beach town

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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the purple

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.


Mmmm, mango and strawberry.
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italianate

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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blue on blue

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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so seventies

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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milkmaid

The finished product! Looks like my bobby-pin-concealment can still use work.

My hair isn't really long enough to put into milkmaid braids the normal way (as explained quite well over on Tick Tock Vintage), so I developed a little cheater method for shorter hair that still works pretty well and is easy once you get the hang of it. I considered making another video, but since there are a lot of (simple) steps, I figured I'd just keep things streamlined with a little photo-tutorial. Be warned - we took these photos indoors (ick, artificial light!), at about 8 in the morning (ick, undereye bags!), and I didn't realize until editing photos in the evening that the back didn't turn out very neatly this time. Oops! Anyway, although you'll look a little ridiculous during the process (see below), this is a great style for keeping your hair out of your face all day. All you'll need are four hair elastics (the clear kind are great if you've got them - I don't), a brush or comb, and a handful of bobby pins that more-or-less match your hair color (regular sized are fine, mini are better).


Start with brushed hair, either clean or a bit dirty like mine. Insane bumpy waves from wearing it in a bun the day before are optional.

Part your hair in the center and put each side in a ponytail holder.


One side at a time, divide each of your original two ponytails in half to make four smaller ones. You don't have to worry much about how straight the parts on the sides are, as you won't really see them, just try to end up with about the same amount of hair in all four. The two in front should be pretty high on your temples, and the two in back should be just behind your ears.

Take out the elastic and braid one of the front ponytails, tying it off as close to the ends as you can. I tend to tip my head way over to the side as I start braiding, to make sure I'm braiding directly away from my head. This makes the braids flip over more neatly at the end.


Try flipping your braid over the top of your head, making sure the braided part is long enough to cross over your center part. If it doesn't quite make it, undo it and start a fresh braid, repositioning the base a bit higher on your temple. It can take a couple of tries to find the right position. Once you do, braid the front ponytail on the other side at the same position on your temple.

Once your front braids are done, braid the two back ponytails the same way, starting just behind your ear. Once you've got all four braids, pause to allow your significant other to make fun of how silly you look. (This is still miles better than my passport photo.)


Gently pull one of the braids from the back towards the front of your head, keeping it above the base of the front braid. Pin the end of the braid to the top of your head with a couple of bobby pins, crisscrossing the pins to really secure it. Do the same with the back braid on the other side.

Once again, you are looking pretty awesome at this point. Pause so that others can admire.


Now gently pull one of the front braids across the top of your head, covering over the ends from the back braid. Pin the ends in place, but don't put any pins close to the base of the braid just yet.

Pull the other front braid across in front, covering over the ends from the back braid and the other front braid. Tuck the end of the loose braid underneath the base end of the pinned front braid, then gently pin everything into place.


Add extra bobby pins to secure any loose strands, and you're done! You can finish with a little hairspray to prevent flyaways, but I've found everything stays put pretty well without it. Feel free to leave questions in the comments, and I'll answer them next week!
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glamorous

earrings - Topshop / jersey blazer - Anthropologie / black scoopneck tee - UO / belt - vintage, thrifted / wood & brass bangle - vintage, thrifted / striped maxi skirt - H&M / sheer polka-dotted tights - Target / brogues - Primark

I've been dying to debut this awesome skirt on the blog! This is what I wore out last weekend for an unexpected and utterly delightful dinner out with some friends from college (and my first experience with the real-world utility of Twitter). Sartorially, I haven't found much common ground with the Italians during our stay - I love the Roman look, but super-long hair, black-on-black, and sky-high heels aren't generally big players in my personal style these days. However, for a night out in Pigneto ('the Williamsburg of Rome'), I decided to keep my colors in check and let some patterns do the work. I loved the low-key elegance of long earrings and a long skirt, and was mistaken for an actual Italian more times in a few hours than I have the entire trip.

We're on the move once again tomorrow - to an apartment with no internet, quelle horreure! I've got plenty of posts lined up for the next few days, both some outfit posts from our current home (for those who don't follow me on Twitter, we've been in Florence!) and a little photo-tutorial on my Heidi braid cheater method. I'll be back to answering emails and comments at my usual pace (i.e. glacial) on Tuesday, and will posting photos from our next two (faaaabulous) destinations all next week!
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ruined

sunglasses - thrifted / earrings - H&M / silk top - Mango / overdyed skinnies - Zara / studded flats - Zara

While Italy does seem to be doing a number on my laundry situation (you can't wear things nearly as many times between washes when it's so hot out!), it has definitely been delivering in terms of photo locations. We took these photos on our last day in Rome at the Caracalla Baths, an amazing ruin site full of seagulls, flowers, and incredible mosaic fragments. After the craziness of the Colosseum and Forum, it was so nice to be able to wander an uncrowded ancient site at a really leisurely pace.

This outfit is one of those that just didn't photograph as well as it made me feel. While my billowy silk top may fuel internet rumors that I'm pregnant (just like last time I wore it! And no, I'm not.), its light fabric and loose fit make it a pretty great option for hot days spent in the sun. This weekend I paired it with a couple of underutilized pieces from my wardrobe, these white hoop earrings and my black flats. I try to be careful buying shoes, especially when traveling, but somehow these flats wound up just a hair too small to be worn on hot days, so they've been floating around at the bottom of my bag, unworn, for quite some time now. I love the studded embellishments, but their unsuitability for long days spent walking means they might wind up being sent home before the summer really hits.
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