October Catch-Up: Jax Teller, Name Plate Rings & an Undercut

It seems like the first few days of the month I completely drop off this blog –  especially this month as I've been housesitting for two weeks straight. Angelo and I finally made it home on Sunday, and our cats almost passed out from excitement. So here's another round up post to catch up with what I've been doing recently.

Wearing – I've been sticking to my Capsule Wardrobe, and have been itching to get rid of a ton of older stuff to make some space in my closet.  I talked Angelo into giving me an undercut – which we naturally dyed blue – so I have been keeping my outfits more on the simple side. I like the mixing of simple, classic closet staples with the bright blue undercut. Makes me feel like myself, not quite young, not quite old but still wanting to have some fun with my wardrobe.

One of my favorite outfits, EVER.

And introducing my new navy blue undercut - easy to hide at work.

 Watching –  We binge watched the first two seasons of Sons of Anarchy in a week, and are now making our way through the third. I absolutely LOVE Ron Perlman, so that's been great, but I've been struggling with my feelings towards Jax Teller. Half the time I hate him, half the time I love him. 100% of the time I think he's a babe. My absolute favorite character is Happy, even though he's a pretty much complete psychopath. If I was in a motorcycle gang, I would want him on my side. 

I'm only in season 3, so Jax is still relatively white-trash but I do not judge.

Listening –  My current favorite-d  tracks on 8tracks are as follows – Family of the Year, "Hero." Boyce Avenue, "Fast Car." Gin Whitmore, "Black Sheep." Emily Kinney, "Expired Lover." Taylor Swift, "Out of the Woods." Audra Mae & The Forest Rangers, "Forever Young." Curtis Stigers & The Forest Rangers, "John the Revelator." Richard Thompson, "Dad's Gonna Kill Me." The White Buffalo, "The House of the Rising Son." Clearly SOA has infiltrated my 8tracks activity.

 

This is my official "walking home from work in heels" song.

Planning – I've started to get pretty into planning our Christmas vacation to Seattle and Portland. I really want to get a tattoo, visit the Space Needle, stay in the Ace Hotel and visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium – where you can apparently shake "hands" with an octopus.

Buying – I took advantage of some Columbus Day Sales, and snagged a perfect dress from ASOS for more than 50% off it's original price. I have had my eye on it for a while, but when the sale price dropped a second time, I jumped on it. I also took advantage of Lo&Chlo's weekend sale, and ordered myself some nameplate rings and a little necklace. I absolutely love her stuff, and have a bracelet from her that is one of my favorites. When she released a coupon code for 30% off, I acted on it pretty quick.

Have you been busy this October? What are you up to? How do you feel about Jax Teller?

Head to Toe Black and 73 Questions

Have you caught the 73 questions with Anna Wintour video? It's pretty amazing, if I do say so myself and when I watched it I noticed that Anna Wintour and I agree on a lot.

Favorite Action Star? Hugh Jackman. Yes.

Polka Dots or Stripes? Both. Yes.

Sparkling water or flat? Sparkling. Yes.

What would you never, ever wear? Head to toe black.

Wait.

What?

Yes, that's right. She mentions it AGAIN too, so she really means it. Really, really means it. And it is sort of rocking my style morals. I've got black hair, an abundance of black cardigans, staple black tees and black jeans that get the most wear out of anything in my closet. And now I'm hearing that head to toe black is a no?

Like I said, WHAT?

To give me even more of an existential crisis, it's Anna Wintour of all people saying it. That woman knows what she's talking about - so I decided to test out some basic outfits that I would normally wear head-to-toe black and added a small pop of something non-black. This doesn't really mean color, since my closet is pretty monochromatic at this point.

Round 1.

On Friday, instead of throwing on my favorite oversized black tee, I paired my black jeans, black boots and fuzzy black cardigan with a light grey tee from Madewell. I liked the break up of the grey because it brought some attention to my waist – and combined with the booties seemed to elongate my legs. Ok Anna, you win this round.

Round 2.

Over the weekend, I tossed on my black jeans and black sweatshirt from Madewell and brushed my newly dyed black hair, but added my cream colored Converses for good measure. Along with a small pop of green from the flannel that I layered underneath, I think that my sneakers paired with all the black helped me achieve the sort of laid-back cool, look that Madewell achieves so effortlessly in all of their advertisements. So, I guess Anna wins this round too.

I still really love channeling my inner witchy woman and rocking all black – but now I'm interested in adding small pops of something (whether it's a purple-pink lipstick, some peach colored heels or even a brown scarf) to my outfits. In my opinion, it just sort of elevates the outfits from normal to badass while still looking effortless.

