Déjà vu

I feel like I've worn this outfit before. I looked through my archives and didn't find it, but maybe it's in a post I forgot to label. This shirt and these pants are such a natural fit that it feels like I must have worn them together before. I added the leopard print hat for a touch of quirkiness, and also because I start to get uncomfortable when my outfits match too much.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: these pants were some of the best $60 I've ever spent. They're a beautiful color, a beautiful fit, and way more comfortable than any of my jeans. They're definitely a pair of pants that I will wear until they fall apart.

[Side note: Today I'm doing a guest post over at Danica's blog goodheart! She's doing a week of guest posts celebrating her first anniversary of living in Portland, and I did a post about the beautiful Rose Garden - check it out here!]

Floral shirt: Georgia tee from StyleMint

Red corduroy pants: Anthropologie

Faux leather jacket: Forever 21, from Jen Loves Kev's closet sale

Black purse: thrifted from Salvation Army

Leopard print hat: Albertus Swanepoel for Target

Spider necklace: Bauble Bar

Brown belt: thrifted

Bracelet: In Pink

Leopard and neon

These pants are one of my favorite clothing items. They're a little too big in the legs - I'd rather they were more tapered - but I don't mind that so much because the pattern is fun. And when worn with flats instead of heels they make me look a bit stumpy - but again, I don't mind too much. This was a casual outfit worn last week for some last-minute shopping before our vacation - Josh got new shoes, and I got a straw hat with a gigantic brim. (I hate wearing sunscreen on my face, so I needed something to shade it.)

(Oh, and in case you're wondering why there are photos from two different locations, it's because I whacked my forehead on a lamppost right before we took photos at my parents' house, and I had a big red mark on my forehead in all the full-length shots. So we re-took those on the roof when we got home.)

Orange shirt: Target

Camel colored blazer: Forever 21

Leopard print pants: thrifted from Salvation Army

Brown sandals: Nordstrom Rack

Brown purse: thrifted

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Spider necklace: Bauble Bar

Bracelet: In Pink

Bubblegum pink and rust red

I put together this cardigan and these pants a few weeks ago, but Josh told me they looked weird, so I ended up not wearing them at the time. But when I was searching for an outfit to wear the other day, I kept coming back to this combination, and decided to wear it anyway. After wearing and photographing it, I still don't know how I feel about bubblegum pink and rust red together. I like unusual color combinations on other people, but I rarely put them together myself, mostly because I honestly can't tell the difference between innovative and odd. But I like to share those on-the-fence outfits anyway. What do you guys think? Is this a strange color combination that works, or one that just looks "off"? (I should probably mention that I have really thick skin, so it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if you told me you hated it.)

Completely unrelated to my outfit...yesterday I bought plane tickets for us to go to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon in June! I'm so excited because Josh and I have never taken a real vacation together - our honeymoon was just a quick weekend trip to my family's beach house, because Josh had to get back to school right away. It'll be so fun to have nearly a whole week off work and to explore some new parts of the country!

Pink cardigan: gift from my grandma

Red corduroy pants: Anthropologie

Shoes: BCBGeneration from Macy's

Leopard print hat: Albertus Swanepoel for Target

Pearl necklace: gift from a friend

Leopard print belt: H&M

Bracelet: In Pink

Leopard and layers

After several days of spending my afternoons lying on the couch while watching TV and slowly working my way through a few boxes of tissues, bags of cough drops, and pots of tea, I finally abandoned my cold and returned to the land of the well on Thursday. Josh and I celebrated by going on a walk, snapping these photos, and getting some coffee. (Yes, we do know how to go wild with our celebrations. You should have seen us on New Year's Eve - no booze, and in bed by 11 p.m.)

Red button-up shirt: Nordstrom (about ten years ago)

Red vest: Forever 21

Black faux leather skirt: H&M

Black tights: American Apparel

Loafers: Urban Outfitters

Leopard print hat: Albertus Swanepoel for Target

Earrings: church craft fair

Necklace: jewelry store in Zhengzhou, China

Leopard print belt: H&M

Gold watch: free from a family member

White bracelet: H&M

Double the fun

I've always felt that one of those unspoken fashion rules is that you should never wear more than one leopard print item in an outfit, but I decided to try it anyway on Sunday afternoon, and ended up loving it. I don't think I'd ever wear a leopard print skirt and leopard print shoes together, but I liked the look of the matching hat and shoes.

