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Complements

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Worn on Friday 19 Nov 2010

Thoughts:  This is me pre-migraine… I could feel it coming on and you can probably see it in the shadows under my eyes.  Bleh.  I did recover eventually, thankfully.  After a lot of Excedrin and caffeine.  All those beautiful red leaves on the tree are gone too, so terribly sad the storm blew them all away.  

I was very tempted to wear this lace shirt without the navy camisole underneath but it was cold.  And windy.  And the shirt, it’s very sheer.  Although I’m really happy with the quality, it’s much nicer than I expected and that’s saying a lot— it’s from Free People.   I have decent general knowledge of the color wheel (copious art lessons as a child), but I find myself pairing colors more consciously since I started following Academichic.  I think I started following Academichic in the spring so I’m totally positive how I got to that post from spring 2009 but I’m glad I did, it’s a great reference!  

Free People lace shirt, Old Navy camisole, Odille (Anthropologie) skirt, Charlotte Russe belt, stockings from… ?, Sofft shoes.  

Double Leopard

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Worn on 18 Nov 2010

Thoughts:  Is belting a scarf… totally over?  I’ve never actually belted a scarf, um… conventionally (remember this crazy idea?).  Not that only belting one side of a scarf is standard or anything.  And it’s not even a big fluffy scarf.  But I thought I’d try it since I’ve never really done a belted scarf although I frequently see it on the blogs.  

I also decided to match my scarf and shoes although I don’t really know how that came about.  I especially like these leopard shoes with my brown HUE tights, I think that’s actually where the whole look started.  Then I added some purples and some more leopard, and there you have it! 

You may have noticed those crazy little hearts to the left of my photos… they’re the Hypeed inspirations hearts (yes I’m trying out Hypeed, I never want to write any sites off before exploring them thoroughly).  You can just ignore them, I know most (if not all) of you are not on Hypeed.  

J. Crew shirt, LOFT skirt, Lauren by Ralph Lauren scarf, Target belt, HUE tights, Deena & Ozzy (Urban Outfitters) heels.  

Friend Friday: Shen Dove Style

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Hello!  I’m Shenneth from Shen Dove Style guest posting here on Alex Elizabeth for this week’s Fashion Beauty Friend Friday post (visit Modly Chic for info on how to join the group!).  Alex and I both have a love for books, so we’ve both done book-themed posts for each other’s blogs.  My outfit is an abstract translation of a book title into an outfit. 

One of my favorite authors is fellow Philadelphian, Diane McKinney-Whetstone and I really enjoyed reading her novel titled, Blues Dancing, which is a story about a woman named Verdi, a love-triangle, ‘blues’ music and an Ivy League university reminiscent of the University of Pennsylvania in the 1990s.  That’s all I’ll say about the book’s plot for those who haven’t actually read it. 

This is an outfit inspired by protagonist Verdi’s style and is the color blue as a nod to the title of the novel.   I thought that this dress had a bit of a 90’s feel to it and added a cardigan because the protagonist of the book is actually a school principal, so I thought that would be a practical addition. 

I love this dress, which is a recent purchase and it is turning out to be pretty versatile piece, I have several ideas on how to wear it different ways.   The dress can easily be worn go from daytime to evening by switching out accessories, changing shoes and taking off the cardigan.  I love my book-reading choices to be as versatile as my wardrobe!

Thanks to Alex for allowing me to guest post and enjoy the rest of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend!

Dress: Forever 21 

Cardigan: H&M (several seasons old)

Boots: Eternity Shoes

Necklace: JessLC

Red and Pink Mixing

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Worn on Wednesday 17 Nov 2010

Thoughts:  Happy Thanksgiving (in the U.S. or if you’re out of the U.S. and celebrate)!  

So it was really windy last week.  Great look for me, right?  The hair in the face isn’t too much?  No?  (hahahaa)  I wore this for the day and then out for cocktails/charity benefit with my friend.  Who drank about $40 worth of cocktails and then insisted on a trip to Wendy’s before the end of the night.  The chicken nuggets were good, and I had skipped dinner.  

I think this is the first time I’ve ever put pink and red together, although the pink is very small.  The old fashion rule book stated that pink and red should not be mixed… and that even red lipstick must be carefully matched to the outfit (this does actually apply in some cases)!  And here I am breaking the rules (a little) with pink in the pattern of my dress.  I admire people who can mix pink and red separates so well, that’s definitely on my list!!

Tomorrow I have a super special post!  Get ready!  

