Moments of Summer 2014: Details Matter

 

 

Upper Row: 1. A Bit of Americana. 2. Hot. 3. 1940s, Here I Come

2nd Row: 1. Bluegrass Rediscovered. 2. Off With Your Pants. 3. Change of Focus.

3rd Row: 1. Jacket Friendly. 2. Foot Ferry Romance. 3. One Year.

Lowest Row: 1. Few Little Things. 2. Kubota Garden and Real Adventure Man. 3. High on Life.

I realized that I haven't done my usual recaps for the whole three months of Summer (the last one was in June, and you can find all of them by clicking on the tag monthly moments). As both my daughter and I got a bit sicky, hence no new outfit photos or any planned outings this weekend, I though I'd reflect on details and accessories a little and make them the focus of my summer outfits recap. So, in no particular order, my outfits shown in the blog from July through mid-September (which is considered Autumn in Russia where I am from, but is still officially Summer here in the US). And let us talk about details this time. I'm very interested in what you think!

Bold bead details from the posts High On Life (August) and Foot Ferry Romance (September)

I will tell you a little secret. Every time some of you say that I look "polished', "finished", "fabulous", "stylish" or anything like it, I am surprised! Maybe it's my "Russian-ness" or growing up in the country where praising was not something of an everyday matter, while criticism and pointing out the flaws was, but I honestly don't consider most of my looks finished or polished. On the contrary, I feel that I am a student of style compared to so many of you. I've already told you that for a few years, fashion did not even show up on my radar - I was busy with building other things and dressed up very seldomly, most times dark jeans and some kind of top became my uniform. What I did not tell you much is that I grew up with an extraordinarily beautiful woman, my Mom, who cared about the way she dressed and definitely had her own style, and I learned a lot by just being in her presence. What Mom could not teach me was details - make-up and accessories.

Natural Russian birch bark hand-made accessories emphasizing the folk nature of the outfit, while yellow polish adds a bit modern upbeat vibe, from the post Bluegrass Rediscovered.

While I absolutely love the feeling of fresh naked skin, no make-up, no nail polish and things like that, I realized that what gives women a finished look is these details. Even a light make-up, like lipstick or lip gloss, makes difference. Even clear polish or subtle French manicure gives us this extra touch which brings the whole look to a completely new level.

Playing with hot hues and refreshing white in the post Hot.

Mom grew up after the World War II in a tiny village built by exiled farmers - they were sent from one part of Siberia (we actually consider it the Far East in Russia, but I know that here it's known as one mysterious large region called "Siberia") to another part, further West. Families were given a few hours to get only a few things they could bring with them in their hand luggage. People were sent by train, in cattle cars, far away from their homes and relatives to start a new life literally in the middle of nowhere, in the midst of taiga. It was August of 1931. Many survived, but some did not. (Mom wrote the whole history of her village, one of many other places with a similar story in Russia, and created a web site called Angara. Tatarka. Angara is the name of the river where they were sent, and Tatarka is another little river where the village was built, and therefore got the same name - Tatarka.)

Golden sun shining in blue sky, or Playing with dimensions of pleats (tucks), stripes and chains in the post Off With Your Pants.

Only a part of Mom's large extended family, many of whom lived, built or were raised in Tatarka. Mom is on the far left, she is only 18 years old here. Photo from family archives. December of 1963. 

40 years later... My dearest family at my parents' apartment where I grew up. My brother Andrei, Mom with little Anya, Dad and me in May of 2004. Sosnovoborsk, Krasnoyarsk territory, Russia.

As a society, we stepped far forward from the kind of poverty our grandparents and parents  experienced in their younger lives. Far, far away. But when you look at how that first experience of life affected individuals, you can still find the signs of being satisfied with very little and not even having a need for more. I see, for instance, that my Mom has never developed a taste for jewelry - the very little that she got as gifts in her mid-life, she gave to me. She almost never wore her fine golden chain necklaces. She has never owned a ring or a bracelet. She has not pierced her ears. And very seldom I remember her having a manicure or a touch of cosmetic on her beautiful face.

