rusty

jacket - Forever 21 / striped sweater - Madewell / necklace - Clyde's Rebirth / bracelets - vintage, gift from boyfriend / purse - Athens tourist shop / skirt - Zara / boots - vintage Nine West via etsy

Well, once again, it's been a little while since I blogged. My apologies if this post seems a little rusty (har har). I hadn't planned to go on this little blogging hiatus, but these last few weeks have been absolutely packed - and while I have been wearing clothes every day (which, I'll admit, sometimes feels like an accomplishment), between the limited number of work-appropriate options currently stuffed in my suitcase and the inevitable Sophie's choice of weekday mornings ('Brush my hair, or wolf down some cereal?'), regular photos have lately faded to a fond memory. We managed to snap these on Saturday after checking out the Halloween Dog Parade in the East Village - there were some pretty terrific costumes (Lady Gaga dog! Shark Taco dog!), but I think my favorite was the couple that came dressed as Paul Bunyan, with their pug dyed blue as Babe the Blue Ox!

While the change of season has made my limited wardrobe feel even smaller, I have definitely been enjoying the opportunity to piles on lots of comfy layers. I picked up this oversized striped sweater a couple of weeks ago and it's become a fast favorite. It gives my lightweight jackets just the right amount of warmth, and I love how perfectly it matches my rust-colored skirt.

detail-oriented

striped shirt - thrifted / braided yellow belt - H&M / wool pencil skirt - vintage, thrifted / tights - Target / watch - Arkanoplatz flea market, Berlin / purse - birthday gift from mom, Banana Republic / brogues - Primark

Oh hello there! I know, it's been ages since I posted anything here on the blog (even my mom chided me on my slow posting), but things have been pretty hectic around here these last few weeks. While my poor blog's been collecting internet-dust, I've been off starting a new job, moving to another sublet here in Brooklyn, going to birthday parties and housewarmings, apartment-hunting (and finding!), and generally giving my unlimited Metrocard a run for its money. We really haven't found a way to integrate taking photos for the blog into our new routine, but I decided to give it a shot yesterday morning in the three minutes before we ran out the door to a meeting with a real estate broker. Of course, it turned out that our adorable studio sublet isn't actually big enough to take a full-length photo, so you'll have to use a little imagination to picture this outfit in its entirety. Hopefully things will settle down a bit soon and I'll be able to get back to blogging with a bit more regularity.

pattern play

necklace - vintage, great grandmother's / striped sweater - H&M / braided belt - vintage, thrifted / skirt - homemade from vintage fabric / watch - Arkanoplatz flea market, Berlin / ring - Amsterdam shop / woven flats - UO

Happy Pattern-Mixing Day! Today's edition of EBEW feels like it might as well be an official blogger holiday. I've happily dabbled in some pattern mixing myself, and this floral (well, herbal) printed skirt has been the basis for a lot of my favorite looks incorporating mixed prints - I recently wore it with navy and white stripes, and paired it with a fun cat-print blouse a few months ago. I think the subtlety of the white-on-yellow print makes this an ideal piece for pairing with more graphic prints like stripes (or cats), and since pink and yellow has been a favorite color combination of mine for some time, I was surprised to realize I hadn't worn this skirt and sweater together yet. Finished with a white belt and a few gold accessories, this outfit was perfect for a breezy day-trip to historic Kutná Hora, home of the Sedlec Ossuary - a chapel decorated by Cistercian monks with the bones of over 40,000 people!


And home to some pretty sweet skeletal pattern-mixing, if you ask me!

To see a few more of my favorite pattern-mixing looks, click here, here or here, and be sure to head over to Everybody Everywear today to see how other bloggers styled up their favorite mixed prints!



Also, in a bit of blog housekeeping, I've recently installed a widget for Google Friend Connect, so if you'd like to follow the other emily through GFC, you can now find it in the right sidebar! And as always, you can also subscribe to posts via Bloglovin', Google Reader, RSS feed or email.

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.

formulaic

earrings - handmade by Carie of Pretty Little Mountains, won in giveaway / striped dress (worn as a top) - Old Navy / tote - Forever 21 / braided belt - vintage, thrifted / skirt - homemade from vintage fabric / watch - Arkonaplatz flea market, Berlin / woven flats - UO

I think this pretty much sums up a standard formula for an outfit I'll like:

{ ( stripes + bright colors ) x ( cognac + gold accessories ) } ^ ( print-mixing ) = perfect

Honestly, it's a formula I come back to again and again (and again and again), and it never fails to make me feel great. When in doubt, I know I can always reach for some combination of these items and come away feeling put together.

I wore this a few days ago for a meet-up with super-sweet reader and fellow blogger Anja of A Heart and Soul Story - it was great spending an afternoon getting to know her better, and it was a lovely reminder of why I enjoy blogging so much. I have met (and, er, 'met') so many incredibly smart, funny, beautiful and stylish women through the blogging community, and I am consistently amazed that I have so many awesome, thoroughly engaging readers sweet enough to stop by, see what I'm up to, and even say hi once in a while - so thank you. I don't want to get too mushy here, but it really does mean a lot to me.

housekeeping

If you'd like to see what's in my suitcase at the moment (all 37 pounds of it!), check out my freshly updated in the bag page. I've also updated my on the map page to include our new home here in Belgium, and will keep adding to that map over the course of our travels.

And just a reminder, tonight is your last chance to enter my giveaway to win the adorable L'Amour dress from Shabby Apple! I'll be picking a winner tomorrow, and all you have to do to enter is leave a comment on the giveaway post by midnight tonight (EST), so get to it!

almost ready

A glimpse into my little Noah's ark: 2 corals, 2 mustards, 2 pinks, 2 olives, 2 stripes, 2 denims...

Please excuse my relative silence over the next day or two - we leave for the next leg of our trip tomorrow, and in the last minute flurry of packing, portioning out 3 oz. bottles of shampoo, mending errant garments, and locating the appropriate electrical adapters, it is unlikely that I'll be doing much blogging (much less wearing something worth photographing). I'll be back to regular posting a little later this week, once we're settled in our new home-away-from-home!

In the meantime, don't forget to enter my Shabby Apple L'Amour Dress giveaway!

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...

banana banana

earrings - Boston street vendor / chambray button-down - thrifted Banana Republic / braided leather belt - vintage, thrifted / wide leg jeans - Banana Republic / red T-strap sandals - UO 

I've been a big fan of the double-denim look for the last year or two, and have been especially smitten with a few recent looks incorporating wide leg jeans, so I was especially excited to get back this great chambray shirt in my recent bunch of clothes from home. While Chris wasn't too crazy about my Canadian tuxedo (when I ask him what he thinks of my outfit, getting a silent half-smile does not mean good things), I absolutely loved it - it was the perfect outfit for our last day in Paris, a day of frantic packing and cleaning followed by an incroyable dinner out (confit de canard avec aligot - my arteries do not thank me, but my tastebuds sure did) and an awesome, cheesily romantic trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower at dusk.

I already tweeted about this earlier, but my little blog seems to be on a bit of a hot streak today - one of my photos popped up on WearColor (one of my absolute favorite tumblrs, courtesy of Mallory of Where the Lovely Things Are), Tania gave my milkmaid braid tutorial a shout-out over on What Would a Nerd Wear, and the other emily officially hit 500 followers! It really does mean so, so much to me that you guys take the time to stop by my blog (and sometimes even say hi!), so thank you. And although we're still reeling a bit from our most recent move, I hope to get back to answering all your lovely comments (and letting you in on where we are now!) by tomorrow.