What I Wore: Worth the Struggle

Jeans, Kapp Ahl; sweater, 66 North; tank top, Joe Fresh; shoes, Merrell; sunglasses, RayBan; coat, Mountain Equipment Coop; headband, Lululemon

Yesterday we went for a hike up a mountain near where we are staying, because that’s the sort of thing my family tends to do when we are on vacation. In total we hiked about 10 kilometers, most of it up and down steep slopes. It was well worth the struggle though, since the entire area was really gorgeous, a lot like something out of Lord of the Rings. I took tons and tons of photos, and I’ll post some as soon I have a faster internet connection.

Where was the most beautiful place you’ve been?

Love,
Rosie

Clothing for Comfortable Traveling

I am one of those seemingly rare people who really enjoys airports. Everyone I know loves the planes, and the destinations, but is neutral at best when it comes to airports. And yes, there are awful ones. There are times when even I hate them, but there are so many neat things to be enjoyed if you open your mind. The people watching is fascinating and diverse, it's always fun to watch the planes, you can shop, read a book, make a friend, go for a walk, go exploring. One of the biggest reasons the people I've talked to don't like airports is that they find them uncomfortable. I see the problem not as being the airport (usually); but the outfit.

Plane Outfit by RosieUnknown 

 This is the only style of outfit I will wear to travel now, since it is the most comfortable thing I can put on my body. Obviously everyone is different, but the general ideas are pretty universal.

 Leggings and Dress: I find pants fairly uncomfortable, so there is no way I'm wearing them to fly. Also, Leggings and a knee length dress keep me covered in pretty much any position I could contort my body into, which is an essential for me. If you prefer pants, I'd recommend something loose like a harem pant, with a tunic top or bodysuit so you don't realize at the end of a flight that your curled up in a seat position was showing everyone near you just what kind of panties you were wearing.

Sweater: Airplanes are often really cold, and if you aren't using it it can be folded up and used as a pillow.

Pashmina: scarf, wrap, blanket, emergency hair control, pillow, protection from dubious seats, top, skirt; there really isn't much that a big pashmina can't do.

Soft cloth head band: not only will it keep your hair in place, but it will also serve as an emergency eye cover and block some noise.

Walking shoes: Since  generally do some hiking or heavy duty sight seeing, I always like to have my walking shoes along, and they are great for trekking through airports, lugging bags through public transit and keeping you balanced on moving planes. Another plus: since they are the biggest shoes you'll bring (probably), you'll save space in your bag. If you absolutely don't need walking shoes or sneakers, I would wear flats, but unless they are the best flats on earth, I don't think they could be as comfy as walking shoes.

What do you wear when traveling

Love,
Rosie

Fall Dream Wardrobe: Crazy, Ugly, Funky and Awesome

In the midst of running around packing today, I realized that I could not, in fact leave blog post writing to 10 pm, since I would be on my way to Europe by then. That of course, left me with a problem: my brain does not function before 10 pm and I was incapable of coming up with an idea.

Twitter came to my rescue, and after a few minutes of panicking, I thought it would be neat to show you my dream fall wardrobe. This fall, I want to be wearing lots of crazy hats, big borderline "ugly" sweaters and funky skirts with awesome tights.

Fall dream wardrobe by RosieUnknown

 Sadly, since I had to pack my entire closet for the next several months in hiking back pack, randomness was abandoned in favour of a completely red and black wardrobe with the only exceptions being an orange sweater (for warmth) and a cream coloured sweater (cause it's amazing and versatile). The only pattern I packed was plaid or argyle (exception: paisley dress).

Despite these restraints, I still dream of rainbows and pastels and clashing and crazyness.

What's your dream fall wardrobe?

Love,
Rosie

Eclectic Love 5: Practical Obstacles

I will admit, the beginning of a new school year hold lots of excitement for me. Most years, it's because I'm excited about new pens, binders, classmates, teachers and (hopefully) challenges. This year though, the undeniable need for new shoes fueled excitement. Despite the fact that I already own tons of shoes, none of them are right. See, I want something comfortable, versatile, durable, stylish, and just all round amazing.

Having convinced my parents that this was the case, my father and I set off shoe shopping a few days ago. I did succeed in finding the shoes, but more on that later, since I saw these in the course of my shopping trip:

Fluevog Shoes- Tenango

 They are, in my opinion, one of the most amazing things ever created, and if I could afford to splurge on some fabulous shoes right now, it would probably be these that I would buy. Ignoring the practical obstacles like the fact that I don't own anything orange or even like the colour all that much; I'm pretty sure these would fast become one of the most worn pairs of shoes in my closet.

Are you ever attracted to clothing that don't fit with your general style?

Love,

Rosie

What I Wore: Half Princess Leia

Jeans, thrifted; shirt, Joe Fresh; shoes (not seen), Birkis

I was really excited to post this outfit, because I was really proud of the fact that I was wearing jeans with something other than a t-shirt (and because I feel slightly dishonest only posting the outfits that are super pretty, since I don't wear them everyday), but then I saw the photos and was very, very sad. Most of them turned out fairly well, but the combination of how I was posing with the wind made my shirt look incredibly unflattering in most of them, which I swear it wasn't. 

