A "Stylish White Female" Once Taught Me...

Well, I'm a couple days later on this post than I expected. I had this all ready to go Friday, but alas, not time to make it to the computer. Busy, busy weekend! Hope yours went well. Here it goes...

[That's my little Rubix Cube (Ruby) running through as the pics were taking place. She's so cute. My pups make me soooo happy.]

This outfit is from the beginning of last week and I am just getting around to posting it (and I also needed to make sure it was cool that I use one of my favorite blogger's pics). I wanted to put more thought into this one because I am referencing a fashion blogger I absolutely adore. This combination of goodies was inspired by one of her own fabulous outfits. Her ensembles are just so well put together and honesty, down right attractive. I find myself looking forward to what fun pictures she put up from day to day. She always combines just the right amount of retro style with a contemporary flare that is colorful and sophisticated, classy, yet flirty. She always inspires me and I don't even know her. :) 

Who is she? She's the Terra of "Stylish White Female". (Go ahead, go look, she has her "Community Choice" up right now for vote and that is always fun. Just- come back, I'll wait...) 

*tick...tick...tick...tick...tick tick tick* You back? Good :)

She lives in Pittsburgh, PA and snow, rain or shine, she always looks downright cute. The best part however, is that on top of having such an inate sense of style, she's a talented blogger and she seems to really enjoy it. She expresses herself so well in just a few sentences and I like that she knows how to pepper in just the right amount of personal bits about herself so we get a taste of her personality and life. She's humerous and down to earth and she's beautiful. (I totally covet her gorgeous red hair and she has an infectous smile.) Terra's super photogenic and she takes her pics in visually interesting places. It's just an overall good read.

Photo above (that Terra was kind enough to let me borrow for the purpose of this post): Aren't her color choices killer?! The green that's prettier than an olive, then with that blue sweater - stop it! So cute! Red accessories?! Now I was in love. The scarf around the waist - I had just purchased a scarf that I wasn't sure how to debut and Terra's successful combination of colors had me thinking about my own closet and how I could emulate this look. But now that I think about it. I do that with most of her looks. Bravo Terra, Bravo!!!!!

So this was how I interpreted what was in my closet to attempt Terra's Fabulousness... The color of my dress is a bit drab, but it works with all the black accents in the scarf and tights. It was warm enough to not wear the leg coverings, but, well, I didn't shave so on went the patterned tights. Necessity breeds invention. I really liked the way it turned out with my legs being fanci-fied with my purple oxfords. It was too warm for my blue jacket, but I can thank the weather for that little omission. Terra's dress and jewelry are such beautifully hued pieces, they are so complimentary to her coloring. What did I tell you?! She knows what she's doin' :) Thanks Terra for your inspiring style and sharing it with the world! I salute you!

That's my stoic "salute" on the right

This was my first attempt at using the outfit of someone I admire so literally to inspire my own ensemble. I think it turned out decent considering I didn't have to go buy anything to achieve my look. :)

Since January I have been reading fashion/style/diy/photography blogs. At first, I found the fashion blog-o-sphere to be chalk full of girls in their early to mid 20s doing their thang with some innovative ideas and, well, some questionable renewals of not so awesome looks of the late 80s and early 90s. (LOL The other day I thought I was seeing snapshots from the movie "Singles" when browsing some websites. *whoa*) That's really fantastic for them and I truly mean that in no sarcastic manner, I guess we all have to do the 90s at least once. (For myself, I lived the 80s and the 90s vividly and that was enough. I guess this is how my mom feels when I walk in the room looking like I hoped out of the 50s-70s.) There is something really beautiful about seeing these 20something ladies coming into their own by way of fashion and expression and just being a woman. It takes some courage to put yourself out there. But, you have to do it for yourself ulitmately and many do.

I'm 29 and just a smidge past that period in my life. I still totally enjoy reading about their journeys, though. I, in no way mean that, at 29, I know exactly what I want or who I am all of the time. But, your mid 20s are such a fabulous time for being comfortable to explore yourself. You do mature a tad bit as you role through the decade in how you want to express yourself through your appearance. (Of course there are exceptions to every rule, we're all different and bitchin' in our own ways.)

I was really happy upon further searching to find more blogs from women 28-35, 1.) those that I could identify with and inspire me 2.) you know, so I didn't feel silly doing all this stuff. :)

Wanna know a "secret"?...I needed to confirm that it was ok to do something that I consider for myself, a bit narcissistic (photos of oneself) - sometimes I feel like the bandwagon was riding by and everyone yelled "it's ok!" and I hoped on but, what can ya do? (Also, a little bit of narcissicm can be healthy sometimes - that's a whole 'nother conversation for another post). I had to keep an open mind and tell myself, the reason I started doing this was to have a killer chronical of my clothing choices and meet some people with the like type interests. I'm pretty chicken overall when it comes to sharing much about myself so it's difficult to meet many, but it's fun to let those I follow know how neat I think they are through comments. That's pretty much the most courage I've mustered thus far, that and emailing the fabulous Terra. But, I digress...

Throughtout my searches, I was lucky to find bloggers like Terra of "Stylish White Female" and many others to inspire me and my style daily because, honestly, if you totally dig what your wearing, how could it not make your day good in some way? It totally does!!

(Thanks again to fashionable Terra of "Stylish White Female" for use of her name and photograph. She's one cool kitten!)