Put a Pin in It

One of my favorite things about the beginning of summer is making simple adjustments to the dresses I've worn throughout the rest of the year, allowing them to stay in the closet as summer appropriate. With its blue and white color schemes, I ran with the idea of nautical for this outfit, pairing it with a straw hat, my gold locket, and small touches of bright summer greens and pinks. The result, I think, is lovely.
This hat is too small for me, but I loved it so much that I pretended it wasn't. After a summer of not much success and some Royal Wedding inspiration, I've decided to turn it around (wearing it backwards) and bobby pin it to my head as if it was a fascinator. An elegant solution, no?
The scarf that I tied around my hat went well with, but did not directly match, my floral flats. I like the idea of mixing colors and patterns together, and I think that also long as the main print is basic (small polka dots) and the other prints aren't too bold (shoes, a scarf that can mostly be seen in the back), then it works.
Dress: Thrifted, Salvation Army, Lancaster

Belt: American Eagle (a high school purchase)

Hat: Vintage, Arterie, Montreal

Scarf (on hat): Thrifted, Salvation Army, Lancaster

Shoes: Old Navy

Locket: Gifted, Mom and Dad
And now I might spend the next two days in my bathing suit, as the weather forecast is predicting non-stop sun. xoxo Anna Rae

Blooms in the Gloom

Yippee! The Tights that Bind is participating in its first every Everybody, Everywear challenge: floral. Of course I had to pick my Liberty Floral blouse as a shout out to Liberty's classic flower-based textile designs. Its bright blossoms brought the sun to an overcast day.

When I combine a floral print with a colour I usually pick either the most dominant shade or subtlest accent to bring out. If you want to add more colour, like I did with my turquoise necklace, just keep adding more of the hues you find in the print. More daring mix masters (Anna?) can chose coordinating or complementary shades not found in the pattern.
Although the voluminous ruffles of this blouse require toppers to be tucked under them rather than worn over, I like to think of the dramatic frills as more Elizabethan ruff than clown collar.
And, like all nutrient-rich soils, the neutral pants and shoes provided a solid base for the flowers to bloom from.
Blouse: Liberty of London for Target, Target.com
Cardigan: Gap
Pants: Gap
Flats: Tory Burch, Ebay
Necklace: Sam Moon, The Woodlands TX

Check out Everybody Everywear for more florals!

Me and You and Everyone We Know

Today, both Erin and I are participating in Every Body Every Wear's Floral Challenge. These challenges ask bloggers to style one of their most basic pieces, and this month's focus was on florals. Fitting, I'd say, for how lovely the weather has become.

I immediately knew that I wanted to wear this skirt for the challenge. While (perhaps because) its floral pattern is more abstract and not immediately in your face, it is one of my favorite. I also wanted to incorporate florals in the other parts of my outfit.
I clustered my floral brooches together on my cardigan, a look that was fun and bridged together the two color combinations in the outfit: black and white, pink and red.
Because the main floral piece was more abstract, the print white-on-white, with thin strips of color distinguishing the design, I felt like I could overload with flowers without it being overwhelming. I wore my black flats with a floral pom, giving the outfit three different types of floral designs.
Cardigan: Thrifted, Value Village, Vacouver

Skirt: Thrifted by Erin

Shoes: Old Navy

Bracelet: Gifted, Camilla

Brooches: on sweater (red), DIY from Kohl's headband (black), Vintage, Arterie, Montreal (rhinestone)
Make sure to check Every Body Every Wear throughout the day to see how other people styled their florals! xoxo Anna Rae

Summer Brights

Today is my first official day of summer, and I'm celebrating with sunglasses, straw hat, and some color blocking.
The trend of color blocking has been really great for remixing my wardrobe. I feel so much braver when throwing together three different solids (purple, lime green, and coral) with a printed sundress whose main colors don't quite match (blue, pink red). The result, I think, is fun and bright.
I love my new lime green belt -- a recent thrift store find -- and pairing it with my coral shoes. Coral has definitely been my favorite color this season, and lime green might be my new favorite for its complement.

