{Sewing} The Long and Short of It

{Sewing} The Long and Short of It - The Dressed Aesthetic

I think, no matter how daring you are, you can always get stuck in a bit of a rut. While I have a reputation for being somewhat fashionably “You Do You“, I’ll be the first to admit that I have my comfort zone. Without fail, day or night, you can be sure you’ll see me in a full skirt cinched within an inch of its life and as many crinolines as I can conceivably stack beneath some manner of glitter.

{Sewing} Minty Fresh

{Sewing} Minty Fresh - The Dressed Aesthetic

I don’t know what it is about summer, but I swear the months conspire to move at different speeds. I always seem to glide lazily through June, sipping mules from copper mugs and meeting friends for outdoor BBQs. July is always on a mission, moving forward with a blink-and-I’ll-miss-it ferocity, and August barely even seems to exist, her eyes already on autumn and the start of a new school year.

{Sewing} Outside the Lines

{Sewing} Outside the Lines - The Dressed Aesthetic

I’m an 80’s baby, which was all about color and exuberance and some seriously poor fashion choices. There is something about stone washed jeans and puff paint that makes me both nostalgic and horrified at the same time. And I must admit I was definitely one who gleefully joined the splatter paint phase, unapologetically adorning my clothes, my version of “art”, and even my bedroom walls with color.

Greener Pastures

Greener Pastures - The Dressed Aesthetic

Things have certainly been pretty busy of late. And whenever this time of year rolls around, my eye can’t help but cast to some sort of greener pasture. Be it next week once that paper has been submitted or that deadline has been met. Next month, once the semester has passed and there are no longer undergraduates flooding my inbox. Or next year, when we might see the end of this long line of bone chilling weariness at the state of the world.

{Review} Spa Day: Vendula London Posh Paws Spa Grab Bag

{Review} Spa Day: Vendula London Posh Paws Spa Grab Bag - The Dressed Aesthetic

There is nothing more important than self-care. After the kind of semester I’ve just had (and let’s face it, the kind of 2 years we’ve all just had), I’m looking for it more than ever. And self care can take a variety of forms: either spending some time to yourself getting lost in a good book, heading to the beach for a girl’s weekend, or a splurge on the cutest new handbag range from Vendula London.

Blue Skies

Blue Skies - The Dressed Aesthetic

I’m not quite sure how, but these last few months have managed to feel harder than any other through this whole pandemic. Is it just me, here? I was trying to explain it to a friend the other day…and the best analogy I could come up with was that it’s as if I experienced that surge of adrenaline that instinctually happens in a crisis for the last 2 years. The one that enables you to outrun a bear or lift a car off the baby. And collectively, we’ve been holding the car off the baby for 2+ years. And once you…

{Sewing} When Pigs Fly

When Pigs Fly - The Dressed Aesthetic

I find inspiration for my skirts from all kinds of places. As many of you know, this often comes from the vintage stylings of Juli Lynne Charlot and Marjorie Montgomery. Or from dresses I never quite got my hands on. Dresses that in their original form would fit my pinkie toe (if we were lucky). But, every so often, I get a crazy, whimsical idea. And I just run with it. Or oink with it, as the case may be…

The Farmer in the Dell

The Farmer in the Dell - The Dressed Aesthetic

Isn’t it funny the way nursery rhymes stick in your head? I mean, I know they’re designed that way…and never mind the fact that when you’re a kid, your synapses are strengthening rapid fire, so we remember all kinds of crazy things with alarming specificity from our childhood. But, it is still kind of remarkable to me that I remember every word from the Farmer in the Dell, even though upon further reflection, I realize it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.