Here I think I intuitively put together tribal motifs and textures which gave the look depth, post One Year.

So all that I learned about details, I learned on my own and a lot of it recently. When I was a young girl, I would have a few pieces of bijouterie (costume jewelry) - I remember my aunt Rimma, Mom's younger sister, gave me a few of her pieces teaching me that it's important to finish a pretty dress with these fine touches. But mostly I would wear the same little silver or rose gold earrings, one little ring (it will go to my daughter soon as well as my first golden earrings became hers) and maybe Mom's little golden chain necklace, and I would wear them all the time with any outfit, for any occasion.

Both delicacy and roughness of country style in the textures and shapes from the post Change Of Focus. 

Like my Mom, I have not really developed a taste for expensive jewelry, for diamonds and platinum. I am sure I would love to have a gorgeous emerald necklace if we had such kind of money, but I don't really crave them. I am quite content with the one golden ring I wear as a symbol of Justin's love - I picked it myself, it has a very intricate and quite unique both vintage and contemporary vibe to it. 

Unlike my Mom, I collected many costume jewelry pieces over the years and enjoy mixing and matching them when I dress up. Accessories can either play along with the outfit by emphasizing the style, or by providing contrast and giving a bit of a zing, a bit of a quirk to even a moderate outfit. 

Femininity shines in the details chosen for this outfit, from the post 1940s, Here I Come.

It can bring you down the retro road like pearls, a silk scarf and a wicker bag do in the outfit above.

Color pops and textures mix in the post Jacket Friendly.

It can add the third dimension to a print or embroidery like these earrings in the outfit above - a cluster of ripe tiny berries hanging from the tree, some of which fell off to color my nails...

Details add fineness to the autumn-inspired outfit in the post Few Little Things.

They can create depth by pairing similar prints, like this leaf and flower motif on my skirt emphasized by the linen purse. Or they can simply remind you of people and places dear to your heart even when you are miles and years away from them, like these little "pieces of Russia" I wear around my neck and my wrist from time to time.

And I don't really think that they take much extra time to add to your look, but maybe just a little bit more thought, or rather reflection to me - I don't analyze (thoughts) when I create looks, but rather go by feeling which is an entirely different process.

I also noticed that when you dip your toes into different fields of creativity, or art, they help one another. It's like when I was focused on raising a tri-lingual child (it's not our goal any longer, but that's another story), I saw how progress in one language initiates progress in another. I know that my experimentation with style helps me to see new things in writing, and how my diving into sketching brings into focus the details of life, which also helps with personal style, creative writing and so on.

One of my latest sketches.

And the last thing about details-that-matter for today. I know that some of you, my friends and readers, have already discovered that In The Writer's Closet has a sister blog - Out Of The Writer's Closet (there are links near the top of the page and on the right side of the page in the "about me" column). Thank you for your feedback and encouragement very much! 

For those who are not familiar with it... Out Of The Writer's Closet is my "art blog" which is not as active as this one at this point, and most definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but I want it to grow. My desire is to build a "reference book" of my own creative process, filled with some of my creative writing (in both languages), my artistic photography, and as of the latest addition, my sketches, and who knows what other forms of "art making" as I grow and change. I definitely don't imply that I expect you to read and comment, but if you have an interest in the creative process or just would like to learn about other sides of me, you are welcome to visit. One thing I will  say in advance - it is a much more vulnerable area to me as someone who has only recently started realizing about herself that she is an artist (I do not mean "artist" in a direct visual arts sense - no, it's much, much wider than that). To post whatever I decide to post in that area of my life is a huge step to me, and I feel incredibly vulnerable - as if I would stand naked in front of the whole world. I'm taking this step because otherwise it feels like the most significant part of me is hidden from you. It is a work in progress and even though it might seem a collection of disconnected pieces, these details are a vital part of me.

Linked to Share-in-Style: Skirts or Pants over at Mis Papelicos! Join us!