I was so excited when this beautiful purple solstice stripe Stephanie swing dress appeared on Pinup Girl Clothing’s website, and even more excited when it was still available for the “Pink Friday” sale after Thanksgiving. The colors are amazing, and I love the contrast trim on the neckline…I’ve wanted a dress with that particular detail for a long time!
I accessorized with a black Yemak cropped cardigan, a purple and silver/grey Splendette Duchess bangles stack, a black bow belt, my standard “pearl” necklace, and my Spiffy the Sausage Dog brooch from Erstwilder:
I love a swing dress!
My only other Black Friday purchase (or was it Cyber Monday?), was this beautiful faux fur stole from The Oblong Box Shop, and it goes perfectly with the dress!
I seriously feel so fancy in this outfit!
I still don’t know when we’ll really be going anywhere, but hopefully I’ll get to wear this beautiful dress somewhere this year!
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!
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!
I know it’s still early in August, and we’ve got plenty of days in the 90s ahead of us, but I’m already thinking about fall. And what is a more classic combination for fall than a cardigan and skirt?
I love this floral swing skirt from Unique Vintage. Its color palette is just different enough to be really interesting. The cool grey background is lovely, and the flowers themselves are in enough colors to offer lots of options for coordinating.
I paired the skirt with a Yemak cropped cardigan over a Pinup Girl Clothing peasant top in complementary shades of blue:
I decided to go with green and brown accessories this time, with a Splendette Duchess bangles stack as well as my HOMES bracelets, and the ever-adorable Erstwilder Slothertons.
When you add in a pair of boots, it’s the perfect look for fall!
Even when you don’t have anywhere to go, sometimes you just need a new dress…like when Pinup Girl Clothing drops a beautiful pastel floral print right before your birthday. And especially when it’s a style of dress (Lana) that you’ve been wanting to try, but hadn’t found in the right color and print until then. But when it also has a matching social-distancing mask, it’s not just another pretty outfit…it becomes the perfect symbol of fashion in the time of COVID-19!
“My mask protects you; your mask protects me.”
The mask is very comfortable to wear, and is, I think, a great accessory. Plus, you don’t have to worry about things like double chins when wearing a mask! Of course, in addition to my newest accessory, I added some old favorites, including my sparkliest brooch, a Meteor Jewelry Company necklace, and a Splendette Duchess Bangles stack:
Having the matching mask really makes this outfit special!
Of course, no one wants to wear masks forever. But as long as it’s necessary to do so, I’m happy I can be both safe and stylish!
I’ve had this Pinup Girl Clothing Dapper Day “Flags Ahoy” Bella skirt for almost two years, but I didn’t make it to a Dapper Day event until today. At home. Because no one can go to an in-person event this time around, Dapper Day is encouraging everyone to “Stay in, in style” and dress to impress with “Dapper Day At Home.” This is an event I can get behind, and it’s so very easy to attend!
I accessorized my Bella skirt with a Splendette Duchess bangles stack and an Erstwilder brooch, plus my Easter gloves and hat, and a necklace I got at Talbots many years ago. It’s fun having any excuse to dress up right now!
I think we can all agree that Easter was weird this year, right? Without our normal church commitments like choir, acolyting, and serving on altar guild, Holy Week and Easter Sunday fell a bit flat. But whether we were at church or not, we still had reason to celebrate, so I tried to make this time at home as special as possible.
On Maundy Thursday, we enjoyed some beautiful weather while we were out for a walk in our neighborhood before we “went” to church, which we watched from the comfort of our living room.
We were a little busier on Good Friday, with some baking (including homemade hot cross buns for the first time!), and another walk, before we once again watched the church service from our living room.
We were especially busy on Holy Saturday. We did some more baking, including these amazing rosemary dinner rolls, one of my favorite new recipes that I’ve tried:
We also made our new Paschal Candle for the year, as we usually do on Holy Saturday…it was disappointing not being able to take it to the Easter Vigil, though!
We had a fairly last-minute change of Easter dinner plans, because Beast Craft BBQ announced that they were going to be selling hams, so Ryan went and picked that up Saturday afternoon. It smelled amazing, and there was great restraint on the part of everyone in the house, because we left it alone until Easter dinner!
I dug out some extra candles so we could really feel like we were participating in the Great Vigil of Easter:
But once again from our living room:
We always get hot fudge sundaes at McDonald’s on the way home from the service, so I tried to recreate that experience, as well:
We didn’t “need” Pop-Tarts for breakfast this year (do you ever really need Pop-Tarts?),, because we didn’t have to get up as early for the sunrise service, but tradition is tradition!
