April 28, 2011

knots

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necklace - vintage, Brooklyn flea market / dress - H&M / belt - vintage, thrifted / purse - Athens tourist shop / red T-strap sandals - UO

I've been trying to brainstorm new ways to wear this comfy maxi dress - I love the ease of wearing dresses in summer, but have found they don't always lend themselves so easily to the heavy remixing necessitated by travel. Inspired by Jentine and Coury's chic skirt-knotting, I decided to tie it up in the front for an afternoon ramble through Montmartre. I loved the new, more figure-conscious shape the knot gave my dress, but I think I still have some learning to do when it comes to skirt tricks as my knot turned out a little awkward and bulky. I also discovered this might not be the best style to rock when climbing lots of stairs and hills, although having your knees tied together is definitely one way to do some serious resistance training!

Also in knots is my stomach; I made up a batch of cold-brewed iced coffee for this morning, and although I haven't had any caffeine in weeks, for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to drink a huge glass of it more or less undiluted, eat only a little yogurt cup for breakfast, and then hop on the Metro. Glurgh. Suffice to say I am now feeling more than a little shaky. Looks like I'll be scrapping my ambitious dinner plans in favor of curling into a ball in bed with the latest episode of Glee.

EDIT: I also wanted to thank you guys for your sweet comments on yesterday's post - I'm hoping to answer them individually later tonight, but I just wanted you to know that I really appreciate your kind words and understanding about the occasional awkwardness an outfit can inspire.
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April 27, 2011

self-conscious

Rue de la Villette, Paris: 42 avril
yellow & pink
silk & wood
Rue de la Villette, Paris: 42 avril
Rue de la Villette, Paris: 42 avril
pockets & pleats
Rue de la Villette, Paris: 42 avril
silk top - Mango / belt - vintage, thrifted / pink skirt - H&M / wood & brass bangle - vintage, thrifted / socks - H&M / brogues - Primark

I had such high hopes for this outfit. I'd had it in mind for over a week, but waited and waited for a day with perfect weather to wear it - then once I finally did, it sort of, well, fizzled. Sunny pink and yellow seemed like a perfect Easter Sunday combination, but as we spent the afternoon amongst picnickers and little egg-hunters in our neighborhood park, I started to feel a little self-conscious. I felt like people were looking at me a little oddly, and began to wonder if maybe color-blocking and over-the-knee socks might a little too fashion blogger for the dix-neuvième arrondissement. This awkward feeling was not helped when a stranger (wearing a pirate earring, no less) stopped me and asked me a question about myself using a word that I didn't understand. After he cheerily repeated his question, I clumsily offered that I didn't speak French, then more or less ran off mortified.*

So despite the beautiful weather, and the lovely scenery found in abundance in the Parc des Buttes-Chamount, I wimped out on taking outfit shots in crowded public places and opted instead for the ridiculous backlighting of our kitchen. While they're not the greatest photos we've taken yet, I do at least love that the room is color-blocked too.

*I later did my best to look up what he'd asked; as best as I can tell, he either asked if I was tired or if I was selling. I am not sure which question is more unflattering, but given my lack of makeup, and my expression in that fifth photo, I can probably tell you which is more likely.
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April 26, 2011

so gauche

La Rive Gauche, Paris
La Rive Gauche, Paris
La Rive Gauche, Paris
red & red
beaded & striped
La Rive Gauche, Paris
sunglasses - thrifted / red bead necklace - vintage, childhood dress-up box / red chain necklace - vintage, Park Slope flea market / purse - Athens tourist shop / pink tank - Anthropologie / belt - vintage, thrifted / bracelet - gift from Tunisia / striped maxi skirt - H&M / red T-strap sandals - UO

Whew! I'm so glad to be done posting pictures from our time in Italy - much as I love the opportunity to reminisce about Venice (ah, Venezia!), I have been dying to start sharing pictures from our new home! So, for those of you who don't follow me on Twitter, we're now in.... (drumroll please)

Paris! Yup, just when you thought this trip of mine couldn't hit any more romantic cliches, we're now living in the City of Lights in springtime. We've even been favored with more ridiculously gorgeous, unseasonably warm and sunny weather ever since we got here - perfect for sightseeing, or for the occasional nap in the hammock on our new balcony.

