Mirror Mirror

If you stare at this top too long, you might go cross-eyed. Or find yourself in the Twilight Zone.

It's been my dream for a while now to do a very dramatic black and white photoshoot. This bold striped top presented the perfect opportunity to execute this idea. I’ve paired this with velvet black leggings and one accent accessory to really allow the print to speak for itself.

Peplum tops are hugely popular finds in most all clothing department stores these days. It took me a while to jump on this big trend, but now that I've committed to it, I’m in love with the concept. It can be dressy or casual. I almost think of a small dress when I look at it. It’s flattering for most body shapes too – no matter what size you are, it gives you nice, exaggerated curves with the flared bottom piece.

One of the topics I wanted to expand on more from my last post was “Can I Do This DIY?” - This peplum top inspired me to want to research other ways to get a peplum top without finding one on sale somewhere, which is exactly where I found this beauty on the banana republic clearance rack over the summer.

I’ve discovered some tutorials online that show us just how to do that. Except the problem is, the tutorials require sewing, which I have very little skill in. I have all the resources at my disposal (sewing machine, needle, thread) but I’ve just never been great to know what to do with each material. However, this tutorial looks incredibly easy and I’m going to challenge myself to try this. I like the idea of converting an over-sized t-shirt into a peplum top. A band shirt would be very edgy, but I do like solid colors or patterns myself. There are ways you can play with the neckline in this tutorial, you can do a rounded edge like shown, or easily cut a V-shape into the neckline like the one I’m wearing. I fully intend on playing around with that. I also like that this is a video tutorial too – sometimes pictures don’t fully explain. You can watch the video at this link.

This isn’t a great example of my DIY posts to come, simply because with five college classes and working nonstop has prevented me from being able to sit down for one long evening and try it out. However, if you happen to be a great sewer, here’s your chance.

The most useful thing that has happened during my extended blogging leave is a proliferation of a whole new platform to share pictures with a larger community: Instagram! If you look to the sidebar, I've got this nice little widget that shows all my Instagram photos on a slideshow for your viewing pleasure and convenience. To make this more fun than just sharing the same old pictures, I’ve figured out how to make this more interesting: I will be posting outtakes from all of my photoshoots on my Instagram - @ water_lilies. These exclusive pictures will not wind up anywhere else. (Oh come on, don’t act surprised I’m shamelessly promoting my Instagram account. I’m a fashion blogger, it’s what I do.)

Next time, I'll be saying a warm farewell to lovely summer weather and summer clothes with one last outdoorsy, hiking look. Until next time!

-K.

Sun & Moon

scarf, blouse, belt - thrifted, skirt - banana republic, earrings - vintage

So I recently wrote a story for one of my classes about a guy that sees butterflies

No seriously. This was my second story due for an assignment, my first one I was proud with, but didn't feel it was necessarily a "break through" - ie didn't really do what crazy things run through my mind on a daily basis much justice. Sometimes I humor myself and pretend I know what I'm doing, using intuition as my own critic.

So I wrote this story, right? It was about this crazy guy who hallucinates, written from his point of view. You really can't decipher what's real and what's not (or at least, I like to think.) I'm very drawn to psychedelic things thanks to my renewed obsession fascination with the Led Zeppelin film "The Song Remains the Same" and I decided to jump in head first. 

So the day it's due, and we're all critiquing each others stories (me with my pink pen of doom) and I see my story being passed around and I get to briefly take a glimpse...and I see it covered in writing from all different handwriting. Ugh. Fine then, I think to myself. Some things work and some don't. I made a mental note to scrap the idea entirely. I was incredibly worried this was too specific of a theme for a general audience - not everyone finds what weird things I find interesting. 

A day passes and I get my story back. Turns out the writing all over the page wasn't endless criticism, like I thought. It was actually praise! Everyone loved it! I was floating on cloud nine the rest of my day, even took the next class to reread the comments people made. If there's been one immediate affect this writing class has had on me, it's coming face to face with my worst demon, even more than writer's block - the fear of having my baby torn apart and ridiculed. This is yet another aspect I've fully emerged myself into, in hopes of breaking this habit - I practically throw my writing to anyone with eyes. I used to be so secretive. It's a great feeling. 

I tell this story not to "brag" of any writing skill I might possess, but rather, to update on a thought I posed a while ago. I opened up, honestly for the first time ever on this blog, about some rather personal feelings I was battling with - mostly about inadequacies and struggling with a real vision for my artistic endeavors. I'm nearing very important life deadlines, mostly regarding college and career choices. I'm at my absolute wit's end with decision making (god knows I'm horrible at it...I think I found a demon to challenge that other one...) and I'm telling you all this to explain the beauty of falling so low you can't fall any further. At this point, all you have is instinct and primal need. And I thought, what's my absolute most basic need? Writing. I want to do nothing more in life than write to my little heart's content. 

So not only is this a story of self discovery, but listening to your heart. It took me a while to find my own voice, especially with the "writing" medium. I took a lifeline and wrote about something uniquely inherent to myself and bit the bullet with my fear of criticism. I know I'm going to mess up in the future and write a less than perfect story, even to myself, but at least for now, I know what I'm capable of and have a steadier eye on the prize.

Oh, and the look today. SCARF. Love it. I love sun and moon things, saw this scarf, and have been planning a number of ways to wear it and show it off. Also, yellow colorblocking. Funnily enough, I dislike the color yellow on a regular basis, but the flow of colors and the spectrum I'm working with were appealing enough.

Thank goodness for swanky neighborhoods with fountains in the middle of the road.

-h.

Sometimes as I'm editing my photos, I feel like my cat is watching, so I let him do the decision making for me. He doesn't approve.