I was very happy to get to sing my favorite Easter hymn at the first service, which we attended from, you guessed it, our living room!
We always have Easter breakfast at church between services, so I tried to replicate that experience, too. Homemade biscuits and sausage gravy were the star of the meal (both of which I prepared on Saturday), because that’s what they serve at church, plus sausage patties, eggs, orange juice, and mini donuts:
I always take pictures after breakfast, and this year was no different. Yes, we all got dressed up, even though we were at home!
I really missed taking photos of the children by the baptismal font, but at least I got pictures of them on Easter, right?
I already shared the details of my Easter outfit, but here’s one more picture, with Ladybug, because this was her first occasion to wear a dress from Pinup Girl Clothing!
Back inside, and back to the living room for the second service, where we sang another favorite hymn:
The church part of the day was over much quicker than usual, which was sad. I did have plenty of time to prepare our Easter dinner, though, starting with setting the table with our china and spring table linens:
On the menu: ham, mashed potatoes, a trio of green vegetables (Brussels sprouts, asparagus, and green beans with almonds), cherry Jell-O, and rosemary dinner rolls. It was a delicious meal!
For dessert I made the same lemon cheesecake with lemon-rosemary shortbread crust that I made last year:
We’re not done, yet, though! Since Easter is a celebration that keeps on going, and since our dinner plans had changed after I had already bought what was supposed to be the main course of Easter dinner, we had another special meal tonight…rack of lamb with some new sides (roast potatoes and cauliflower), plus some repeats (Brussels sprouts, green beans, Jell-O, and rolls), plus more cheesecake for dessert!
So there you have what was the strangest Easter I have ever experienced. Of course, our reason for celebrating never changes, but just the same, nothing felt quite right, and I truly hope we never have another Easter like it!
A few months ago, I started planning my Easter outfit. I had an idea, figured out the accessories I would wear with it, and then completely changed my mind. Fortunately, Pinup Girl Clothing had a sale, which allowed me to buy both this beautiful coral floral print Bella skirt and the matching Yemak cropped cardigan. Unfortunately, in the end I guess it didn’t really matter, because it’s not like I have anywhere to wear it at the moment. I did still style it and take pictures, and it’s just as beautiful a look as I knew it would be!
I accessorized with the same fascinator I wore last year, my favorite “pearl” necklace, the flower brooch I wear every Easter, gloves, a Collectif belt, and a Splendette Duchess Bangles stack and matching earrings from their new pastels collection:
If you’re curious about the top, it’s actually the top half of my Mary Blair boats print Audrey dress…yes, I just threw the skirt on over the top of it!
So this isn’t the Easter I really wanted, but this situation is temporary (I hope!), and I’m looking forward to eventually wearing this out in public!
I already shared a wrap-up of this year’s Mary Blair March outfits, but I want to take a moment to look at the differences between March 1st and March 31st, even though I was wearing the same Harley planes print dress both days.
At the beginning of the month, I got a major haircut. Including BANGS. I can’t even remember the last time I had bangs, and while I’d been talking about doing it for months, I was pretty scared to actually go through with it, because I was worried I’d be be instantly filled with regret. But I LOVE them! I also had some ear piercings done early in the month. This is another thing I’ve thought about doing for a long time, and like the bangs, I’m glad I finally went through with it! I’m also really, really happy I had both things done before everything locked down, because who knows when I would have had another opportunity?
Obviously, the world we live in also changed a lot from March 1st to March 31st, to the point where it is now almost unrecognizable. Nothing is the same anymore. So I feel like these superficial, physical changes are a good metaphor for the events of 2020 so far, only mine are a lot more pleasant, with a lot less permanent ramifications!
Here we are, at the end of another Mary Blair March. I think we can all agree that we’ll be glad to see this horrible month come to an end, but at least the fashion was good, even if I was all dressed up with no place to go for most of March! Here’s a look back at the outfits I put together this year:
I began and ended the month with my favorite Mary Blair piece from Pinup Girl Clothing: The planes print Harley swing dress. I think my favorite outfit, though, was the Animal Crossing themed one I wore on New Horizons release day. I also made a point to wear my lime green shrug as much as possible, because I think it pairs with my different Mary Blair pieces in a way that really displays the spirt of her color theory. Each of these items always brings a smile to my face, which was something I really needed this month, but I’m hopeful that next Mary Blair March will see me wearing them to some of my favorite locations that aren’t my home!
