Gypsy, or Channeling My Inner Vix

 

Ideas for an outfit come from all sorts of places. Sometimes, a certain piece of clothing inspires to create the whole look around it. Sometimes, a piece of jewelry demands the whole ensemble to be dedicated to it. Sometimes, it's a place that I'm going to, or a particular event. And sometimes, it's my dear fellow bloggers. 

We're experiencing a heat wave here - temps go above 90 F which in this part of the world, is considered extreme weather conditions. Luckily for me (not a huge heat fan, to say the least), here by the sea, it rarely goes too high. Nonetheless, I still prefer to stay at home with the AC to going out. So even though I have a few outfits that I'd love to wear before the end of Summer, I did not plan to go anywhere in such extreme heat. That was until I saw the beginning of Vix's post Cheap Frills. I just saw the little blurb in my blog feed, and even before opening Vix's photos and reading the rest of the post, I knew I wanted to wear my off-the-shoulder top (one of the hottest trends at the moment) with the old maxi skirt that has that Gypsy vibe Vix was talking about. 

By all means, go to Vix's blog to get inspiration from this gorgeous and fun lady, and get ideas how to make an off-the-shoulder top yourself! I haven't sewn in ages, but I still think from time to time that I'll purchase a sewing machine (I donated mine to a good cause a few years ago) and get crafty again. I might, some day. It was fun to make my own clothes (sometimes even my own designs, though I mostly used ready patterns). These days, I purchase my clothing, but I rarely go on a mission to find something in particular. I just browse leisurely and get stuff that speaks to me and is on a good sale. This top attracted me with its glorious floral pattern, and the bell sleeves were an additional bonus. I think I paid $18 for it. I wore it with other maxi skirts before (one was shown a couple of months ago HERE), but this green Ikat pattern skirt with sequins that is in my wardrobe for 4 years already, somehow escaped my mind. I was not sure at first whether the patterns would clash, but I think it works. The green tone binds the two patterns so perfectly together, plus the bottom of the skirt echoes the bell sleeves... It's not typical attire for me, but I really loved it.

So on one of the hottest days here, I suddenly knew I wanted to go out and wear this fun outfit with a strong Gypsy vibe - and a strong Vix vibe dare I say! The natural fabrics and loose cut of both garments kept me cool, but to tell the truth it wasn't all that hot after all - definitely not as hot as they warned us. 

I finally did a pedicure (long overdue) and manicure too. We tried once again to catch the tone of this nail polish, unsuccessfully so far. It has vibrancy in real life that is somehow very difficult to show on photos. It's a very happy, warm light pink - not the flat almost nude-like pink as it shows here.

I also continue experimenting with video presentations of my outfits. This is a tad longer than I usually do, but the music was so evocative, I just did not want to cut it off. I don't know many bloggers who do videos in addition to photos. The one I know about is this beautiful and very stylish girl from Germany, Lu zieht an - check her out, I always enjoy her videos and her style. And if you enjoy make-ups, Lu's are always flawless!

 

Do you wear off the shoulder tops?

Do you get inspiration from bloggers?

PS If you enjoyed this outfit, you might also like outfits from my old posts Riverwalk (June 2015) and Two Closets Met (May 2015). I ended up donating both of those boho skirts, by the way, thinking that they weren't really my style. But I hold on to this green maxi skirt, even though it's very similar. Go figure!

Top - Charlotte Russe

Skirt - Lane Bryant (old)

Hat - Old Navy

Sandals - Robert Zur via Nordstrom Rack

Pouch - hand made, thrifted via antique mall

Earrings thrifted via Goodwill

Sunnies - Christian Siriano for LB

Linking up with Visible Monday

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