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FBFF: The Creative Process of Dressing for the Day

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Sneak peek!  FBFF is going up an hour early on the new blog!

For the Fashion Beauty Friend Friday questions this week, Katy reflected on outfit planning:

I was reading a couple blogs the other day that mentioned pre-planning outfits for the whole week or spending hours in the closet trying things on to find new outfits to wear. So then I wondered… how many fashion bloggers do this? How much of it is just random selection and how much of what we see is pre-determined?

For me, I think it’s a bit of both.

1. How do you determine what you will wear that day? Sometimes at night I might pull a few things from my closet for the next day.  I might end up with an entire look or I might not pull it together until the next day.  What I get together is definitely directly related to how inspired/creative/overly caffeinated I am at that point in time. A lot of bloggers start with one piece and build around it, but I only occasionally pull things together like that.  I’m more of a general concept dresser— I start with an idea or a bit of a theme like edgy, romantic, bohemian…

2. Do you plan outfits out in advance for a whole week, month, weekend? Yikes, definitely not, I’m not that careful or organized!  The only time I plan is when I’m packing for a trip, especially an extended one.  When I do put things together for packing I take photos with my iPhone.  I really need a valet bar because I hang things up on the doors of my wardrobe.  It’s usually impossible to close!

(Look familiar?  L to R: wardrobe door/valet bar look for Toronto, love but didn’t buy, polka dots)

3. Do you have any specific way of tracking outfits and items already worn so you don’t repeat? I can usually remember exactly when I’ve last worn something, I’m one of those people that connects clothing with events so outfits usually write themselves into my memory.  And, of course, I have photos with metadata and tags on blog posts to help me out!  Flickr too!

4. How do you discover new combinations of items in your closet?  (Trial try-ons?  Hanging items together?) I almost always discover some new way of wearing something at midnight when I’m heavily caffeinated and extremely underslept.  That late at night I’m looking for something to wear the next day and probably feeling like I can’t do anything new… and then I just pick up something random and it begins to come together :)  Of course, nothing beats trying things on, sometimes things you think will look great actually look… ridiculous.  That happens to me a lot.

(Potential outfits I liked but didn’t wear. Will be photographed (with some tweaks) in the future.)

5. To streamline the process for 2011 what is one new thing you can do to cut down your dressing time? I really need to take the pile (it’s a small mountain, really) of things that are supposed to be altered to the tailor.  So I don’t keep picking things out of if, become dissatisfied with the fit, and them promptly throw them down again :)

Lately I’ve also been snapping photos of things I like the idea of, might want to buy, or just for general inspiration. I keep them on my phone but I’m thinking about loading them to Flickr and using tags to keep them organized and easy to access!  Then I can share them more easily too!

(Anthropologie Toronto display, J.Crew catalogue girls glitter oxfords, J.Crew SoHo display)

Interested in joining FBFF by ModlyChic?

Email katy_rose1@yahoo.com or join the FBFF Google Group!

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink

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Originally posted on 1.12.11 on Alex Elizabeth.

Worn on Wednesday 5 Jan 2011

These are back photos from before the snow.

On Wednesday I went to Pottery Barn for euro shams.  I ended up getting mismatched ones, one of which is from the faux sheepskin collection.  And I might have to go back for the throw.  I got it for my friends as a wedding gift last year and I had a really hard time giving it away!

I wore my oxfords because I ended up with a private yoga lesson Tuesday night.  I was the only one at class and it was kind of killer.  I felt really unsteady Wednesday morning and I actually made the responsible decision to wear completely flat shoes.

Sorry my shirt is doing weird things in these photos.  I almost steamed it but then I decided I liked it wrinkled.  The front is silk and just didn’t want to drape properly when tucked into the skirt.  I like this shirt so much that I sort of want it in the other two colors too… I have always had a problem with wanting multiples of clothes I love!

J.Crew shirt, Anthropologie/Odille skirt, Anthropologie belt, HUE tights, Cole Haan oxfords, LV bag + Coach scarf.