Despite all that, I had a bit of a rough morning the day we took these photos, and so I headed straight for a few of my favorite pieces in search of a sartorial pick-me-up. This skirt is definitely in a class of its own within my wardrobe - it's one of those rare garments that makes you feel way cooler than you actually are, and every time I wear it I feel like I'm just radiating confidence. I'd worn it before paired with black, gold, and cognac, but for a warmer daytime look I decided to try mixing the stripes with some colors. I've always found the combination of red and pink irresistably cheery, so I linked a few vintage necklaces together to wear as a slightly bolder statement piece over my more muted tank, then topped it all off with this great Berber bracelet my mom got me in Tunisia - I love the single stripe of bright blue beads.
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April 25, 2011

beach town

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sunglasses - thrifted / tote - forever 21 / button-down - custom-made / wood & brass bangle - vintage, thrifted / ankle-zip leggings - Style&Co., mommed / brogues - Primark

Apologies from a very bad blogger - we moved to a new apartment this weekend, and while the move itself wasn't too bad (pack bags, get on metro, transfer, transfer, transfer, get off metro, fifth floor walk-up with spiral stair, ugh), our new place has a kitchen. Like, not just a sink, hotplate, old steak knife and one frying pan with the non-stick surface scratched to hell, an honest-to-God kitchen. For the first time in months, I have good knives (plural!), and loads of pots and pans and spices, and a real oven. As a result, I have spent the last few days cooking everything in sight (mustard roasted potatoes! hash browns and fried eggs! salade lyonnaise! quiche lorraine! gusburgers for the mister! I'm carmelizing a mountain of leeks right now!), beating the heat in our hammock with a cool glass of white, and not so much blogging. So, yeah..... sorry about that.

Fortunately, I am slowly but surely creeping up towards posting pictures a bit more 'in the present,' and should soon be sharing our current idyll with you all. We took these photos on our last 'real' day in Venice (I don't count days spent at airports). We didn't stay on one of the islands during our stay, but across the lagoon in Mestre, so while it wasn't a long bus ride to Venice, every visit felt like a bit of a day-trip. We joked a lot about getting ready to 'go to Disneyland,' but in many ways, those visits felt more like quick trips to the beach. The abundance of water, sunshine, tourists, and gelato shops give the city a very beachy vibe, one that calls for simple, easy dressing and a lovely packed lunch - hence the tote bag in all my Venice photos! I don't wear this button-down all that often, in part because the length awkwardly wound up somewhere in-between 'top' and 'dress,' but paired with leggings it made for an easy warm-weather look. While our budget didn't really allow any boat-rides during our visit, these lovely wooden motorboats definitely reignited my love for little boats - I've love to have a small boat someday to toodle around in and have picnics on the water!
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April 21, 2011

the purple

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purple paisley scarf - vintage, thrifted / tote - forever 21 / trench - H&M / brass whistle necklace - vintage via etsy / watch - La Mer / white tee - forever 21 / wide leg jeans - Banana Republic / shoes - Toms

While the cliche that Italian women only wear black certainly seems to hold true as much as any stereotype, it is (in my experience) surprisingly and emphatically untrue of Italian men. I saw tons of men in Italy sporting bold colors, both as accent pieces and in full-on color-blocked ensembles - my favorite was the man in Venice wearing a coral polo shirt, salmon sweater, and mustard corduroys - but by far the most popular color worn by these Italian gents was the purple. Not just any purple, the purple was a very specific true purple shade, closer to lilac than eggplant, and in fact, identical to the wisteria blossoms hanging luxuriously from walls and terraces everywhere.

I've never really worn a lot of purple (much less the purple), but after days of admiring the bold style of Italian men, I thought this purple print scarf might be an appropriate way to spice up an otherwise basic jeans-and-tee-shirt outfit. And appropos of nothing, I accessorized with gelato.