Last year I actually tried on the sweater and the pants together at Anthropologie and loved the color combination, but it took until now to wear them together officially. When my mom saw this outfit she said, "Those are...interesting colors." And as long as someone thinks my outfit is interesting, I'm satisfied. They don't even have to like it, as long as it catches their eye.

Blue sweater: Anthropologie

Jean jacket: thrifted from Rerun

Rust colored corduroy pants: Anthropologie

Leopard print heels: Sam Edelman from Nordstrom Rack

Leopard print hat: Albertus Swanepoel for Target

Wooden earrings: church craft fair

Gold watch: free from a family member

Gold bracelets: In Pink

Brown belt: thrifted from Goodwill

Simple outfit

I loved this outfit so much, and I'm a little sad that these photos didn't capture just how cute it felt to me. It was fairly simple, and I think that's why I liked it so much, because I very rarely wear simple outfits.

I'm really looking forward to the weekend. I've been sick all week, so I can't wait to lounge around tomorrow and maybe watch an entire season of Scrubs (I just started watching it on Netflix - it's hilarious) and drink a few pots of tea. Weekends are usually when I cram in all my social activities, but sometimes it's nice just to spend a Saturday doing absolutely nothing.

Beige sweater: thrifted

Denim skirt: Gap

Red trench coat: Calvin Klein from Costco

Black tights: American Apparel

Black flats: Kathy flats from ShoeMint

Leopard print hat: Albertus Swanepoel for Target

Gold necklace: Evidence Jewelry, won in a giveaway

Gold watch: free from a family member

Functional

I used to care much more about functionality than aesthetics when it came to clothes. If you had looked in my closet two years ago you would have found a lot of jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, flat shoes - and only one pair of heels. It wasn't that I disliked wearing skirts and dresses and things like that - I was just in a phase where I preferred everything I wore to be super functional. If you were to look at my closet now, it would look a lot different - I have thirteen pairs of heels (yes, I went and counted just for this), and a few dozen dresses and skirts. I'm very much into pretty clothes now - or at least clothes that look interesting - and it doesn't always matter if they're comfortable or not.

But recently I found myself wanting a nice pair of black flats. My old pair were wearing out and were no longer comfortable, and I wanted something cute to wear while running errands instead of just tennis shoes. Honestly, I kind of hated the idea of buying flats, because they almost never look as interesting as heels, and I am notoriously bad about buying sensible things when there are impractical things to tempt me instead. But I ordered a pair of these black flats from ShoeMint (a sister company to StyleMint, which I mentioned a few months ago). Considering that I didn't spend more than $10 on each of the flats I have in my closet, paying $64 for these was kind of painful. (They're $80 originally, but I had a discount code.) But dang, they're cute! And comfortable. I feel pretty proud of myself for actually spending my clothing money on something useful for once, instead of just buying another blouse or skirt that I don't really need.

Black shirt: Forever 21

Fuzzy black cardigan: gift from my aunt, from Macy's

Leopard print pants: thrifted from Salvation Army

Black flats: Kathy flats from ShoeMint

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Gold necklace: Evidence Jewelry, won in a giveaway

Ring: free from my aunt

Love and leopard print

Even though I very much like red and pink together, I decided it would have been over the top to wear it on Valentine's Day, so this is what I wore instead. Because nothing says love like leopard print and a men's sweater vest.

Josh and I went out to lunch yesterday with some of his co-workers, and they made me play pool with them. I was so bad at it that there were times where I literally could not even hit the white ball that was an inch away from the cue stick. I may be classically trained at the piano, folks, but my hand-eye coordination fails me whenever I really just want to look cool. (Because isn't that what pool is all about? Who cares if you get balls in the holes, as long as you look cool while doing it.)

