Midsommar Style

My best friend is obsessed with the movie Midsommar, including its aesthetic. I mentally dedicated this outfit to her because I can never now look at this Ulla Johnson dress without thinking “Scandinavian death cult” … but, like, in a good way? I guess my BFF’s influence is at work, because she is a huge horror movie fan and I am, well, a big chicken. But not when it comes to toting my most gaudy, very awesome beaded bag. When I first got it, I thought it would be the kind of item that only its owner (me) would love, but it turns out this thing is a compliment-magnet. Oooooor people just need an excuse to account for staring, haha!

Notes: Ulla Johnson dress (retail, $13); Anthropologie earrings (retail, on sale, can’t remember $); Modern Vintage sandals (thrifted, $7.50); vintage bag (thrifted, $10).

Please, Sir, May I Have More Plaid

The answer is always … YES. More plaid, especially in this particular skirt form. I can’t get enough. I feel like I’m an extra on the set of Outlander when I wear this, which adds just enough of a frisson for my otherwise mundane workday. I’ve paired it with blue in the past, so now it was time to try green – my favourite green sweater, to be precise. I just realized that I wore this sweater at my interview for my current job, and then this particular outfit on my 2-year work anniversary, and now I am extra pleased with my style (and life) choices.

Notes: Selected Femme sweater (retail, $40); Ralph Lauren skirt (thrifted, $6.50); Rafael Canada necklace (eBay, $80); Cole Haan shoes (thrifted, $10).

Linen Dreams

We haven’t had much of a summer, so it’s nice to occasionally get the chance to wear something, well, summery. The last time I wore this dress, I layered it over a thin turtleneck; I thought about attempting some other kind of layering this time around then decided – hey, it’s a nice enough dress on its own. I get caught up in trying to do interesting things with layers, and textures and proportions but, sometimes, simple is enough. I did add a little necklace because the neckline was just perfect for it, and a floral bag for a bit of colour. Simple, but effective.

Notes: Ungaro dress (thrifted, $8.50); Rafael Canada necklace (eBay, $60); J. Crew Factory sandals (retail, $40); Miss Albright bag (secondhand, don’t remember $).

I’ve written about this before, but I am at my happiest these days when I am making something with my hands. I think crafting has overtaken reading – gasp! – as the hobby that brings me the most contentment. I am loath to describe myself as a “creative” in any real sense, but the act of making stuff is my true passion. While I still adore my library, my current home dream is to have a little art studio. [Think I can talk my husband into giving over our garden shed to me? Or maybe building a new, less spider-filled one? Hahaha!] If money were no object, I would pick up painting, pottery, and metalsmithing in a heartbeat. I want to make things! All the things!

Alas, real life requires me to scale down my dreams somewhat, and make do with what skills and supplies I already possess. Jewelry is something I’m obsessed with at the moment, and while I don’t have the means to make stuff out of metal and stones, I have a few other media at my disposal. Mixed media pieces intrigue me so I have been exploring the possibilities of combining my embroidery and beading efforts.

I jot down my ideas, in sketch form, in a notebook to keep track of them. I call these “prototypes” but they’re more along the lines of very embryonic designs. Most of them never progress past that point, but I like to revisit them from time to time; sometimes, an old idea sparks new inspiration. The next step is to mock up a life-size version of the design on paper, and then go from there. I like using a medium thickness felt as the “backing” – or canvass, if you will – for my pieces because it’s still workable with a needle, but sturdy enough to provide some structure to the piece.

The first piece I’m going to show you today started off as a putative harness. The logistics of that defeated me, so I put the idea aside, and re-fashioned the piece as a bib. It turned into a very large bib, but having already cut the felt (big mistake), I didn’t want it to go to waste. I like large jewelry, so the size wasn’t a problem from an aesthetic perspective, necessarily … but I didn’t reckon with the amount of time and effort it would take to embroider/bead by hand.

Hours.

Hours and hours. And hours.

