The Happy Hatter

pretty and delicious

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Outfit Details

Aryeh dress (Ruche) // Antoniazzi Firenze leather belt (my mom) //Rebecca Minkoff Mac bag

Nine West heels (Ross) // The hat (World Market)

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Saturdays are for bakeries and breweries.  First Bakery Lorraine for some macarons (my new favorite dessert!) and then the Pearl Brewery (where there is no longer a brewery) to wander.  All the while wearing a floppy hat.  Inspired by this story of a hat, I have composed my own "story." 

Before I went to Nigeria last December, I decided I wanted a floppy hat because I would be going from chilly to hot weather (and because I saw an Instagram pic of some girl looking cool in one...).  I had searched the Internets but by the time I really wanted the hat, my departure date was too close.  Whatever I ordered online wouldn't arrive when I needed it (and I didn't need a hat so badly to justify expedited shipping; I didn't need a hat at all).  So I went to a few stores: Target, Ross, TJ Maxx, Marshall's, and a peep at Walmart.

Do you know how hard it is to find what is basically a summer hat in the middle of winter?  I felt a little silly trying to find one until I stepped into World Market and saw this lone hat.  There was no price tag on it. 

Because it was way out of season, the sales clerk had to scroll through their inventory on the computer to find an item with a similar description and then find the price.  This took twenty minutes and I waited patiently.  Although I did say to myself "If this hat costs more than $15..."

The price was $10.  I happily paid and excitedly packed the hat in my suitcase for Nigeria.  And then it never left the suitcase for those three weeks abroad.  I never wore the hat that I went through all that trouble to find and buy.  Until this past Saturday when I tried to see if it could fit over my hair.  It did and all of a sudden my flat sandals had to go (according to my sister) in favor of heels.  And here I am, the happy hatter.

**taken by my lovely sister

Oxford Blues

Oxford for the shoes and blues for the color scheme and the lighting failure outdoors (sadness thanks to my darn skills with the red light box)...when I titled this post I didn't realize it's also the title of a 1980s movie starring the deliciously blue-eyed Rob Lowe.  Thanks again, Google.

So spring is officially here and today was quite beautiful.  But I could not for the life of me figure out how to capture the beauty of the outdoors (balcony) with a subject (me) thrown in.  So I moved indoors... 

These blue/white striped oxfords were purchased on a whim last September...and I have yet to wear them anywhere.  I meant to reevaluate the shoes and maybe return them but then I let the receipt expire.  

Trying to establish personal style shouldn't mean shopping for new things all the time and it definitely shouldn't mean allowing things to collect dust in the back of your closet.  I suppose that I am really going to try to wear everything in my closet. Learning to treasure my clothing, where treasure = wear it out/wear it well.

Essentially wrote about this same thing two posts ago (oops!).  Some things should be repeated often.  Other things, not so much.  Freshening is in order, just in time to fit the connotations of this new season.  Everyday is a good day to begin a goal, a transformation or a renewal.  Yes, we've got New Year's Resolutions, new semesters, spring, milestones and life transitions...but everything in between is a good enough day too.

Something to think about.  

And that is all I have for today.  Until next time, enjoy the last week of March!

lite brite

Outfit Details

Cynthia Rowley tank dress (TJ Maxx)

New York & Co vest 

Report oxford shoes (Nordstrom Rack)

JewelMint Clara bracelet

American Eagle tiny gold cross earrings

*Just starting reading The Color Issue of Instyle...already influenced before I knew it.  Flexing my power...

Limits of The Red Light Box

The red light box (i.e my Samsung point and shoot) accompanied me to Nigeria in December and while there I tried snap more than the typical touristy let's-do-the-same-pose-in-front-of-a-different-background photos...and that's why there's an image of an old beat-up passenger seat from a car (below)!  But really, who else finds the top two photos interesting?  Would I be the only one over-eagerly raising my hand?  The second one is so perfectly crisp, I think I could stare at it forever and just appreciate all that rubbish of a mechanic's junkyard as simplistic art.  Or I could just stare at it.  

The basic difference is the use of flash. Shutter speed became slightly faster with it on (but I'm not sure why).  I remember carefully activating the flash as I tried to keep the camera in the exact same mid-air position.  I wanted to see a clear effect of setting change.  And see it I did.

Notice the pain, the agony, of this seat

Background: Goodness, that day was bright and hotter than hot.  My uncle was taking me from Ajalli to Owerri but we stopped at this mechanic's to check out his car.  If it were just him, my uncle said, he'd travel with his car.  But since he was transporting his niece (and my momma was anxious about my safety from across the ocean) we stopped and ended up having a driver pick us up.  Nigeria and drivers....and they're not taxi drivers.  It seems you can (and often have to) get a driver to take you from A to B (if B is more than an hour or two away).  The roads are not so special.  But Nigeria was/is so special to me.

this dinky phone had (slow) Facebook access!

this land is your land

Composition I in White, Black and Cream

Hey, hi, hello! Hope that you (whoever you are) have enjoyed your weekend.  That the weather was bearable or pleasantly indecisive day-to-day.  And that you were extraordinary in thought, action and presence.  For me today has been quite alright ♫ from am to pm ♩.  About this outfit of the day then...