Leopard print blouse: thrifted from Goodwill

Brown men's sweater vest: from an estate sale

Jeans: Levi's from Urban Outfitters

Brown boots: TJ Maxx

Brown men's hat: gift from my dad, from a store in York, England

Gold owl necklace: Forever 21

Brown belt: thrifted from Goodwill

Gold bracelets: In Pink

Leopard print heels

I never wear these leopard print heels with anything but pants. After I bought them I brought them home only to realize that because of the way the top of the shoes look, they look odd with anything but pants. So all I can wear them with are jeans, my red cords, and these blue cords. I've gotten a surprising amount of wear out of them, though. They allow me to do subtle versions of pattern mixing, because I can wear a shirt that would clash with leopard print up close, but when the shirt and the shoes are separated by a solid-colored pair of pants I can get away with it. (I'll be honest though - I really tried to make this top work with my leopard print pants. It was horrible.)

Blouse: thrifted from The Dig

Blue high-waisted corduroy pants: Anthropologie

Leopard print heels: Sam Edelman from Nordstrom Rack

Red hat: thrifted from Village Merchants

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Brown belt: thrifted from Goodwill

Gold leaf cuff bracelet: In Pink

Impractical footwear

I know in yesterday's post I said Oregon wasn't going to get bare-leg weather anytime soon, but the day after we took yesterday's photos it hit 52 degrees, and that was just warm enough for me to want to bust out my cropped pants and a pair of open-toed shoes.

These shoes are fun, but they're definitely not for everyone. When I got them in the mail (last year) and opened the box I gasped, more out of horror than anything else. They were huge. (Heel-wise, not size-wise.) And I put them on my feet and felt like I could topple over at any moment. I spent a few hours that day wondering if I should send them back, but then I decided that I should allow myself to own at least one pair of fun, impractical shoes. (That was before I started my current shoe collection. Now I have about a dozen pairs of fun, impractical shoes.) So I kept them, and the more I wore them, the more I got used to the 6-inch heels and 2-inch platforms. I've heard people online scoff at bloggers who wear shoes like this; they think we just put them on for photos and then take them right off. Well, I don't know about any of you other 6-inch-platform-owners out there, but I actually wear these a lot (mostly during warm weather) - to parties, dinner dates, church, and even just around the house if I want to feel fancy. And sure, I can't wear them for more than about three hours at a time, but I wasn't planning on wearing them for an eight-hour workday anyway :) What about you guys? Are you into crazy, impractical shoes, or do you go for the more sensible ones?

Blue sweater: Anthropologie

Cropped leopard print pants: thrifted from Salvation Army

Platform heels: Jessica Simpson Dany heels from Macy's

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Gold necklace: free from my aunt

Gold bracelets: In Pink

The cat, the spider and the ant

It was unintentional that I combined leopard print and stripes for two posts in a row - I had forgotten about yesterday's post when I took today's photos. This look was inspired by this fun outfit of Lydia's. Since I was already wearing animal print, I decided to throw a few other creatures into the mix - my spider necklace and ant bracelet. And yes, the ant is real.

Striped sweater: Loft

Leopard print blouse: thrifted from Goodwill

Black faux leather skirt: H&M

Black tights: American Apparel

Black and brown wedges: Asos

Spider necklace: Bauble Bar

Watch: thrifted from Village Merchants

Ant bracelet: flea market

Leopard and stripes

I guess I have a thing for mixing stripes and leopard print. Sometimes when I mix patterns I try to combine them tastefully, but other times - like here - I really just want to throw together an odd combination just for the fun of it. In retrospect I don't love that I rolled up my blazer sleeves to show the striped sleeves - I think it would have looked more polished with the sleeves rolled down. (Although really, with a leopard print hat and a huge blue-green necklace, was I ever going to achieve "polished"?)

Combining these jeans and boots (here, here and here) is apparently my go-to look for when Josh and I go out to eat and I want to be comfortable but still wear heels. On Saturday when I wore this we walked downtown for lunch and a bit of bridesmaid dress shopping. (And in case you're wondering, Josh did not have to suffer through watching me try on dresses! He went to the video game store.) My friend Rachel is getting married in a few months and she's letting all the bridesmaids pick out their own dresses as long as they're gray. The other three bridesmaids have their dresses already, but I apparently have hit a wall. I've been to dozens of stores, visited about forty online retailers, and have yet to find a dress that is 1) In stock in my size (which is 8), 2) In my price range ($150 or less), 3) Solid gray with no patterns, and 4) Something I would wear again after the wedding. All I'm finding are dresses that I love that cost about $300, or dresses that look skanky and are way too short or show too much cleavage. Help! Do any of you have suggestions for where I could look for a dress? I've tried local boutiques, as well as a lot of big name stores (Asos, Topshop, Anthropologie, J. Crew, Macy's, Nordstrom, TJ Maxx, Ross, Marshall's, Nordstrom Rack, etc.).

