black magic

jean jacket - LOFT, thrifted / necklace - clyde's rebirth / v-neck - Old Navy / friendship bracelet - gift from high school boyfriend / watch - Arkanoplatz flea market, Berlin / pleated skirt - vintage Liz Claiborne, thrifted / clogs - Target

Both this jacket and skirt were scored on an incredibly fruitful thrifting trip with Tania last week. I've worn the jacket nearly every day since, but this pleated skirt felt like the real 'find' of the day. I've been itching for a longer sheer black skirt for a long time, and for just $2.50, this one really fit the bill. The pleated chiffon feels so dreamy and perfectly floaty, I'm afraid these photos really don't do this magic skirt justice. For a day spent birthday shopping with my mom (tomorrow I'll hit the big 2-7), I loved it with high platforms and this amazing wood and brass necklace I recently bought from Merl, and I'm looking forward to pairing it with tights and cozy sweaters as the weather continues to cool off.

And just in case you haven't seen it yet, yesterday Elaine of Clothed Much featured me in her 'Blog Crush' series! Hers was one of the very first style blogs I ever read, so I'm quite flattered. You can read the whole interview here.

long shadows

dress - vintage, thrifted & hemmed / belt - vintage, thrifted / shoes - Target

I hope you'll forgive me the slightly melancholy tone of this post; in many ways, these photos feel to me like a lament for the summer that's nearly past. While I'm sure the season of heat and humidity is far from well and truly over here on the East Coast, the days of simple dresses, sandals, and long shadows seem to be rapidly disappearing. Today there's very nearly a chill in the air, and with it the anticipation of change. We move to New York this weekend and begin in earnest the search for jobs and apartments, setting out on an entirely new chapter in our lives. While I am excited about these changes (and particularly about seeing the end of suitcase-living on the horizon), I will miss the last nine privileged months of wholly unstructured time.

tee sea be

brass whistle necklace - vintage via etsy / striped shirt - thrifted / belt - vintage, thrifted / skirt - homemade from a dress, Old Navy (tutorial here!) / sandals - Stockholm tourist shop

After a long night of uploading trouble, template snafus, and the usual last-minute-before-a-deadline frustrations, my stinkin' portfolio is done! Nothing to do but wait for it to be printed and delivered. Now, let us never speak of this again.

Yesterday's outfit was entirely made up of the tried-and-true - I'm still loving my new black floral skirt and my Hasbeens-esque sandals from Sweden, and just added a recently thrifted shirt to the mix. I never met a striped, bateau-neck, 3/4 sleeve shirt I didn't like, and I'm reasonably certain one can never have too many of them. (My boyfriend might contest this last claim.) Now if you'll excuse me, I have a little celebratory breakfast-and-thrifting to do.

chopped

purse - Athens tourist shop / chambray shirt - Banana Republic, thrifted / belt - vintage, thrifted / skirt - altered from a dress, Old Navy / clog sandals - Stockholm tourist shop

This skirt used to be dress; I bought it on clearance years ago because I loved the airy, printed cotton and the fact that it had pockets, but the fit just never worked for me as a dress. It had an always-on-the-verge-of-wardrobe-malfunction surplice bodice and an un-beltable empire waist, and it wasn't long until I found myself folding in the top half and just wearing it as a skirt every time. I unpacked it over the weekend and started wearing it that way on Saturday morning, but by lunchtime I was so fed up with fussing with my improvised skirt that I finally cut the top half off and put in a proper waistband. I can tell I'm going to get a lot more wear out of it now - in fact, I've already worn it three times since chopping it! I even remembered to take the time to photograph the transformation (a rare feat when I get the instant gratification sewing itch!), so I'll be posting a simple dress-to-skirt sewing tutorial later this week.

last minute

necklace - Forever 21 / striped sweater - H&M / olive tank - Target / tote - Forever 21 / maxi skirt - Target / wood & brass bangle - vintage, thrifted / sandals - Target, thrifted

Oh boy, did I ever underestimate how long it would take me to recover from our flights on Wednesday! I have never been this thrown by a time-change in my life - last night I went upstairs to take a 'nap' at 6:30, slept straight through dinner, and finally woke up this morning at 5! There are at least some benefits to becoming an uncharacteristically early-riser; this morning I had plenty of time to get dressed, have a leisurely breakfast and do some reading, all before my favorite thrift store opened up at 8am. I found a ton of good stuff (I went with a 'fall wardrobe wishlist' in mind and managed to snag about half of what I was looking for), and now I'm itching to get it all to the dry-cleaners so I can really start playing dress-up.

