Things that caught my eye this week #14

Despite the arrival of cooler weather, I found myself stumbling across a variety of sweet dresses this week, the first of which was a pale yellow number from Ukelele

More than a few I had tongue-in-cheek prints, like this pool ball-printed one from d4discus

No Slow Jams has too many cute dresses, but my favorite style comes in contrasting prints- one a gothic skeleton  print and the other an adorable ice cream one

I love pretty much everything from Teaka Marie

Speaking of loving everything, let's talk about Frances Baker. I'm especially drawn to the "Falling Leaves" dress and the "Mountain Dwellers" dress

This color block spool necklace from Fauna y Flora is just one charming piece from the shop

LAccentou does some amazing things with clay

Sweaters and sandals

Hooray for free time to post! I wore this on Monday (I think? Sure, let's go with that) when the weather was being weird and couldn't decided if it was a going to be warm or cold. I decided to compromise and went with a sweater and sandals. Strangely enough, it ended up working out. Also of importance: my skirt, which I got in Modcloth's Last Hurrah sale, has sailboats. Adorable or what?

I'm beginning to take back every complaint I've made about going to such an un-stylish school. I'm slowly starting to realize (three years in) that even the smallest amount of effort I put into my outfits will garner compliments from random strangers who aren't used to seeing someone in something other than sweats. I had multiple people stop me to tell me they loved this skirt and it was an instant confidence booster every time. Is this slightly vain of me? Sure, but who doesn't look the random compliment here and there? One of my professors actually stopped me yesterday as I was leaving class to ask, "So Elana, I was wondering, why so classy today?" I explained I was a fashion major and that seemed to clear things up. He said he was just so used to students showing up in whatever they could throw on in the mornings that it was nice to see someone make an effort. I basically get dressed like this every morning for my professors' sake. I'm that a good a student.

Is it the weekend yet? I suppose this week could have been worse considering not one, but two of my classes were cancelled, but I'm still burnt out. I'm looking forward to the weekend as I'm finally getting to meet a friend's baby and I'm spending Saturday with my club. We're going on what we've dubbed a "store crawl" which is the fashion lover's version of a bar crawl. It's essentially an excuse to all go shopping together, support local businesses, and feel like we're clever. I'll take any excuse I can get.

Sweater: Buffalo Exchange

Skirt: Modcloth

Shoes: Modcloth

Necklace: Ebay

The thing about Tuesdays and that time I wore pants

I'm not sure why someone would leave stencils on the ground, but it made for a cool photo.

First shorts, now pants? I'm not quite sure what has gotten into me. I've been searching for a reasonably-priced pair of wine-colored pants for some time now and finally found these on clearance for $20 at Target. On Saturday, I went to an apple orchard a couple of hours away with T.J.'s family and afterwards, he and I decided to go fall clothes shopping (he's trying to be more stylish. I swear I didn't even have to convince him) since we were pretty close to a bigger town. We only ended up getting to a few stores, but we both actually had really good luck at Old Navy and Target of all places. Somehow, I ended up with two pairs of pants (the other is a pair of dark teal cords) and not a dress or skirt in hand. I'm branching out and it's a little strange.

I really need to apologize for being such a terrible blogger. I had planned on blogging yesterday, I really had. I even had a "new post" tab open all day with photos in it. However, Tuesdays are not good days for blogging for me. I have class until 1:45 and I usually go into the newspaper office around 3:00, where I am until about 11:00. I was hoping to have time before I went in, but I had to transcribe a 45 minute interview, finish writing a story, and edit about five of my writers' stories. Production days are long days. I only get through it because I love my job so much. Plus, we've had two controversial news stories in this past week, so it's been pretty exciting in the office. Controversy for journalists is like crack.

Thank goodness my public speaking class was cancelled today so I have time to do this. Hopefully I can be a better blogger this week, but if not, there's an exciting project in works that will make up for it. I can't wait to share soon.

Also, my friend Jennifer took these photos again, which is why they're so great. I'm considering kidnapping her and enslaving her as my personal photographer. Too much?

