Details: H&M top (retail), Ralph Lauren vest, InWear blazer, BDG jeans, vintage belt, Dooney bag (all secondhand)

Thoughts: Guysssss! This is it! I finally found my palazzo jeans — the style I’ve been hunting for nearly 2 years. They were worth the wait, I love them so much. This one is called the BDG Puddle jean. I think there might be different versions with the same name, though, because the one’s I’ve found on Poshmark under that label look different. Why am I looking for another pair on Poshmark? Because my daughter also loves them and has been trying to steal this pair ever since I found it. Yes, friends, a new era is dawning: my daughter is starting to wear the same clothes as me. Sometimes literally. She’s not quite as tall as me (yet!!) but her inseam is almost as long as mine *cries in long-torso-short-legs* Anyway, the jeans are amazing. As is this wide wale corduroy blazer/jacket. I haven’t had a proper black blazer for a while, but couldn’t resist this one. I’m currently obsessed with corduroy, and I’m also really leaning into a 70s academia vibe — this blazer is perfect on both counts. I’ve been wearing it a lot lately … as you will soon see.

Details: Ralph Lauren skirt, sweater & shirt, Silverado jacket, Nocona belt, Laredo boots (all secondhand)

Thoughts: The weather has been so up-and-down lately, it’s hard to know how to plan outfits from day to day, but I always try to take advantage of warmer temps whenever they grace us. This outfit being a case in point. I am so excited for spring (and summer) and all of the layering possibilities, especially in Trailblazer mode like here.

Details: Club Monaco turtleneck (retail, old), Ralph Lauren sweater & jacket, Cleo skirt, Coach bag, Office London shoes (all secondhand)

Thoughts: I call this my Escape to the Country outfit — IYKYK. I love this earthy colour palette. Words I never thought would come out of my mouth, because I used to be the kind of person who only had 2 modes: black or rainbow. I still love bright colours (summer will prove that) but it’s true that I have been drifting away from black lately — especially heavy doses of black. Brown and brown-adjacent shades seem to fit my current aesthetic much better, and are also probably more flattering to my colouring. I’ll never swear off black completely, but I’m enjoying my Brown Period quite a lot … even if it sounds so, so wrong, lol!

Details: J.Crew shirt, Pitlochry sweater, Ralph Lauren skirt, Paloma Picasso belt (all secondhand)

Thoughts: Speaking of brown, hah! I loved this sweater-skirt combo, with the peek of blue to liven up the browns. The belt was the perfect extra touch. It’s a tricky one to wear because of the chain — though the chain is what makes it special — but it worked here because the skirt has no belt loops to interfere with it.

Details: Ralph Lauren shirt, Pendleton blazer, H&M pants, Gap belt (all secondhand)

Thoughts: I enjoyed this simple pattern mix a lot, not least because it features some of my fave colours. I’ve come to appreciate the versatility of khaki/tan pants as part of the Ivy-adjacent aesthetic of the Historian. I guess there’s a reason why they’re a classic. Light-coloured trousers make it feel like a spring/summer ensemble, even with a darker jacket. Taking notes for later in the year.

Details: Tahari shirt, Ralph Lauren sweater, Twik skirt, InWear blazer, Gap belt (all secondhand)

Thoughts: I had to go into the office a few weeks ago, and this was the outfit I chose. I wanted something a little preppy but not too buttoned up. The skirt and blazer are both wide wale corduroy and, while not an actual matching set, go together very nicely. The chambray shirt was the right choice to balance out the classic cable knit sweater. I don’t like wearing very bright colours to the office, but I also want to keep my personal aesthetic in the mix, and an outfit like this represents a good balance for me.

Details: Club Monaco turtleneck (retail, old), Everlane sweater, InWear blazer, no label skirt, Sonoma belt, Coach bag (all secondhand)

Thoughts: Fall 2010 is one of the Ralph Lauren runway collections that lives rent free in my head. It’s a huge inspiration for the Bohemian avatar. It featured lots of muted, earthy colours; frothy floral silk dresses and skirts; and contrasting textures. I have been looking for one of those maxi dresses or skirts for years now. No luck. Recently, I found this vintage (unlabelled) skirt at the thrifts, which has a similar vibe even though it’s less floaty (and not silk, alas). I decided to get it as a placeholder for the time being. It’s also reversible, with a small ditsy floral pattern on the other side. To achieve the RL vibe, I paired it with a cashmere sweater and my trusty corduroy jacket. Gimme all the textures!

Details: Everlane turtleneck, Pitlochry sweater, BDG jeans, Nine West jacket, Dooney bag (all secondhand)

Thoughts: I think it’s appropriate to bookend this outfit roundup with another palazzo jean fit, featuring a couple of other fave pieces including this Shetland sweater and my beloved leather bomber jacket. I wasn’t kidding when I said I was feeling a 70s kind of vibe. Dig it?

I originally wrote this post before my impromptu sabbatical, and the title was less on-the-nose at the time. But, what the hell, let’s go with it! There have been lots of beginnings this year. The biggest news — on the creative front, especially — has been the fact that I wrote a book. Well, to be precise, I wrote something I hoped, one day, might become a book that other people might read. It was an incredibly consuming but also fulfilling project … until I ran into a full-on crisis of faith, not just over the quality and merit of my writing, but of my ideas. I want to be clear here: I think I’m pretty smart, and I think my ideas are pretty good. But not every good idea is so unique or so interesting or so valuable that it NEEDS to be part of a public discourse. Having to make a decision about what to do with my writing — pursue the book path, or keep it personal — forced me to confront the question: what do I bring to the public discourse, and does it need to be there? And, honestly? I don’t know.

I wasn’t going to start writing the blog again until I had the answer sorted out in my own mind, because what’s the point of doing something in blog-form if it’s not worth doing in book-form. I haven’t got the answer yet, but here I am. I just missed writing … which means, I guess, that as much as I’ve always felt that writing (unlike my other creative outlets) needs an audience, it’s something I also do for myself. I’m figuring out what that means when it comes to this blog, but in the meantime, I’m back. More or less.

But, for now, let’s talk about other creative business.

At the beginning of the year, writing took up most of my free time, so I did little embroidery for a few months; more recently, my pace has picked up again. Later this month, I will even be doing a small art market! It will be a nice little diversion, although my focus lately isn’t really on selling, but rather making pieces that feel joyous to work on. Lots of colour, of course. Lots of flowers. A little bit of whimsy.

Here is what I have been working on in 2024:

I did a bird of paradise hoop a couple of years ago, and wanted to revisit the theme as part of a current floral still-life series I’m developing. I love how this one turned out!

Speaking of that series, here is another one featuring one of my favourite flowers to embroider — pansies. A friend ended up getting this hoop, and I rather miss it, so I may do a different version soon for myself. Honestly, I could embroider pansies all the time — they are so colourful and fun.

This hoop was inspired by a quilt I thrifted a while back. Hollyhocks remind me so much of my childhood, it was lovely to bring this design to life. I usually work with a broader colour palette, so this was an exercise in restraint for me.

My best friend has been asking me for a black cat hoop for YEARS, and I finally made it! I actually had the design ready for more than a year, but somehow it never felt like the right time to embroider it … until now. It’s inspired by a Klimt painting, of course.

This is another design I’d drawn a while back and decided it was time to bring it to life, as I wanted something small and (relatively) quick to complete in between marathon writing sessions back in February. I enjoy this more realistic take on a pansy as much as the fun, pop-art-y ones. It does take a lot more time, though, haha!

You knew it was only a matter of time before I went back to another favourite flower for my still life series. Yes, irises inspired by Van Gogh. I took a risk with the dark background, but I think that paid off once I added the white outlining. This hoop was a keeper for my personal collection (for the time being anyway).

