Month: December 2015

15 Favourite Outfits of ’15

mooooody
mooooody
So, 2015. Quite a year, yeah?

I’m still feeling too burnt out to do any substantive retrospectives (which is too bad, because I had so many ideas earlier in the year), but I figured I owed this wonderful, stressful, crazy year at least one wrap-up post – and what better than a “best of” post? If you’ve been reading along these past 12 months – first of all, thanks! – then you will have seen most of these outfits before, but let’s take a minute or two and revisit the evidence that I am occasionally capable of putting together a legitimately cute outfit.

In reverse chronological order …

starry goth
starry goth

The “starry night dress” … which looks like a skirt here. I rarely wear all black, but I loved this take on “goth Adina”. L-to-the-OL.

Anthro skirt love
Anthro skirt love

The “whimsical thrifted skirt” outfit … which would be all that I would wear in the alternate universe in which Library Studies became my chosen career path (see original post here).

feeling bluuuuue
feeling bluuuuue

The “blueberry, 2015 edition” outfit … which is me at my most monochromatic – nary a floral in sight (see original post here).

angsty florals?
angsty florals?

The “camo florals” outfit … which expresses my deep and abiding love for pinning sparkly things on chunky knit scarves. I have very specific loves, what can I say (see original post here).

grey tube dress
grey tube dress

The “everyday grey dress” (aka closet superstar) outfit … which I have worn more times than I care to count (see original post here – I called this one early).

oh la la
oh la la

The “midi skirt romance” outfit … which is one of my fave silhouettes of the year (see original post here).

The “moody florals at the office” outfit … which is one of my most popular looks ever, believe it or not (see original post here).

never made it to the blog :(
never made it to the blog 🙁

The “I can pull off a white blazer after all” outfit … which apparently never made it to the blog. Huh. It’s a good outfit, you guys.

looking sharp
looking sharp

The “no really, white blazers are awesome” outfit … another early contender for fave outfit (see original post here).

twirl, twirl, baby
twirl, twirl, baby

The “twirliest dress” outfit … no, really, watch me twirl here.

serious pants
serious pants

The “Gangs of New York pants” outfit … we all remember this one, right? If not, you can check it out here, if nothing else to revisit my husband’s stellar photoshop skills.

hello, class
hello, class

The “English professor” outfit … which I have also worn a few times, in slightly (but only slightly) different iterations this year (see original post here).

pink by any other name...
pink by any other name…

The “ubiquitous blush blazer” outfit … I could have picked any number of variations here, but I have a weakness for this skirt, so here’s your winner (see original post here).

shorts story
shorts story

The “Adina found a hat, at last” outfit … which also proves I wore shorts this year. All kinds of shorts.

ahhh, so good
ahhh, so good

Last, but not least, the “old, dependable dress” outfit … which never gets old, really (see original post here).

And, just because I have an impossible time picking, a few runners up:

pop of colour writ large
pop of colour writ large
my favourite sweatshirt
my favourite sweatshirt
the happiest outfit
the happiest outfit

And there you have it, folks. Thanks for sticking with me for another year, and I hope to see you all again next year. And before I bow out for 2015, I have one last announcement to make.

Drum roll …

No, I’m not having another baby … except that I kinda did. I had a book baby, you guys. And that baby is here, finally! I’m excited and scared s**tless, to be honest, and I debated right up till I hit “publish” whether to include a (non-affiliate, haha) link to it or not. Please don’t feel obliged to buy it, but if you do, I hope you enjoy it. Like all first time (book) parents, I’m pretty proud of it and think it’s the cutest (book) baby ever … which, of course, is entirely subjective. It does have a really kickass cover, and that’s a fact.

Happy New Year!

Stars & Ruffles

Dress, Banana Republic (swap); belt, Holt Renfrew (via consignment); cardigan, J. Crew (via consignment); boots, Bandolino (thrifted)
Dress, Banana Republic (swap); belt, Holt Renfrew (via consignment); cardigan, J. Crew (via consignment); boots, Bandolino (thrifted)

Remember this dress? You may not, since I wore it, half-covered up, as a skirt last time. But here it is, in all its glory. It’s a pretty cute dress, ruffles and all. I ended up adding a cami underneath because it’s quite low cut, and I was going to a 3-year old’s birthday party – no need to scare the young ones, haha!

outfit on the cheap
outfit on the cheap
stars or paint drips?
stars or paint drips?

This was a great example of one of my fave kinds of outfits: an inexpensive one, of course. Altogether, it cost under $75 – including accessories – through a combination of swapped, thrifted, and consignment pieces. The belt was actually the most expensive item: a made in Italy, braided leather Holt Renfrew branded belt ($30). Not bad at all.

the 80s called and want their side-swept hair back? too bad
the 80s called and want their side-swept hair back? too bad

I Made This

Sweater, J. Crew; top, Joe Fresh; pants, Gap (via consignment); shoes, Stuart Weitzman (via consignment); bag, MbMJ
Sweater, J. Crew; top, Joe Fresh; pants, Gap (via consignment); shoes, Stuart Weitzman (via consignment); bag, MbMJ

No, not the outfit. (Well, I put the outfit together, but I didn’t actually *make* it, hah.) I made this:

beaded butterfly
beaded butterfly
front and back
front and back

Beading is my knitting – totally therapeutic when I’m going through stressful times. I don’t know how I ended up going with this butterfly design, but I’m glad I did, because it might just be my fave beading project ever. I loved it so much, I made a couple of extra butterflies to give away as Christmas presents.

burgundy love
burgundy love

I also quite loved the rest of the outfit, which I wore on my last work day before the Christmas holidays. It was definitely on the casual side but … it was almost Christmas, after all, and somewhat more stylish than an ugly Xmas sweater (which a few people wore – score one for holiday spirit). I have been battling a bad cold and some personal issues for a few weeks now, so I haven’t been feeling so hot lately, but wearing my fave sweatshirt always cheers me up a bit.

not feeling so hot ...
not feeling so hot …
getting through it
getting through it