My embroidered portrait series continues … this week: Iris Apfel.

This was a no-brainer – I adore Iris’ joie de vivre, and her exuberant style offers a perfect opportunity to play with beading and other media. However, though Iris is the highlight of this post, she was not the project I tackled immediately after Elizabeth. My next piece was actually inspired by Marie Antoinette and the Rococo period.

I was excited by the prospect, primarily because I wanted to experiment with a new material for my subject’s hair, but the execution itself was a torturous experience. The hair didn’t quite turn out the way I had envisioned it, I had to re-work the dress bodice several times, the background needed some last-minute jazzing up … it was a bit of a mess. The final product wasn’t terrible, per se, but it didn’t delight me in the same way as Frida and Elizabeth:

I did learn some valuable lessons, though. One, I got a better sense of how to use the nubby wool yarn for creating hairdos. Two, I learned that, while some improvisation is fine, certain key elements of the design have to be well planned in advance, including in terms of the materials to be used. That last part, though … it’s a work in progress, let’s say. I don’t have the advantage of a good fabric store nearby, the thrifts are hit and miss, and I am impatient – all of which is to say: sometimes I start a project not as well-prepared as I should.

Onwards, now, to Iris.

Because of her hair, I knew that I had to go back to a darker background to ensure there would be sufficient contrast. Luckily, as with Elizabeth, the dress design was of the kind that’s easy to improvise on the run, so I didn’t have to worry too much about tracing a complicated drawing onto my muslin. Plus, I now have a light-table/light-box (cheapie version from Amazon) which helps immeasurably with that.

Again, I used a textured white wool yarn for the hair, tacking it down with (thin) white thread. The key was “styling” the hair afterwards, which I spent a not inconsiderable amount of time doing – cutting and shaping it to more or less resemble Iris’ real life ‘do.

Because of the glasses, I did not embroider the felt face before attaching it to the canvas. I was worried that it would be harder to embroider through 2 layers of material, but that wasn’t the case at all. For the aqua eyeshadow, I ended up using one of my kids’ Crayola pencils to shade the eyelids. (This was another thing I learned from doing the Rococo lady – I had ended up using actual blush for her cheeks, and the muslin took that well. In this case, I had no eyeshadow of the appropriate colour, but the pencil worked just fine on felt.)

I had tons of bits and bobs to use for Iris’ iconic jewelry – necklaces and bracelets, my favourite part of this piece – but I found myself stumped on the rest of her clothing. I didn’t have any fabric scraps that seemed suitable, so as a last resort I went downstairs into my “clothing swap” pile and began to look for options. Eventually, I pulled out an old Anthropology top which had an ikat-like print that looked promising. It wasn’t an expensive piece of clothing, nor one that I anticipated any of my friends being devastated to miss out on, so I went for it. [I only used a small patch of fabric, and am saving the rest for future projects.]

Putting everything together went smoothly, but at the end, I still felt like something was missing. I felt like the piece still needed more of a “wow” factor … and then I remembered my daughter’s dollar store craft supplies, which included a bag of cheap feathers. I had never worked with feathers before, but I did a quick mock-up, and saw that the idea had possibilities. A few tucks and stitches later, and I had my complete portrait:

Because of the feathers, it’s a bit more fragile a piece than my usual hoop portraits, but I love how it turned out.

Acceptable Ruffles

So, in principles, I don’t like ruffles. They tend to the Twee side, and Twee is the enemy of Adina’s Current Style. But! There are exceptions. Previously, I thought that the only exception was Dramatic Neck Ruffles (see: my favourite AllSaints blouse) but now I think we need to add another one for Ruffles Adding Architectural Elements of Interest. Too unwieldy of a category? Maybe. But case in point: this Gap skirt I recently thrifted for $8 at Value Village. Ruffles aside, it has a several other things going for it: it has a high waist (fun for playing around with proportions), it’s midi length, and it’s black. But the ruffles really kick it up a notch. This isn’t something I would have expected from the Gap, but I dig it. A lot.

Also digging this Anthro brand sweater (Moth), with its mock-necked business front and party back. And, bonus, it’s not itchy. [I always add a light layer, like a cotton tank or t-shirt, under sweaters. This one doesn’t itch through the extra layer, nor does it bug me around the arms where it meets bare skin.] I paid $8.50 for it at Goodwill. Rounding out my outfit is this sweet pair of LK Bennett pumps – $15 in like-new condition. Technically, they were free because I used a coupon. But no matter how you slice it, this outfit cost me way less than $50, top to bottom, and that’s worth a not-so-humblebrag. Ahem

Rick Revisited

I tried, but it’s hard to capture the IRL awesomeness of this Rick Owens dress. It looks cute enough in photos, but trust me when I say that it’s 10x cooler in person. It’s also pretty easy to dress up or down. To make it office appropriate, I added a classic, collarless blazer and some red pumps for an extra bit of oomph. It’s been a while since I’ve done a red shoe.

Here are the other ways I’ve worn this dress before:

Valentine’s Day

I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day. Honestly, I don’t know many people who are, outside of the blogosphere. Maybe I’m too old and/or cranky. But the day falls adjacent to the anniversary of my husband and my first date – and, yes, 11 years later we remain the kind of people who consider that an anniversary – so I try to make an effort. And by “effort”, I mean getting dressed up and going out to eat. Which, come to think of it, probably doesn’t count since those are 2 of my favourite things anyway.

