Before Mary Blair March wraps up, I have one more outfit inspired by her color styling!
For this look, which kind of resembles a can of lemon-lime soda, I combined two of my favorite Mary Blair-esque shades…bright yellow and chartreuse, with the Miss Candyfloss Harriet-Naia dress and my favorite shrug.
I accessorized with a Splendette necklace and Duchess Bangles, and an Erstwilder brooch:
I really love the way the bangle stack turned out!
This is such a cheerful color pairing!
I’ve really enjoyed thinking outside of the box when planning outfits this month!
Last fall, I transformed a dress that had a skirt with a bold print that I love, but a bodice that I really didn’t, into a skirt that I can pair with different tops. Today I’m back with another such transformation, this time with a Mary Blair clown print!
The original bodice of the dress was a basic (boring) black that was also a style I really don’t like, but after removing it, I can now pair a bold color with the whimsical print of the skirt…this time, I went with an-almost red Vacation blouse from Vixen by Micheline Pitt.
I went with bright accessories, too, including a statement necklace, an Erstwilder brooch, and a stack of Splendette Duchess Bangles:
This wasn’t as smooth a transformation as the one I did last fall…the waistline of this skirt is much larger, and will need a better permanent solution to make it wearable in the future, but for this outing, a second (hidden) belt held the look together, and I really like how the whole thing turned out!
I’m really happy I have found the confidence to make my wardrobe work for me instead of the other way around!
Today I’m taking a look at an outfit with color styling inspired by the work of Mary Blair!
Every year, when Mary Blair March rolls around, I try to find new ways to combine pieces from my wardrobe based on the color combinations Mary Blair used in her book and movie illustrations. When I was going through my closet, I realized that the pink Terentia-Paz vest and Lucile-Paz trumpet skirt from Miss Candyfloss would make a bold and whimsical pairing with the orange Martane-Brandy blouse.
I accessorized with a boater hat from Vixen by Micheline Pitt, a RockLove Jewelry Alice in Wonderland spinner necklace based on Mary Blair’s illustrations from the animated Disney classic, a vintage brooch, and a stack of Splendette Duchess Bangles.
It’s so much fun to wear such bold colors together!
I love getting outfit inspiration from unexpected places!
Stay tuned for a few more Mary Blair March themed looks!
One of the oldest and most-worn items in my wardrobe is a shrug I didn’t even buy on its own!
This bright green shrug came with a dress I bought probably 15 years ago. I don’t even have the dress anymore, but I kept the shrug, and I wear it all the time. It’s an especially useful piece during Mary Blair March (which begins tomorrow!), because the shade is perfect for pairing in unexpected ways much like the color styling Mary Blair was famous for. I especially love wearing it with yellow, pink, and other shades of green, but it goes with so many dresses and skirts…I have worn it with just about everything it could feasibly go with, but I’m always on the lookout for new ways to wear it!
Over 300 unique outfits later, 2025 is coming to a close!
I really enjoy this outfit of the day photography project, because it forces me to think through my outfit choices. I have so much fun styling my favorite pieces new ways (the most drastic restyling of the year came when I cut the bodice off of a dress to turn it into a skirt!), and adding some new pieces to my wardrobe along the way. And now I’m left to consider what my first outfit of 2026 will be, because I want to start the new year strong, sartorially speaking!
I’m ending the month just like I began it…with a special outfit for Mary Blair March. As promised, here’s a look at the second styling of my Rare Dirndl custom dirndl, featuring the bonus apron I requested!
Like my blue apron, the green version is sheer, which allows the pattern of the skirt to show through. It has an extra-special feature, though…Erika made the ties in two colors instead of just one, so I still have an extra pop of blue!
This time around, I accessorized with blue hair flowers and my complete Meteor Jewelry Co. Starlite set…earrings, bracelet, and necklace, all in the same bright blue:
I added my edelweiss heart zipper pull again, too:
And I wore my new Dr. Martens Mary Janes with my dirndl socks:
As always, I love to twirl!
For this styling, I wore my black lace sparkle dirndl blouse…I like white better with this dress, but it was pretty chilly the day I wore it, and the black has the longest sleeves of all my dirndl blouses.
This is another great look for Mary Blair March!
Eventually I’m hoping to get another blouse (maybe in pale pink?) to add to this look…I love switching out the elements of a dirndl outfit!
The Miss Candyfloss spring/summer 2025 pieces are starting to trickle in, but I have one more pairing from last year’s autumn/winter collection that has the perfect, bold, unexpected, color scheme for Mary Blair March!
