I think stripes always look right but I think they are perfect in the summer and leading up to fall. They look so great layered under solids and they are fantastic as accents in the home.
It may not be Friday, but I am linking up with Long Distance Loving for Friday's Fancies. The topic is stripes, so I couldn't resist.
And besides, this outfit is just simple math, and perfect for the 90 degree weather we are supposed to have on Sunday.
Stripes + florals = perfection.
See? Easy.
I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!
It is no secret that I love stripes. Love them. Obsessed with them. Whatever. So when my friend Kerri wore this super cute striped top, I asked her sister Kim (photographer extraordinaire) to snap a couple of shots for me.
This is one of those great shirts that you can kind of throw on with jeans and look instantly ready and polished, and you can dress it up or down. Kerri had better be careful; the next time she goes to wear this shirt it might just be hanging in my closet instead.
By the way, can you believe it is December already?! The Cat and I have been pretty busy trying to get the house decorated; we got the tree up, rearranged the furniture a bit, moved the tree around a few times, and finally settled on a spot. Now I am in the market for a console table to put on a wall that usually holds a standing shelf. I need a surface to put Christmas decorations on!
This is a vintage suitcase of the Cat's that we added some extra ornaments to.
It looks pretty by the tree because of all the sparkle.
I finished an advent calendar for the Cat (nothing like waiting until the night before to get things done!).
My sister stamped all of the tags for me- she is much better at paper craft/scrapbooking stuff than I am. This was originally a cork board with a green frame that I've had forever; last Christmas, I painted it black to match the Cat's room and put jewelry on it as a gift for her. This year, we gave it a coat of gold paint and covered the cork in burlap.
I like the way it turned out. I would have liked a little more room for the tags, but I can't really complain- I did this project with stuff I already had on hand, so this part of the advent calendar cost me nothing.
So I just wrote a post stating that I'm not quite ready for winter to be over. Well, after looking around at some of the stuff that is coming out for spring, I decided to change my mind. I still want to wear my new vintage wool sailor pants, but I also want to wear some of these other new nautical pieces that just scream spring. I see a striped shirt in navy and white and I want to show it off, not hide it under a winter coat. So all of the following goodies are from Kate Spade, and I must add them to my Need for Spring list. The more appropriate name would actually be Wishlist for Spring, since Kate Spade accessories are not exactly in my teacher's salary budget. But it is always fun to look!
This purse by Kate Spade really got my heart pumping. I adore it. I want it even if I never actually take it out and use it. I want it sitting in my closet, on the shelf, so that I can look at it and admire it every. single. day.
I love this scarf. It comes in red, too, but I am really drawn to the yellow. I think it is a bit more unexpected, but gorgeous.
Kate Spade Sailor's Knot Ring
I LOVE this- it is so simple and classic;
I would wear this ALL the time.
I love the simplicity of this little gold ring. I went through a period where I really only wore silver jewelry. For some reason, I didn't care for gold. I don't know what I was thinking; I'm all about gold these days. I found a really cute vintage gold necklace at the thrift store (the Antique Asylum- that place is a gold mine! ha ha, I couldn't resist) that has a sailor knot at the end.
I haven't really been a big earring person, but these are so timeless and chic that I am willing to change my policy for them. These would add just a tiny touch of the nautical trend to any outfit.
So, I'm on board with Kate Spade's spring accessories- how about you?!
I'm a stripes kind of gal. I'm drawn to clothing with stripes. When done correctly, I think they are timeless and chic. If you were to peek into my closet, you would see an awful lot of striped clothing hanging around. I have shorts, pants, skirts, dresses, cardigans, jackets, sweaters, blouses, pajamas, shoes... the list, believe it or not, goes on. I love them. Horizontal or vertical, but mostly horizontal. Skinny stripes and thick stripes, in all colors, but mostly, of course, in navy and black. As I'm writing this, I am wearing a blue pinstriped shirt, and my socks have black and white stripes (it was crazy sock day at school).
My obsession with stripes (I tend to talk a lot about my obsessions on here) got me thinking about their history. Why, I wondered one day (probably while wearing stripes, of course), do you always see pirates depicted in striped material? And why did prisoners back in the day wear thick black and white stripes? And burglars, in old timey references, wear black and white striped shirts to go with the black masks that shield their nefarious identities. This burglar question got me wondering when said burglars wised up and started wearing all black, and whether any burglars ever really did wear black and white, and did they refuse to burglarize on nights when their striped shirts were in the wash? As in-- Oh, sorry, Joe, I can't rob old man Jenkin's place with you tonight; my striped shirt is at the laundry.
Anyway, to answer all these questions (and more, according to reader's reviews), I need to buy Michael Pastoureau's book, The Devil's Cloth. Pastoureau is a French specialist in medieval history. While he was researching various medieval documents, he kept noticing that it was usually only the negative figures or characters who were depicted wearing stripes. This led him to research the history of striped fabric, starting with a "medieval scandal" in France and moving throughout history to the 20th century. I don't know about you, but I find this kind of stuff fascinating. That's part of the reason I love having a smart phone so much, because I have instant access to online research whenever a weird little question pops into my head. So this book is on my list, and stripes are on my mind. And in my closet.