Case in point - I broke up the combination of this black tee-shirt romper and long black sweater with my cream colored sneaks and a bright red lip.

Do you agree with Anna about head-to-toe black? Or are you struggling to come around like I was?

Work & Work & Work and Ten Minutes of Play

I know that Wednesday is supposed to be the middle of the week hardest day, but for me that's Thursday. It's so close to Friday, but still so far from Saturday. Ugh. It's definitely a day where I tend to fall into my work-uniform closet basics.

It's so easy to slip into bad habits for work – even harder if your office is casual. I try to have a go-to outfit work looking polished and pulled together at work, especially if you're feeling less than. For me that outfit goes as follows: black high waisted skinny trousers, a black zipper tee from Madewell, a black cashmere cardigan that I stole from my grandmother's closet, a camel colored scarf and black booties. By mixing nicer pieces together and keeping it monochromatic, I get a look that translates well for work.

When I got home from work, I had about ten minutes of down time before Angelo and I were off again to run around Baltimore City and the surrounding counties. I wanted to spend my ten minutes sitting on the couch, so I grabbed another go-to outfit for the evening. I kept on the Madewell zipper tee, slid into my American Eagle overalls, tied my Minnetonka moccasins from @sweet_petite_shop and was good to go.

That's one thing I love about having a Capsule Wardrobe – it's easy to get dressed and doesn't take time away from time that I get to spend with Angelo, with our pups or friends. Taking the stress out of getting dressed is definitely worth the closet downgrade.

What are your go to outfits when you're busy, tired or in a slump? Do you have any special tricks for looking pulled together?

Happy First Day of October!

One of my favorite habits that my grandmother had was to wish everyone a happy first day of the month, every month, so it's no wonder that I've been walking around all day telling people "Happy First Day of October!" I made sure to send my mom a text, "Happy First Day of October" and now I'm telling all you readers, happy first day of October!

I'm really going to try and step up my blogging, and I'm taking a page out of other bloggers' books and am going to mass take some pictures of my Capsule Wardrobe. This will allow me to most more regularly and give you an opportunity to see how I work with a limited amount of options in my closet, instead of rushing through work days and coming home to take a picture each day. My bangs are too temperamental for that.

Also sometimes I just come home and immediately put spandex on. Because it's Fall.

 Here go some OOTDs for different situations, just to give you a general vibe of what my Fall Capsule Wardrobe is like:

 

1. **Flawless Work Outfit. Can you guys wear a plaid button up without thinking about Beyonce in the **Flawless video? I can't, and this green one from Madewell especially reminds me of Queen Bey. It's a great outfit for work because it makes me feel pulled together and professional, while still being casual enough to walk to work in. 

My black skinny slacks from H&M are high waisted and when paired with my boots, they create the illusion that I'm taller than 5'3. I think it's important to have nice pairs of black pants if you're working in an office - even one with a casual dress code - because they're an easy way to look polished. Jeans are great to wear sometimes, but investing in a nice pair of work pants is always a good call.

Also channeling this, especially when you have to walk a mile to work in heeled booties, is always a plus.

2. Monochromatic Mini. I have been scoping out this mini dress from H&M for about two weeks now, trying to figure out if I could work it into my Capsule Wardrobe or if I just wanted it on a whim. Finally, I decided that yes, yes I could work it into my 40 items, and in a variety of ways. First off, this mini is actually a perfect addition into my Capsule Wardrobe because it fits the monochromatic bill. The color blocking on this dress is also super flattering to a variety of body types, which is another plus. The dress itself would be easy to dress up for work, with black tights, flats and a sweater. It would be cute with my chucks and minimal makeup on a casual day out, and it would be fun to dress it up for a date night - with heels, bare legs and a bright lipstick.

                                                                                                    One of the things that I've learned since starting my Capsule Wardrobe is that it's important to be able to work pieces in a variety of different ways. Almost all of my 40 items can be used at work or home, dressed up or down. That's why I personally stick to a more monochromatic palette for my Capsule Wardrobe - it makes it easy to pair different looks and pieces together!

3. The Classics. With any Capsule Wardrobe, it's important to have a "go-to" outfit and mine is usually a variation of this - a black top, comfy jeans and a killer shoe. I wanted to pair my boyfriend jeans with these pointed nude heels, so I picked a bit more of a fitted black top over one of my go to oversized tees. The look is simple, classic while still being current and fun - I feel that it perfectly sums up the vibe I'm going for with my Fall Capsule Wardrobe. It shows I'm dressing with intention, without falling into trends or clothes that won't flatter my body.

So that's a sneak peek of my Capsule Wardrobe for Fall! What do you think? Do you have a favorite outfit out of these three? Have you given a Capsule Wardrobe a shot? Let me know in the comments!