OOTD: Floral and Mint

This week, after inheriting a bunch of new clothes, I took the time to go through everything in my closet.  I set aside the clothes I was prepared to donate, the clothes that needed some TLC (most notably stain removal - my Bubba had great taste but sloppy eating habits) and the clothes I hadn't gotten around to laundering yet.  Among that last pile was a heap of floral vintage I had scored from work (along with the pieces featured here and here and plenty of others), including this jacket and dress.  Though the pieces aren't a set, the mint in the dress is so similar to the mint in the jacket, that they simply had to be worn together.  I'm fairly certain that the dress was a bridesmaid's dress (the donor had mentioned many of the items were from special occasions and only worn once), and hell, if she couldn't get more wear out of the items, I sure will!

 The Deets:

Floral Jacket: Vintage, Free

Mint Dress: Vintage, Free

Tights: Anthropologie ($5.  Sale room, you my best fraaaan)

Black Riding Boots: Value Village 

Black Snakeskin Belt: Hand-Me-Down

The "Grayed Jade" (14-6011), "African Violet" (16-3520) and "Tender Shoots" (14-0446) in jacket are three of Pantone's colours of the season, so for 45 year old items I scored for free, I sure am looking on trend! On a sidenote, I went shopping for paint chips this weekend, and paint colour names are just the most ridiculous thing ever.  "Tender Shoots"? Seriously? But I digress, back to the outfit!!  Paired with a black snakeskin belt I inherited from my grandmother, and my favourite black riding boots, I balanced that springy feeling with the warmth I need for these not-quite-springy feeling days.  I definitely look forward to busting this combo out as the days warm up, though the polyester is going to limit that somewhat!! I just can't abide by feeling like I am wearing a plastic bag.  Even if it's floral.

--Erin

OOTD: Green Horn-Knit (Sweater)

I am terrible about forgetting things.  Clothing items are the worst.  I forget them at Ephraim's house, or perhaps more often, forget them at my own house... when I need them for a weekend in Toronto.  So goes the story of how I came to borrow this sweater of Ephraim's (and kinda fell in love with it).  Last weekend turned out to be a lot colder than I expected, and I managed not to pack anything nice and cozy for going out at night.  I asked Ephraim for a sweater to borrow, not thinking that his stuff was bound to be very manly, or very large (except for his awesome new J Crew cardigan which fits me perfectly, but it was his birthday, and he was wearing it, and I can't steal the cardi off his back even if it's so comfy), so when he handed me this sweater, I was skeptical to say the least.  It wasn't until I had it on with a bit of red lipstick that I decided I was just going to rock that oversized sweater, Keiko Lynn style.  I mean, shit, homegirl would look great in a paper bag, but she does know how to wear her boyfriend's clothes.  I mean it doesn't hurt that this sweater went great with the vintage shirt I has brought with me.  Clothing Kismet.  

Speaking of the shirt, this was another sweet find from that big donation the theatre couldn't use.  The shirt was made by an offshoot of Lady Manhattan, based in Toronto.  I know this not just from the label, but from the fact that the shirt was still in its plastic sleeve.  That bad boy still had the pins and a sheet of tissue paper in it.  I almost felt bad to unwrap it, but clothes are made to be worn.  And I will wear the everloving crap out of this shirt until it dies.

So say we all.

THE DEETS:

Sweater: Ephraim's, handmade by his Mother (aaawwww!!)

Shirt: Vintage, Lady Manhattan (free.  booyah)

Pants: Anthropologie

Ankle Boots: Vintage. (remixed)

Ring: Vintage, Forum Antiques

Do you have any clothing items you can't wait to get the "chance" to "borrow" (see: short term theft) from a loved one? 

--Erin

Ships Ahoy: Navy White and Red Life Preserver Print

*** First, a quick notice.  I have made the blog more narrow for easier viewing for those with smaller screens.  All images can be clicked to enlarge.  I am going through the archives to do a rough resize, but it will take some time.  Please leave a comment if you see a particularly egregious formatting error. Thanks for your patience!***

I finally took the plunge and dyed my hair dark! I have always envied those girls with dark beautiful auburn hair, and now I walk among them. I was going on two years since my last professional haircut, which is obviously really long overdue. I can't believe how light my hair feels. Or how confident I feel to style it! Turns out I had no idea what to do with my hair simply because there was too much of it to really do anything with. Well, unless I wanted a style evocative of the trends of the Victorian lady, which, no. Point is, I am so so happy with my new hair. The cut and colour look amazing with my new frames (not pictured, I am taking them to get my prescription put in next weekend), and I am really pumped to do a bit of retro styling in the coming weeks. Exciting times, friends! Okay enough blabber, more glamour. (HAH)

