City Sophistication

I was looking for something purple to bring more of this color into our home decor. Candles or a new bed spread perhaps? But unexpectedly for myself, I stopped at one tiny thrift shop where this gorgeous silk top literally jumped on me, and didn't let go! It was everything I wanted. It was 100% silk. It had the long ties which could be arranged into a bow or just left as is. The color was gorgeous. The size was mine. The condition was perfect. The price was only $12. And a charming Indian lady put it in a bag with the words Lucky You on it for me.

Leopard in the Autumn Garden

Autumn arrived here in the Puget Sound, with heavy rain and wind. It is becoming more challenging to take nice photos of outfits under grey sky, but we thought of a few indoor locations in the city. So far, all the photos from our little garden. :)

Killer Whale in the City

Last Saturday, we took a walk in woods where we saw this funny and charming raccoon family who lives there and got so used to people that cars stopping next to them bring them no fear, but hope for an easy lunch. No such luck with us though - the signs "Don't feed any wild life" posted there by rangers were not ignored. But, we had lots of fun watching the critters. Justin couldn't help but taking some cute photographs of them, of course.

Sunny

Sunny it was this afternoon when I took my husband out for lunch at Panera Bread (or it was he who took me out for lunch, I forget which). I think September is just having fun with us, teasing with rays of sun between cloudy, rainy and stormy days when thunder makes our cats jumpy if not a bit insane.

First Trip into Fall

September was spoiling us with hot summery weather until just now. Last week, I was still wearing my summer wardrobe. We did get a couple of big storms mixed with 80 to 90 degrees temperature, but only this weekend feels truly fall-like... 

Park Picnics and Printed Pants

There are days like this. In the midst of September the sky gives you so much sunshine and 87 degrees which you rarely see all summer (summers are lovely and very moderate here in the Pacific Northwest). 

There are days when you feel inspired to invite your husband for a picnic in a park (not much required, just throw a nice salad and a pot of hot coffee in a picnic basket found while browsing in your favorite antique shop).

There are days when you remember your very first printed pants when you were just 15, so light and sweet, with the first awakenings of femininity within you, the witness to which were your very first printed pants, tailor made in mixed crazy greens, made exactly to repeat your body curves and stop just below the knee, with a little zipper on the left side.

Watercolor in Red

I bought this wonderful "watercolor" top at Lane Bryant in the spring - just fell in love with its delicate fabric and neckline trim, impressionistic flowers and beautiful, rich yet translucent colors. But! I had no idea with what I would pair it until later this summer I got "So Slimming" and oh so new to me crops in Saucy Red from one of my old time favorite shops, Chico's. Bingo! It really really works! I tried this duo with Ecco's warm golden brown  sandals (I am sorry but I am not very up to speed with the fashion lingo and could be mistaken in using some terms). Ecco's shoes, no doubt, are amongst the most comfortable and affordable shoes in the world, but who knew they can be so sexy too? :) This particular pair rapidly became my husband's favorite on me!

Military Glam

This piece was such a fun unexpected addition to my wardrobe. I used to wear jumpsuits, but it was years ago! The very first one my mom (a beautiful, elegant and stylish woman herself who influenced my sense of style a lot as I understand it now) offered to have tailor made for me when I was only 12 or 13. No, I am not from a wealthy family. We lived quite unpretentiously, a family of four, on two very modest salaries of an elementary school teacher (mom) and an electrician (dad), in a tiny town in the depth of Siberia and the very center of Russia, near Krasnoyarsk. It was that era (mid 1980s) when being Soviet citizens offered few benefits, one of which was what we called ателье (atelier) where we could order clothes inexpensively tailor made for us (providing we could достать (get) precious fabric in the times of total deficit). Being a very style conscious girl herself, mom used to order tailor made clothes from time to time for herself, and from that historic moment on, for me. My first jumpsuit was a deep dark red (burgundy or wine?) color, with very similar lines as this olive green one, the only differences were long sleeves and a zipper which went all the way to the top. It even had a very similar collar! No pockets though. And no brass buttons.

Hi there

This summer was all about change for me - I turned 40, decided to quit the last pretty ambitious and fun project I've quite successfully started a few years ago, and to finally do with my life that very thing I always, as long as I remember, was trying in some ways, but mostly dreaming about doing. That weird unpredictable state of my inward world which is constantly changing anyway, took off without asking whether or not I was ready for it. I guess it's time then, I thought, took a step down and went with the flow. Suddenly reawakened sense of fashion and my personal style was just one side of this inner change which expressed itself outwardly quite noticeably. I browsed websites of a few of my favorite bloggers while stumbled at this online store website which sounded new and very fun and playful. Fun and playful was exactly what was missing these few past years from my fashionista self, and I decided to give it a try. The results are here, in the beginning of my new blog which I for some reason decided to write in English even though it is not my first (or even second) language. Forgive me my mistakes and do not mind them as I learned not minding them over the years living on a new continent.

Sincerely,

Natalia