Amiable's Blog

I have now successfully passed a week without wearing black near my face!  (In fact, disregarding shoes, I didn't wear black at all, I don't think).
Here's my final two outfits.  Next week, I'm giving myself a similar challenge.  I'm having fun exploring my wardrobe according to themes!

#1 - #2 worn for indoor (with jacket) and outdoor (without) activities on Friday.
#4 worn Thursday - if I had gone for white shoes rather than brown, it would have been the coral/blue/white color combo!

All suggestions welcome!

Amelia Earhart has, for a while now, been an icon of mine - both style-wise and otherwise.  Because of that, I found this article on a modern-day Amelia Earhart intriguing.  Have you others read about this woman? The article makes me smile.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/am.....edecessor/

MsKatieKat's comment on a recent thread of mine (that I wear color well) made me decide to challenge myself to not wear black for a week - or at least, not close to my face.  Black has never been my best color, but a while ago when I decided that it wasn't too bad either, I started wearing it quite a lot.  And somehow wearing lots of color started to feel too loud for me.  So I'm challenging myself to find ways to wear non-black that still feels "like me" and not over-powering.

Here's the first three days of the challenge. How am I doing?  Are these colors at all flattering on me?  And pardon the pre-combed-hair pictures (yikes).

#1 wearing today - a column of blush with an olive jacket.  I'm not sure it works. (The belt is white, and the shoes pink.  I think perhaps I should change to a gray or mid-tone shoe to go better with the olive linen jacket....

#2 - #3 worn yesterday.  This top is a tunic (or probably a dress), and has a weird waist seam and pockets.  But I decided that the pattern is current enough to try out.  I'm thinking almost of cutting it into something else -- not sure.

#4 worn Sunday to church - a peacock shell with white.  I tossed a sparkly light silver cardigan on over it for the frigid A/C at church, and got lots of compliments on how stylish I always look.  Ha :)  The shoes in this pic are washed out - They're aquamarine floral espadrilles that my sister just brought me from Spain.  They're super cute, but I changed to birks later in the day for comfort.

Suggestions for improvement?  

So far, I don't really miss my black.  But I doubt I can go super long without it.

I've always liked mixing warm and cool colors, but for some reason had forgotten that this summer.  So I was really glad for the reminder in this blog post.  It just rescued my languishing brown sandals.

I felt good, and like myself, in this outfit.  Bonus was that my outfit went with my laptop bag :) 

Thanks for the ensemble Angie!

Suggestions for improvement?

A few outfits from this past week.  I feel like I'm finally starting to create warm-weather outfits that I like :)

#1 - not actually worn out.  Just worked in it.

#2 - ditto #1

#3 - worn to get my hair cut

#4 - Worn for a day of yard work and sucha

#5 - might be my favorite of this set, except that it was too warm.  (We're pushing 90F indoors, I might have to cave in to turning on the A/C soon)

#6 - worn to wedding showers.  I was overdressed - even with the sneakers.

So there you are.  Today's WIW goes with the blog post, so it'll be a separate post.

I'd love your suggestions for improvement :)

Back from the haircut - I asked her to style it too.  She informed me that I've been damaging my hair with my straight iron, so I bought some heat protector spray.  

I think I like it - what do you think?

(#1-4 current haircut, #5 is the before)

This was also the first time a stylist has ever taking a pic of my haircut for their portfolio (and blog) - so I'm thinking she was proud of her work.  :)

I'm calling this attempt 1 because the dress doesn't really work, and these pics make me realize that.

Still, it's what I'm wearing today, and I want to figure out a dress or two that actually work for me this summer.  (I'm considering altering this one actually, I think if I bring in the dress a little at the hem, it might be a more cocoon shape...)

Shown with sneakers, then with birkenstocks, since I'll probably spend half the day or more in the birks - even though these new-to-me vans are really comfy.

The pics are unflattering despite my taking the time to put on a dash of lipstick and mascara for the outside shot.  I added some nipple shields after taking these, but don't have the time to re-take pictures.  

Should I just ditch the dress?

ETA: Indoor pic with sneaks showing for Angie :)  (I didn't originally include this one since it hides the detail of the dress)

Following suit for better WIW posts, I took pics outside.  I don't know why I never started doing this again when winter was over (I know why I didn't in winter....)  Obviously the light out there is so much better than indoor light, and it took barely more time.  (Contrast to pic #2, which is earlier today, indoors).  Outside, the green light makes me look like I have no lips, hmm... maybe I should wear make up.

Today I'm wearing a black/white print woven tee.  I like this top (it has zippers on the shoulders!), even though it's not good quality.  My happiness factor in this outfit is rather high - I like the not-too-many colors and simple shapes.

Yesterday I felt not-really frumpy, but definitely not current in my psychadelic swirl top and yellow jeans.  I've been trying to think through finding a style for me when I don't want to be super-casual that makes me feel as good as my super casual style does (when it does, that is).  Today's post on Alison reminds me that she would be a good source for inspiration.

Any comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome!

Cool weather this morning, and this blog post made me opt for this outfit.  I hadn't really thought before that mesh sweaters were sporty (silly me - clearly they are).  

This sweater is from last year - from Susie. The boyfriend jeans are ones that I usually cuff narrower, but Neel's bf jeans looked so great with the wide cuff that I had to try it.  Does it work here?  Finally, even though I have several pair of cons style sneakers, none are white.  So I'm wearing my white/gray camo pair.

Happiness factor this morning is rather high.  I like the sporty look, I think.  
(pic #2 is only one roll on the jeans - I think I like two better)

Pardon the lack of combed hair and make-up.  It's Monday morning, and I'm going no where until evening.  I might look more presentable by then....

Comments and suggestions for improvement are more than welcome :)

Today I have a chance I've been waiting for - a cool enough day to try out Aida's black and faded combo.  I think I like it.  What do you think?

Yesterday I wore (for the first time) a blue with black polka dots Vince top that I GoodWilled a while back.  I'm not sure that it's really 'me', nor that it's really current.  What do you think?  It was fun to wear regardless, and I like the way it fits.

All comments are welcome - I especially like suggestions for improvements!