It was snowing and I was FREEZING

I picked this dress up from the Goodwill last week, and took a bit of a gamble on it. I basically had to be in and out of the store pretty quick, so I bought it without trying it on. It's a petite 10, neither of which are sizes I wear, but it actually worked out pretty perfectly! To be fair, some of that may be because I can cinch the waist in with that amazing self-fabric belt, but all in all I'm calling this a win. And I'm glad it worked out, because thrifting is getting expensive! All the dresses I saw at the Goodwill were marked at $10 (well, $9.99 to fit in with their weird palindrome pricing). It's not so easy to pick up whatever looks interesting anymore, but on the same note, my closet is way too full already. I suppose I'll have to learn to be more picky, hard as it may be! Have you found thrifting in your town to be becoming more costly, too?

It has pockets!

The Deets

Nautical Print Dress: Thrifted

Red Tights: Topshop

White Leather Ankle Boots: Vintage
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson (gift)

What hair colour have you always wanted to try, but never worked up the nerve? Give it a shot, it's only hair!!

--Erin

O.O.T.D: Safety Pins, Ox Blood and Mustard

Here's a little outfit from last weekend.  I basically wanted to recreate the outfit I wore on Halloween, but have a little time to put on a bit of makeup, as it wasn't a weekday! Work tends to keep me from doing the makeup thing, especially in the colder months.  Wind + eye makeup and scarf + lipstick = disaster.  Oh well, that's what weekends are for, am I right??

The Deets:

Beret: no brand tag, purchased in town

Mustard Cardigan: Macy's 

Safety Pin Tank Top: Winners

Ox Blood Jeans: Bluenotes 

Ankle Boots: Jeffrey Campbell

These photos were taken on the front porch of a nearby church.  The big white pillars in the late afternoon (SUNSET?!?) photographed so beautifully! This is definitely a spot I hope to take more pictures in, in the coming months.  The side of the church is beautiful too, with the gorgeous brick you see here and white framed windows that much be 15, 20 feet tall!  Really beautiful.  And if there should happen to be a service when I am itching to take photos, the church is right across the street from this abandoned house and barn I love to use as a backdrop as well! Score.  Tiny town, you may not have much, but pretty backdrops for photos is an area you excel in.  Keep up the good work.

Hope you have a bang-up Tuesday.  Hah.

--Erin

Spotted Collars, Red Lips and Riding Boots.

Here's a little outfit I wore out to the movies and to run errands this past weekend. I picked the spotted top up on sale at Anthropologie a couple months ago, and love the challenge of working a sleeveless piece into my autumn and winter wardrobe. I just love having that cute bright collar peeking out of a cardigan or another shirt.  

The boots are my favourite boots to wear in the fall! Too bad they're not the least bit water-tight, so I have to be careful not to get caught in the rain with them! Still, for $7 at Value Village, I'm willing to put up with whatever shenanigans I have to. 

Also, check out that rose! I bothered to learn a little bit about roses this year as the house I am living in has a couple rose bushes out front.  Looks like I'll be enjoying blooms well into November!! I'm so happy, they're so nice to see as I leave for work every morning!

The Deets:

Collared Shirt: Anthropologie

T-Shirt: J Crew

Cardigan: Target

Landscape Skirt: Anthropologie

Tights: Hue

Boots: Thrifted

Apologies, dear readers, that things have been a little quieter than normal around here.  I'm deep in model making mode at work, and it tends to satisfy my creativity pretty well.  If you want to see some peeks into what I'm working on, follow along on instagram: @efgerofsky.  If you don't have instagram, you can still check out what I've been posting if you click the camera button on the left sidebar.

Happy Wednesday everybody! Soon, we can rest!

--Erin 

Embracing my Retro Kitchen

Value Village was very good to me this weekend.  Not only did I get what I needed for my halloween costume, but I also picked up 4 place settings worth of the greatest dishes! Even better, there are cups and saucers to match.  But even better than that, I also found a metal kettle that looks charming with the set.  My house is very dated, and there's not a lot I can do about the decor.  So I've tried to embrace the 70's nature of the house, despite normally being more of a 50's or 60's girl.  The print on these plates has colours that can fit into either era, so they work in this kitchen and will hopefully work in one I have more design control over too! 

Speaking of design, as you can see I tried out a couple new fonts in this post.  I have been toying around with some design changes, including the fonts.  What do you think? Yay or nay?

