Spring Epitome & Vintage Desk

Every Spring, with no exception, the world of fashion explodes with floral dresses - mostly in soft pastel colors. I confess, I am tempted to join the fun, but pastel tones don't work that well with my pale freckled skin. I am more of a jewel tone and warm earthy color girl who blossoms in bold pattern and strong color dresses. But this frock, I thought, offered a beautiful balance of fresh soft pastels and strong bold colors on a dark background reminiscent of the bareness of early Spring. I appreciate the comfy style of it while also being so striking. So you understand - it had to be done!

Darkest Before the Dawn

Dressing up to me, perhaps unlike many of my lovely blogging friends, is 100% a social thing. I simply don't feel the need or craving to dress up when I am at home - I find many other things that bring me joy and occupy my time. I am a bit surprised when someone tries to change my mind about it. Is there really one right way to live our lives, and everything else is wrong? I don't sign up for that philosophy. Everyone is different, so whatever works. During the pandemic (and we're in the second year by today, as it started earlier in the Washington State compared to the rest of the country, as well as many other countries), so during the pandemic there was practically no reason for me to dress up. As a large part introvert, I initially didn't suffer from the lack of social life at all. Even though I lost some of my work contracts due to closures of our libraries, I still had my students and enjoyed figuring out the new ways of teaching. But by the arrival of Winter, I started missing our family outings and cultural events which used to inspire my creating of outfits and having photo shoots with Justin. 

Meet Me at Twilight

 

Sometimes, to get unstuck, all we need is to break loose from the tension of the old patterns. That will allow us to see a new possibility, a new opening that most probably was always there, dismissed as unsuitable, as "not good enough"...

Modish Matrons #36: Garden Party at Beate's

Oh how time flies. I've just barely come back from my TRIP TO PARIS, and I am now leaving again! This time, I meet my beautiful friends TINA und BEATE at the garden party of the year which Beate hosts in her cozy and luscious garden. 

April Showers, Fridays for Future and My Contribution to the World

Thank you so much for your wonderful comments on my previous posts!!! They brought so much joy to my heart, and I mean it. I do miss interacting with you guys, and I feel like I am very much behind each of your real life series. I lurked at your blogs a few times in the past few months and have every intention to catch up some day, though it is still challenging at this point. I thought that my workload would be lighter in April, but boy I was wrong! After finishing with one gig, I continued keeping myself busy with new ones, and after family time, trying to keep the house in at least a tiny bit reasonable state of chaos, and time to rest and recharge, there is very little time for blogging and fashion. But it isn't a bad thing, and even rare style and blog encounters can still provide fun as well as a break from other activities and responsibilities.

Back to September

Hello my dear friends and readers,

November has been a busy month so far, and to tell the truth I haven't even taken any new outfit photos yet. But I still have some unposted outfits from the past months, and why not use the power of our imagination, and instead of documenting what's happening right now, get into a time machine to travel a couple of months back?

Inspired by Vintage

If you remember the recent NOVEMBER 2017 post, you might think that this plaid skirt looks somewhat familiar, and you won't be wrong. I have been wearing my old skirt for 3 years and find it very versatile and perfect for the cold season, which led me to an idea to look for another skirt in similar lines, but perhaps in different colors. While the colors of this skirt are rather similar, I do not mind it at all - I love green and rust. The design of this skirt made it irresistible for me, but it will be revealed a bit later.

Blurry Stripes with Blurry Dots

If you're an old friend, you might remember this space dyed sweater which I wore with a matching skirt before (in JANUARY 2015 and NOVEMBER 2014). It's a good time to play with knits right now (and the scarf I started knitting a few months ago, is slowly getting longer and longer...I guess it'll be ready by next Winter, haha!). So I wore a knit dress and knit set recently, layering a blouse under it, but this combination with a pleated faux leather skirt got just one extra vote in the family (only Justin voted! he loved both variations, but he loved this one a little better), so I went with it. I feel it's classically elegant and will probably appeal to many women. We'll see whether I'm right about it. :)

Pink Play

Pink is one of the prettiest colors, but it never was one of my most favorite ones. There are generally two reasons for that: A) when something is so pretty, it becomes favored by many, and I tend to resent things that are too popular, they just rapidly loose their appeal for me; and B) even though I absolutely admire some shades of pink on others (i.e., dusty pink or frost pink), alas, there are not many shades of pink that look good with my skin tone. As for the first reason, I completely understand that it's just in my head, and I gradually overcome this shortcoming of mine. And as for the second reason, all right, not too many shades of pink work for me, but there is always MAGENTA! And magenta is MAGICAL in my book.

Overgrown Beauty

My photos today are not from an unusual city park or professionally landscaped, meticulously manicured award-winning garden, but from our own little cottage garden by the sea. It is overgrown and practically wild, with dandelions taking over the lawn and bees buzzing busily around the abundantly blooming bushes. The people who planted all the trees, shrubs and flowers around the cottage many years before us did really an amazing job, so even without much care everything grows and blossoms beautifully, and every Spring we have our own marvelous display of blooms. It is especially generous this year due to the enormous amount of rain we received last Winter, I suppose, and I wanted to share this beauty with you before it's gone for the season. 