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Mmmm, mango and strawberry.
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April 20, 2011

italianate

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sunglasses - thrifted / scarf - gift / sweater - boyfriend's / tote - forever 21 / overdyed skinnies - zara / brogues - primark

Although my sartorial differences with the Italians have already been well-documented, I did make something of an attempt to dress like a local on our first day in our most recent stop - Venice! Even having seen the city with my own eyes, it's hard to believe this place really exists; the whole city is so picturesque (and improbable!) that it's hard not to think of it as Disneyland writ large.

My long-suffering SO has implored me to stop adding to our luggage, so I've been forced to come up with alternatives to shopping for when wardrobe boredom hits. He's been complaining for months about the rapidly shrinking size of this merino sweater, so I decided to appropriate it for this near-monochromatic look. Topped with a casually looped scarf and my (fake) Ray-Bans, I think I almost passed for a Venetian.

I'm afraid I'm keeping things short and sweet tonight - since Venice we've moved on to a new home (one which encourages the near-constant consumption of baguettes and Côtes du Rhône (Subtle, no?)), and at the end of our first full day I am appropriately exhausted. Fortunately I have lots more photos from Disneyland Venice to share this week, as well as some from our amazing new home!
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April 19, 2011

blue on blue

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necklace - vintage, thrifted / purse - Athens tourist shop / jacket - Zara / cardigan - Primark / belt - vintage, thrifted / printed maxi dress - H&M / brogues - Primark

I definitely had summer weather in mind when I bought this dress in Rome, but for another cool day in Florence I decided to try it with some more layers. I still love the easiness of a maxi for an unfussy summer look, but I was surprised how much I liked this warmer version too. I also loved the addition of this red bead necklace I thrifted in London; I reach for my whistle necklace out of habit nearly every day, but I'm trying to branch out a little and give my underutilized jewelry a little time in the sun.

On our second day in Florence, we started again with Michelangelo, visiting the chapel and library of Cathedral San Lorenzo. Then we headed over to the Academia, where we again skipped the hours-long line to pick up tickets for later. I cannot fathom why more people don't do this - they give you the first reservation available, so you get into the museum at the same you would have had you waited, and you get to spend that wait time doing other things! We spent ours having a leisurely lunch (prosciutto, fontina & arugula on ciabatta, yum!), then checking out a few of the city's central piazzas.

After our date with David (for whom, sadly, 'what they say about guys with big hands' does not hold true), we headed home to pack up and get ready for another day of travel. I'd have loved to stay a bit longer (and to be able to reconcile my desire for a beautiful leather jacket with the limits of my wardrobe and wallet!), but our next destination was calling even stronger - and I can't wait to show you guys photos of where we've been since!
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April 18, 2011

so seventies

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brass whistle necklace - vintage via etsy / sunglasses - H&M / purse - Athens tourist shop / red print button-down - vintage, thrifted / wrap watch - La Mer / jacket - Zara / wide leg jeans - Banana Republic / brogues - Primark

I love the idea of wearing this shirt tucked in, but in the past the reality of its fit has never quite lived up to my expectations. However, on our first day in Florence, the weather (sunny but breezy), clean laundry (very limited), and churches (oh, the churches!) conspired to get me to give it another shot. I like this version of the tuck-in much more than previous, skinny-pants iterations, but I think the proportions could still work a bit better if these jeans came closer to my natural waist (which is unfortunately about 2" south of my bra - high-waisted indeed!).

Our first day in Firenze was absolutely packed - we got up super early in hopes of beating the crowds to the Uffizi Gallery, only to find ourselves at the back of the two hour line that had already formed ten minutes after the museum opened. Rather than wait it out for free tickets, we coughed up the fee (only 8 euros) to make a reservation later that day and headed straight to the Duomo. Many, many, many steps later, we were at the top, with a fantastic view of the city. Even better was the way down, when we were able to take a catwalk around the inside of the dome and stand inches away from Michelangelo's fantastic fresco of Heaven and Hell. Then, after a few hours at the Uffizi (or as Chris joked, 'visiting the Ninja Turtles,') we headed to the Palace Gardens to stretch out in the grass and give our feet a break.
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