Banana Republic long cardigan, Free People dress, LOFT belt, Assets by Sara Blakely tights (Target), Sofft pointed toe pumps.  

Things I Will Never Do Again

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Worn on Tuesday 16 Nov 2010

Thoughts:  It was definitely a day for learning what things I should never do again:)  I will never take photos in the rain without an umbrella again.  My hair was soaked and curling within minutes, and my camera was rather waterlogged as well.  Next time I’ll cover it with plastic or something, I was terribly afraid for it but it’s perfectly fine, they really do stand up to a bit (or more) of rain.  I will also never wear a silk shirt with an elasticized belt again, the belt creeps up within a minute after righting it.  And creates odd bunches in the silk.  Remember this skirt from one of my Halloween costumes?  I will never wear this skirt again either.  I wanted to try it out sans costume… and then I discovered it has odd splotches of fading.  Oh well, I guess it will go back to the thrift store.  I perhaps should have attempted a floor length skirt of a different pattern as well, but it can be terribly cost prohibitive.  I don’t like any of the ones at Forever 21 either :(  

Eventually the rain chased me back inside.  I had to dry my hair again.  And my skirt.  

But there is one thing I will do again: go get a soy latte from the bike shop.  Yes, I said the bike shop.  That’s what I did the day I was wearing this.  I went everywhere in this tiny town my father lives in (ran out of soy, no espresso…) and was finally directed to the bike shop.  For a latte?  What?  But yes, it’s true, they have the best coffee in town (organic, fair trade, and only $3 for my medium soy latte).  But shhh, don’t tell anyone or the yuppies will ruin it!

Banana Republic shirt, Charlotte Russe belt, thrifted skirt (Salvation Army), Jeffrey Campbell boots, Anthropologie scarf.  

Laces Laces

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Worn on Saturday 13 Nov 2010

Thoughts: Forgive me, friends, I’m so behind on almost all blogs.  And on posts.  And comments.  Again.  I’ve been asleep in a room with thermal drapes/reading actual books (made of paper!)/listening to Enya since Friday.  I’ve been afflicted with a migraine (the worst I’ve ever had) and treating with Excedrin, espresso, chocolate, and low light.  I believe I’m past the worst of it now though.  

So, just a quick post with my new boots.  They’re actually almost flat (maybe a one inch heel) and I’m actually wearing them!  

American Apparel dolman sleeve shirt, BDG (Urban Outfitters) skirt, scarf from the art museum in Charleston, LOFT belt, Assets tights, Jeffrey Campbell boots.  

Friend Friday: Copycat!

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The prompt from ModlyChic:

This past week I encountered the topic of blogger copying twice. The first time was as I scrolled through the numerous bloggers doing the 30 for 30 challenge. I realized that after one person poses with an umbrella dozens others will. Or as Kendi poses in a parking garage suddenly 20 other bloggers appear in a parking garage. And then I was talking with Kinsey about some of favorite blogs and she mentioned seeing a blogger post a DIY recipe and two weeks later another blogger posted a very similar DIY recipe complete with the same wrappings. That got me thinking… how much of blogging is coming up with your own content and how much is mirroring what we see others doing? 

1. What are the ‘unwritten rules’ about copying content that we bloggers should all abide by?

I think you should just always be sure to give credit and link back to the person’s blog!  I did exactly this in what I pretty much consider my first real style blog post: I bought burgundy tights because I was inspired by a post on What I Wore where Jessica wore a white dress and burgundy/red? tights (hers are definitely redder than mine and P.S. that’s still one of my favorite blogger photos ever).  

If I one day decided to go to one of the dirty and dark (and full of cars that might run you over) parking garages that are around here then I would definitely note in the post that I was inspired by Kendi Everyday.  But I’m not likely to do that.  Getting run over = bad.  And Kendi’s parking garage looks really nice and beautifully lit.  Parking garages around here are just don’t look like that.  I pose with an umbrella all the time too but only when it’s raining/snowing.  And I actually like to see recipes on blogs (I follow a log of food blogs) but I wouldn’t post one myself

2. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. But when it a post imitation and when is it copying?  

I think it’s fine to take inspiration from someone else, especially another blogger because fashion editor and magazine looks are not always accessible to all of us.  Taking a color combination or silhouette after you see someone else do it is perfectly fine but I would also link back to the blog/photo/whatever as well.  But it’s definitely copying if your outfits just look a little too similar though, you know?  I would definitely change it up with different colors, patterns, or shapes.  