PS - Stay tuned later for a post filled with adorable photos of my dog Onyx!

Striped top: H&M

Black blazer: Fred Meyer

Jeans: Levi's from Urban Outfitters

Beige wedge boots: Urban Outfitters

Leopard print hat: Albertus Swanepoel for Target

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Blue and green necklace: purchased in Florence, Italy

Bracelet: In Pink

Worn but not seen

Sometimes I feel like my outfits are wasted if no one sees them. That's why I try to save my favorite outfits for the weekend, when we go out to eat or to church - that way, the maximum amount of people will see what I wear. Yes, it's vain of me - but isn't that what most people do? They get dressed for others. If I was stuck in a house by myself and never had visitors and never went anywhere, I would probably wear the same pair of jeans and t-shirt every day - but if someone were to come visit, you better believe I would get dressed up. Which begs the (rather facetious) question: If an outfit is worn and no one sees it, does it really count as an outfit? This outfit was seen, but only by Josh, a few people in the elevator of my building, and you guys. It's a shame, because I thought it was a solid attempt at pattern mixing, and I would have liked to wear it around certain family members who would have said things like, "What are you wearing?" "Oh my, you look interesting," and, "Well that's a new combination."

Striped top: H&M

Blazer: Forever 21

Pants: thrifted from Salvation Army

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Earrings: gift from my parents, from B. Lee Designs

Scarf: purchased from a street vendor in China

Impractical shopping

Sometimes I'm not the most responsible shopper. In my head I know I should be on the lookout for clothes that are simple, timeless, and go with nearly everything in my closet, but then sometimes I end up in Anthropologie when they're having a good sale and buy a shirt like this one just because it's pretty, without thinking it through at all. Show me a nice pattern and some ruffled shoulders and my heart starts doing a little happy dance. I think my main problem with practical shopping is that it's boring. Sure, there are times where I need to buy jeans, or a plain black skirt, or a dark-colored winter coat, but gosh do I hate it, because even though those are items I'll use over and over again, they're not things that I get excited about. Show me a pair of plain brown heels and my response will probably be, "Meh," but show me a pair of leopard print heels and I'll gush over them and carry on about how I can't live without them, even though they will probably only go with about five things in my closet. Do any of you have this problem? Please tell me I'm not the only one!

Top and pants: Anthropologie

Jacket: Forever 21 brand, from Jen Loves Kev's closet sale

Shoes: Sam Edelman from Nordstrom Rack

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Earrings: B. Lee Designs

Necklace: Bauble Bar

Belt: thrifted

With the band

I'm not really into rock concerts. Ever since I almost passed out in a mosh pit, they just haven't appealed to me in the same way they did in high school. But if one of my favorite bands comes to town, of course I'll go to the concert, and I'll always buy a band t-shirt. I got this one last year at a Switchfoot concert, and on Tuesday I realized that I hadn't worn it in about a year. So I dug it out and styled it up for winter. (Let's face it - even though it's technically still fall, if the temperatures are bordering on freezing, it counts as winter.) I piled on the layers (and probably could have done with another pair of tights), and also apparently used this opportunity to wear five different things that clashed with each other. I was generally pleased with the look, though; it had a nice eclectic touch to it, and made me feel happy while wearing it. I call it my "I reached into the closet blindfolded and wore whatever I touched first" outfit.

T-shirt: from a Switchfoot concert

Cardigan: Old Navy

Jean jacket: thrifted from Rerun

Skirt: H&M

Tights: American Apparel

Socks: Gap

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

Scarf: thrifted

Bracelets: In Pink (yellow), Dress Barn (blue), thrifted from Village Merchants (green)