I was instantly reminded of an iconic artwork once I put on this skirt.  I remember seeing it in the books of paintings from elementary school art class.  Mrs. Art Teacher would always introduce us to a technique or art movement to influence and inspire our newest projects.  A vague representation of the image flashed across my mind but I had no idea of its title or artist.  With my non-specific query, "art with squares and lines," Google came to the rescue.  Dutch painter Piet Mondrian created Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow in 1930 during his time in Paris. 

Credit: Barewalls

His artwork has clearly inspired the fashion world with designers creating "Mondrian" styles.  It seems that anything with colorblocking or the original primary colors can be Mondrian-inspired.  Rectangular (or other) panels with or without coloring, black and bold bordering too.  In the 1960s Yves Saint Laurent had a colorblock mod dress featured on the cover of Vogue (the least interesting and least relatable fashion magazine, in my opinion) and in this Millennium, an all leather interpretation in a dress.  Now you can buy pillows, shoes, posters, purses, T-shirts and more with the print... goodness gracious!

Credit: Teen Vogue

walk on the wild side

So never mind that the skirt had shifted on my waist (the cream panel is supposed to be in the middle) and that my left shoe is not buckled... I've ventured to the streets now!  Trying to step out into new territory for these outfit posts, daring to fiddle with a tripod and camera settings while vehicles drive by.  

Outfit Details

W118 by Walter Baker peplum top

White House Black Market skirt

Nine West heels ($7 at Ross!)

That Michael Kors clutch again (gotta get my money's worth)

Happy Sunday!

Skip to My Lou

scream it like you mean it

On the weekend I skipped to the Lou and to my love (my sister).  I hadn't seen her in quite some time so everything was wonderful-- movie, musical, and mess.  She made coconut rice and stew, I brought some chin chin and we became weekend wine drinkers -- moscato, stella rosso, and a sweet (dark) red.  As we made our way to the alcoholic beverages at the grocery store I thought "Oh, she needs me to buy it," completely forgetting that she's of legal drinking age.  When the heck did that happen?!  This girl had wine glasses and everything.

Nature and campus stairway
Photo credit: moi

Photo credit: moi encore une fois

How interesting it was to return to St. Louis, the city I used to know.  Everything was pleasantly familiar.  Aye, I remember this airport!  Ooh, Maplewood Commons and the (sometimes) sorry Walmart! And finally, WashU, my alma mater.  This was such a good homecoming. 

It was a proper fall over there, whatever that means.  Sunny and chilly.  My love kindly took some of these photos.  You should see this sweater when my arms are fully extended: it becomes a boxy parachute.  But that's how I wanted it when I compared sizes at Burlington Coat Factory.  And that's how everyone else seems to like it too.  As I strolled through campus like a student a woman complimented me on the sweater.  Next time I'll cuff the pants to show off dem boots. ☺

So this is just me wearing some clothes that I like, which is always the best thing.  They say you are the best when you feel the best.  Or is it "You feel the best when you look the best"?  I don't know.  I really just make things up as I go.  But they both sound good, right? 

prism prison

DKNY Jeans jumper
Cynthia Rowley T-shirt
Rebecca Minkoff Mac bag
The best jeans
Dem boots
Favorite bracelets

The Shoe of the Leopard

You know the feeling, right? As the sun scintillates through the tree branch openings it becomes clear just how beautiful the day will be and you feel a pleasant pressure building up within you until you just scream out with conviction:

♫ I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter

dancing through the fire

'cause I am a champion

and you're gonna hear me roar ♪

Or maybe you don't know the feeling since I made it all up.  But can't you just imagine the power of the sun in that photo?  Wouldn't you like to sing Katy Perry's song while darting through the trees and dancing through the fire?  Because you are a champion, as am I.  Anyway...in terms of outer beauty I do not have the eye of the tiger, but I do have the shoe of the leopard... print.

um...what?

This was some time ago, before fall befell us (the heat then was no joke).  My lovely mother came to visit me and I had to dress to impress.  Only because my momma always looks amazing and I have to at least try to match-- I couldn't just wear jeans when she came all the way to see me.  Ironically, she happened to wear jeans that day, but still chic (the ultimate style descriptor for her). 

Still simple, still comfortable, and still different from what I'd usually wear on the weekend.  These pants are everything, actually.  I have no ounce of regret in buying them.  Okay, I had one ounce while at the store but I let the clerks keep it once I left and wore the pants the following day.  Oh, one thing about the flats: I really like this blogger/vlogger Shirley B. Eniang at Meek-n-Mild (blog link on the right) and I felt a little inspired by her style when I saw the shoes at Target.  Cool, cool.  Hope you enjoy my silliness, like the outfit, and have a lovely day.

Karate Kid crane kick...obviously

♫ I'm a huntress on an African safari ♪

New York & Co. top
Gap cap(ris)
Target Mossimo leopard flats
Ruche earrings
crossbody purse
My skinny bangles