novel dress: brandon sanderson

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson // Galileo Embroidered Midi Dress

Brandon Sanderson has very quickly and easily become one of my favorite authors of all time. I recently finished his book Warbreaker, and because of the vibrant colors and societal impressions of fashion and dyes in that world I was inspired to create another Novel Dress post. This one features dresses from both Ruche and Modcloth, and is dedicated solely to the literary works of Sanderson.

I've only included books of his that I've actually read, although there are some that are missing from this list. To date I have read 12 of his stories (including 2 of his short stories and 3 of his novellas). The Emperor's Soul is one of his novellas that I have included here, because it's brilliant.

If you've never been introduced to the world(s) of Brandon Sanderson, there are a few things you should know about him. First of all, he's known for his incredible world-building skills and his talent with magic systems. He is endlessly creative. Secondly, he writes like a dang machine. He typically has 2-3 books being released every year, and those books range from light teen fiction to his epic fantasy series. He has written and published 30-40 books and stories in 10 years. The number varies depending on whether you count his short stories and graphic novels. Either way, jumpin' jehosaphat.

The last thing you should know about Sanderson is that he has his own literary universe, called the Cosmere, in which all of his fantasy books are based and connected. While you can easily read his books in any order and enjoy each world on its own, there's a much bigger, galactic-sized story happening behind the scenes if you desire to see it. There are hints and crossover characters and mind-blowing revelations all swirling around within the Cosmere, and it's a pretty thrilling fandom to be a part of. 

So go ahead and plan out your next trip to the bookstore to pick up a copy of The Way of Kings - but in the mean time, enjoy these fantastical novel dresses. :)

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson // Parfait Party Dress

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson // Emma Maxi Dress

Legion by Brandon Sanderson // Aubree Dress

The Final Empire (Mistborn book 1) by Brandon Sanderson // Peachy Queen Dress

The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson // Goldie's Groove Dress

The Well of Ascension (Mistborn book 2) by Brandon Sanderson // Endless Entertainment Dress

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson // Amirah Maxi Dress

**see all novel dress posts**

green hair don't care

Dress (remixed 1, 2, 3, 4): Modcloth, Sweater (shop!): Gap

This past October, I created a to-do list for my 26th year of life. It's filled with silly and serious dreams and goals, and one of them was to dye the ends of my hair purple. Because why not?

I dyed my hair tips red last year, and after it inevitably began to fade to a golden blonde I began to think about other fun colors I'd like to eventually try. Purple won out in the end. I loved the dark purple, but after a few weeks, it began to turn into this strange, mermaid-inspired teal green. I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't bothered by it. I was totally fine with the seaweed locks, and even found a kindred spirit (Elizabeth over at Delightfully Tacky) with teal hair in the blogosphere. 

A week or two ago, though, I had a friend tell me that she really didn't like it. That it was probably time for it to go. It kind of took me back a little bit, because I somehow still manage to be surprised when people don't think the things I like are as awesome as I think they are (like my gold-capped molar, like my autographed Orlando Bloom headshot, like the Renaissance Festival...). Maybe I'm just super weird in a million different ways. But I reacted differently to the criticism this time around. I didn't shy back or try to people please or become embarrassed that something I like might be weird or nerdy or whatever else. I just said, "Oh, I like it!" and the conversation moved on. 

It wasn't a particularly life-changing moment, but it did cause me to think a little bit. Why do I make the choices that I do, in style and otherwise? Who are they for? Because if they're for me, then I can proudly wear that green hair don't care vibe and be unashamed by my loud galaxy-print dress and my gold molar and my handcrafted dragon statue made by a woman dressed like an apothecary's wife. I've been told by many various people over the course of my life that I am weird. That I'm nerdy, or "homeschooled". I have never been able to figure out the reasons for saying those things in a hurtful way, especially when the words are spoken by friends. What are they hoping to gain? My embarrassment, an apology, a change of personality? Who knows. 

I think it's really hard to be confident. I often find myself feeling out a group before voicing my opinions. Sometimes I even nod in agreement or change my answer based on the dialogue of others. Not about big things, of course, like God or Harry Potter. But the little things often slip away, out of cowardice and self doubt. I know I'm not the only one who does this, but it often leaves me feeling really frustrated with myself. Sometimes I'll blurt out the truth to my husband after we've been hanging out with friends, because it has been proven over the course of our relationship that he will love me in all things, to the bizarrest degree. I wish I could feel that strong all the time. 

