Modish Matrons #24: Inspired by the 1980s

Hello friends! You are welcome to join my gorgeous MODISH MATRONS squad for our new theme - Inspired by the 1980s! When I offered this theme, I imagined I would combine bold colors, batwing sleeves, big bling jewelry, colorblocking... something like it or all of the above. But when it was time to come up with an outfit, my mind went blank - it just couldn't decide what to focus on. Until I remembered the denim dress which I bought back in Winter or early Spring and which immediately brought me back to my own 1980s (the late 80s to be precise), when my distant auntie handed me her unwanted deep blue velvet suit, not too different from what Princess Diana would wear (HERE) - a midi length pencil skirt with a peplum jacket. I remember that at first, it seemed very outdated and matronly to me, but then I made it fit my then slim, perfect hourglass figure, to attend a New Year's Eve party - and I think I looked pretty adorable and classy in my hand-me-down suit!

Mama & Papa Play Dress Up

These photos were taken on one of the first few days after my parents' arrival. I offered my Mom to try on a few of my dresses and skirts. She zeroed in on this one - you can tell that she feels good wearing it, even though she ideally would need at least one size smaller.

Sunshine & Shine On Awards

Lovely Elsie of The Cooking Wardrobe nominated me among other amazing ladies for the Sunshine Award and the Shine On Award. Thank you! I am honored. And excited! Well, who doesn't like to talk about themselves, right? Not bloggers and certainly not me. By the guidelines of these awards, I have to write all together seventeen random facts about myself. Seventeen facts about me? Only seventeen? Hmm... which ones to choose... OK, I'll just see what comes to me today. And yes, I am going to combine them all together. All seventeen facts. So get comfortable, guys. 

(Clearing her throat.) 

Here goes!

On The Edge

Thank you for your kind comments to my previous post and your recognition of Anya's photography! Yesterday was not the first time when I posted her pictures of me, though. You can see more of her photos in this post: BOLD. I decided to re-post it for one simple reason. Anne The Spy Girl has a new topic at her 52 Pick-Me-Up this week, which is Go Geometrical. It resonates with me - I love bold geometrical patterns and could add even more of my old posts to her link-up (stripes are geometrical, aren't they? I wear quite a few of those!).

But there is something else to this post...

Journey In Time

I am sure that at least once in our lives, many of us have wondered how we would look had we been born in other eras. Even our adoration of vintage clothing, jewelry and furniture speaks about it. But have you ever imagined what you would look like if you lived 300 years ago? And 600 years ago?.. 

The Color Of Your Soul

We got a warm and sunny day here in the middle of what supposed to be buckets of rain - a true marvel! I did not take any new pictures, but as I went down to the beach to enjoy sunshine, I suddenly caught myself thinking of one Spring day last year - actually, it was my birthday. I don't know how you guys like to celebrate your B-days, but I in the last few years learned to enjoy spending this day with just two people - my husband and my daughter, and even though I love gifts (and yes, I do love stuff), my favorite present seems to be "an event", and above all sorts of events I in a heartbeat would pick a trip to a new place.

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.

Exposed

I was debating with myself about what to wear with this happy orange stripy turtleneck which I have had for ages, it seems, and suddenly remembered this skirt I bough last Spring because I really loved the color. I started paying attention to Lane Bryant back then. I think before last Spring, I might have bought a thing or two from them (in case you don't know - it is one of a few American brands which designs clothes for women specifically in plus sizes, 14 and up). That in itself is a curious subject. As a gal who was on both sides, a regular 6-8 US, and gradually over the last few years grew into 16-18 US, I know a little too well how difficult this transition can be.

Bold Colors and Black Ruana

I started wearing bold colors much more often, and combining them much more boldly than I have ever done before.

Online Style Party: How I Wear My... Red

Jill of Everything Just So and Adrienne of The Rich Life on a Budget co-host what I call an "online party" on a monthly basis. I learned about it just recently, and absolutely admired the idea (one of my favorites is How I Wear My Animal Print from October 2013). It is inspiring to see so many wonderful women around the world doing fun stuff with their personal style! The theme of December was How I Wear My Red, and I've decided to participate for the first time. Please take a look at all the photographs at both Jill's and Adrienne's blogs:

How I Wear My Red at Everything Just So

and

How I Wear My Red at The Rich Life.

Parka's Life and Adventures

It's freezing here in the Pacific Northwest - rare for us! It just keeps getting colder and colder. They say it is one of coldest spells in Seattle for years. Here is hoping that we will have only a couple more cold days, and that will be it! For many, many years!

These days, I just don't feel like many layers. I still wear my boiled wool jacket, combining it with pencil skirts and turtlenecks or cardigans for quick errands around town (no photos just yet). But when it is below 30 F, I get into my parka! And even though I don't feel like shooting new pictures of my parka outings, I thought that it would be great to find old photos of me in my parka and to dedicate the whole post to this wonderfully cozy number. 

Reflections

I have just realized that the last post was my 40th post. I am 40 years old, and this is my new blog (not the first blog I've ever written, but the first one in English and the first one about style, clothes and all that stuff), and I have written 40 blog posts in short 3 month (I started in early September 2013). That in itself calls for celebration. But I started thinking what this blog actually added to my life and my understanding of myself. It is the very reason I started it 3 months ago (and started researching about 5 months ago). I have started this blog to get to know me better. And I did, in a few different ways. Am I done? Far from it!

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.