Gray Sweater + Gingham Collar

Happy New Year! My first post of 2017 is a short one, of course. Lately, I've been taking outfit photos more for Instagram than for blogging, but I can't quite bring myself to completely let go of this medium. I end up taking more photos than necessary on most occasions anyway, so it's nice to be able to dump them all in one spot so I don't feel like a total narcissist for taking so many.

I hope you all enjoyed your holidays! The past couple of weeks have been crazy busy, what with Christmas and my brother and his family coming into town from Illinois. It's been crazy in a good way, though, as it's been, well, joyous getting to spend so much time with loved ones. Jon and I had a bit of struggle trying to make time for both of our families, but it ended up working out great.

I also got loads of baking/cooking stuff, which I mean, definitely isn't the most important part of Christmas, but doesn't hurt. I'm still getting to used to the whole getting excited about bowls and pans rather than shoes and purses thing. It's strange growing up.

I did get excited about this sweater I just got though. I've been searching high and low for the right weight crew neck sweater that wasn't cheap looking or too expensive and I finally found this one on Amazon. It's so comfy and perfect for layering, and I never want to take it off.

Sweater: Meters/Bonwe via Amazon

Skirt: Buffalo Exchange

Gingham top: Thrifted

Boots: American Eagle

White Sweater + Gingham Skirt

These photos were just taken over the weekend, but it already feels way too warm to wear sweaters again. See? The world is truly ending.

I kid.

It's not ending, but there still is work to do. Things still feel difficult to process and it still feels like the right time to stand up and do something. That said, I've taken a couple of days to be distracted, and I'm ready to get back to focusing on the things I love. Some of those things include blogging and cute clothes, which are nice distractions from the real world. It feels frivolous and arbitrary to be posting outfit photos, but it's also fun and a little bit silly. It means nothing other than the fact that I enjoy it, and that's enough. I feel good about myself when I put on something pretty, and I feel even better about myself when that something pretty is this skirt. If there is ever a time to do things that make us happy, as silly as they may be, it's now. So here's a comfy sweater, my favorite skirt, a kick ass pair of oxfords, and a necklace made by a dear friend. That's enough for me to feel good in this moment. 

Cropped Sweater + Lady Tie

With all of the times I've moved in the past year and a half (if you've lost count, it's four), it was inevitable that I would lose some things. I've given up all hope up finding my dark green cardigan that I once wore to death (did I sell it? Is it still in a box somewhere?). I'm still holding out for my tan sunglasses -- I swear they're just hiding underneath something that I've yet to look under. With all of the times I've boxed up items, donated things, given them away, or moved them from temporary home to temporary home, I knew that this would be a byproduct. What I've forgotten about, however, is that it also means that I'll find items that I had once forgotten.

Hence, the lady tie.

Back when the adorable Etsy store Flapper Girl was in existence, it was pretty common to see these colorful lady ties on every blogger. I got mine in 2013, and while I was still figuring out my style and didn't wear it too often, I treasured it in all of its preciousness. Somewhere in between then and now, it ended up in a box stored in my parents' basement. I finally took a couple of boxes out of storage there recently in hopes of finding some art prints for my walls, and I pulled this beauty out in the process. It had been so long since I had seen it that I actually had to look up my old post to see if I was gifted it for a product review by Flapper Girl or if I had bought it (I was gifted it). Finding it again (and my old blog post) was not only a nice bit of nostalgia, but it was pretty fitting as I feel like my style has been heading in more a direction to wear this tie regularly. More than ever, I've felt confident in my ability to nail down a mix of modern, affordable styles with vintage inspired pieces, and I think a lady tie incorporates into that quite nicely. At the very least, it's a nice reminder that losing items while moving isn't always a terrible thing.

Collared Patterned Dress + Gray Sweater

When I die, I want to be buried in a collar. Okay, full disclosure: I've said that sentence about many items that I own. I'm just that passionate about my Peter Pan collars and dresses. Full disclosure #2: I wore a very similar outfit to this almost a year ago. It goes to show you that I like a routine. Oh, it's under 60 degrees, you say? Better put my sweater over a dress and slip on tights and boots. Is there even another option? No. No, there is not.

When I'm not figuring out how to be on autopilot while planning my outfits, I'm spending this week attempting to be productive. I finally called one of my student loan providers to get my monthly payment lowered, and I actually unpacked a few boxes in my new place. Every time I think I'm finished, I find a new box with more DVDs and comic books. It's seriously all I have, and I don't know where to put them. I'm contemplating selling my bed and sleeping on a pile of DVDs. 

Mint Velvet

There's really not much to say about this outfit other than it was an easy winter throw on for a day when I didn't get much sleep (wait, that could be any day) and it wasn't negative degrees. Out came the fleece-lined leggings, the comfy sweater, and the velvet skirt. It's not my favorite outfit ever, and I can't say it's very memorable, but it got the job done. Side note: I'm convinced that fleece-lined tights were a gift from some high power sent directly to me to make my like infinitely better. 