About half way through, I gave up and put it aside for the sake of my own sanity. Weeks passed. I worked on other craft projects in the meantime. But the piece weighed on me. I’d already made a big investment – in beads alone – and it felt like a waste. So I pulled it out and looked at it with fresh eyes. Didn’t hate it as much. Decided to plunge on.

Hours and hours later (probably close to 50 in total), I was finally done.

I’m proud of it as a first effort, particularly as a matter of perseverance. But I wanted to get a little more adventurous.

For my next effort, I decided to incorporate fabric and reclaimed jewelry into the mix. I covered the felt with material scavenged from a J. Crew skirt I thrifted; the fabric was a beautiful abstract floral brocade shot with gold thread – almost like a painting. It’s the perfect backdrop for my embroidery, and I used beading to pick up some of the colours and add some extra sparkle. I also added an enamel pin (thrifted) to enhance the maximalist effect. “More is better” is my guiding philosophy with these pieces; I’m aiming for a riot of colours and textures in every piece.

The chain here is also reclaimed from thrifted costume jewelry. The upcycling aspect is one of my favourite parts – you guys know how much I love finding (or, in this case, making) beauty from the trash heap.

Emboldened by my experiences, I decided to keep experimenting. This photo from the A/W 2019-2020 Stella McCartney collection (courtesy French Vogue) provided some serious inspo:

I had a large metal ring I planned to incorporate into my next project, and I decided to wrap it in yarn and use it as a connector/feature piece.

I’ve been having a lot of fun making these pieces, and friends have even started giving me scraps of old jewelry to upcycle. The only drawback is that I have more ideas than time but … onwards and upwards.

Advanced Class

When I think about pattern mixing with plaid, the first combination that comes to mind is florals. Inspired by the master himself, Dries Van Noten, I decided to dig deeper. So, um, stripes it was. I think this outfit works quite nicely, even though it’s definitely “in your face” bright.

*pats self on the back*

Funnily enough, I wore the same sweater to my son’s advance birthday party back in June (we always hold his party for friends early to avoid summer vacation schedule conflicts) and again on the day of his actual birthday last week when we treated him to a morning of fun & games at Chuck E. Cheese. In related news, we have an 8-year old in the house now and OMG how is that even possible?! I still vividly remember when he could fit into the crook of my arm; meanwhile, he’s a 4 foot 7 dynamo who can run (and talk) circles around his mom. No, I’m not crying, you’re crying.

Notes: Gap sweater (thrifted, $5); Tracy Reese skirt (consignment, $20); Derek Lam flats (thrifted, $12); Coach bag (thrifted; $40).

The New Skort

Remember the skort? The shorts that looked like a skirt? These Maggie Walt pants are the maxi version of that, and I can’t get enough of them. I’ve been wearing them quite a bit this summer, in no small part thanks to the cooler weather. They are a heavy linen, so they’d probably be too warm for actual summer weather, but they’re a good weight for the non-summer we’ve been having.

I kept the rest of the outfit simple to let them take the stage, so to speak, but there is nothing basic about it (or so I like to think). The Rafael necklace works beautifully with the patterned waistband, adding just a bit of colour and extra visual interest.

Notes: No name top (thrifted, $7); Maggie Walt pants ($6.50); Rafael necklace (thrifted, $8); J. Crew shoes (retail, $80).

Plaid Overload

You’re not sick of plaid yet, are you? I hope not, because I’m not tired of this maxi skirt yet, so you’ll be seeing it again in the coming months. And speaking of pattern mixing, I had another brainwave and decided to pair this plaid with an abstract geometric print in a similar shade of blue. Still trying to make Dries proud over here … although I feel like he might find the lapis necklace a bit too safe and matchy-matchy. Baby steps.

As a side note, the top is one I had earmarked for sale last year, only to find that no one wanted to buy it. After a few months, I decided to keep it to, um, prove a point or something. I’ve ended up wearing it a fair bit, which makes me feel like I’m winning the argument with the imaginary naysayers who didn’t see the potential of this very cute top, ahem.

Notes: Kate Spade Saturday top (thrifted, $5); Ralph Lauren skirt (thrifted, $6.50); Me Too flats (thrifted, $16); vintage necklace (thrifted, $8).