You know that feeling of responsibility you have when determining whether or not to buy something? Weighing the pros and cons of cost vs. the gap in your wardrobe that needs filling. You see a gorgeous item and the mature thing to do is walk away because you really don’t need another dress/pair of shoes/handbag/fill-in-the-blank-with-appropriate-fashion-obsession? You are highly conscious of your budget and that keeps your visa card planted firmly in your wallet.
I think we all have our own personal rules for styling, whether they be conscious or unconscious. And when we reach for items from our closet in the morning, these rules are clanging around in our heads. For me, little voices say: Don’t pair navy shoes with a black skirt. Don’t wear socks with flip-flops (shudder). After you’re fully dressed, remove one accessory (oh Chanel). Try to incorporate color, pattern, texture and shine into every look. Embrace the pop color.
I was skipping across campus the other day, my head in the clouds, when a lovely woman stopped me to admire this 1950’s border print dress. She told me how much she loved the 1950’s style and would kill to wear a dress like that. When I asked if she knew of or would like advice on some great vintage shops in the city, she immediately said, “Oh no,” shaking her head with a self-depricating shrug, “I can’t pull that off.”
It’s safe to say we all have multiple facets to our personalities. One of my favorite things about style is that you can dress differently to suit each of those facets – one day you may be feeling boho, another you may want to incorporate a bit of rock rebel into your look (who doesn’t love a good moto jacket over a floral vintage dress?) or pull out some of those crop tops you realized had been gathering a bit of dust of late. But, whatever your mood, clothing is always there like a loyal friend to lend a hand…
No, I’m not actually writing from Paris, sadly. But, this dress exudes Parisian chic so well, from its Pater Pan collar and jaunty bow, to the rows of amazing covered buttons that go down the back. Although I always say that I tend to veer towards color, particularly during the warm summer months we’re having in Australia, I’m finding more and more neutrals making their way into my closet. I’ve realized that a beautiful neutral is the perfect backdrop for pop color accessories, of which my wardrobe has aplenty (shocker, I know).
Despite common misconceptions, I find that science and art go hand in hand. Truthfully, the more scientists I meet, the more artists I seem to meet. In my lab alone, we have a concert pianist, a painter, an amazing violinist, and even a student who is doing her PhD in an artistic laboratory, which is dedicated to the research, learning, critique and hands-on engagement with the life sciences. My husband is a software engineer, but is also an amazing singer and songwriter….
Every month I’m consistently shocked by how quickly time went by. It feels like I was just ringing in the New Year in Sydney, and here we are almost to 1 April. Well, the joke’s on me! A lot of exciting things happened this month, not the least of which was launching the blog, figuring the ins and outs of HTML, and celebrating my birthday, vintage-style.
Sometimes, beauty arrives in the spaces between things. Like the energy right before you kiss someone. The perfect moment when you’re reunited with family you haven’t seen in awhile. Or the intricate, fragile pattern of of a web. I once read, Lace is formed from the absence of substance; it is imagined in the spaces between the threads. Lace is a thing like hope. It lived, it survived, and it was desired for what it was not… – Iris Anthony, The Ruins of Lace –
A couple of weeks ago I was interviewed by one of my favorite bloggers, Have Clothes, Will Travel as a Featured Fashionista and was completely humbled and honored to be chosen. She and her husband don’t call one place home, but rather travel all over and see the world, staying as little or as long as they like in one place. I am completely in love with that idea…though I have no idea how I would cart all of my shoes around, there’s something so alluring about a nomadic existence and traveling to whatever country strikes your fancy.
One of the greatest Christmas gifts I received this year was a Visa gift card from my mom, with a note that read, “Please buy something that you’ve had your eye on…” To me, the instructions were clear – I was to buy something extravagant. This gift card was not to be used for bills or food shopping or for anything even remotely resembling practical. If I even dared venture towards a cleaning implement or a petrol station, the card would self-destruct. It was supposed to be used to spoil myself. Hmmmmm….challenge accepted!