Sartorial Saturday–My Favorite Festive Fashions

Now that even Epiphany has come and gone, I’m taking a look back at my favorite festive fashions of the 2021 Christmas season. I picked my favorite styling of each Christmas piece I have in my wardrobe (four skirts, a dress, and a dirndl apron), plus a photo of how I accessorized each:

Also, two bonus pictures that don’t really fit anywhere else…the dressing gown I wore on Christmas Eve, and a playful shot of one of my new Christmas brooches on my overalls against a candy cane-inspired background:

As much as I’m looking forward to mixing up my fashion a bit more in the coming weeks, I’m really going to miss my Christmas prints until it’s time to pull them out again!

A Masked King

Since we’ve stayed home for so much of the last 15 months, I haven’t had the chance to see many of the masked statues in and around St. Louis. I did finally catch a glimpse of King Louis IX in a St. Louis city flag mask when Bunny and I went to the Art Museum last week, though!

Sartorial Saturday–Floral Masks for Spring

Time for another look at this year’s hottest accessory…the mask! This time, I’m taking a look at some of my favorite floral-print masks for spring:

I really love these masks from Old Navy. I like the way they fit, I like that they have adjustable ear loops, and I love that there are so many colors and prints. If you had told me a year ago that I would have a preferred mask, and a whole bunch of variations of that favorite on top of it, I never would have believed you, but here we are…I like that I can still be fashionable and express myself even during a pandemic!

Sartorial Saturday…On a Sunday–Easter Fashion in the Time of COVID-19

Time to take a look at the Easter outfit that this year I actually get to wear outside of the house! I bought this Lana dress from Pinup Girl Clothing as a birthday present to myself last year, and as soon as I put it on, I knew it was going to be my Easter dress for this year…the beautiful floral print is perfect for it! Since it’s the midwest, and you never know what the weather is going to be like, I added a Yemak cropped cardigan in the most beautiful shade of purple to go with it.

Easter is an especially good holiday for accessorizing…this year, I’m wearing a sun hat I got from Unique Vintage, but I swapped out the pink tie around it for a beautiful blue floral scarf from Erstwilder. I chose a purple floral necklace and a Splendette duchess bangles stack to go with it, and of I course I added my favorite fancy floral brooch. I’m also really excited about my new Erstwilder handbag!

I’m sure I say this every year, but this may be my favorite Easter look yet…I love all of the floral components! Perfect for a lovely spring day after what seems like a year-plus of never-ending, dark winter!

Of course, I need a mask to go with my outfit, because COVID-19, and I have a coordinating mask that was made to go with my dress! I love how Pinup Girl thinks about the little details!

And one more picture of the outfit in the wild this morning…I changed my shoes (Chickadee asked me to wear sandals so she wasn’t the only one), and I picked a different mask, as well:

After last year’s Easter-at-Home, it’s so nice to be able to get dressed up and go to church. Happy Easter!

Sartorial Saturday…On a Sunday–The Top Five Fashions of 2020

We’ve finally made it to the final week of 2020! To commemorate the end of this past year that has been a decade long, I’m beginning a series of “Top Five” posts, because even in the middle of a pandemic, I like making lists. I’m starting with my favorite fashions from this year, most of which weren’t worn away from home, but are still worth noting.

To start, here’s a look at my favorite HOMES bracelet stack, from their birthstone collection. These bracelets have been very important to me, because they have helped me feel connected to Chicago and Lake Michigan during a time when I could visit neither, plus they’re really pretty!

My second fashion is from the second “Dapper Day at Home” of the year. I love everything about this look I put together, from the hat to the handbag, and especially my first Miss Candyfloss dress!

I figured one of my top five fashions should focus on this year’s hottest accessory, the mask. I really love this Christmas mask from Old Navy, and the accessories I paired with it!

Speaking of Christmas, one of my very favorite looks from this year is the outfit I wore last week to the outdoor Christmas Eve service we attended. I don’t have a lot of opportunities to wear my cape and muff together, so I was pretty excited to have a reason to wear both!

