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 

Dark Romance

I'm going to attempt to walk you through my creative process for this photo shoot but goodness knows, my process is usually full of nonsense and cheese. I had been almost ... craving... I guess craving is the right word, romantic but dark outfits. I just had this idea in my head that I wanted to create. I think I've been inspired a lot by Briar Rose Blog with her really adorable girly looks. I was also inspired by the cat fascinator that I found at Naughty Cat - I'm not the biggest on cat accessories (I know, this is sacrilege to a lot of people. Please don't hate me) but I'm not opposed to it either. But when I saw the fascinator with it's cute little ears covered in lace, I just had to have it. It went back to that craving of dark, romantic, gothic, victorian things. 

I didn't mean to take pictures in the twilight magic hour, but it was a happy happening. (sometimes good things happen when you take too long to get ready!) When I saw this abandoned lot near my house and the sun setting behind the hill, I seized the opportunity. I have also been inspired by this incredibly talented girl, Esther - From the Sticks, who shoots her own photos that are so beautiful. They're full of light and air and whimsy. 

Not only was the photo shoot so much fun to do (though a little messy, getting mud all over my heels and weeds in my hair), wearing this outfit later that night was also a blast. I wore what I call my "ninja suit" under the dress - just basic black tights and a long-sleeve black shirt. This is my canvas to keep me warm and to build the rest of my look on. It also complimented well with the dark romance I wanted to go with. Then I threw on one of my all time favorite dresses. It's this gorgeous little thing that is so flattering it doesn't need any extra bells and whistles. And I love the baby blush color, the sheer material and the butterfly sleeves. 

My boyfriend told me the other day how he had a kind of realization about me and my clothing choices. He said he is starting to realize just how much I have and want to communicate and how my clothes are a big part of me speaking to the world. He can tell what kind of mood I'm in sometimes by the choices I decide upon. I guess that goes back to the "craving" and how that word is really perfect for what I mean. I get an idea stuck in my head and I can't shake it until I can create and express it. 

Dress & Shoes: Korean Thrift Store 

Rocking and Rolling Retro Denim-on-Denim

This outfit was too much fun to wear. And it all came together seamlessly. I wasn't trying to do a retro outfit today. I just knew I wanted to wear my jeans because it's cold! And my chambray shirt because apparently it's shaping up to be my errand shirt. I also wanted to wear my saddle shoes because I was feeling lazy - I just wanted cute, warm footwear. I put it all on and thought... 

Love when that happens! It's also convenient because the denim-on-denim look is totally rocking and rolling this fall. The trick is to do different colors and materials. The chambray top is lighter in color and material than the blue jeans, so it's A-okay. 

My hair was being stupid today so I decided to stop fighting with it and do the good ol' bun and then put on the vintage-inspired headband. I was originally going to just wear the chambray shirt loose but to go with the retro theme, I tied it at the waist and rolled up the jeans at the bottom. To finish the look I put on my new heart earrings and red lipstick. I went with my "no make-up" make-up look because I was too lazy to do the extra eyeliner and such. And then I ran out the door to grocery shopping and other grown-up-ish errands. Now, where's the sock hop?! 

How would you style your denim-on-denim look?

Psssssh, can you see my socks? I actually have socks that not only match each other - they match the outfit for once!

Jeans: Cello | Shirt: Target | Shoes: Korean Thrift Store | Earrings & Headband: Naughty Cat 

Blogs I Love: Melodic Thrifty Chic

I've been wanting to do a "Favorite Blogs" feature for a while so I'm excited to kick it off with my absolute favorite! You might recognize her because I've used some of her pictures before on my blog.

Anna Martin's fashion blog, Melodic Thrifty Chic, is exactly what the name says. She takes all these interesting pieces she finds and then pairs them in the most surprising way. My favorite thing about Anna is how seamlessly (no pun intended) she layers clothes. As I've talked about before, I'm not good at this and am slowly learning - in part, thanks to Anna! I mean, in the first picture - a poncho under a leather jacket? Genius! Not something I would have even thought of. 

She is also the queen bee of graphic tees. She always has these quirky, funny t-shirts (or sweaters) but when she matches it with the rest of the outfit, it always looks so chic and put-together. The photo on the top's shirt says: "Death - Our Nation's Number One Killer". I like that she never takes fashion too seriously. 

She always is a whiz kid at playing with prints - another thing I've become obsessed with and am always trying. Here she's paired two floral prints together - not to mention the lace socks! Oh, and she's wearing two skirts so as to get the lace detail at the bottom of the skirt. And she has an adorable bicycle necklace. Honestly, you have to go check out all of these outfit posts because she does a beautiful job of documenting all the details in her outfit - and there are plenty! 

This look above is just yet another great example of the details and layering that goes into her outfits. I really love this particular look because it's one of her more androgynous looks. She plays so expertly with menswear and yet then looks effortless in these beautiful feminine looks (shown below). She has a wide range of styles she favors, but yet when you look at an outfit of hers, you somehow always know it's hers. I don't know how she does that - she just has this iconic style. 

One last thing before I go that I gotta mention - Not only does Anna have brilliant style, but I also really admire her as a blogger. She is all over the interwebs blogsphere but not in an annoying way - she comes across as so personable, warm, and genuine in all her comments, emails, and narratives on her blog posts. She is motivated and driven. (Did I mention she also has a music blog for heaven's sake?!) She has only had her fashion blog for ONE year but it is already so successful. I think the combination of her playful, killer style, her hard work and warm nature really makes her blog the creative force it is. Don't forget to comb all over melodicthriftychic.com and check out (and read!) all about Anna's style.