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.

stripes & stripes

earrings - Berber handcraft, gift from Tunisia / dress - Topshop / belt - vintage, thrifted / striped espadrilles - Old Navy

Double stripes! Triple if you count the odd blonde streak I have at the back of my neck (which my mother still refers to as my 'skunk stripe').

Along with my weird trip-anticipation desire to 'save' the things I'm planning to pack, lately I've had an urgent sense that I should be trying to make the most of those clothes I'm not planning to bring. When we headed up to Massachusetts, I imagined I'd spend our entire visit frolicking in the host of summery dresses and wedges I'd planned to unearth from my boxes in the attic. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans, and the majority of our visit was far too cool for airy dresses. (Of course, now that we're headed back to VA and the temperature tomorrow will be pushing 100, I didn't really have room to bring back anything I'm not planning to take on the trip. Sigh.) When it did finally start warming back up yesterday, I jumped at the opportunity to break out this striped dress and wedge combo, both favorite pieces of mine over the last few years, but ones I'd never yet thought to pair together. I love the mix of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal stripes found in the bodice of this dress, and the wider stripes and neutral colors of these espadrilles felt like the perfect complement.

confessions

compass necklace - vintage, Grand Bazaar in Istanbul / gray v-neck - Target / braided belt - vintage, thrifted / skirt - homemade / espadrilles - thrifted

Confession: While it's not the most inventive outfit I've ever worn, I might have worn this three times in as many days. Once for a thrifting expedition (with flat sandals), once for a low-key day at home, and once for a long morning dog-walk (again with flat sandals). This is numero dos.

Confession: I did not wash my fabric before assembling this skirt - hence the permanent wrinkling in the hem, which no amount of ironing will remove. Always wash your fabric - especially if it's seersucker. Lesson learned.

Confession: I have not told my family about this here blog, as I can't tell if they'll think it is cool or just an incredibly strange and inexplicable hobby. I fear the latter. This adds an entirely new level of weirdness to taking outfit photos, as it feels like we're sneaking around. "Where are you guys off to?" "Oh, uh, nowhere. Just.... out. With the camera. For ten minutes or so."

Confession: I'm posting super late, this week is speeding by me, and I'm grossly behind on replying to comments and emails (To say nothing of reading and commenting on other blogs. My Google Reader has enough starred "Come back to this!" posts to qualify me for an all-digital-media episode of Hoarders.) They say the first step is admitting you have a problem...