I also made the cookies featured on Stylish White Female back in December.  I intended to make them back in December but ran out of time during the holidays.

I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that these are so sweet they actually gave me a headache (and I adore sweets).  A good thing because I can only eat two at a time… a bad thing if I can’t have just two!  I’ll definitely be making these again!  Maybe next time a little less sugar :)

Winter Outerwear: Snow Falling

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Originally posted on 1.10.11 and featured on the We Love Colors Style Blog.

Taken on Saturday 8 Jan 2011

I really hope you like these photos because I almost got eaten by a hawk while I was kneeling to get a better shot of those holly leaves.  It was eyeing the back of my head the whole time and making me very, very nervous.  I thought it was going to try to pick me up by the collar and fly off with me.

Luckily I was spared!  I was treated to a glorious view of its brown and white spotted underside as it flew away.  I guess it decided I wouldn’t make very good prey after all.  Unfortunately it was gone in a blink and I was unable to capture it in a photo.

I wish I could tell you what kind of hawk, but I’m not a very good bird-watcher.  My father is though, he definitely would have been able to identify what type of hawk.

I wasn’t going to take any photos of myself, but once I got outside I thought the snow was just too nice.  I definitely had one of those weirdo dressing days where I thought I wasn’t exactly myself.  I hardly ever wear this much color all at once… I mean, green tights?

Hahaa one snowflake fell on my head and apparently my hair is big enough that it didn’t melt while I was taking photos.

After I photographed the fur I decided to do a coat series, but I didn’t do a very good job with this coat.  I’ll have to get photos with the collar buttoned up sometime, it looks very different!

Expect more outerwear soon!

J.Crew Colletta coat (better sale in stores though), Love Quotes scarf, Charlotte Russe dress, We Love Colors tights, Gap mohair socks, J.Crew wellingtons.

Winter Outerwear: Vintage

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Originally published on 1.9.11

Worn on Friday 7 Jan 2011

We’ve been having a lot of snow in the Northeast lately.  I’m skipping two sets of photos (pre-snow) to show you some timely outfits (for once).

My coat literally saved my ass on Friday— the temperature dropped drastically in the afternoon and a lot of the melted snow turned into ice.  Which I didn’t notice because those ice patches were puddles at 1pm.  Yeah, wiped out.  Not pretty.  Luckily no one was around to hear me laugh hysterically at myself while lying on a sheet of ice in the middle of the road (all the other crazies must have stayed in).  This coat is so huge that I didn’t feel a thing when I fell.

The best part about this coat, though, is the lining:

The initials belong to my cousin’s mother, it was her coat and gifted to me by my cousin during the holidays.  My cousin is very tall (and I top out at 5 feet 2.25 inches) so the coat doesn’t exactly fit her.

I left my hair kind of wavy and disheveled, I didn’t want to look too done up wearing both the coat and the suiting dress.

I found some very tiny gloves in the pocket.  They definitely don’t fit me and I can’t think of anyone I know that could wear them.  Anyone wear glove size 6 1/2?

The days are getting longer, but how quickly the light still fades.

Strouss coat (vintage), J.Crew dress, turtle pin, Assets by Sara Blakely tights, Target/Xhilaration boots.

Between Holidays

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Originally published 1.7.11

Worn on Thursday 30 Dec 2010

I think I’ve been suffering from holiday burnout and general I-have-nothing-wear-but-not-really syndrome, so I picked out one of my favorite shirts, a fluffy skirt, and a new sparkly belt.

Out of all the things I bought in 2010 (and there were way too many, believe me), I think this lowly American Apparel dolman sleeve shirt is the best purchase of the year.  I surprised myself with how much I loved it, how many times I wore it, and how much more versatile it is than I thought at the time of purchase.  None of my other AA stuff gets worn nearly as often.  I might have to order more colors, is that a serious fashion faux-pas?

American Apparel shirt, J.Crew skirt, LOFT belt, Assets by Sara Blakely tights, Sofft shoes.

Dolman sleeve favorites: