Black and Brown

If you'll permit, I'm going to have a vain moment (read- more vain than normal)...I love how green my eyes are in the first photo. I have sort of chameleon-esque eyes that like to change color according to what I'm wearing. Sometimes they're green-blue, then grey-green, or hunter green and, due to my excessively large pupils, sometimes they even look brown. When I'm wearing just white with no other color interference, my eyes are a simple light olive green. The first photo definitely shows my true eye color.

Ok, now less vanity. Do you ever find yourself shying away from certain types of clothes or color combinations? Well, this outfit is a double whammy for me. I'm not much of a lace wearing girl, finding it too girly, and I also tend to avoid pairing brown and black. When I was younger I highly disliked the color combination, but as I've grown I've found myself drawn to the tricky color coordination of brown and black and also navy and black, too. It's a pesky pairing that needs to find a perfect balance. I'm not sure I achieved it here, but I think I'm learning a bit more with every attempt.

Photos by Cole. Thanks, darling!

Brown lace skirt: Delightful Dozen, via Jen
Old black jacket: Ann Taylor
White peter pan blouse: thrifted
Old beret and white anklets: Urban Outfitters
Brown purse: ASOS
Splendid platforms: Jeffrey Campbell
Stag shield brooch: Super Duper Things

...So tell me, what do you shy away from?

...

Chosen by random.org, the very lucky winner of the $50 Redraven Studios giveaway is Victoria, of Justice Pirate. Thank you so much to everyone that entered and a big Thank You to Amy for being so generous. She also sent me a gorgeous necklace to style, so look for that very soon.

Yours,

Champagne Petals

Another Delightful Dozen swap, courtesy of Tieka. A very pretty little dress, if a bit snug. I love the soft lavender shade.

Cole and I hadn't been on a champagne picnic in a few weeks. It was quite wonderful, but bloody hot. I don't think I can take too much more of this heat and humidity. Bring on fall!

Funny little story...when we were in the store buying the champagne, Cole was carded. As the cashier was checking his ID she asked if I was his daughter. Cole's response was "that's my wife." She then ID'd me. What!? Seriously. I know I look young, but not that young. Neither does Cole look that old. Silly lady. This was the first time this has ever happened to us, but it used to happen to my parents all the time. My dad went gray really young and my mom looks very young for her age. Bah.

Photos by me & Cole.

Going to San Francisco dress in Petals: ModCloth, via Tieka

Vintage woven belt: thrifted
Clogs: Miz Mooz
Sunglasses: Oliver Peoples, Zooey

...TGIF!

Yours,

Bradley Was Her Name

My little ruffle dress made its way home. This was one of the dresses, I passed around to the Delightful Dozen girls. I haven't styled it for my blog in over a year and looking back on last year's photos make me laugh just a little bit.

Below, is a photo of a lovely deer that wanted to stop our drive down the dusty back road. I wish I had a proper zoom lens on my camera, but the photo turned out better than I would have thought. I named the deer, Bradley, in honor of my boots.

When the ever sweet Cat, of Bride Blu, asked if I would like to model her Anabelle milky turquoise necklace, I said "Yes, Please!" It's so simple and sweet that I couldn't wait to style it with my newly returned dress. I think what I adore most about the necklace is, like the description says, that it's more milky than clear. It has a gorgeous opaque quality.

Photos by Cole. Thanks, darling!

Antique Trellis dress: ModCloth
Harness belt: Madewell
Bradley boots: Jeffrey Campbell
Anabelle necklace: c/o Bride Blu

I kept forgetting to mention that I was featured on both Wikifashion's and Chictopia's front pages. Thank You for featuring me!

Yours,

Dot on for the Delightful Dozen

I'm posting over on the Delightful Dozen blog today! Please, stop on by...

Yours,

Making Me Blush

This is Tieka's skirt and another Delightful Dozen swap! I don't normally wear a lot of pink or pencil skirts, but this was pretty fun to style! I felt it called for a prim school girl look with the western bow tie and bowler hat.

I loved the cement railroad marker post...47 miles to Detroit!

Photos by Cole. Thanks, darling!

Making Me Blush skirt: ModCloth, via the Delightful Dozen
Peter pan blouse: thrifted
Vintage western bow tie: ebay
Wear Wolf necklace: c/o of ModCloth
Black clogs: Jeffrey Campbell
How was everyone's weekend? It's a little crazy here with three dogs, but also very silly. Maisy and Pip run in circles chasing each other for hours. I don't know where they get their energy.

The winner of the Passport Smiles Vintage Giveaway is Jenni, of Where Was My Consciousness! Thank you so much to everyone that entered and a big Thank You to my lovely sponsor, Sarah!

Don't forget- all Passport Smiles Vintage clothing is currently 20% off till the end of July (this offer excludes shoes, accessories and sale items)!

Yours,

Abandoned Romp

It's probably totally weird, but I was beyond ecstatic that I had matching lipstick for this vintage romper. It's the little things in life. This is another Delightful Dozen swap, this time around from the lovely Kristin.

Cole and I were close to perishing during this shoot. It was 99 degrees out with 100% humidity. We had to stop every few minutes for Cole to wipe the sweat that was trying obstruct his vision. Another reason I'm lucky to have Cole. Who else would suffer such inhumanity for a photo shoot? No one that wasn't crazy in love with me, that's for sure.

Photos by Cole. Thanks, darling!

Vintage romper: Delightful Dozen, Leproust Vintage
Vintage saddle shoes: from mom
Vintage suede belt: thrifted
Black sunglasses: Oliver Peoples, Zooey

Many of you were so sweet to congratulate me on being featured in WhoWhatWear's July Style Stalker! Again, thank you so much!

Happy Thursday!

Yours,

Jess LC- The Franklin Collection Lookbook!

I'm so excited to announce the launch of Jess LC- The Franklin Collection!

Jess had the brilliant idea of letting her readers pick the "intentions." After receiving hundreds of submissions, her readers voted and decided on the following five: Be Present, Be Brave, Breathe, Be Thankful and Dream Bigger. I love that each 14k gold vermeil pendant has the intention in braille on front and the meaning in English on back.

Having worked with Tieka before, Jess was kind enough to offer the Delightful Dozen the opportunity to style our own braille necklace, with the intention of our choice for the lookbook. So can you guess, which intention I chose...

Here are the rest of the photos from the shoot...

Photos by Cole. Thanks, darling!

Theory of Flowers dress: c/o ModCloth
Franklin Braille necklace: c/o Jess LC
Hat: Urban Outfitters
Oxfords: Seychelles

Definitely check out the lookbook to see how gorgeous all the other girls looked styling their necklace!

So I'm curious, what intention would you choose and why?

Yours,