floral « A Well-Rounded Venture

Posts Tagged: floral

Five Take: Floral

The theme for this week’s Five Take is appropriate for the season… floral!

Instead of going with a typical spring palette, I decided to pull out the Beth Ditto floral dress. I wore it a few times in the fall but this is the first time I’ve manged to get pictures! Can you believe it?

Actually, I think that I was wearing it the night the Giant’s qualified for the World Series. The building my classes are in is pretty close to AT&T Park and the roar from the crowd and city was absolutely insane! Naturally, I packed up my stuff and ran to BART so I could get on the train before things got too crazy.

Dress – Beth Ditto for Evans
Leggings – Torrid
Bangles – Torrid
Boots – Dolce Vita for Target
Belt – Torrid

I have a lot of floral clothes. Ugly floral prints hold a special place in my heart but this dress (not ugly) is one of my favorites. After the amazing Beth Ditto navy velvet dress, I had to buy it. If Evans released this style of dress in 20 colors, I’d be very tempted to buy one of each. It is one of the more unique dress constructions that I’ve personally come across for plus sizes – or at the very least, of the dresses I own. The draped panels in the front are amazing! And the best part? They are POCKETS.

Need I say more?

Anyway, I love floral – this has been proven over and over again, so I’ll spare you the gab and post way too many pictures.

Lately I’ve been getting back in the habit of wearing my hair tie on my wrist – as seen above. Sometimes I remember to remove it for pictures but then it gets lost! I probably have 10 packs of stupid hairbands but can never find one when I need it. Which means… hello semi-permanent black bracelet! I left more length in my recent haircut and I’m quite ecstatic that I can pull my hair up again. The small pleasures in life!

Happy Easter to those of you who are celebrating! I’ll be off to dinner with my family where I plan to torture people by orchestrating a family portrait. I just hope it doesn’t rain!

Right now, mine is the only post up but don’t forget to check back and visit Beth, Elizabeth, Monkey and Rebecca, to see their floral outfits!

OOTD / Reviews — 14 Comments
13
Apr 11

OOTD: Spring Fling

This year Mother Nature just can’t make up her mind. First the endless rain, a few days of sun, a short summer (a.k.a. HOT) preview then back to the rain and gloom.

Let’s pick a season and stick with it. Thanks!

Last week I went to grab lunch and see a movie with an old friend. It was a wonderful, sunny day close to 80 degrees – so I figured I was safe wearing my new sundress, sandals and going bare legged. I was wrong.

Dress, cami – Avenue
Cardigan – Kmart
Sandals – Teva
Bangles, belt – Torrid

After walking around, browsing for books and eating lunch we went into the movie. A few hours later… the lovely clear blue sky had been traded for gray skies with big rain clouds on the horizon. I had to run a few errands before heading home and it ended up raining on me. Just my luck!

This dress is from Avenue’s spring/summer line that I talked about before. If you know me or if you’ve been reading for a while, you’re probably tired of hearing about them but I figured I’d do a quick review on the fit. I own the sundresses from the last three years – insane, right? But they are worth all the praise.

This year, the dresses seem to run a little bigger than usual – especially in the bust. There is a lot of extra room. I bought one dress in a 26/28 and the other in a 30/32 to test how they shrink and there wasn’t much of a change. Last year I bought up a size because I was losing some length after washing but so far, these look okay. There is some really awkward construction going on in the neckline of the dress. It looks like they tried to stabilize it with some extra fabric (which seems to work okay, it doesn’t stretch) but it sometimes folds out in the wrong direction.

I really love this print and colorway – the brightly colored floral is right up my alley and all these bright colors are even “on trend”. I find it hilarious that when the bright, candy colors come into fashion – I’m obsessed with neutrals. Though I find myself gravitating back toward brighter colors as the weather improves.

When there is a possibility of walking a lot on a warm day, I start to default to my comfortable sandals. A friend of mine at school used to praise my outfits but would glance at my feet, usually in these or similar sandals and give me this epic look of disappointment. The “I can’t believe you’re actually wearing those.” look.

Don’t get me wrong. In the last year, I’ve cultivated my love of shoes – especially comfortable ones. But sometimes you just crave a flat, easy to wear sandal that can get dirty or go the distance. I’ve worn these to the beach, camping, school, exploring San Francisco – you name it. Hey, we’ve even fallen into the mud together.

Well, technically I made a bad decision but after I was sucked down into the mud, these puppies stayed on my feet. If I had been wearing something else, I’m pretty sure I would have lost them. I know some people take issue with sandals like these, flip flops, etc. when it comes to “fashion” but I’m usually one for function and comfort over form. Especially when it comes to shoes.

What about you? What is more important in a shoe? Do you sacrifice comfort for style or vice versa?

