Life – Page 10 – Blue Collar Red Lipstick

Category: Life

21
Mar
2015

Clothes Swap 2015

categories: Dress-up, Life, Social events, style

NOTE: I was overwhelmed by the support and love that you guys sent my way after my last post, so I just wanted to write a quick note saying: thank you. THANK YOU. You guys rock. I’m still going through all your comments – and doing my best to respond to each one of them – and taking stock of your suggestions, and figuring out where the blog goes from here. I will probably do a follow-up post at some point, but it may take me some time to articulate all of my thoughts in some sort of coherent manner. In the meantime I’ve decided to run a few posts that have been kicking about in the drafts folder for a while. Hope you like them.

It’s March, and that means it’s time for another clothing swap. I host one every year (2014, 2013, 2012) and every year I am amazed by (a) how many clothes I manage to accumulate (despite swearing up and down the previous year that it would not happen again), and (b) how much fun the whole thing ends up being, despite my twenty kinds of unnecessary stressing beforehand. Truly, the hostess power is not strong with yours truly. It’s probably because I don’t have a Pinterest account. Or perhaps why. (It’s a chicken or egg thing, really.) But, I do try:

clothing swap party — Setting up (with a sneak peek at our living room remod)

This year’s theme was East Meets West (think sushi and hot wings), so I had to add some fortune cookies to the mix. On bunny plates that had absolutely nothing to do with the theme, because why not. (For the record, my husband picked those out at Winners. I bet you didn’t see that coming.) Anyway, it looked cute:

Some of my guests asked about the floral arrangements, so I’ll share my “secret” here as well, in case someone hasn’t yet discovered it for themselves: Costco flowers, peeps. Four hydrangea stems, and two dozen roses set me back about $30, and they are ridiculously easy to arrange at home. And here’s my mom’s tip for getting the roses to open up nicely: when you get them home, cut the stems down and add ice to their water. Easy peasy.

Also easy? Store-bought dessert. Keeps the party prep time to a manageable level, and is delicious to boot.

Since we’re talking about a clothing swap, I guess you might be curious about the clothes. Here is what left my closet (and my mom’s!):

And here is what came in:

The LOFT eyelet sleeveless top is perfect under my work blazers, and the cream colour will be very versatile, I think. I decided to take the AG jeans, despite not being a fan of flares, because they fit me incredibly well in the waist/butt/hip area. These jeans have a definite 70s vibe to them, which seems to be a big trend again this year, so I figured this would be the cheapest way to try a new look. Because they are also extra long, I decided to keep a pair of super high platform sandals I had planned on purging. To balance out the shoe equation, I also got a pair of strappy Zara flat sandals. Oh, and some ginormous Cavalli sunglasses.

And then, there was this:

I remember seeing this dress on Jean, two or three years ago, so obviously it made an impression on me. I don’t really shop at H&M for myself anymore (I do buy some kids’ stuff there), but I figured this one was worth keeping around … at least for a while, especially with St. Patrick’s Day around the corner (and a client event where we’ve been encouraged to dress to theme). If it doesn’t end up getting a lot of wear, well, there is always next year’s swap!

This marked the 8th year that I’ve hosted a clothing swap, and it has never not been a ton of fun. Getting some awesome new-to-me clothes is a big part of it, for sure, but it is even better to get a chance to catch up with friends, old and new. So, if you’ve ever thought about hosting (or attending) a clothing swap – do ittttt! I mean, you probably won’t have a terrible time or anything.

And if you’ve done it before, tell me what you thought about the whole experience.

20
Mar
2015

So, We Need to Talk

categories: Life, Trials and Tribulations, Yes or No

Uh oh.

That’s always my first reaction when I hear that phrase. But, don’t worry: this is not going to be that kind of talk.

At least, I don’t think it is.

The truth is that I’ve been feeling a lot of, well, negative feelings about blogging, and this blog in particular, lately. I’m not so much burnt out, as bitter. And that, you guys, is not a good feeling. It’s not the feeling I want to get from something I do as a hobby – a distraction from everyday stresses. I’ve asked myself numerous times why it is that I periodically get to this point with the blog, and the truth ain’t so pretty.

I get jealous.

Jealous of the fact that other bloggers have more traffic and more reader engagement. More followers on Instagram. More comments. More recognition. I hate to feel like I’m failing, and after almost 5 years, this blog seems like an exercise in perpetual failure. And it pains me to say that, even if it reflects what I’m feeling, because I don’t want to sound ungrateful – truly. I am so proud and honoured that each of you takes the time to read my blog, and I don’t want to sound dismissive of what you have contributed to the small community that has developed here. I don’t know why, at times, I start feeling like that’s not enough – and that’s on me. I’m not sure if I can work through it and get past it, or if the only answer, ultimately, is shutting down this blog for good.

But! (And this is why I started writing this post in the first place, in case you were starting to wonder.)