I wore this yesterday for my Wednesday classes, which starts with a 9 a.m. sociology class (which is hard to get through when your coffee is cold from the walk there) and ends with a 4 p.m. pre-internship class. I'm technically supposed to complete an internship for credit to graduate, but mine was scheduled for after May (I'll still be able to walk in the ceremony) rather than in between my junior and senior years. Because I've already done a couple of internships without getting credit — not mention I can't do another summer working for free — I'm hoping to just find a real big girl job that will fill out the internship paperwork for me, which my professor said I can do. It's pretty early, but I'm already starting to apply for any sort of fashion or journalism job I can find. As usual, this is the part where I grovel and ask all of my readers if they know anyone in either industry (or entertainment journalism) who wants to help a girl out. Also as usual, I have no shame.

Weekend Florals

Somehow, despite getting over a cold what seems like yesterday, I'm sick again. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a bit of a baby when it comes to illness; I've been told I get it from my dad. Still, I managed to get myself out of bed yesterday, threw on this comfy white sweater in an attempt to feel better, and spent the afternoon in thrift stores and a coffee shop with my friend, Ginny. Neither of us particularly struck gold anywhere, until we found ourselves in an antique store that neither us had ever been to. I go to school in a small town, so I'm not entirely sure how I had missed this store before, but it was wonderful. It was giant and I walked out with with a pretty ring and clutch by the time we made it through the whole store. Does buying cheap things at an antique store count as breaking my shopping ban? I'm weak, I tell you. Weak.

In more exciting news, my "fave find" was featured on the Modcloth blog. Any reason I can find to link myself to Modcloth is awesome so check it out here. 

Also: I completely keep forgetting to mention that eShakti is offering my readers 20% until 03/10! Just use the code ROOM334 on your next purchase!

Winter is Coming

Well, you asked for it. This is me, in pants, on a 9 degree day last week. I still can't say I really love the look on me, but I figured I owed it to you all to show what I've been wearing while I adjust to the cold. These pants are actually teal corduroys, but it's a little hard to see here. I picked up this sweater on major clearance over winter break and it's slowly becoming my favorite winter sweater. After my polka dot one, of course. Nothing beats polka dots.

My good friend Justine got my California necklace for a belated Christmas present and I freaked out a little when I opened it. I actually posted that I wanted a California necklace way back in July and Justine actually remembered after all this time. Needless to say, I've been wearing it a lot since I got it.

Don't get too used to me looking like this. We'll be back to your regularly scheduled skirts and dresses by tomorrow.

Minty Fresh

After wearing this dress (and by that I mean my favorite dress) as a shirt last time, I decided to try it a skirt this time around. Who knows? Maybe I'll try it as a headscarf next time I wear it. 

Fall uniform and bad photos

Lately, I've been feeling a little bit uninspired in my outfits. Whenever I'm too lazy to put too much thought into it, I've been sticking to a uniform of sweaters, scarves, and boots. Nothing I've been wearing has been too exciting (and I'm back to not-so-great photos), so I thought I'd share what I've been wearing lately.

Skirt: vintage; Sweater: consignment; Dress (worn as top): T.J. Maxx; Scarf: ASOS; Boots:  Target

Dress: F21, via swap; Cardigan: Target, via Katherine; Scarf: souvenir from Venice; Bracelet: local boutique

Dress: Thrifted; Sweater: Francesca's Collections; Scarf: UO; Boots: Endless.com

Also, when did my skirts get so short? Oh well, happy Friday everyone!

Stripes and old boots

Time is not on my side. These photos are a little bright (which is in NO way Jennifer/my photographer slave's fault) and it's really because of my lack of free time. See, when you take pictures in the middle of work (while you're trying to write a recap of Walking Dead last minute and your photographer has 9879870 stories to edit), you don't really get to be picky about where you take them or where the best light is. Then when you have classes until 1:00, a lab until 3:30, club meeting until 6:00, and a ridiculous amount of people to email/other work to do, it's a little difficult to find time to edit pictures. It's even harder when you don't really have a great grasp on how to do so correctly, nor the time to learn. So, voila, bright photos.

This outfit came together kind of randomly, I really just kept putting things on and hoped for the best. I picked up this sweater at a thrift store for either $1 or $2 and it's one of those pieces that I ended up loving even more when I got home. It's also one of those items that's way too big, but I'm finding ways for it to work anyway. That's how much I love striped sweaters. As for the boots, they're actually not new, despite showing up here for the first time. I bought them a year ago and wore them all last fall, however, when I pulled them out this year, I decided that I hated them. They felt cheap and I started looking for a new tall black pair (because why wouldn't I need a new pair?), but then decided I try these again before I coughed up the big bucks that all boots cost. They still feel a little cheap, but I decided I like them again. Who knows how I'll feel next week. Or tomorrow.

Sweater: Thrifted

Button down: Madewell (sale!)

Skirt: Darling, via Hautelook

Boots: Endless

Necklace: Gift

Ring: L.A. boutique

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

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