What I Wore: Go with the flow-y

Jeans, KappAhl; tank top (under my shirt, not visible), Joe Fresh; shirt, ???; shoes, Merrell; head band, Lululemon; coat (on the ground behind me), Mountain Equipment Coop

My outfits lately have been super lazy since we've been doing loads of touristy stuff and comfort is my top priority. I definitely don't believe in wearing sweat pants when traveling, but I just can't face wearing anything fussy when my day consists of walking for six hours a day, doing lots of reading and looking and negotiating busy trains. On the other hand, everyone here is so nicely dressed, I wish I were making more of an effort, but I really need my clothing to be easily adaptable and go with the flow-y.

How do you dress when you are traveling?


Love,
Rosie

Art Show Time: Unreasonable Expectations

Tempera paint on a cotton canvas on a wooden frame.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may remember that late last week I spent a whole bunch of time painting, and that I had my piece up in a gallery*.

This is the painting that ate up about 6 hours of my life to make, and about another 3 to go to the exhibition opening. I haven't painted anything since last May/June, and I had never worked on a canvas before, so it was a pretty steep remembering/learning curve for me, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm slightly annoyed with myself because I think I could have blended with much more subtlety, it's not very fair of me to compare the painting to the pencil sketch though. I have always been far more comfortable in pencil, and this one had turned out spectacularly, so it created pretty huge expectations in my mind.

Do you create unreasonable expectations for yourself?

Love,
Rosie

*For full clarity, my entire class had their project shown, so it's not like I was chosen for it or anything like that.

Eclectic Love 8: Patchwork Daydreams

Winter hasn't even started yet, but I'm already daydreaming of spring clothing. I want to wear light, floaty skirts. I want whimsy. I want anything not involving covering my entire body in at least two layers of fabric.

Isadora in Spring Patchwork Dress

This dress satisfies the first two desires perfectly, but sadly, for the next six months or so leg coverage will be mandatory for all people who don't like frostbite, so I will have to stick to day dreaming for now.

What would you be wearing right now if you didn't have to worry about weather?

Love,
Rosie

What I Wore: Purple and Green and RED

Jeans, KappAhl; shoes, Fly London; shirt, H&M; sweater, ???; headband, Lululemon.

I've spent the past several days doing tons of cleaning and packing, so outfits have pretty much just been whatever I happened to throw on in the morning. Today, I wouldn't have gotten dressed at all, except I had to go down to the post office, and my conscious wouldn't let me walk across town in my pyjamas.

I would have actually loved this outfit if I had had a pair of black, green or purple shoes to wear with it, but I was reasonably happy with it as it is.

What do you wear when you have to run out but don't want to get dressed?

Love,
Rosie

What I Wore: Dramatic Artist

Leggings, ???; black long sleeved t-shirt, Seduction; dress, Joe Fresh; earrings, Claire's; shoes (not shown), Fly London

Comfort was essencial today since I had a three hour French test this morning, but a lack of fussiness was also important since I spent three hours this afternoon in the studio painting. This may become y go to outfit for painting, since there is something about wearing all black with red heels that makes it even more fun.

Do you find that your outfit affects how you feel about certain activities?

Love,
Rosie

Art Show Time: Dystopian Literature

Pencil Crayon and Permanent Marker on Drawing Paper

Know what happens when I read dystopian novels (specifically, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley) and have too much time to think about them?

I start coming up with ways to represent those novels through my current favourite style of art: vaguely abstract.

Because one of my favourite parts of art is thinking about and drawing conclusions from other people's art*, all I'm going to say about this piece is that I think it would have represented my idea better if the lines of black words where closer together.

How do you help yourself understand books as you read them?

Love,
Rosie

*And I'm really tired and can't form sentences.

What I Wore: Fuzzy Purple

Dress, Gina Tricot; leggings, La Class Couture; sweater, ???; shoes, Kickers, borrowed from my sister; head band, Lululemon; earrings, vintage

Today was one of those days where everything just kept getting in the way of my photos. I had to go to the grocery store, then make dinner, then we ate and the landlady dropped by unannounced and then it was 8 pm and really dark and my auto-focus doesn't work and now I'm all fuzzy.