This peacock necklace, from the same shop as the telephone, fit in perfectly with all of the colors in the outfit. I have a special fondness for peacocks, as most people who love bright colors probably do.

Dress: American Eagle

Sweater: Old Navy

Belt: Thifted, Goodwill, Etown, Liz Claiborne

Shoes: Target

Necklace: Romwe

Hat: Vintage, Arterie, Montreal

I'll be soaking up the sunshine with my cousin and today's photographer Melissa for the rest of the day. xoxo Anna Rae

I'm a little late with this entry -- but I'd love to start participating in Cute and Little's Color Brigade. This outfit seems like a great start.

Keep the Phone off the Hook

Today's rare moments of sunshine were reason enough to wear what felt like the most summery of outfits. Although my comfortable and casual floral dress screams School's Out enough on its own, I felt like the accessories here really made the outfit perfect for the summer months.
The woven belt and shoes are so perfect for this season: simple, versatile, and light. The white cardigan, trimmed with pastel pink and blue, is one of my favorites. Pieces like these really show how this blog doesn't exactly represent my wardrobe: I feel like I wear this sweater almost all the time time in the spring and summer, but it's only made it on the blog a few times.
This necklace is the real start of the outfit, and who would even try to compete? I love jewelry that's full of whimsy, and this adorable necklace with its detachable receiver has moved to the top of my list.
Dress: Modcloth

Sweater: Thrifted, Value Village, Vancouver

Belt: Thrifted, Value Village, Vancouver

Shoes: Thrifted, Alabaster's Attic Church Thrift Store, Greensburg

Necklace: Romwe (a great website that you should totally check out!)
What summer pieces are excited to start wearing again? xoxo Anna Rae

Going Dotty

Clearly today's look is all about polka dots. The way those little spots dance automatically makes any outfit just that little bit more peppy.

What might have been quite an extreme look is tempered by the most basic of basics: jeans and a t-shirt.

Paring a pink bangle with the polka-dot one added continuity to the look by anchoring the pink t-shirt. The matchy-matchy pitfall was avoided by both the varying size, quality, and materials of the polka dots and the mixed sizes of the bracelets.

Repeating a single print throughout an outfit gives both variation and cohesiveness. This would work equally well with stripes, gingham, houndstooth, or even animal print. Try it out and let me know if it worked for you!

Cardigan: JCrew, Ebay
TShirt: Gap
Jeans: Citizens of Humanity, Hills of Kerrisdale
Flats: Jessica Simpson, 6pm.com
Bracelets: both thrifted, Salvation Army Kerrisdale (if you are scared of thrift shops, jewlery is a great place to start)

Tea Party

There are a lot of good things about not watching the Royal Wedding live: you can calmly listen to vows, knowing Kate will say William's full name flawlessly, you have time to prepare tea and crumpets, you can fast forward through commercials and "Moments Ago" time fillers. But the best part about not waking up at 4 am is that you have time to plan your own Royal Wedding outfit. I chose a simple but sweet summer dress with some rad accessories, including this outrageous blazer of my mom's. The high ruffled collar seemed perfect for the occasion.
Tragically fascinator-less, I had to make due with my most festive headband, adding to the costume-like fun with my oversized pearl earrings and rings.
I wore my grandmother's brooch in honor of the Queen because it's so conservative and vaguely British, it just seems like something that she'd be down with. And, of course, I wore my Kate Spade shoes -- everyone needs a little extra sparkle on the wedding day.
Dress: Thrifted, Value Village, Vancouver, Reitman's

Blazer: Mom's closet

Sunglasses: Target

Pearls: Hand-me-down costume jewelry

Brooch: Vintage, Inherited from Grandma

Shoes: Kate Spade, Kate Spade Outlet
A wedding, a pot of tea, and some crumpets made up the perfect start to my Saturday. xoxo Anna Rae