30for30 / Challenges / OOTD — 11 Comments
29
Nov 10

30for30.21: Fading fast…

Different photo location! The backyard is getting a little boring. As the leaves and pine needles pile up I am reminded that I really need to sweep, weed and rip out the remnants of my garden… Just stuff that can wait until spring, right? Leaves decompose… eventually.

I decided to venture out a little before sunset to take pictures during the golden hour. I wasn’t the only one! A family of four was getting their holiday picture taken – though they didn’t look silly with a tripod and remote, parked on the side of the road. They had a photographer. But who needs a personal photographer when your camera has a mind of its own? My camera decided to do a blurry glamor shot deal on this set of pictures. Good thing I’ll be sending it in to Canon on Wednesday, so I guess if something is wrong – it will get fixed! I have a feeling it might be the 50mm lens but only time will tell. My poor little nifty fifty – it has served me well.

Skirt as a top – Vintage, thrifted
Cardigan, jeggings – Old Navy
Flats, belt, necklace – Evans

After Thanksgiving I was eager to remix one of my favorite pieces – the floral skirt of awesome. Turns out that I don’t really like it as a top. I tried belting it like day 8, which doesn’t work as well with a bold print and there is less length to work with. I also tried wearing it as a strapless top and belting it but I don’t know. I’ll probably try it once more with a wider black belt and see how that goes. I have a feeling the next look I’m planning will work better!

This was also an attempt at doing “something else” with my hair. It looks awkward but maybe I’m being too critical? This style worked better when my hair was long… What do you think?

Flats usually do a number on my feet but these sequin flats from Evans are actually pretty comfortable! For party shoes covered in sequins, I’m really surprised at how they have been holding up.

30for30 / Challenges / OOTD — 2 Comments
27
Nov 10

30for30.17-18: Flashback

With certain articles of clothing there is usually a favorite “look” or specific outfit I associate it with. Sometimes it is nice to fall back on when you’re in a rush but for me, it is more indicative of a style rut. For example: this plaid jacket from Lane Bryant and the floral skirt below. I thought it might be interesting to reflect on these pieces and see how I’ve worn them in the past. Plus I get a kick out of looking at old pictures of myself – particularly the difference that a haircut and color makes!

Jacket – Lane Bryant
Top, skirt – Avenue
Tights – Woman Within (subtle plaid pattern)
Boots – Clarks
Necklace – My grandmothers

Last year when I saw this jacket in Lane Bryant, I couldn’t fathom an instance in which I’d wear it. Don’t get me wrong, I love plaid but often in small doses – like a scarf or skirt. This jacket was a really bold statement and color – how would I wear it? After Christmas last year, I was shopping with my mother and the jacket stood out on the clearance rack like a sore thumb. I have a habit of pointing out “questionable” items with enthusiasm and her eyebrow rose as I pulled it off the rack. Laughing to myself, I tried the coat on, walked over to the mirror and you know what? I liked it.

The cut and fabric were better than I expected, it fit well and actually had a shape. I ended up putting it back, thinking I’d never wear it but I ended up needing to spend a little more to use my coupon. So I bought it. And heck, even my mother approved! Actually I remember now that I also bought a rust colored sweater dress that I tried it on with… hrm…

Me in January 2010!

I prefer to wear this jacket with navy/tan/brown but neutrals other than black and grey seem to be absent from my wardrobe. I have to admit that I’m not as enamored with the coat this season… it doesn’t seem to fit as well? But I’ll be experimenting with it more after 30 for 30 is over. And one of the snaps is coming loose! Grr! These white tights actually have a subtle plaid pattern – similar to the ones I’m wearing in the second picture (told you, style rut) but more opaque. I think I got a size or two too big, they don’t stretch enough for the pattern to be visible and bagged around the knees after walking around a bit.

This floral skirt is one of my favorites. It is by far one of the best and most worn items that I’ve thrifted but there is one problem – I pretty much always wear it high waisted. The reason you haven’t seen it yet in my 30 for 30 outfits is because I’ve been saving it to wear on Thanksgiving. The funny thing is that I also wore it last year! So I guess now I’ve made it a tradition…

Avoid these spotted Evans tights at all costs! Mine arrived with a hole in the leg, problems with the netting and ripped easily. I try to be careful with my tights but these didn’t last five minutes! There was a big rip down the front of the calf, so I turned them around and it fit behind my knee. Needed to get one wear and a decent picture out of them! They are little crooked in the pictures due to the holes, haha. I’m stubborn!

Skirt – Thrifted
Blouse – Elle
Jacket, belt, bangles – Torrid
Shoes, tights – Evans

Me, Thanksgiving 2009!

Hopefully my plans to remix the skirt work out! I’m glad that I can finally put it into the rotation. Are there any pieces of clothing that you turn to frequently and style in similar ways? My black vintage skirt also falls into this category.

A Well-Rounded Venture

Posts Tagged: floral

Five Take: Floral

OOTD: Spring Fling

30for30.21: Fading fast…

30for30.17-18: Flashback

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