Having Fun with Style

I wore this outfit a week ago, and I couldn't wait to share it with you - I love it so much!

(Insert many sparkly heart emojis right here!) It is one of those outfits when I truly and freely had fun both creating and wearing it! And I can see many different variations of it in the future.

I see dresses in this style in different colors on different sites. Mine is by Lane Bryant, and perhaps you can still find it online or in stores. It reminds me very much of a dress I designed and made myself when I was about 14 (that would be 1987-1988). It was red, with an unassuming pattern. (Now when I think of it, I wonder whether it was Indian - a small print all over the fabric, with a more elaborate border.) Cold shoulder was in style back then, and I got an idea to have several wide straps (3 or 4), connecting the two parts of the dress (the front and the back). I tried to find something like it on the Internet, to illustrate this idea, but there is nothing even remotely similar, and I honestly have no clue where I got my design idea back then! I think it just came to me - it really seemed pretty edgy. My dress had short sleeves (similar to a kimono or batwing sleeve) and drop waist with a self-tie belt. I absolutely loved that me-made dress and wore it all summer long (with any luck, even two summers in a row - you know us girls, we grow rapidly at that age).

Look at my accessories! To keep up with the playful spirit of the dress, I wore my hand-carved wooden parrots earrings (thrifted, bought on a jewelry sale in a garden last year) and this hand-made necklace with a painted rose in a sculpted frame, on a leather strap. It was a gift from IVANA of the art, style and travel blog A Little Place to Call My Own. At first, I thought Ivana made the necklace herself, since she is a very creative person and makes all sorts of arts and crafts, including costume jewelry, but Ivana mentioned that she bought it from another young woman. In any case, I love it and it suits me! Thank you, unknown artist! And thank you, Ivana!

TWIRL ALERT!!!

What else is curious about this outfit? The little wicker trunk is a Goodwill find (last year), probably about $5. I typically use it at home for storage, but it can also be used as a picnic basket, or, as shown here, as a purse, why not! I thought it went perfectly with the whole picture. The jacket is lots of fun, isn't it? It's another Goodwill find, made of a linen blend, and I wasn't supposed to wash it - yet I did! (We Russians wash pretty much everything.) When I got it out of the washer, at first it gave me reasons to panic...

"Thank goodness it wasn't an expensive investment," I thought to myself. Because the jacket certainly didn't look right! It looked like the outer (linen) part shrank, and the inner part (lining) was just hanging there as an unsightly bag! Yikes! But then I remembered some things I learned back in the days when I was sewing... they taught us to leave a little extra fabric for just such an occasion. I folded the  hanging lining fabric and ironed it - and it worked just fine! Everything looks right now! I'm happy that it does because I plan to wear this zebra print linen jacket in many different ways!

Have fun with your style! Do something unexpected! Take risks!

You will be surprised how rewarding it feels!

Dress - Lane Bryant

Linen jacket and wicker trunk -  thrifted via Goodwill

Earrings - thrifted

Necklace - gift

Hat - Old Navy (old)

Wedges - Clarks (last year)

Linking up with Tina's Pink Frida and Patti's Visible Monday.

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