On a seperate note, I really liked how I styled my hair today. I'm afraid I didn't manage to get any good photos, but by the end of the day they were two little tufts sticking out of the little bun, and it looked amazing. I pinned it up because it kept getting in my face, but this may be one of my new favourite ways to style my hair. I think I have to do for the full Princess Leia affect.

I've been super busy with packing and cleaning and stuff over the past few days, which is why my posts haven't been particularly interesting, but I have some neat stuff planned (I think.)

What do you like to wear with your jeans?

Love,

Rosie

What I Wore: Soccer Mom Artist

Jeans, thrifted; shirt, thrifted; tank top; Jacob; head band, Lululemon; earrings, handmade by me.

We had some dinner guests today, so I had to change out of the sweat pants and into actual clothing, and since all all my clothing is currently jammed into my sisters already full closet, I pretty much grabbed the first two things I saw. It actually worked out quite well, this is the first wearing for both of these pieces and I was happy with how it all worked out.

Of course, these jeans with this shirt feel vaguely soccer mom "artist" to me, so I added in my lego skull and pink bead earrings to randomness.

Love,
Rosie

Sea, Sand and Photos

When I left a week or so ago, I thought I would be home within a couple days. I ended up being away for almost a week, and I've spent the few days since I got back alternating between catching up on all the awesome blog posts that were written while I was gone, trying to get my room cleaned up before we have to leave, and marveling at the amount of stuff I own. I did end up taking a bunch of photos while I was away though, so since I haven't had a very fashionable thought in days, I can show you the best of those.

My large, friendly letters didn't quite work out, but the message is still clear. Let me know in the comments if you get the reference :)

All in all, it was a good time. Regular posting should be back soon, hopefully tomorrow, with lots more fashiony/arty goodness.

What's you ideal weekend get away?

Love,
Rosie

Metaphorical Mops and Virtual Cleaning

I got out my metaphorical mops today, because I decided it was time for a virtual spring (or, ahh, late summer) cleaning.

The first things to change were the colours of all my text, since I feel like I had outgrown my different shades of red and pink. If you are having trouble reading the new shades, please let me know!

The second change came in the form of a new header, because once I had changed all the colours, I felt like a new header was in order too. I actually took this picture almost a year ago in Iceland, but it had been languishing on my hard drive for far too long. Today I cropped it into a header appropriate size, figured out how to get it to the right sized, and swapped it in.

The final thing I feel the need to ramble on about it the fact that I signed up for Tumblr today! You can come visit me at Eclectic Enthusiasm. If you want to follow my tumblings, but don't use Tumblr, you can follow me on Twitter and be notified right in your feed I whenever post something new. I think I'm going to use it to mostly to share random images I come across that I don't have a use for here on the blog, but want you to see. I will probably share some of my own work too.

Do you like the new colours? Also, do you have Tumblr, or any that you absolutely love?

Love,
Rosie

UPDATE: I completely forgot till after I hit publish, but I'm headed out tomorrow morning on a last minute trip with a friend, so I won't be around for the next few days, but I will answer all your comments when I get back early next week. Have a great weekend!

Overstated and Somewhat Tacky

Lately, I've been seriously craving anything and everything sparkly. More specifically; anything and everything diamondy and being me, I want them insanely huge and tacky. Obviously, real diamonds are way way way out of my price range, but I can still bling myself out with plastic.

I have no idea where I got the necklace, but I recently found it while cleaning my room and decided that it is pretty much the best thing on earth. I made the earrings when I realized that my life couldn't be complete without a pair of Lego head earrings, and that the only thing better than Lego head earrings would be Lego head earrings with large, slightly pink, plastic crystals. My next plan is to try and get my hands on some crystals from a chandelier or something, since, like I said, overstated and tacky are practically my middle names. 

Do you love diamonds? Do you like them understated and demure or over the top?

Love,
Rosie

PS: all photos are links to their sources :)

Eclectic Love 4: Faux, Of Course!

There are all sorts of fabrics I love: silks, anything slinky, wool, but one of my all time favourites is fur; faux of course. Because while wools are warm and silks are soft, only faux furs can give you beautiful cosiness while being deliciously smooth. In anticipation of the cooler weather that it only a month or so away, I've been majorly wanting to find friends for my sole faux fur jacket.

Vintage Suede Faux Fur Coat

Yup, something about like that would be marvelous. If I were a gorgeous coat like that, I would want to party with brightly coloured pencil skirts and suede booties, or maybe a knee length pleated skirt and a beret.

How would you wear a coat like this?

