Jewel within a Jewel

This is how this outfit struck me when I looked at the photos - a bluish grayish jewel within an orange jewel... 

I started missing my lighter weight clothes (or Summer clothes if you will). Even though it was 50 F and sunny today, it felt penetrating, too early for light dresses yet. And then, of course, without a doubt, there will be soon plenty of opportunities for wearing my beloved dresses and sandals, and in Summer, I usually miss my warmer clothes. It's a circle. So I thought I'd honor the weather, and the Winter which is slowly becoming Spring... but while it is still Winter, I will honor it by wearing something cozy, but mixed with something lighter too. And that's how this sleeveless dress by Chico's became my choice.

Blue Sky, Blue Skirt, New Chapter

Blue sky is not a very frequent guest here in Seattle during our rainy season, and blue color is not a very frequent guest in my closet. It might sound strange, but I have never been a big fan of blue. Though lately, in the last couple of years, I find myself much more drawn to blue, and especially to the sky blue hue like this thrifted skirt from Goodwill.

Jacket Friendly

One perk of cooler weather is that you can wear favorite jackets - old or new, or as in the case of this particular "old new" denim number, the one you bought in a thrift shop in the summer and couldn't wait for jacket friendly weather to come. I fell for the embroidery and the length of this jacket (or light coat if you will) - brand new condition with tags still attached for only $10 at Goodwill. Sooooo glad that I found it!

Shaman

Sometimes in the middle of Summer I start terribly missing Fall. I look at Fall pictures, I write and read something Autumn-ish, and I notice that very often we get cool days right after my innocent little "shamanism"... And now I miss Spring. I notice that days are getting longer - it's not dark yet at 6 PM these days, and not so long ago it was dark right after 4 PM. I notice that birds sing more cheerfully and first flowers bloom on bushes, in pots and in the ground...

We did this photo shoot almost a year ago, in April of 2013. For the first time in my life, I posted my outfit photos in an online style community.

Genius

No worries, the snow melted long ago - it covered the ground just for one night and a few hours of last Sunday, and now we are experiencing lots of rain in Seattle (we are good at it, you probably heard the rumor). Justin was really surprised to see me walking in these open shoes in snow, but hey - it was pretty nice outside, and I couldn't resist anyway. This outfit was on my mind for a while, but it wasn't completed - I just couldn't decide what shoes to wear with it. Then I remembered my beloved, my sweet, my intricate and oh so comfortable Pikolinos from probably 8 or 9 years back. Aha! Now the picture was complete!

Out and About, or New Casual

Another of my 2-in-1, or more like 3-in-1 posts. :)

I enjoy dressing up, but equally I appreciate lazy "comftubl" days when I don't have to get out of cozy home clothes. Considering that being in such a homey mood doesn't always prevent us from going out, it's a great idea to have a few outfits which feel comfy yet still look elegant. 

Fiery

It was a windy, but sunny Sunday a week ago. I found something looking as a folded wool blanket in an antique mall the day before. We call such cozy blankets плед -- plaid -- in Russian, and the most common pattern would be tartan, or plaid. :)

Spirit of the Sea

It's my favorite fashion season now. I love all the layering opportunities Autumn brings to us. I love the wonderful warm colors of the season. But, I enjoy Spring as much as Fall. And for quite a while now, I have been thinking to include some of my older photo shoots with Justin, the ones we did before the beginning of In The Writer's Closet. This one is from last Spring, to be exact on Mother's Day which was May 12, 2013.

Teal, Toffee & Tweed

It was a lovely half sunny fall day when Justin and I had a few errands to do, and then went shopping for presents for his upcoming birthday (and well, of course, some presents for myself as well) in the evening. Based on our activities and my mood, I changed from the more romantic outfit I had on earlier in the day, into a sportier one later. Both, in my opinion, were classy and cozy at the same time. Just what I needed for this autumn. :)

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.