Top: Thrifted

Pants: Target

Sweater: Target

Shoes: UO

Belt: Thrifted

Things that caught my eye #13

I love the idea of a mustard coat for winter like this gorgeous one

It's a bit random, but I've decided that I need a light bulb necklace and this one from Blush Pink Jewelry is just the right price

I can't believe it's taken me this long to post this pepperoni pouch from Sohh

OAK Scarves has some great scarves for fall, but I'm especially loving this coral one

This cuff from minusOne is such a cool piece

If I ever were to be convinced that I wasn't too short for a maxi skirt, I would snatch up this one from Max and Jane in a heartbeat

I love every rope piece from Gold-hearted

Lastly, two of my absolute favorite shops are back from hiatus with wonderful new items. The first is Infusion

And the second is Scout & Catalogue, a long-time obsession of mine

Being busy and that time I wore shorts

Disregarding my "pulled back tightly to bear the wind" hair and squinting-more-than-normal eyes, let's talk about the obvious: for the first time on this blog, and the first time in who knows how long, I am wearing shorts in these photos. I fought it, I really did. I actually was wearing a dress when the day started, but walking back and forth to my dorm in heavy winds was not working out. After much frustration with holding onto my dress in hopes of not flashing the entire campus, I finally gave up and changed into these shorts before my club meeting. I usually hate how I look in shorts and was expecting to trash these photos when I saw them, but I'm surprisingly happy with the results. I'm convinced it's the top. It possesses the power to make any outfit look good. Obviously, tights weather didn't stick around for too long, but it hasn't been too bad so I can't complain. 

I can't believe how behind I've been on everything (posting, commenting on blogs, fashion week, etc.), I've been so busy. It was so nice to actually have some time to call my parents today, I've even been neglecting them. I love being busy, but I'm looking forward to some down time this weekend. I'm also hoping to write some more as I've been feeling a bit uninspired when it comes to contributing to my section. I did write a column for our Opinions section for their "why my major matters" series on Fashion Merchandising and it's been nice to see the reaction from some of my peers in my major. I essentially ranted (as I always do) about how too many people label fashion majors as dumb or superficial, which is, of course, not the case. For the most part. 

I also did a how-to speech in my public speaking class on how to start a blog! I mostly chose that because I realize that my hobbies and skills include writing and watching movies/tv shows and it was the one thing I could think of to teach people about. I've also gotten in the habit of trying to convince everyone in my major who dresses well to start a blog. It's strangely become my mission. I succeeded in getting my good friend Justine (who helps me with a lot of my photos) to start one, and I'll share it with you all once I get her permission. Then, as I've said before, it's your job to follow her, whether you like her or not. But let's be honest, you'll like her. She's friends with me so it would be impossible for you not to, right?

As usual, I have to mention the blogger's clothing swap group (you know, the one I've yet to contribute to myself) once again until someone tells me to shut up. It's growing slowly, but it's still tiny, making it hard to be successful. Want in? Just add me on Facebook (Elana Katz) and I'll add you to it. I'm a good Facebook friend (and some would even say real life friend), I swear.

Top: Modcloth, Time is Honey top

Shorts: H&M

Cardigan: American Apparel, via consignment store

Shoes: UO

Belt: Thrifted

Tights weather and short skirts

We call this one "the double."

There are too many things that excite me about this post. The first is the obvious one: I'm wearing tights. It's since warmed up a bit, but when I checked the weather yesterday morning to see a high of 61 degrees and a low of 42 (or something along those lines), I went straight to my dresser to grab a pair of tights. 

Then, there's every other fall element about this outfit. I'm wearing my favorite motorcycle boots that I got from Target last year. I got to break out my cropped sweater. I layered. Needless to say, I was just in a good mood in general all day.

I'm a little torn on this skirt, however. On one hand, I absolutely adore it. It's a Jack by BB Dakota piece that I got with tags for dirt cheap on Ebay. It's actually one of two really exciting skirts I scored on Ebay last week, but I'm going to keep the other one a surprise until I put up the photos. I'll give you a hint: it's by a beloved designer. Back to this skirt, though: as much as I love the colorful floral print, it's slightly too short on me. It's not that it's inappropriate, especially with the tights, it's just unflattering. I still haven't decided, but I may end up selling it or putting it the swap group. (Swap group, you say? All you have to do is add me on Facebook (Elana Katz) and I'll add you to it! We really need more people to make it work.)

Besides the outfit itself, I'm also excited about these photos. When my friend Jennifer, a co-worker of mine at the paper, and I were discussing my blog, she offered to help me with photos. In addition to being wonderful in general, Jennifer is also a fantastic photographer. I'm still not sure she knows what she's getting herself into- I'm probably going to harass her to take my pictures as often as possible until she pretends to break her camera to get rid of me. I'm very pleasant to be around. Also, Jennifer is working on creating a blog of her own. Once she does, I'll expect each and every one of you to follow her. One of my many demanding requirements of being a reader of my blog.

Cropped sweater: ASOS

Skirt: Jack by BB Dakota, via ebay

Collared shirt: H&M, via consignment store

Tights: Target

Boots: Target

Ring: Jewelmint