up to layer underneath. And obviously a dress with a fun print can take part in all of this grand layering while also dabbling in pattern mixing!

The funny thing is, this dress would definitely be labeled as a Spring dress. Yet most of the photos above were taken in generally cool/cold weather. I laugh in the face of seasonal dresses. 

Be bold, and wear hummingbirds in the snow, my friends. 

the lay of the land

I've recently become obsessed with landscape print dresses.
I've seen a few abstract/landscape type dresses on a few other bloggers, like this dress from The Clothes Horse and Delightfully Tacky.

I think the first dress in this category that really caught my eye was of desert canyons, and it's a dress from Modcloth.

Glam Canyon Dress

In my heart of hearts I know I would never wear this dress...or at least, I wouldn't wear it often. The fabric is shiny and the print makes it a statement piece, to say the least.

Yet still, I find myself yearning to find a lost $100 on the sidewalk to splurge on this impractical purchase. 

Some more Modcloth scenery dresses:

Mount Desert Dreaming Dress

Graceful Greenery Dress

Little Mesa Perfect Dress

Jenna's Field Good Dress 

Scene and Believed Dress

I just can't get over how gorgeous these prints are.

The only down side is that they are all way out of my budget, save for The Mount Desert Dreaming, which rings in around $60 (still a little steep, unless it was for a really great occasion). And I am pretty partial to the desert color palette!

I was able to round up a few more affordable options, which I also love, although they are definitely not as vibrant and breathtaking as the choices above.

Afternoon at the Oasis Dress

Glacial Relationships Dress

Key Best Dress (such adorable detail)

I think I finally realized how in love I was with these prints when I stumbled across an amazing print from Anthropologie. It was on sale, and I was this close to dropping $80 for this thing.

I wracked my brain for a good 10 minutes, trying to find any justification for buying it.

I just stood in the dressing room, not wanting to take it off. What a cool dress.

Skyward Dress

Speaking of skyward, there's another style of landscape print that is definitely surfacing. Not of earth, but of space. The final frontier. Amiright?

Supernova Twirl Skirt (love!)

Moon Rock Concert Dress

Saturday Night Thrive Dress
(technically of city lights, but has a similar vibe)

Moonlight the Way Dress
(question of the day: why is this $350?)

Which one is your favorite?

One of these days, I'll invest in a landscape dress.

Right now my vote is with a galaxy savvy skirt, or one of the three budget-friendlier landscape dresses, like the Key Best. Something I can remix often, and get a lot of use out of! 

Gotta start small, right?

the cusp of summer

I think it's pretty common for me to feel a little bit lost around this season.
It's not quite spring, it's not quite summer. I'm kind of wedged somewhere in between wanting shorts and strappy sandals, and wishing I could go back to boots and sweaters.
The cloudy days are chilly, but the afternoon is hot and humid.

We're visiting Arizona this coming week (we leave tonight!) and I can't wait for true summer. 
The temps are all above 90 degrees, sunshine all the way, and I can already feel the blessed heat on my skin. There's nothing I love more than an Arizona summer.
Although this may be a whole absense-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder delusion. We'll see!

I love the watercolor print of this dress, and how it's always a go-to for remixing.
This dress is definitely in my top 5, as far as how often I've worn the dresses in my closet this past year. Granted, I bought this dress this past year, but that just proves a smart purhcase.

Dress/Belt: Ruche (similar 1, 2, 3, 4), Button-up: J. Crew (similar), Shoes: Gifted (similar)

One of my favorite ways to wear this dress is in the colder months, with a turtle neck layered underneath.
It's a great transitional dress. So far I've been able to wear it all year long, and now I'm just waiting to wear it by itself in the summertime!
It has an adorable cut-out back with a bow, and will be perfect for summer get-togethers.

For now I'm just eagerly awaiting our summer Arizona visit. Counting down the hours!
Maybe I'll bring this dress along. :)

pink tights: challenge accepted

First things first:
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! :)
For those of you who hate this day, shame on you. It tickles me pink that there's a day set aside for love - no matter what that may look like. A lunch date with your mom, a pajama-clad night watching chick flicks, giving candy to your best friends, going out on the town...celebrate love today.

This blog post is about celebrating love. And celebrating pink.

About yesterday's outfit: I really love challenges.

I think it speaks volumes about my childhood. Surrounded by three brothers, I somehow had to make up for being a girl by trying to be tough and never, ever turning down a dare.
It was like the magic word. Dare.
Whenever someone dared me to do something, everyone knew it would happen. And don't even get me started on Double Dog Dares.
I drank toilet water, ate horse poop, asked the cute neighbor for a cup of sugar for no reason other than to get him to come outside...
I'd like to think I've matured since then, but I definitely still perk up a little at the mention of a challenge or a dare. And since there was no unsanitary meals involved, I felt like I could definitely manage this one.
My friend Allison told me to try and make pink tights work.
So, I bought the most obnoxious color pink tights I could think of (they were the only ones I could find) and pulled them on yesterday, and am presenting them to you today for a very Happy Valentine's Day. :)

My husband only gave me one piece of advice, as I showed him my various concepts for pink-tightedness.
(He was absolutely baffled at how I was going to fit into the tiny new pair of tights. Apparently he's never seen tights before.)
"Just...try to avoid looking like a little girl. Okay?"
So I guess pigtails were out of the question.

Dress: Ruche, Cardigan: Gifted, Tights: Target, 
Boots: Gifted via DSW, Earrings: Noon (shop!)

It was the coolest evening.
It had been raining most of the day, in soft drizzles and cloudy moroseness.
By the time we left, fog had settled contentedly on the hills beyond and the lights from the surrounding buildings and apartments were glowing warmly.

I'm definitely not comfortable with pink tights.
I think these high brown boots were mostly to keep them from being too intimidating.
Overall, I think I would much rather have a darker pink - maybe even hot pink, or a patterned/textured tight.
The more I tried stuff on, the more I realized it was better to try and blend them into a look (like this watercolor floral print dress), rather than wear, say, a black outfit with them as the kicker. They're too light of a pink to be an effective statement color, so they need to just fit dreamily in the rest of the outfit so they don't look too strange.
Having said all that, I'm not sure I'm done trying them out yet.
Overall I was happy with the completed challenge, and who knows -- they might reappear around here again someday.

Now go enjoy your Valentine's Day, darlings. :)