And finally, a look so new, I haven’t even featured it on my website yet (stay tuned)! I was super excited to order this beautiful purple-striped Stephanie swing dress from Pinup Girl Clothing on Pink Friday, and I love the way this look turned. out, especially with Spiffy the Sausage Dog making an appearance on my cardigan!

So there’s a look at my favorite fashions from this year. Maybe at some point in 2021, I’ll have a reason to wear some of them somewhere other than at home!

Sartorial Saturday–Festive Fashion in the Time of COVID-19

Even festive fashion in the time of COVID-19 is different! This year, we went to an outdoor Christmas Eve service, and it was pretty cold, so I got to break out my best winter wear to pair with my Pinup Girl Clothing Genevieve holiday harlequin dress…my cape, muff, and a new pair of embellished earmuffs!

Of course I added a Splendette Duchess bangles stack and Old Navy mask in red and green, plus my favorite Christmas tree brooch, to complete the look.

All things considered, this is probably one of the better things to come of COVID-19, because I really enjoyed putting this outfit together and wearing it out!

Christmas in the Time of COVID-19

Time for a look at this year’s scaled-back Christmas celebration. Some things were the same, like starting Christmas Eve with a bowl of Christmas Crunch:

Some things were different…but not necessarily because of COVID-19. I had a fun time playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons and helping Jingle deliver his gifts yesterday morning:

The Fab Five finished this year’s Advent project, Lego Diagon Alley:

And I played Animal Crossing some more:

Our Christmas Eve dinner was different this year…I ordered tamales from Portillo’s, and we had them before church.

I always take pictures before church. This year, I took two sets. One with the year’s hottest accessory:

And one without:

This year, we attended an outdoor Christmas Eve service. It was cold, so we weren’t too sad it was short (although I missed all off the familiar Christmas hymns!). We did chuckle when a helicopter flew over during “Silent Night,” drowning out the singing!

We drove through the Way of Lights on the way home:

For Jesus’ birthday cake this year, I made a peppermint chocolate cake with two kinds of frosting (white chocolate peppermint buttercream inside, and an Italian buttercream outside). I think this is one of the best cakes I’ve ever made!

Of course there were new Christmas jammies:

We skipped playing Ticket to Ride on Christmas Eve, so I just had to fill the stockings and set up the nativity scene under the tree before bed:

We didn’t have to get up early, so we enjoyed our traditional Christmas morning coffee cake a little later than usual (but not much):

And since we didn’t have a Christmas Day service to go to (probably the biggest disappointment of the holiday for me), we opened presents in the morning, which was very strange!

We had our traditional Christmas Eve “pick out dinner” for Christmas Day lunch…and dinner (we’re saving our fancy Christmas feast for Sunday…stay tuned!). Here’s a look at some of the things we had:

We spent the afternoon watching Christmas movies, including my very favorite, White Christmas. We played our annual Christmas Eve game of Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries tonight. And since we were a day late, we also played the new Ticket to Ride game Ryan gave me, the 15th anniversary edition with clear trains, which I love! Everything is different this year…we might as well embrace it!

“Hail, O everlasting morn!
Hail, redemption’s happy dawn!
Sing through all Jerusalem:
‘Christ is born in Bethlehem!'”

Merry Christmas!

Sartorial Saturday–Festive Fashion: Masks

I love festive fashion in all forms, and that includes masks! I knew Old Navy would offer some cool holiday prints, and they did not disappoint…from dogs and cats to Nordic-inspired designs, there was something for everyone in our family (and I wore them all at least once). I loved coordinating all the fun and whimsical patterns with my festive outfits!

There have been many, many downsides to this year, but at least I got to make some fun and unexpected additions to my wardrobe!

Sartorial Saturday–Masking in Style

It’s been what…four, almost five months since I started masking every time I leave the house (which still isn’t often to begin with!)? I’ve decided to have fun with it. We have a whole bunch of masks in solids and patterns (the patterned masks are from Old Navy…they have lots of great options!), and I enjoy choosing one to go with my outfit when I do go out. It’s just another form of accessorizing, and I like to do it in style!

How do you like to incorporate masks into your look?