I chopped my hair off this week, and the whole evening I was trying to decide why I was doing it. Was it because I had already been thinking about it, because my hair was dry and brittle from the dye? Or was it because of that friend's comment? I'm not sure. Either way, I love the new haircut and it feels much happier and healthier. And perhaps it's the first step toward that dream of a pixie cut. 

At the end of the day, I want what I do to be for me. Not in a selfish way, but in an intentional way. I wear the clothes that I do because I love the way I feel in them, and I love the creativity inherent in putting together unique combinations and in utilizing my clothes in new and unexpected ways. They're small but freeing choices that I'm proud of. I don't think there's any one secret to not caring what other people think - I think I'll always care. But I also think that I can practice confidence and claim joy. Those are worthy pursuits. So is Renaissance Festival pizza. Everyone else is just missing out. 

happy halloween {frocktober, day 28+29+30}

Outfit 1: Dress (remixed 1 / 2 / 3): Modcloth, Lace Top: LOFT

Outfit 2: Dress: gifted, Denim (remixed 1 / 2): Old Navy

Outfit 3: Dress (shop!): Sheinside

A collection of Frocktober days to prepare for the very last!
I just purchased the third dress from an online shop called Sheinside! I ordered some fun things for my birthday, and just received them this week. The clothes are inexpensive and super cute, but they also ship from China and are sometimes not very well represented in the shop photos, details and reviews. It's kind of a gamble! I went ahead and just went for it, hoping the clothes fit! This dress pattern is incredibly vibrant and fun (see it online here), and it actually has 3-quarter length sleeves. It's really comfortable, too. My only qualm with it is that the waist seam is very oddly placed. I'm hoping to wear it again soon and get better photos of it, but the actual seam is about 2 inches below where I belted it. It's not low enough to be intentionally drop-waisted, so it creates a rather strange poof unless you belt it. But all in all I'm excited about playing around with it!

It's Halloween, which means that today is my last day of intentional dress-wearing.
I will be celebrating by wearing another dress to a wedding tomorrow!

I love Halloween. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to love Halloween as an adult, because most of the fun is either of the over-the-top horror variety or from trying to be a kid again by going trick-or-treating, which you always regret because 1.) you look creepy amongst the neighborhood children 2.) all that candy just ends up making your adult body sick and unhappy.

But I actually love Halloween for very real, appropriate reasons.

1. Harry Potter

All Hogwarts holidays are fantastic, but there's something incredibly cheerful, festive, and magical about Hogwarts Halloweens. It's probably second only to a Hogwarts Christmas. They're legitimate witches and wizards, so they obviously have every right and reason to have floating candles, elaborate feasts, black garments, witch hats, and obviously copious amounts of butterbeer and pumpkin juice. When you're in the world of Harry Potter, the holiday ceases to have that foreboding, silly, American style of cheesy Halloweeniness.

2. Dressing up

I still love costumes. I love dressing up with my husband at a harvest festival, working a booth or a trunk for trunk-or-treat. The last two years we have been Disney couples (Carl and Ellie, and Gnomeo and Juliet) and it has been so fun. I'm a big fan of make believe and stories, and having a day where you can be silly and dress up is totally okay with me.
I'm currently wearing a black and white striped sweater, a black beanie, a black mask, and a tote bag filled with books...any guesses? :)

3. Carving pumpkins

I've accidentally carved cat-themed pumpkins for the last two years in a row, which means it should probably just be a solid tradition at this point. We had our pumpkin carving get-together with friends last night, and we deviated a bit from cats and carved ours into Pikachu. Close enough!

4. It's finally Fall

This wasn't true when we lived in Virginia, but I have definite memories as a kid of growing up in Arizona and feeling like Halloween was the first experience with a lovely, chilly fall evening each year. We would be walking around outside with our candy buckets and it would finally be in the upper 60's or 70's, and it would feel so grand. Sometimes we'd even be shivering (we're pretty wimpy about the cold out here). It would usher in November and all of the holiday dreams and festivities, and Arizona would finally begin to cool down!


I'll even confess to enjoying a few scary movies here and there, and liking some of the creepiness that always accompanies Halloween time. I'm the kid that loved weird dark movies like The Labyrinth, The Neverending Story, Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, etc.

But mostly I just enjoy friends and the simple festivities of October's end.

too many stories {frocktober, day 1}

Dress: Modcloth (remixed 1 // 2)

Frocktober has begun! 

I wanted to start out this brand new Frocktober with a dress that I've already blogged before. This is a new remix for this galaxy-print dress. It's one of my favorites! It's probably the softest, most comfortable dress I own. I've worn it plain, with tights and boots, and I've also worn it with a striped sweater on top. This outfit showcases a third way to wear it, tucked into a neutral skirt and swept into a cardigan. 

This dress has a very bold, unique print but that doesn't mean it's impossible to wear! I think sometimes those fun "statement pieces" we buy end up sitting in our closet for years without much wear. Get creative and find ways to incorporate those pieces into your wardrobe more regularly. See what you can come up with!

Speaking of galaxy, this dress always reminds me of some of my favorite space stories -- Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica (don't look at me like that), Guardians of the Galaxy. 

One of my favorite things about Fall is the arrival of new TV shows. I love watching TV and keeping up with characters and stories. The problem is, it's almost impossible to actually stay caught up. My husband and I have an enormous pile of TV shows that we're either in the middle of, just starting, or hoping to start. It's quite overwhelming. I obviously don't want to spend my entire life bogged down with TV, but it is something we enjoy doing together.

How do you decide which shows to really commit to, and which ones to let fall by the wayside? 

We have started/are in the middle of/are currently watching: 

Community, Gotham, Sleepy Hollow, New Girl, The Mindy Project, A to Z, Reign, The Vampire Diaries, Walking Dead, Will and Grace, Playing House, Bones, House of Cards, Parenthood.

Now that I've typed all of that out, I'm feeling pretty disturbed. That doesn't even count our wishlist of shows, which includes shows like Arrested Development, Parks and Rec, Chuck, Fringe, Scandal, Freaks and Geeks, Suits, and Alias.

Before you start sending me all of those "technology-is-evil" videos about looking up and living life and throwing our TV out the window, we don't actually spend all of our time watching TV. We actually haven't watched any TV at all this entire week, which is really the problem. We started watching Gotham and are already 2 episodes behind. We've been trying to finish Will and Grace for almost 4 years. There are a lot of shows we want to watch, but I think the real skill comes with knowing when to say, this is never going to happen. We need to try to be wise and figure out the shows that are actually our priority. We've gotta cut some of these loose, especially the ones that require weekly viewing. They'll either be phenomenal and we'll watch them leisurely online in 10 years, or they'll end up crappy and we'll be glad we didn't waste our time (ahem, looking at you, himym). 

How do you choose which shows to watch? What're your current faves?

Also, there's a cat in this picture. Sneaky.

winter wishes

Jacket (shop on sale!): Ruche, Top (shop!): LOFT, Dress (shop!): Modcloth, 
Earrings (shop!): Francesca's, Booties (shop!): Urbanog

Winter sales have me dreaming about what I could be wearing on this chilly day.

As I left my apartment this morning, it was 10 degrees. I realized and spoke aloud with foggy breath that it was a terrible choice to wear flats. 

I'm about to run downstairs to get another mug full of coffee, but before I do so, I am sharing my favorite things from Ruche's Winter Sale!

I love the jacket above. It's funky and cool. I love the pairing of navy and black, like it just doesn't care. 

The leather sleeves give it a bit of an edge, and as I was looking at it I realized I'd probably pair it with something a bit more feminine underneath. A pale dress, pink maybe, with an interesting top to layer beneath it, some sparkly earrings, and some tights and booties.

Of course, it would also go great with skinny jeans and boots. It's a do-watcha-want jacket.

Sweater (shop on sale!): Ruche, Dress (shop!): Modcloth

I also adore this bedazzled sweater. It's the perfect bit of sparkle! Just enough to flirt around with the feeling that you're wearing rhinestones (you know the feeling -- it's the same one you got when you bought that bedazzler in middle school and started stapling studs and sparkly things to all of your jeans), but still classic and refined.

But because I love wild prints, I'd definitely pair it with a crazy dress or skirt underneath it. And, of course, because it's 10 degrees and I can't imagine not doing so, I'd add tights (or maybe double tights) and boots.

Just for good measure, here is an ensemble of some more of my favorite Ruche Winter Sale finds!

What are some of yours?

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7

Happy Shopping!

redhead

Saturday morning I rolled out of bed and threw on one of my comfiest sweaters to head downtown.
I was running late for book club, in fact I almost missed book club, which would have been a shame since I was the one to request the book this time around! (Legion by Brandon Sanderson, my favorite author).

Once a month we have book club downtown, in my once-favorite coffee shop, White Hart. It's still dear to me, but it closed its doors earlier this year and was rather miraculously reopened by a new owner. While it's still a lovely place, it has lost a lot of the charm that made it so magical before...I'm hoping in time they'll really utilize the space to return it to its former glory, but part of me knows those days are gone forever.
It's always a little sad to lose a place you love, but sometimes beautiful things are short-lived. Looking back, some of my favorite memories were in places that only last for a short while -- like my apartments in college, especially junior and senior years, which included my husband and I's first home together. It was a tiny little place that we only lived in for 5 months, but I'll cherish it always.
Maybe having a definitive beginning and end to a beloved place makes it all the more magical. It's not everlasting, but the memories are -- and the ache you feel in its place is just a reminder of its sweetness.

