All Bundled Up

Yesterday I woke up to snow falling and I was so excited to finally to do a winter wonderland photo shoot. But by the time I was able to run outside, the snow had melted on the pavement and had stopped flurrying. So here's my (doctored) version. 

When I did see all the snow falling in the morning, though, my first thought was, "Oh, crap! What in the world am I going to WEEEAR?!" and I sent myself into a panic. 

I don't think this Georgia girl will ever really get used to snow.

So I grabbed the warmest thing I had - this gray, wool sweater-dress.  When I first put on the gray sweater-dress, my first reaction was, "oh, wow. That makes me look mega curvy. I don't know..." Especially since I've been wearing a lot of black lately (all my sweaters are in dark colors, I don't know why!) I wasn't used to seeing me in gray. But then I thought,  "That's stupid. I AM curvy. It will keep me warm and I like it." This was the first time I wore it and MAN, it's so warm! I decided to walk a little in the snow when the flurries were coming on strong and while my knees were chilly, the rest of me wasn't. I was impressed.

I figured because of the light color of the sweater-dress, I would continue with this winter's biggest trend - winter pastels. So I threw on my pink hat and (what color is this?!) sea foam suuuuuuuper-long-amazing-scarf. The extra little touch in keeping with the cute, sweetness of it all was my gray bow belt - one of my favorites! I don't wear it as much as I would like; I think in part because the color gray as an accessory throws me off for some reason.

Now while I just "threw on" my darling pastel knitwear, the things under my outfit I most definitely did NOT just throw on. I hiked up - with a lot of effort, I might add - a pair of tights, thick pair of stockings, and thick socks all before putting on my thick black leggings. I also have on a tank top, and long sleeve shirt under my sweater-dress - all carefully tucked into the various tights and leggings in according to Lindsey's method of winter wear OCD. But the long sleeve shirt wasn't just for extra warmth - the wool is a little scratchy so it helped with that.

What tips do you have for winter layering? I'm always learning! 

Sweater Dress: Goodwill | Belt, Scarf : Clothing Swap | Hat: Comma | Boots: DSW

Santa's Little Helper

So this outfit is more loud and obnoxious than actual fashion. I wrote that and then thought, psssh, forget that; fashion is whatever you want it to be. Either way, this outfit was loads of fun to wear for SantaCon up in Seoul this weekend! Because I've been so so busy lately, I haven't been able to really slow down and enjoy the Christmas season (not that it's a very big thing in a predominantly Buddhist country). I was so excited to get out of my city and do something festive! 

I have been trying very hard to not show any double takes on my blog so far. Not because I don't think it's cool to wear things over and over again (on the contrary!) but so many people give me free clothes and I wanted to challenge myself to not get comfortable wearing the same things. I wanted to take advantage of the influx of the swag while I got it. When you're a part of an expat community - especially when people know how much you love clothes -  you get "new" clothes ALL the time from friends who are leaving the country. Also I think the expat community views things in a much different light. Back home, you're encouraged to build a grown-up wardrobe, invest in the basics and fill up your closet, fill up your house. When you're moving frequently from country to country or when you live in a tiny place like me, this isn't always a reality or even a desire. You enjoy the things that you have when you have them and then you give them away. In a way, it's very freeing. However, don't let me fool you. There are some things (more than I care to admit) that I refuse to get rid of, no matter what. 

So back to wearing things more than once on this blog: I finally broke down. You might remember this top from here and this skirt from here. There's nothing like the holidays to bring [things] together, amiright? I wasn't willing to invest in a Santa suit, so I decided to dress up as an elf with things already in my closet. A quick run to the local dollar store supplied me with the additional holiday cheer of the holly garland, the santa hat, and the bows I added to the brim.

What things have you been doing to get you into the holiday spirit?

Crocheted Shrug: Korean thrift store | Green blouse: Forever 21 | Skirt: American thrift store | Sunnies: Target | Belt: Charlotte Russe | Boots: DSW | Garland & Santa Hat: Daiso  

Crisp and Classic

A little while back I was asked to participate in an educational video for my university. For the past year, I've been teaching an extra curricular English conversation class in the evenings for the flight attendant majors. That's right! In Korea, there's a whole university major for being a flight attendant. Once you've flown with a Korean airline though, it makes total sense - the flight attendants are excellent! So the purpose of this video was to adveritse about this class to incoming students. I, of course, played myself and because the sound didn't matter, my students and I got to be really goofy hamming it up for the camera. 