This outfit came together because I wanted to wear a couple of recently thrifted pieces: a Zara velvet blazer, and a vintage embroidered handbag. You might think I would go into a boho-romantic direction with that, but you’d be wrong. It is still the winter of my discontent, so distressed/destroyed jeans and stiletto booties it was. I like all the juxtaposition happening. It’s possibly a little extra, but that kinda encapsulates my current style approach, doesn’t it?

Let’s also take a moment and appreciate that bag. Do you remember how obsessed I was 2 or 3 years ago with finding an embroidered bag? Never happened until a few weeks ago; that’s how thrifter life goes. I’m mostly over that obsession, but this was a nice bag, in pristine condition, and ten whole Canadian dollars – it was calling my name. I got rid of the awful original strap (barely long enough to wear in the crook of the arm, and I hate to carry bags like that) and thrifted myself a crossbody strap replacement for an additional $3. I think it updates the bag in a nice way.

Here are a few other ways I’ve worn the same jeans:

And that’s all she wrote, folks.

About a year ago, I wrote about a new approach I was taking in conceptualizing my personal style: using 4 style avatars, each representing a certain aesthetic, to guide and inspire my outfit choices. My avatars were: the Prince, the Artist, the Adventurer, and the Bohemian. While there was a fair bit of overlap between these avatars in terms of elements of style (silhouettes, design details, etc.), it was helpful to me to visualize them as separate and distinct “characters”, rather than try to amalgamate them under one arbitrary handle or general description. After all, even something like “preppy” or “Scandi minimalist” can mean so many different things.

The idea of a dynamic character, each with its own range of aesthetic expression, was and remains infinitely more appealing – and practical – to me than a static description that can often feel, simultaneously, very vague and too prescriptive. In my own mind, I know what the Prince wears even if I might sometime struggle to put it into exact words. That is not to say that every outfit I wear falls precisely within the boundaries of one of these avatars; sometimes, necessity or practical realities (my closet is great, but it’s not quite my dream one, say, if money was no concern) dictate that an outfit will be a very loose interpretation of my avatar-based ideal. Which is okay. I feel like I’m hitting my marks, so to speak, more often than not and I’ve never been happier with what I wear.

A reader recently asked me if I might revisit the avatar discussion and, given the intervening time since my original posts, I thought it was a great idea. Updating and reflecting on the avatars is a useful exercise for me; I’ve had time to work with and refine this approach for almost a year, but haven’t really organized my thoughts in any formal way. Enter this post.

Because I am quite terrible at talking about style in a descriptive way (ironic for a personal style blogger, I know), I am going to try to summarize my avatars in a roundabout way, using photos and brand reference points that I feel best encapsulate each aesthetic. A word on the photos: I am very good at finding stock photos of specific items online, but I have the hardest time finding style inspiration pics. Hats off to all those people with beautifully curated Pinterest boards, I have no idea how they do it. I think a big part of the problem is that, as I wrote above, I struggle to articulate my aesthetic goals in (searchable) concrete terms. Regardless, the photos I am using below represent the best of what I’ve been able to find (usually by searching for runway photos from my fave brands).

The Prince

Designer Brands: Rick Owens, AllSaints, Theory, MaxMara, Vince

Mass Market Brands: Aritzia, Club Monaco  

This is the avatar I use the most for office-wear. While black is the core neutral of my professional wardrobe, I do like to incorporate other colours – even bold ones. Even prints! However, overall, this is a fairly minimalist aesthetic, so if I am doing a bold colour/print, I am going to balance it with very simple, clean lines and minimal “clutter”.

Here is an example of some personal outfits that fall within the Prince aesthetic:

The Artist

Designer Brands: Iris van Herpen, Sarah Pacini, Dries van Noten, Maria Cornejo

Mass Market Brands: Zara, COS

This is a dreamier, less austere version of the Prince – the lines are more fluid, softer. But it would not be true to say that it is less structured or tailored; it’s just a different kind of tailoring. While leaning towards neutrals-based and monochromatic outfits, it can still incorporate colour. At its most colourful, the Artist shades into the Bohemian.

Here is an example of some personal outfits that fall within the Artist aesthetic:

The Adventurer

Designer Brands: Haider Ackermann, AllSaints, Vince, The Row

Mass Market Brands: J. Crew, COS, Madewell

The Adventurer is the least cohesive of my avatars, in the sense that it has a few different “modes” – but the spirit is the same! My usual weekend mode is the “classic” version of the avatar, but if I’m feeling a bit sassy, I’ll go into the “futuristic” mode. I don’t know if that’s the best way to describe that particular vibe, but it’s definitely edgier.

Here is an example of some personal outfits that fall within the Adventurer aesthetic:

The Bohemian

Designer Brands: Dries van Noten, Marni

Mass Market Brands: Anthropologie, Zara, ASOS

The Bohemian shares some of the Artist’s DNA, being its more eccentric cousin. Colours, volumes, and textures are more exuberant, but the overall vibe is playful quirkiness, not twee. “Nothing too cute” is my mantra, and as a recovering twee-aholic, it’s not always an easy one to live up to.

Here is an example of some personal outfits that fall within the Bohemian aesthetic:

If you have questions about my style avatar approach, and how I incorporate it into my shopping and outfit-planning, let me know in the comments.