I originally bought the Gillian-Kat trumpet skirt and Melinga-Kat bishop-sleeve blouse with the intention of wearing them together (along with a vest that sold out in my size before I could get it), but I ended up pairing each of them with other pieces in my wardrobe before I put them together!
Because it’s such a bold look, I kept my accessories, a star brooch from Erstwilder and a pair of Splendette Duchess Bangles, simple:
I love the bright colors of this outfit, and the combination of of mustard and teal is right out of Mary Blair’s style book!
Even though these are fall pieces, I think that between the lightweight material and color palette, it works well for early spring!
I’m looking forward to sharing a look from the new collection soon!
This week I have a very special mani just in time for Mary Blair March and inspired by the colors of my new Rare Dirndl custom dirndl! I started with a base of silvery Holo Taco “Circuit Breaker” and then did designs in the bright yellow “Hi-Def,” electric blue “Be Kind Rewind,” soft pink “Blush Monday,” and a custom green made by mixing “Wicked Potion” with a drop of “Hi-Def.”
As promised, here’s a look at my completed Rare Dirndl custom dirndl, and just in time for Mary Blair March!
It looks just like I imagined it would. I love the yellow bodice against the grey background of the Mary Blair butterflies print skirt:
And the sheer blue apron pops beautifully!
You may have noticed this dirndl is slightly shorter than my other dresses…the construction of the original dress was kind of weird, and to even out the skirt, it had to made a bit shorter. With the petticoat underneath, though, it’s really not that noticeable, and I think the fullness of the skirt also creates the illusion of length.
I accessorized with a pair of SUGARFIX by Baublebar butterfly earrings that I got at Target last year (it’s scary how well well they go with this look!), an edelweiss wrap bracelet from Rare Dirndl, and a pair of necklaces inspired by Mary Blair…an “It’s a Small World” style from Crislu, and an Alice in Wonderland spinner from RockLove:
I also added one of my Rare Dirndl zipper pulls:
Keeping the volume from the skirt of the original dress makes it extra good for twirling!
Two of my favorite features of the dirndl are the trim around the neckline…not only did Erika include two different types of pink ribbon, she also added a beautiful ruffle made from the extra fabric from the dress…and the cool buckle on the apron, which is a totally new style for me!
I love how bright and cheerful this look is…it’s perfect for Mary Blair March and the happiness of spring!
I did actually send it back to Rare Dirndl to have it let out a bit because it was fitting pretty snugly in the bodice, but when it’s back, I’ll have another styling of this dirndl featuring the second apron I had made to go with it!
Did you know Rare Dirndl makes custom dirndls? In addition to bridal dirndls, Erika will create a completely new look for you that represents something important in your life, or she’ll transform an old dirndl that is no longer in style into something more modern, or a regular (or not-so-regular) dress with sentimental meaning into a new creation. I’ve been mulling this over for a couple of years, and then spent some time on the waitlist (you have to fill out a form, and if your project is accepted, wait for your turn to come up), and today I had my custom dirndl kick-off meeting with Erika on Zoom!
I’ve spent a lot of time considering what kind of custom dirndl would best reflect me. As I pondered this while saving my money (custom fashion isn’t cheap!), I knew that it would have to be something truly special, and for a long time, I couldn’t actually think of anything that would be worth the time, money, and effort. And then in the early spring (actually, during Mary Blair March), it hit me! I could have an old dress with a style that I never really liked that features illustrations by Mary Blair that I absolutely love turned into the dirndl of my dreams! What better way to honor my favorite artist who is famous for designing “It’s a Small World” than by having a dress with her art turned into national dress like you might see on the ride?!?
The one thing about the dress that I actually do like is the twirl of the skirt. It’s a bit too long for my liking, but it has a spin like no other. That was one of the primary things I was hoping to carry forward into the project, and Erika said that she should be able to make that work for me! While I love my dirndl collection, I’m really excited about having one special one with a full skirt like my retro wardrobe, brining my love of two different types of fashion together in one piece.
We talked about styles, like whether I’d prefer the bodice to have a square or sweetheart neckline, colors (especially important because color styling was arguably the thing for which Mary Blair was best known), and small details like trim and lacing. Once we had all the preliminary ideas hammered out, I dropped the dress in the mail, and I’m looking forward to seeing sketches and receiving swatches of fabric that will be part of my new dress.
This will be an ongoing project that will last several months, and I can’t wait to share the next step of the custom dirndl process…stay tuned!