These photos are from our very last day in Sweden. I started off with this tank and my beaded necklace because I love the colors together, but it was a little chilly so I threw on a sweater as we headed out the door. I was a little skeptical about how this shortish, boxy sweater would look paired with a long skirt and nary a waist-defining belt in sight, but I wound up liking this outfit much more than I'd expected - and it's hard to argue with a pairing this comfortable!

crazypants

Berber earrings - gift from Tunisia / tank - Target / belt - vintage, thrifted / pants - vintage, thrifted / wood & brass bangle - vintage, thrifted / ring - Primark / sandals - Target, thrifted 

I am exhausted; after a long day of travel, hauling suitcases up and down stairs, and doing a serious amount of walking in our new city, I can fairly say, my everything hurts. Knowing that I was unlikely to wear much of anything noteworthy on a moving day, I did have the foresight to take these photos yesterday on our last day in Berlin, but I ought also to have just written a post about them then. As it stands, I think my body is currently siphoning vital fluids from my brain just to maintain basic functioning; it remains to be seen just how much blog-juice I can muster at the moment.

Let's stick with the obvious - these pants? They are insane. I found them on my recent Berlin thrifting trip, and despite the fact that they are objectively rather unflattering (and that boyfriend predictably loathes them), I kind of love them. I think the print is amazing, and they're perfectly swishy and light enough for hot days. They seem so much like the kind of thing a super cool, confident woman might wear - and since I certainly hope to be one of those when I grow up, it only seems sensible to start practicing now.

On another note, I'm glad so many of you liked the sock-bun video! It really is the coolest trick, the fact that it's so easy is a big part of why I tend to do it every single day. I feel I should have included a disclaimer though, I am definitely not the inventor of the sock-bun technique - I heard about it from a reader a few months ago, and there are a wealth of other videos on Youtube that show different ways to do it. You can even use the sock-bun as a no-heat curling method!

miesian

sunglasses - Nasty Gal / necklace - boutique in Montmartre, Paris / v-neck top - Anthropologie / braided belt - vintage, thrifted / watch - Arkanoplatz flea market, Berlin / skirt - altered from a dress, UO / sandals - Target, thrifted 

It's funny to me how much noteworthy architecture pops up on in my outfit posts. I started this blog as an outlet for some of my non-professional interests, and yet my academic background just keeps popping up in the background. Given the kind of sightseeing we do, it shouldn't be altogether surprising - today it was the Bauhaus Archive, the Nordic Embassy complex, and, seen here, Mies' Neue Nationalgalerie - but I still think it's a little funny that my ostensible 'fashion blog' posts could also serve as flashcards for a course on modern architecture.

tied up

sunglasses - Nasty Gal / earrings - handmade by Carie of Pretty Little Mountains, won in giveaway / chambray shirt - Banana Republic, thrifted / wood & brass bangle - vintage, thrifted / watch - Arkanoplatz flea market, Berlin / maxi skirt - Target / sandals - Target, thrifted 

I should probably send this shirt a thank-you note, as it makes me feel great every time I wear it. I've been an admirer of the tied-shirt trend that's been popping up all over the place this summer, but always from afar because I'm not much of an exposed-midriff girl myself; fortunately I figured out that it works just as well over a matching tank and maxi skirt. Super easy, and a nice change of pace from my regular arsenal of belts.

We took these pictures on an evening visit to the Reichstag dome over the weekend; the sunset view over the Tiergarten was fantastic, so we lingered as long as we could up on the roof. I've been growing more and more aware of the impending end of our travels, and of our return to the 'real world,' and while I've enjoyed the ways in which blogging has made me more sartorially creative, I think I am even more appreciative of the record this blog has become of our everyday activities. It will be such a fun way to look back on our trip (and on the various life changes that will succeed it) and to remember not just the museums and monuments, but the lazy afternoons spent in parks or exploring unknown neighborhoods.