After book club, a friend and I flitted over to a vintage Christmas market happening downtown, perusing the handmade goods and wishing we could buy them all.

After some more coffee and some friendly chatter, I headed back home to get ready for the law wives Christmas Tea. Which is why I'm so dressed up here! Afternoon teas demand fanciness.

Dress (remixed): Modcloth, Necklace: Anthropologie, Coat: New York & Company

I suppose this dress has become my go-to for law school events!
I wore it this past April for Barristers, although I have to say I'm enjoying it much more as a wintry holiday kind of dress. The shimmer in the fabric is gorgeous, and it's that right kind of bright to fit right into the Christmas season.

The hair, of course, is also new!
I had been pondering a new 'do for some time, although exactly what I wanted took a while to figure out.
I knew I wanted to do something a little wild, but not anything I would most likely regret terribly for years (like a pixie cut -- I'm pretty sure I would never recover, despite my occasional musings that I want to pull an Emma Watson).
The good news is, I did it, and I love it.
It has inspired me to curl my hair again on a regular basis, and I love the way it looks in a ponytail. My hair is finally getting long enough to pull off something more interesting, and I'm really excited to have this style for a while!

call of the styled

Modcloth: Travel the World by caitschan featuring ankle boots

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

I quickly fell in love with Modcloth when I discovered my passion for online boutiques, after moving to Virginia and discovering that local shopping was very, very bleak.
Along with Ruche, they're one of my favorite places to go for unique and stylish clothing and accessories.

This past week, Modcloth reached out and asked if I wanted to participate in their Uniquely You campaign on Polyvore!
I of course accepted, because I love them, and was thrilled by the prospect of creating an outfit designed around a specific Modcloth item. I was also really interested in becoming a part of the Polyvore community.
They sent me an image of the call of the styled coat, and my only objective was to build an outfit using up to 7 other Modcloth items and post it on Polyvore and here on the blog!
Each week they'll pick a winner to feature on the Modcloth Polyvore page.

After playing around with different outfit ideas, I settled into a travel-inspired ensemble, with some of my favorite layering techniques. It's absolutely an outfit I would wear! I love those maroon booties, and the little cicada earrings.

When Dustin and I went to Paris and London this past March, we quickly realized that the only article of clothing that really mattered was a great coat.
We settled into a daily routine of our favorite coat with various layered clothing underneath. Occasionally we'd shed that outer layer when we were indoors, but we spent so much time sight-seeing, we needed to be warm against the wind, snow and rain. A great coat can be the inspiration for a myriad of ensembles, and is a great investment piece.

Find a coat you love and travel the world in it -- follow the call of the styled.

afternoon dates

I think there's something about 2pm that just gets to me. 

It's that time of day where uneasiness settles in, boredom maybe. Extreme fatigue. All I want to do is fold up under my desk like human origami, and eat a bar of extra, extra dark chocolate. (Which, by the way, is my new favorite thing. Chocolate has always been meh, which as a woman I've been ashamed to admit - but super dark chocolate is basically the extra bold coffee of chocolates. Score.) 

Whatever you're doing at 2pm, time is against you. It's the afternoon curse. It's some strange alternate universe that swallows you up and wants you to fail at everything you're doing. 

For all these reasons and more, Dusty and I came up with afternoon dates.

Because eureka, coffee solves all my 2pm problems.

We began to figure out that we needed that bit of a break, that little extra time together. 

A time to run outside and jump in the car. Sunglasses on, music up, sigh of relief. 

A spontaneous treat in the hot morbid dead center of that awful, no good portion of our everyday lives. 

2pm. 2-freakin-pm. 

Top/Necklace (shop!): Ruche, Skirt: Modcloth, Sweater: Banana Republic 

Naturally, because we are the way we are, afternoon dates often include picture-taking.

And here, in the Sonic parking lot, was a completely irresistible red tree. You wouldn't even know you were near fresh cheddar poppers and tater tots, by the look of it. Completely wild and on fire with fall. 

On a side note, if you've never owned a true cashmere sweater -- invest in one. Today.

Spoil yourself! You deserve it.

Dusty got this one for me from Banana Republic for our anniversary this past January, and true story, it feels like I'm being kissed by angels all over my arms.