So this is the outfit I chose to wear for the video. Something professorial but still fashionable and fun. I've been dying to wear this gorgeous pale blue sweater ever since pulling out my winter clothes. The small knit-work and the color is so feminine and sweet. I decided to continue the theme with my crisp white shirt buttoned all the way up, my silver feather necklace, and kitten heels. And I love this skirt - y'all know how I love chiffon fabrics and this geometric pattern is really the deciding factor that made me buy it.  

Sneaky Slip!

Sweater: Gap (Thrift Store) | Button-Up: Old Navy (Thrift Store) | Skirt: Thrift Store | Necklace: Sharkzone boutique | Earrings: Naughty Cat | Ring: Premier Designs | Shoes: Anne Klein 

I Spy Style: Bong Yeon

My friends and I were in Seoul this weekend for a K-pop concert and we were wandering around town when we saw this gorgeous gal. I really wanted to take her picture but I was shy and nervous about asking. Luckily, with my friends encouraging me and Lynn offering to use her Korean skills, I was able to get these shots of 봉연 (Miss Bong Yeon). And boy, am I glad I did! The more I look at these pictures, the more genius it is to me.

Let's just recap what 봉연 is wearing exactly: an electric blue coat, animal print scarf, red paisley print dress layered over a sheer white layer and then a black one, orange studded boots, a flower headband and cat-eye make-up. It's amazing! It sounds like so much but she makes it work so well. First, I love how she mixed the two prints together. Then on top of two loud prints, she went ahead and added extra color to her outfit. Then there's all the layers going on. And yet, everything she's wearing seems effortless. 

Thanks, 봉연, for letting me take your picture!  

The K-pop concert was awesome and I'll post up a few pictures of my own outfit coming soon. What did you do this weekend?

Eat Like a Pig, Look Like a Lady

Lately I've been pushing myself to really get better at layering for winter (something I always seem to be reminding you is not my strong suit, being from Georgia). But for this outfit, I went back to what I feel comfortable doing. No layers - just ONE sweater and ONE pair of tights (I usually wear a t-shirt or tank top, and extra tights for added warmth). It's good to challenge yourself and push your style but it's always nice to go back to what you really like. Luckily, the weather was willing to cooperate. 

I wore this outfit to my expat Friendsgiving dinner last weekend. It was very important I wear something where I could sit easily sit on the floor (it's Korean style and foreigners here don't have enough seats or space to sit 20 people). When I pulled out this tulle skirt, I knew it was perfect. It's an absolute stellar length for me to sit on the floor no problem and still look put together. I bought this skirt years and years ago at a thrift store and at the time, it looked so badly 80's. It had an elastic waistband (which turned out to be very helpful after eating lots of turkey!) and no one was really wearing any tulle. I didn't care. Flowly materials like tulle always instantly grab my heart so I took it home and kept it in my closet until I was brave enough to wear it (7 years ago I wasn't as fashionably adventurous) or until it came into style. Thankfully, both happened and I'm so glad I kept it around. I absolutely love it. I call it my "grown-up tutu". It's got the feel of tutu but not all the volume. And man, to twirl in this thing! So fun. 

I got this sweater this summer at a clothing swap and have been salivating for a long time just thinking of wearing it! And then when Phillip Lim's Target line came out and I couldn't even look at the Target website, I was so sad. But I consoled myself when I pulled out this sweater. It's not Phillip Lim, but it's similar. I love animal print, I love color and I LOVE red and blue together. C'est parfait! 

The only accessory I added besides little silver studs was my cowboy necktie, the turquoise bolo. I bought this bad boy back in Georgia and even though I'm very much the suburban girl, it reminds me a little of a home. This piece is always fun to wear because it's always a new challenge to put it with unexpected outfits while making sure it doesn't look like a costume (I never wear the bolo and my cowboy boots together). 

The outfit, the weather, the FOOD and the company turned out to be pretty incredible this day! What did you wear for your Thanksgiving?

Sweater: Clothing Swap | Skirt, Belt, Bolo: Thrift Store | Shoes: Homeplus