Love,
Rosie

What I Wore: Casually Restricting

Jeans, Gap; shirt, Seduction; cardigan, Joe Fresh; sandals, Birkis; necklace, handmade by a friend

Today's outfit, as you can see, was super casual (for me at least). All I had to do was run some errands, and I decided that I didn't want to wear a skirt. I regretted it about as soon as I left the house, because I'd forgotten just how restricting jeans can be, but that's what I get for only wearing nice roomy skirts then trying to squeeze into jeans.

What do you wear for days when you are just running errands?

Love,
Rosie

Art Show Time: Wings

I was taking some photos of different prints I've done recently, and I thought I would show you them. I've been hesitant to share my non-photography artwork here in the past, since it really doesn't have much to do with fashion, but I realized it is very related to style.

Carved in hard artists linoleum, printed using oil based ink on a special press

This one is actually an auto-portrait, albeit an abstract one. The real explanation for this is a bit too deep and personal for the entire internet to be able to read, but you can take what you want from it.

Carved in soft artist linoleum, printed using water based ink and a wooden spoon

Carved in flooring linoleum, printed with water based ink and a wooden spoon

All the pieces are linocuts, meaning I took a piece of linoleum, carved the mirror image of my design in it, then coated it in ink and printed it on the paper. The first two were done in my art class, and the final one is I did at home. I felt rather starving artist, sitting cross legged on my bed, carving out my design in flooring linoleum because artists linoleum costs a fortune and I can get the flooring stuff free, but then I remembered that I'm only a poor artist (who's still in school and supported by her parents) because I spend all my money on clothing (and save for university) and it sort of ruined the moment.

What do you consider your artistic outlet?

Love,
Rosie

Vampiric Angel

It has been dawning on me recently that it has come to be time. Time to... Update my Profile Picture. My current one dates from March, and I've been feeling the need for change. I've gone through my usual process: hem, haw, look through pictures, choose one, changed my mind, looked some more and narrowed it down to two. This is where you come in: I want your opinion on which one looks better.

What do you think, vampire or Charlie's Angel?

Love,
Rosie

The Trouble with Ruffles

In general, I pretty much love my style, all the aspects of it. The one draw back of my extreme love of close fitting skirts lies underneath: I have an insane love for ruffled underwear.

Pretty Pink Nylon with Ruffles Panties

Yeah, that kind of ruffled. And now I feel really conflicted, because while I have no problem spending money on pretty things, the pretty things I buy generally get worn. But panties that would only be wearable with one or two skirts that I don't wear that often? That's a bit crazy even by my standards.

Do you indulge in pretty garments that never get worn?

Love,
Rosie

Eclectic Love 3: The Birds are Calling

One of my main clothing dislikes are pants. When I wear something, I want it to look good and feel good, not pinch me and make me readjust all day, which is what pants do to my body. That being said, there are some times that skirts are just too annoying to wear, or I want more warmth. It is in these times that I turn to leggings and say: thank goodness I have you!

My personal favourites at the moment are a pair printed to look like jeans, but I stumbled across these today, and it was instant love.

Bright Blue Leggings with Screen Printed

There is just something about the little birds that call to me! Personally I imagine rocking them with a crisp white men's shirt for a simple look, or with a pastel green tunic for a different look.

Would you rock these amazing leggings?

Love,

Rosie

What I Wore: Antoinette

Skirt, Åhlens; tank top, market; corset, handmade be me for a costume; leggings, Gina Tricot; shoes, Aldo; bow necklace, made by me; mask, made by me.

I've had this mask lying around my room since the end of the show, and I felt the need to style an outfit around it. I didn't actually wear this, but it is definitely something Antoinette would wear. I'm not sure if I've ever introduced her or not, so I will now. Antoinette is my alter ego, and we are very different people. She is confident  and extroverted, I'm shy. She does what she wants, I fear consequences. In some ways though, we are very similar. We both think Jello Shots are the bomb, neither of us care what any one thinks, we agree that partying all night is the second best way to spend our nights*.

Do you have an alter-ego?

Love,
Rosie

*Pyjama parties with either amazing books or amazing people will always be first in our hearts.

Adventurous Announcements

I have a couple of things to tell you all today, and neither of them are particularly exciting for you (sorry!):

 Long time readers with amazing memories may remember that a while back I tried a shopping ban that pretty much fizzled out because it turns out I don't actually shop all that much during the school year. Anyways, a few days ago I started another ban. This time I have left myself absolutely no loopholes.

I will not buy a single thing until August 26.

The second thing I want to tell you about is the cause for the aforementioned shopping ban: in less than a month, I will be leaving for France. Feel free to spend a few moments being jealous (unless you live in France, in which case, this probably isn't too envy inducing.) The reason I'm telling you all this is because I sort of need your help. If you have been to Brittany/Bretagne, know someone who has been there, or know of someone; I would really super appreciate any tips on things I should see, interesting shops, any thing of that sort. You can comment here on the blog, or send me an email at rosie.unknown@gmail.com. Thanks!

Have you ever tried a shopping ban? Did it work out?

Love,
Rosie