I’m trying. I was bitching about my feelings of inadequacy on a bloggers’ forum recently, and someone brought up a really good point. Who am I writing this blog for? Not me. I mean, let’s face it: I’m not posting photos of myself on the internet for my own benefit. (Instagram exists solely, I think, to satisfy our innate narcissistic tendencies.) I am writing for someone. For you, hopefully. I am writing because I want to connect with people who understand and share my love of clothes, and dressing up. There has to be a way that I can re-define “success” for myself in that context – a way that doesn’t involve comparing myself, and this blog, to people I don’t actually want to be (or emulate). Part of that, it was suggested to me, might have to do with better understanding what kind of audience I want, and what they would want from a blog like this.

So I would like to ask you for a favour. Whether you’ve been a long-time reader, or you’ve just stumbled onto BCRL yesterday, please take a moment or two and tell me: what are you looking for in a personal style blog? What are your deal-breakers? What can I do (content-wise, or blog design-wise) to make BCRL better? If you want to throw in what you love (and hate?) about the blog, all the better. What I hope your comments will tell me, ultimately, is whether there is still a reason for BCRL to exist – whether there is an audience for it (amid the bazillion other style blogs out there), and whether I can deliver whatever it is that, well, you are looking for. I don’t know what the answer is … but I’m looking forward to finding out.

Thank you.

11
Feb
2015

Triple Down on Print

categories: Life, style, Trials and Tribulations

Equipment Brett blouse; Ferragamo Flavia red pumps — Shirt, Equipment; skirt, J. Crew (via consignment); shoes, Ferragamo (via consignment); necklace, House of Harlow; bag, MbMJ

As you guys may remember, I had some reservations about this blouse when I bought it. The print combo, paired with the style, struck me as borderline … ugly. I may have been more diplomatic in my description at the time, but that was the gist. I’m happy to say that I was wrong. Quite wrong. And I have no problem admitting that, notwithstanding what my husband might have to say on that topic. (He’s wrong. Hah!) Bottom line: this shirt has grown on me a lot.

Not 100% sure how I feel about it in this outfit though. Let’s take another look, or two.

Was mixing 3 prints a step too far? They’re all in the same colour family, roughly (blue, black, and white), so I don’t think they look clownish per se. But maybe just a little bit off? Seriously; here’s a close-up, and you tell me: one too many prints?

OK, enough about that. Can you guys handle yet another one of those navel-gazing entries about my never-ending quest to get my (style) s**t in order? Well, I hope so, because here goes. I’m sure I’ve mentioned it ~~a hundred times~~ once or twice before, but I have this weird attraction/repulsion/inner conflict about minimalism. (And, to be clear, I’m talking about minimalism as an aesthetic, not minimalism as a lifestyle.) As much as I love bright colours and prints, my definition of true chic has always skewed in the opposite direction. Think Gwyneth Paltrow’s or Kate Lanphear’s street style. Or a mere mortal’s version of Tilda Swinton’s wardrobe.

I’ve struggled with this a lot because, duh, I love bright colours and bold prints. The idea of wearing a pared-down colour palette and unembellished outfits always seemed … restrictive. And boring. And yet. One of the things that has really surprised me during this whole new “adulting my work wardrobe” adventure is that the outfits I’ve felt most comfortable in – and most like the best version of my(current)self – are the, you guessed it, minimalist ones. Note to self: what the hell is going on?

And, then, it finally dawned on me: the way I feel about colour when it comes to clothes, is the way I feel about colour when it comes to make-up. Let me explain. Set me loose in a drugstore (or, God forbid, Sephora), and I am likely to end up with a bazillion colourful things in my basket – eye shadows, eyeliners, lipsticks, you name it. I see colour, I want to get my hands on it. I want to play with it. But, in reality, I wear the same 2-3 eye shadow and lip colours day in, day out. I learned the hard way to avoid giving in to my colourful make-up buying urges, because it all just goes to waste. I don’t wear all those pretty, bright colours on my face, and if I ever try (because of an ill-advised purchase), I feel odd.

Anyway, it’s kind of the same story with clothes. I cannot get enough colour. I love looking at colours. I feel the same way about pretty prints. I would probably wallpaper my house in Anthropologie-esque prints if my husband allowed it. Because I just like looking at them. Does that sound crazy? Regardless, I’m starting to realize that just because I adore a print, doesn’t mean that I have to wear it. It may not, in fact, be something I really enjoy wearing, as opposed to just, you know, looking at it. I know that’s probably a really strange and random revelation to have but, well, strange and random is kind of the name of the game around here.

So, what does that mean? I think that, going forward, I’m going to try to set aside my love of prints and colours (for their own sake) when I go shopping, and try to base my buying decisions on other criteria. I’m working on figuring out a wardrobe colour palette (loosely inspired by this Into Mind post), which will hopefully make it easier for me to make more, shall we say, dispassionate choices about the things I buy, and don’t buy. What I’m not going to do, at least not until I’m really sure about where I’m going with all of this evolving style stuff, is get rid of all of my colourful clothes and prints. A lot of them I really enjoy wearing, so purging them seems unnecessary; the ones I’m on the fence about, I’m going to evaluate over the rest of the year. (I have a feeling that wardrobe analytics is going to play a big role in this.) No haste, no waste. Or maybe that’s just the hoarder in me speaking.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts, so hit me up in the comments.