--Erin

O.O.T.D: His and Hers - En Francais

Of course when we went out for afternoon tea to the Chateau Frontenac, we knew outfit photos would have to immediately follow.  Lucky for us, there was this gorgeous street just a short walk from our hotel (if we're being honest, there were MANY beautiful streets, but I really loved the slope so that you could see the buildings! Too charming), so we had a little jaunt over to take a couple snaps.  I learned that I will never not find it awkward to have people watch as someone takes photos of you.  Weeeeird!

Despite wearing such a loud print, I wasn't the most outrageously person dressed at the Chateau! There were a few tour groups passing through, decked out in ski jackets and an assortment of weird hats.  I'm talking sombreros and Mickey Mouse ears.  It was truly bizarre to see people dressed like that walking through the gorgeous lobby of the hotel! 

Again, if we're being honest (we are), I didn't wear these shoes all day.  Actually, I wore moccasins and had these in my purse to change into, but failed to make my way to a key entry  bathroom before tea and figured since I was already sitting sipping a cuppa, I might as well stay! I changed into these afterward, so do forgive me for photographing the ideal I had intended on.  But here's some pictures of me freezing my butt off to make us even. 

The Deets:

Jacket: Mango

Gloves: Simon's

Purse: Michael Kors

Dress: Vintage

Tights: HUE

Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell

Ephraim layered like a champ.  When he told me what he brought to wear if we went out someplace reasonably nice, I figured the mix of patterns and textures would be kind of awful, but it really does work.  I love the knit jacket he's sporting, the colours and pattern are just amazing.  Even better, his mother made the jacket by hand for Ephraim's grandfather, whose wife would not let him wear it lest he ruin it, because it was "too good for him".  It really is stunning, too stunning to keep boxed up though!!

The Deets:

Sweater: Handmade

Hat: Vintage Borsalino

Scarf: Vintage

Sportcoat, Shirt and Tie: Topman

Vest: J Crew

Jeans: Levis

Cowboy boots: Hand-me-downs

--Erin

O.O.T.D: Wallpaper Pants

I've been wanting a pair of floral printed jeans since I saw Keiko Lynn rocking them some months ago.  I'd often see the Anthropologie floral jeans all the who's who of the blogosphere seemed to own, but failed to submit myself to the hefty price tag.  

Turns out Bluenotes makes something pretty similar for $20.  Sure, they're not as well made, but how likely are floral jeans to become a staple in my wardrobe for years to come? Yeah, $20 novelty pants for the win. 
I unabashedly love this cardigan I got on the same shopping trip.  Elbow patches have been a love of mine for some time, and I'm enjoying seeing them come into use not only in menswear but in women's too! Finally.  Love it.

The Deets:

Scarf: Hand-me-down

T-Shirt: Target

Cardigan: H&M

Floral Jeans: Bluenotes

Moccasins: Minnetonka

--Erin

Before and After: Metal Purse

gave the exterior a quick shine, too! Before/After.

This Makeover was quite close to my heart.  Not only is this metal purse one of the absolute coolest things I own (seriously, just look at it.  So awesome), but it's a piece I inherited from a family member who was dear to me, my great Auntie Pepi.  On Sunday it would have been her 70th birthday, so I thought it was an appropriate time to finally replace the horrible lining in this bag, so I can start enjoying this incredible vintage bag (given the state it was in, Pepi definitely enjoyed it!).

The lining was a deep purple velvet that had just had it.  I'm talking leave-dusty-residue-on-everything, puff-of-dust-when-torn kind of had it.  It was gross.  I ripped it all out, and sadly discovered it was too far gone to be used as a template for my new lining, which is why I ended up with some inaccuracies! Over all, I am very happy with the results, though there are a few hiccups.  Most notably, some of the old barge cement that had been used reactivated with my glue, and bled some colour through my new lining! Of course, I know the purse is only going to get dirty anyhow, and the spots are not so terrible.  I love the colour of the lining, I used an old scarf I thrifted! It was 100% wool which I can't wear, but I always loved the colours and pattern.  It feels good knowing that I could eliminate a little bit of clutter and find a use for the things I have, instead of buying something new.  All I bought to complete this project was some glue, I had the scarf, interfacing (and of course the purse) already!

I'm looking forward to taking this little guy out for a spin! I love how bright and fresh the new lining feels, and now I know it's not such a daunting task to replace the lining if I ever decide to convert it back into a swanky little evening bag (you know, some day when I have swanky little evening plans). 

--Erin