My daughter is obsessed with frogs at the moment, and I rather enjoyed making a frog prince last year, so I went back to the drawing board and drew up a queen. As always with these mixed media “portraits”, the clothing and embellishments took the longest to make — having no sewing skills to begin with, making these 2D outfits is a real challenge for me. But I love how it turned out … and so did my daughter. And I love that for us 🙂

Details: Club Monaco turtleneck (retail, old), Ralph Lauren sweater (eBay), J. Crew blazer (retail, old), Fossil belt (thrifted), Banana Republic pants (retail), Coach bag (Poshmark)

Thoughts: This shade of brown is one of my faves … wait, did I just say “one”? Does that imply I have more than one favourite shade of brown? Who am I????? It’s true, though. I’ve been afraid of brown — well, not afraid exactly, more like uninterested — my whole life, but it turns out that it’s actually a beautiful colour. Or colours, rather. This shade is at the intersection of brown and burgundy, and I love its richness. There is some of it in the blazer as well, which really helps to tie this all together. A simple but extremely satisfying outfit.

Details: Gap shirt, Ralph Lauren vest, Zara blazer, Esprit belt (all thrifted), Ralph Lauren skirt (eBay)

Thoughts: This is a Historian/Trailblazer mash-up, and I love it. Papa Ralph does pattern mixing really well,, and also juxtaposition, and that was my aim here as well. The trickiest part was choosing the right fair isle vest, and I made my decision based on the colour palette (of course). There is a bit of brown in the vest, and I thought the cool grey would go well with the greyish blue of the skirt. I think the brown belt with patinaed silver buckle was also the right choice here, to bring the vest and skirt together.

Details: Liz Claiborne sweater, Roolee dress, Gap blazer (all thrifted)

Thoughts: As much as I’m becoming a brown-loving girlie, there will always be a soft spot for black & white outfits in my heart. I don’t think black flatters me as much as brown does (especially worn close to the face without other, brighter colours to balance it out), but I find that paired with white, it doesn’t end up looking so severe and “draining”. Basically, I don’t look as much like Casper the ghost, compared to when I wear all black. And y’all know how I feel about mixing different b&w patterns — no wrong options, ever.

Details: Ralph Lauren shirt, BR belt, Urban Outfitters skirt (all thrifted)

Thoughts: Guyssssss! I’m obsessed with this outfit. This is why I NEEDED a white men’s shirt in my life. The fit. The slightly turned up collar. It feels so … cool. A white shirt paired with a full, long skirt — and a statement belt! — has been on my mind, as an outfit formula, for months now and I’m so excited that I can finally make it happen. I could not resist thrifting this skirt because (a) plaid, (b) tiers, (c) volume! I don’t love the polyester fabric, but I guess I can’t win them all. The waist is stretchy, which is nice. Because I had to wear the skirt higher on my waist, so the belt would cinch at my narrowest point (to emphasize the volume on the bottom), I decided to add a petticoat to extend the length of the skirt. The top-and-tail effect of the white was a nice added bonus.

Details: Ralph Lauren shirt, Gap belt, Jeanne Pierre sweater (all thrifted), Banana Republic pants (retail)

Thoughts: I broke my no-retail streak recently, but I think you will understand why. You know the BR corduroy wide leg trousers I bought in Dec 2022? Yes, you do — they’re in the first outfit above. I LOVE them, and my biggest regret ever since buying them has been not getting the camel brown version at the same time. I’ve been looking for it on Poshmark, but they’ve never popped up in my size. So what’s going on here? Well, I went to Winners recently to look for something for my daughter, and as I was walking out, I saw this pair of pants on the clearance rack. I recognized them immediately, in disbelief. Yes, it’s the BR corduroy wide leg trousers in camel brown. In my size!! The only pair. In my size!! And you won’t believe how much I paid for them: $12. Why? How? How did a pair of BR pants from more than a year ago end up at Winners? The biggest mystery. I am so happy they did. The only drawback is that this is the regular length, not the petite, so it’s longer than I would like it to be. I need very high heels to wear it as-is, which isn’t super versatile for me. I am planning to get them hemmed to the same length as my other pair. I can’t wait to wear them again!

Details: Ralph Lauren shirt, Wilfred vest, H&M pants, Joseph belt (all thrifted)

Thoughts: I told you last week that this red vest was making things happen in my closet, and here is more proof. I love both versions of this outfit, with and without the blazer.