Mary Blair

Sartorial Saturday…On a Sunday–Green on Green

Happy Mary Blair Week!

I think my favorite thing about Mary Blair’s artwork is her unorthodox use of color. Not only did she illustrate normal objects in unusual colors, like emerald skies and pink horses, she also paired unexpected colors with great success. This year, I decided to pair two shades of green I normally wouldn’t wear together in her honor, and I’m very pleased with the result…it’s the perfect green overload for St. Patrick’s Day!

Of course I had to add in green accessories, too, including an all green stack of Splendette Duchess Bangles, and my “lucky” green frog brooch from Erstwilder:

How do you like to wear green for St. Patrick’s Day?

Sartorial Saturday–Mary Blair Meets Magically Made

Mary Blair March is finally here!

I’ve been working on a way to combine one of my Mary Blair pieces (my clown print Natalie swing dress) with my Magically Made Celestina reversible capelet from Pinup Girl Clothing:

I love how well these two items go together! The reversible yellow side of the capelet is the perfect match for the yellow in the dress.

And this yellow starburst brooch from Luxulite goes great with both pieces!

This whole look just makes me happy!

I’m so excited to find more new ways to wear my favorite Mary Blair prints this month!

Sartorial Saturday–Thanks PUG!

Here’s one more look at the new dresses that Pinup Girl Clothing recently added to their Magic of Mary Blair collection and kindly sent to me. Out of the five dresses, there are three different styles in four-ish prints (the two plane prints are so different, I’m not sure how to count them!). Two of the styles (the Natalie Swing and the Audrey), were new additions to my wardrobe, and I love having some new options! If you asked me to pick a favorite, I don’t think I could, but I will say I love the way the Harley dress fits, and I also love having the clown print in my closet, because I didn’t have that one in any form before.

With the exception of the commuters print, I think I now own at least one version of each Mary Blair print that PUG has released. They are definitely some of my favorite items, and I love how cheerful I feel when I’m wearing any one of them! Thanks PUG, for making my closet a happier place!!!

Sartorial Saturday…On a Tuesday–Red, White, and Blue

Since tomorrow is Independence Day in the U.S., I thought I’d share a few ideas for dressing for the Fourth of July. You’ll notice Pinup Girl Clothing’s Mary Blair plane print makes an appearance three different ways…as a Harley dress, a Natalie swing dress, and a Doris skirt. The red, white, and blue of the print is perfect for Independence Day fashion! So are PUG’s red Harley top, blue sky harlequin skirt, and red, white, and blue Amanda dress!

Here are some of my favorite ways to accessorize with red, white, and blue, as well:

What’s your favorite way to wear red, white, and blue?

Sartorial Saturday-Audrey

You might be thinking you’ve seen this outfit on me be before. And you’d be almost right…in the past, I have paired my Mary Blair boat print Jenny skirt from Pinup Girl Clothing with a pink top. But this piece is new, from the latest addition to PUG’s Magic of Mary Blair collection…it’s an Audrey dress featuring the boat print! While I am wearing the same belt and shoes, I tried to accessorize the rest of the outfit a bit differently, and I’m happy with what I came up with!

This brings an end to my “Thanks PUG” series. I have styled each of the five newest Mary Blair dresses. If you’ve missed any, you can click on the “Thanks Pug!” tag to see all five dresses, and I’ll be back in a few weeks with a final wrap-up!

Sartorial Saturday–Send in the Clowns

Of all the dresses Pinup Girl Clothing sent me from the Mary Blair collection, I was most excited to receive the clown print Natalie swing dress. To be honest, I don’t like clowns at all, but there’s something so fun and whimsical about this print, and I had really regretted not purchasing it the last time it was available, so this was greatly appreciated!

I knew exactly how I wanted to accessorize the dress the moment I saw it…I went with my yellow and dark blue Splendette Duchess bangles, a yellow necklace, and the Twiney Rainbow Bubbles earrings I ordered from PUG the day they were released.

The outfit looks exactly like I hoped it would!

This is such a fun dress, and with it in my wardrobe, there is now only one PUG Mary Blair print I don’t own in one form or another!

Sartorial Saturday–Taking Flight

I was very excited to find the Mary Blair planes print Harley dress in the box Pinup Girl Clothing sent me last month. I only own one other Harley dress, and because it was a clearance item, I had to buy a size larger than I normally wear, so it doesn’t fit quite right, which doesn’t stop me from wearing, but does limit how I can wear it. This dress, however, fits like a glove, and I love it!

I thought it would be fun to do another special photo shoot, so we went to beautiful Tower Grove Park in St. Louis, and finished up just before a storm rolled in!

I love how easy it to accessorize this dress…I went with green accents this time, but I could have easily done red or blue as well!

This is a great summer dress, and I know I’ll get a lot of wear out of it. Come fall, I can just throw on my bolero to ward off the chill!

Sartorial Saturday–Mary Blair Meets Sailor Moon

The first time my daughters saw the new Pinup Girl Clothing Natalie swing dress in the Mary Blair planes border print, they said it looked like Sailor Moon. And if you’re not focusing on the print, they’re right! So I decided to run with that theme and style it in the most Sailor Moon way I could.

I went with red, white, and silver accessories, which included a red belt, a Splendette stack, a red wicker purse, and moon earrings (of course). I think the hair flower is an especially ingenious touch…it’s like I ran into Tuxedo Mask!

There’s nothing I don’t love about this dress!

I’d like to think that Mary Blair herself would approve of this styling…it’s a great tribute to an amazing female artist and a great show about women!

A Markel Family Mother’s Day

Time for the latest installment in the “Markel Family Holiday” series!

Let’s start with wardrobe. The Mary Blair Mother and Child print Lydia dress from Pinup Girl Clothing is the perfect outfit for Mother’s Day. Really, the outfit just creates itself, and I have to say, it’s nice to have a day where I don’t really have to think about what I’m going to wear!

Since Mother’s Day is always on a Sunday, we’re always at church in the morning. This year was extra special, because we were on Altar Guild duty. Of course, while we were there, I had to harangue the Fab Five into taking a picture with me!

My children are very thoughtful gift-givers. I received both a book about Mary Blair, and a new Lego Architecture set. They know me so well!

Ryan and I didn’t get to spend the day with either of our mothers, but when Ryan’s parents were here for Ladybug’s birthday last week, his mom gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers that I somehow haven’t managed to kill yet, so they made our dinner table extra special!

Speaking of dinner…my one rule is that we don’t go out to eat on Mother’s Day, because I hate dealing with crowds. This year, I decided to try a new recipe for spinach-artichoke pasta that seemed both easy and delicious, and everyone in the family liked it! I made my favorite asparagus to go with it, and we had carrot cake for dessert:

The rest of the day was spent doing things I enjoy, including watching a dubbed Animal Crossing movie that Ryan stumbled across. It was a very fun, relaxing day, and I’m happy I got to spend it with my family!