As you may or may not know, today was wear purple in memory of GLBT youths who have commit suicide because of bullying day. I don't want to get into politics or personal beliefs (this is a fashion blog, not a politics or philosophy blog), but I wanted to show my support in all ways possible, which is why I could be spotted wearing all the purple I currently have today.

Did you wear purple today?

Love,
Rosie

Eclectic Love 7: Avacado or Brown

When it gets cold, I immediately start thinking of one thing. Ok, several things, but in this context, one thing. 

Sweaters. 

Since last fall, I have become very passionate on the subject of sweaters. I have amassed a considerable collection (which is almost all at home *sob*), I have come to love wool and I have embraced winter because I can now wear my lovely sweaters.

Crochet Sweater

The mere fact of having something like 30 sweaters in my closet doesn't stop me from coming up with other styles I want to get though, and at the top of my list at the moment are 1970s crochet sweaters, preferably in colours like avacado or brown.

I can't get any more sweaters right now, but if I could, this one would be the first to join my collection. Not only is it gorgeous and cozy looking and avacado coloured, but it also matches my text colour on the blog (this is a very important feature that I look for in a sweater).

How do you keep cozy in the winter?

Love,
Rosie

What I Wore: layering

Dress, Joe Fresh; skirt, thrifted; leggings, ???; shoes, Fly London; watch, Ushuaïa; out of focus photo, the fact that it was misting and I wanted to get inside ASAP

This is my first attempt at skirt layering, and personally I think it went pretty well. It was a bit bulky, but the dress sat much better on top of the skirt. Not only does it look good, but I was really surprised by how much warmer it was. I didn't thing that simply adding a skirt would change anything, but it really did. Now I can't wait till I get home to my full skirt collection!

What are your favourite things to layer?

Love,
Rosie

What I Wore: Tied Together

Leggings, ???; black dress, Joe Fresh; pink tank top, H&M; shoes, Fly London; scarf, local market; watch, Ushuaïa

My mum got me this tank top recently, and I've been pondering how to wear it for a while. I could wear it with my orange sweater and Merrells, but that's a bit athletic for my taste. I could go for all out clashy goodness with red clothing. Then I found this scarf, which is perfect as a bridge from the pink to red.

Secondly, a note on the photo: I did not turn my head just as this was taken. It was just really, really windy as I sat on a rock on the deserted beach in my fairly thin outfit. I would have taken more photos, but after the first ten I had to put my coat back on, sling my camera around my neck and stuffed my hands in my pockets.

Do you use accessories to tie together colours or looks?

Love,
Rosie

Art Show Time: Ghost Rosies

Shot with my Canon Rebel XS using the standard kit lens, edited with Aperture and Corel Painter

I've been experimenting with digitally layering photos lately. I've been lazily considering it since I saw this post by Lisa of Lisa's Likes back in February, but I just didn't get around to actually trying anything.

This first experiment didn't turn out how I planed, but I'm pretty happy with the Ghost Rosies (if you can't see them, try turning out the brightness on your screen). When I went back to find that link to Lisa's post, I came across her tutorial on how to do it, so I think I will be trying this project again very soon.

Do you have a project that didn't turn out as planned but that you liked anyways?

Love,
Rosie

What I Wore: HATED

Dress, Suzy Sheer; turtle neck, no idea, I got it at a store here in France, but I can't remember where :(; leggings, Gina Tricot; shoes, Fly London; strange facial expression, me trying to smile for the camera; awkward hand, me not taking enough shots

I have hated turtle necks for years. HATED. I was utterly and totally convinced that they were trying to strangle me. Then, once I got a bit older and discovered cleavage, I hated how much of me they covered. This one was only 6 euros though, and it's bright red and it's super soft and I couldn't say no. I'm glad I ended up getting it, because now that I've worn it I have all sorts of thoughts on ways that turtle necks will make my life better.