3. Taking another blogger’s idea (perhaps for an outfit, or DIY tutorial) is pretty common in the blogging world. Do you think it is necessary to credit the original source?  

If I did a DIY from another tutorial I would definitely tell everyone that I did the DIY from _____’s blog, and this is how it turned out!  But I personally wouldn’t include a tutorial because I’m far too lazy/impatient to take all those photos. 

If I am inspired by one of my blogger friends I definitely credit and link to her blog, even if I was inspired by a color combination.  After two blogs I follow wrote about wearing faux fur in their posts I decided to examine my feelings about fur ( I wear it) and linked back to both blogs and posts.  I also told everyone those posts were why I decided to write about fut.  

4. How have you improved your blog by comparing it to other bloggers? Have you made changes due to something you have seen others doing? 

I decided to start taking some closer-up and detail photos (although I often still forget) because many bloggers do and when was posting regularly on chictopia I got a lot of feedback like “I can’t see your necklace/bracelet/shoes/whatever as well as I want to, can you take a closer picture”.  I also made a facebook page for the blog because most people seem to have them.  And I added AddThis to the blog, that’s pretty much standard on every blog hosted on Blogger and WordPress but not on Tumblr.  

5. Have you ever had one of your posts copied by another blogger or publication? How did you handle the situation?  

No, I’ve never had anything copied (at least not that I’m aware of) so I’m not sure what I would do if that happened to me!  

Standing in the Street

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Worn on Thursday 11 Nov 2010 

Thoughts:  I just posted about bringing things back from trips this week, so I want to tell you that two of my outfit items (well really three, two stockings) in this post came from Japan!  This trench coat saw me through months of unpredictable weather when I was studying abroad in Osaka and remains one of my favorite lighter jackets.  In fact, this entire outfit (minus belt and add black flats) was a favorite with my friends from study abroad.  I went to Japan in January 2008 so I’ve been wearing this for quite a while!  I also wore parts of it for the blog last month and in March of this year.  

Also, red lipstick is now officially part of my everyday lipwear.  I think I’ve worn it for about a week straight!  I just woke up one day and thought why shouldn’t I?  Red lipstick was the first lip color I ever wore, starting when I was five for ballet performances.  Since then it’s always had a bit of a special place in my makeup collection.  I seem to be matching the tree again with it!  I switched places mid-photoshoot because on the LCD it didn’t look like the photos in the street were exposing properly but they ended up coming out okay!  Yay!  I would love to take more photos with the red tree in the background but unfortunately there was a huge storm Wednesday morning and now there are only about ten leaves left on the tree :(  Soon there won’t be any leaves left on most of the trees, sad because I love when the leaves change color during fall!  

Trench coat from Japan, dress from Commander Salamander, Talbots scarf, Target belt, over the knee stockings from Japan, Sofft shoes.  

Safety Conscious Scarf

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Worn on Wednesday 10 Nov 2010

Thoughts:  Seriously though, you could take someone out with this thing.  This scarf is another one of my winter favorites!  I bought it on New Year’s Eve… 2008? when I was walking across the island of Manhattan (okay so it was 8th to Lexington but it was freezing that day!) to the 6 train because by 3 pm there was not a free taxi in sight.  I think it really was 15 degrees or something, and this idiot was wearing the skinny jeans pictured along with tights and ballet flats (idiot idiot idiot), so I decided I really needed to stop in H&M to (1) defrost my feet and (2) purchase sweater tights.  And then two blocks later I decided I really needed to stop in Juicy Couture to (1) defrost my feet again and (2) purchase a gigantic scarf that required a gigantic pink bag.  

I don’t think staggeringly impractical even begins to describe this scarf— sure, I love the color and the little sparkles but this thing is HUGE.  If I hit you with one of the yarn balls on the end you would probably fall over.  You might even bruise.  I feel like I wear this scarf less than five times per fall/winter season, so I’m going to challenge myself to wear it more often, even if it’s just with a winter coat.  This is not really a scarf that’s  good for wearing indoors (well maybe if the temperature is less than 50 degrees).  

And typically… I don’t photograph looks like this one any more.  They’re much too uninspired?  Regular?  So now you know what I’m wearing if there are no photos for a day during winter.  I just had to take photos this day, I happened to walk outside during the five or ten minute window in which the light is pink (!!) and wonderful.  So yes, if the photos look pink it’s because everything was pink when I took them!  

Juicy Couture scarf, JC Penney juniors (I forget the label) shirt, J Brand 10-inch skinny jeans, Sofft shoes.