The Dressed Aesthetic

Posts Tagged“skirt”

Room to Grow

The other week I met with an industrious, charming group of freshman who were assigned to interview a faculty member whose research aligned with their career interests. We arranged a time to meet and they sat around the table, smiling politely in my direction, pens poised. One assumed the role of the scribe, another the interviewer, the others fiddled with their notebooks. And I remembered so poignantly being them, nervously shaking hands with a professor and seeing nothing but the space between where I was and where they sat.

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{Sewing}
Climbing Vines

{Sewing} Climbing Vines - The Dressed Aesthetic

There are certain designs that you just can’t get out of your head. As you all know by now, most of my sewing projects are seeded in a vintage piece I saw and missed, or the endless desire to one-up my previous sewing adventure. Despite the fact that my tailoring pile is going to topple over and drown me one of these days, my hands were itching to work on a new design…

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Tickling the Ivories

Tickling the Ivories - The Dressed Aesthetic

There are certain garments and certain accessories that were simply meant to be together – although I can embrace a good push/pull in my styling (tough meets sweet, classic meets edgy, leather meets florals), I must admit that I’m a gal who loves her themes. My hands itch to pair gingham and strawberries or a floral print with a floral brooch with floral shoes…yeah, you get the idea. So, when I saw this vintage 1950’s piano-themed skirt pop up at Xtabay Vintage, I knew that I had its mate in the form of the most perfect Mary Frances handbag. I think…

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Got Time?

Got Time? The Dressed Aesthetic

I am one of those people who lives and dies by my daily planner. To Do lists, meetings, tasks, all carefully transcribed into the pages, forming a timeline of my day to day. And although that might sound stressful to some, I love my timeline. I love the organization and the planning. I like setting goals and crossing them off with relish. I love that satisfying day where everything runs like clockwork. I guess it was only a matter of time before I became a veritable clock…

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Beach Party

Beach Party - The Dressed Aesthetic

At the start of summer, when months of warm nights and the freedom that comes from a lack of teaching stretch before you, you can’t imagine that autumn will soon be upon you. One day languishes into another – and you find yourself leaving work early, kicking off your shoes for a walk on the beach before dinner. Ice cold glasses of wine are pressed into your hand and things get put off until tomorrow.

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{Review} Head to Toe with
Heart of Haute

{Review} Head to Toe with Heart of Haute - The Dressed Aesthetic

I’ve always been a big fan of separates – they can easily be mixed and matched and, even though I know intellectually it’s just one garment, it always feels like multiple outfits in one. Having said that, I can be pretty picky with my separates – I need my skirts fuller than full and I need my tops to be the exact right amount of fitted, skimming my curves and tucking neatly into the waistband of a range of bottoms (I don’t really do untucked). Enter my latest collaboration with Heart of Haute.

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Laundry Day

Laundry Day - The Dressed Aesthetic

Have you ever noticed that, for a lot of people, ‘dressing up’ is synonymous with laundry day? As in, there’s nothing else to wear except for the beautiful dresses that languish in the back of my closet, because everything else is in the wash? The other day I was racing to and fro (as I do) and a woman stopped me on my way from Point A to Point B. She complimented my floral dress and laughingly inquired whether it was laundry day. I winked back, “Nope, just Tuesday!”

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I Carry You

I Carry You - The Dressed Aesthetic

In many ways, I feel that vintage carries with it stories of the past. A bit of the woman who wore her before me. Like a friend who has known you your entire life, there are secrets in every swath of fabric, every stitch of leather. And as I reach for a particular piece on a particular day, I feel as though I’m reaching for that woman. Taking her hand and letting her know that I remember her. That I carry her in my daily life and have become part of the story.

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Sun Showers

Sun Showers - The Dressed Aesthetic

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about living in Wilmington, April is alllll about the rain. This town was definitely paying attention during that whole “April showers bring May flowers” lecture in school, and they embrace it to the full extent of the weather. And while the sky is falling and the yard slowly becomes sodden, I stare and sigh in contempt, waiting for the sun to peak through the clouds once again. Rain is not a friend to the vintage…

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Sequins of Events…

Sequins of Events - The Dressed Aesthetic

Sometimes I can get lost thinking about all of the million random occurrences that need to happen to lead up to some big event (or even the small everyday ones). In retrospect, a path always seems to straightforward. A decision so simple to go from from A to B to C. But looking from the opposite direction, there are a million twists and turns that ultimately lead to that endpoint. And sometimes these can be positive – looking at the pivotal move that brought you towards the career you have now. The love of your life. Or the perfect piece…

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