Is there a type of clothing that you started off hating and grew to love?

Love,
Rosie

Eclectic Love 6: Knee Socks

Knee High Socks Turquoise Lace with Coral Ties

Since the weather has started getting colder, so have my feet. And while I love to wear thick woolen sports socks at home, they don't fit in my shoes all that well, which has left me lusting after pretty, but warm socks.

My brain immediately leaps to knee socks, because while I absolutely adore the idea of them, they never actually work out for me. It's really such a burden having long legs. Having seen these though, I'm starting to think that I will have to find some that work on my legs.

Do you wear knee socks?

Love,

Rosie

What I Wore: Impulsive Love

Jeans, KappAhl; tank top, H&M; sweater, not sure what brand, I got it at a grocery store in France; booties, Fly London

As I followed my mother around the grocery store on Saturday, complaining about how I don't have enough sweaters and generally acting like a spoiled brat, we came across a sale rack full of sweaters. I am making a point to be a brat more often now.

In all seriousness though, this sweater is amazing! As soon as I have time I'll take better photos of it, but as you can sort of see here, it has this really huge shawl-like collar that goes all the way around. Other pros: PURPLE and COSY. Need I say more?

Do you have impulse buys that have become favourites?

Love,
Rosie

What I Wore: Twin Jeans

Jeans, KappAhl; tank top, Joe Fresh; sweater, 66 North; shoes, Merrell; scarf, thrifted

You may be thinking "Really Rosie? Have you worn anything other than those jeans recently? " And I have! Because I am know the proud owner of two pairs of black skinny jeans from KappAhl. When mummy was in Sweden recently, she brought back this pair. They are about an inch longer than the older pair, and have orange stitching.

Have you ever loved a piece of clothing so much you went back and bought it again?

Love,
Rosie

Art Show Time: It's Abstract! Sort of...

Pencil, marker and collage on drawing paper

We had to do a project in art class on sexuality and how we see ourselves, and since mine was sort of related to fashion, sharing time!

I don't want to go too into detail (everyone knows you aren't supposed to share too much online!), but I wanted to represent how I saw myself (the black and white part) and how other people could see me (the collage). I chose to use colour and put it in the center because the outside is what we see first, but it's also not very life like because it doesn't always show who we really are.

I'm thinking about making this a regular feature, would you find that interesting?

Love,
Rosie

Eclectic Love 6: Over the Moon

 

Galaxy with Studded Belt

I'm fairly certain that this is one of if not the most amazing thing EVER. (Ok, slight exaggeration, modern medicine is pretty great too.) In all honesty though, how many things can you think of that are more awesome than a skirt like this one? 

I have no idea where I would wear it, but if I could get it, I would wear it with all sorts of thing.

What better to complement my non-existent moon boots?

Imagine how amazing it would be with a neon body-con dress underneath!

Need to add flare to an all black outfit? This would be perfect!

How cute would it be with a star patterned top?

Or anything studded?

How would you were this skirt?

Love,

Rosie

What I Wore: Warm and Comforting

Dress, Suzie Sheer; sweater, hand-me-down; leggings, ???; belt, Joe Fresh; healthy skin colour, forgetting to check the white balance

I've pretty much been living in this sweater lately, because it's so warm and comforting, and right now my life really needs some warm and comforting. Half the outfits I wear this sweater with don't include it in the original plan, but it's so darn cold when it's 7 am and it's raining and dark and you have to walk to the bus stop, and I just never end up taking it off. This outfit was meant to include the sweater, and that part worked out splendidly, but the leggings didn't live up to expectations. I think it would have worked better with a pair of thin nylons or some fishnets, the leggings made it feel a bit too covered.

Do you have pieces of clothing that consistently work their way into your outfits despite not being part of the plan?

Love,
Rosie

PS: I'm blaming my absence on caffeine withdrawl. The past week has been plagued with a queasy stomach and an inability to do anything other than watch old episodes of Firefly. I should be back to my usual fully caffeinated but still fairly unreliable self soon.