First Post in Russian // Мы и по-русски могём!

 

I wore this outfit yesterday for a lunch date and a bit of shopping with Justin, but its prototype was born a day before it, and as I hung it on a curtain rod to work my magic, I wrote a letter to my dear old girlfriends in Russia. It was such a light and inspired letter that I decided I would post it here (shortened by just a bit). And since I have been considering the idea to write in both English and Russian in this blog, I thought I'd post both the original in Russian and English translation.

Этот наряд я носила вчера на обед и небольшую прогулку с мужем по магазинам. Однако прототип наряда родился на день раньше: я вешала вещи на карниз, чтобы еще малость над нарядом поколдовать, и писала письмо моим старым добрым подругам в Россию. Письмо вышло таким легким и вдохновенным, что я решила опубликовать его здесь, чуток укоротив. И поскольку я уже давненько раздумываю над тем, чтобы вести этот блог и по-английски, и по-русски, я решила опубликовать и оригинал своего письма на русском, и английский перевод.

On the Sunny Side

Time flies when you're having fun, they say. I guess we've been having lots of fun lately, because I didn't even noticed when March ended and April began. We've been busy reorganizing, both our cottage living and our inner living, and while I am not ready to share my thoughts on the inner part just yet, I can tell that the latest house project is repainting Anya's room and getting a few new pieces of furniture, which we haven't done in years! So it is very exciting, and I hope to share some pictures soon.

Modish Matrons: Take a Clue from That Painting

 

Don't let April Fools fool you! Just listen to what the wise BEATE suggests for our April link-up party - take a clue from that painting, cool and lovely Modish Matrons! What painting you ask? Read on!

Modish Matrons: Russian Winter Fairy Tale

Happy New Year!

Here at In The Writer's Closet, we begin it with a new, updated version of our monthly link-up that will start on the 1st of every month and stay open for a whole month. If you are on Facebook, we'll appreciate if you like our new page MODISH MATRONS, and thank you to all who have already liked us! Our team - Tina, Beate and myself - would love it if you get inspired by our themes, but feel free to join us as you are, too. Other than a new date, we also arrange our themes differently now - we take turns, so each month one of us presents a theme that inspires her, and it is represented in our collages too:

Tell a Different Story

My taste in fashion, as well as my taste in life, is very eclectic, and after a few whimsical and retro inspired styles, I got hungry for some cool casual modern.

Old World Charm with a Twist

This summer is much milder than we anticipated. I mean, compared to last year and the year before that, it's really very mild with temperatures in mid 60s to mid 70s, most days. I don't mind - I like weather like this, as long as we have some sunny days here and there, which we do. Besides, this summer started unexpectedly in late March, and during April and May we had some very hot days. I was so happy to find a few linen (or rather linen blend) items earlier this year, like this adorable set - a top and shorts. Yes, shorts. I am pretty sure this is the first time you see me in shorts, as I haven't worn them in years. They were never my most favorite item of clothing, somehow. I remember sewing two or three pairs of shorts when I was a teen and loved playing tennis ("You play beautifully, Natasha, but incorrectly," my instructor used to say). I probably had shorts for the first few years in America too, just because they are so common here, and my first few summers in the Midwest were really hot. After that, for at least 10 years, I don't think I wore shorts. 

So here is my take on this popular summer outfit - I could not resist this charming ensemble, could I? 

Sweet Sixties

When I was a teen, I thought that the 1960s was the grooviest time ever. I thought it was fun, romantic, optimistic and kind. I loved watching movies made in the 60s. I loved the fashion and the type of women's beauty that was popular back then. Mama and Papa weren't mama and papa yet. They were young, fell madly in love, got married, moved to live in a very cool new town, where soon Andrei was born, and they became who they always will be - our Mama and Papa, though I did not became a reality till the 70s.

Hold On, Indy!

There are times, when an outfit I create inspires where I want to go, and there are other times, when a place inspires my outfit. This was one of those other times. Justin suggested we go for a walk in the beautiful Tumwater Falls Park near Olympia, which was featured in my blog back in 2015 (posts Days Passed and Abandoned Beauty).

Like a Russian Play

When Pantone revealed the colors of the year of 2016, I thought that there would not be too many things for me this year. "Oh good, I'll save money then," I thought. Rose Quartz and Serenity, or, translated into my unsophisticated color vocabulary, pale pink and pale blue (I know, it's not the same!), just aren't my colors. I do think they are both pretty and serene, I just did not think I would want to wear them. But appetite grows with eating, as they say, and at this point wild horses would not be able to drag me from my experiments with style. To my surprise, I soon found myself getting into pretty blues and pinks. And when I saw this dress, I fell head over heels for its tender beauty.

Riverwalk

It seems, this hat wants to go with pretty much every one of my outfits. 

And it seems, I let her!