Outfit Post: 90s revival

Yes, this is me rocking a floral dress and stompy boots. What can I say, I wasn't old enough to partake the first time around. I'm in love with this dress, picked up for a song at Monsoon's post-Christmas sale; with spring coming up I am seriously craving some soft florals. I am also on the look-out for an awesome pair of short, lace-up grey boots, which I think would look lovely with this outfit.

 

Cardigan: Penneys

Dress: Monsoon

Tights: Target

Boots: DSW

Dream Home

I think I might have found my dream home: Jo Berryman's 16th century farmhouse, as featured in February's Living Etc (which I definitely make an effort to buy every time I'm in the UK).

 

Velvet chesterfield. Stripey dress. Horse art.

 Hot pink duvet with pom-poms. Love.

 An Aga! My dream kitchen has an Aga, a Smeg fridge, and a giant butcher-block island.

 Love the giant open hearth and velvet chairs. And the giant book, which just reminds me of the atlas scene in Sense and Sensibility.

All photos from Living Etc.'s electronic preview feature.

Gallery visit of the week: In View at the Golden Thread Gallery

In View at the Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast explores the act of looking and challenges the roles of the viewer/viewed. Understandably, within the context of the (male) gaze in art history, many of the works on show look at the erotic, voyeuristic, possessive and sometimes exploitative nature of looking, especially upon female subjects. However, some artists looked at the idea of the "other," at narratives of personal experience, and of representing events which by their nature are time-based and temporary. There were quite a few video works, which are obviously hard to represent on a blog, so I'm just showing the wall-based works of two artists I liked.

Sara Greavu's works explore the Halloween carnival culture of Derry, here looking at ideas of the "other" and ethnic drag.

Margaret Harrison's drawings explore the nature of celebrity and pop culture and the human body as an object for consumption. They're all quite witty and irreverent, which I rather like.

 2 Princesses, 2 Hands (Diego Velazquez painting/David Walliams & Batman)

 Olympia: Model Role (Jennifer Lopez/Marlene Dietrich 'Frenchie')

Dolly Parton Mel Ramos

All in all, I was pleased with the exhibition, doubly so since it took me two tries (and two trips to Belfast!) to see it.

St. Valentine

I might not be big on Valentine's Day in general, but I do love things that are cutesy and sparkly, so the swag is great. My favs so far:

Colette Pattern's Valentine's Day photoshoot, featuring their Nutmeg pattern. Hot girls hanging out in vintage-inspired lingerie? YES PLEASE. Also, I have this pattern at home but have yet to make something from it...this is terribly inspiring.

 Yeah, all girls like to get together and hang out sewing in their underthings. Totes normal.

 ...and then they make out.

Rifle Paper Co. can do no wrong in my opinion, but I think they've topped themselves with their super-adorable Valentine's line.

Outfit Post: Dahlia

I love the oversize dahlia print on this dress, the cheerful color, and the breezy silk material. Maybe a bit light for winter, still, hence the Cecily sweater over top. I tucked the neck tie into the sweater after taking these, though, and I think it looked better that way.

Sweater: Gap

Dress: Anthro (new)

Belt: Avoca

Tights: Penneys

Boots: Aldo

Outfit Post: Confetti

This outfit was just a lot of fun to wear. Even if it was a bit too cold for a short skirt and only one pair of tights (I've been doubling up most days!).

 Polka-dot slip! I stalked this at Anthro and was so pleased to make it mine come Christmas sale time!

Blazer: Gap

Dress: Target

Slip: Anthro (new)

Necklace: Target

Tights: Penneys

Shoes: Frye

Outfit Post: Interview dress

I'm in interview mode as I'm trying out for a number of spring gallery internships. This dress is kind of my go-to item for interviews here and today I needed to make it good for not just the interview but also my whole day, which included trekking to new parts of the city for class. I hate my hair here but it calmed down later in the day and I looked less like Edna than I do here.

Dress: Target

Cardigan: Penneys

Belt: Avoca

Tights: Penneys

Boots: Duo

Outfit Post: Sweater dress

While I love the idea of a sweater dress, all too often they disappoint: too thin, too clingy, or with too much crochet/open-weave details. This sweaterdress, picked up at Anthro on super sale over the holidays, is none of the above! It's a thick, cozy knit, fitted nicely in the bust but full in the skirt, and while it has fussy little ruffle details (which I do like), it's fully lined and there's no see-through issues like you get with crochet trim. It's also versatile in navy and black.

Sweaterdress: Anthro (new!)

Long-sleeve shirt: Target

Necklace: Accessorize

Thigh-high socks: Sock dreams

Boots: Duo

Gallery visit of the week: Eilis O'Connell at the RHA

I've decided this semester I'm going to try to see at least one new show/visit one new gallery each week, to try to branch out. I revisited the Royal Hibernian Academy gallery two days in a row because I loved one exhibit so much. Plus they were having a book sale.

Artist Eilis O'Connell's exhibit Haptic shows some of her recent work which is largely inspired by natural forms. She's well known for her large-scale outdoor bronze sculptures and many of the works in this show are similar but made in fiberglass to be lighter and more easily exhibited in a gallery context. The works that really stole the show for me, though, are a small set of natural/organic found object encased in blocks of resin. The pictures below don't do them justice; each one is an organic item beautiful on its own which is captured in a state of suspended animation, as if frozen in time. They are stunningly beautiful and really appeal to my love of cabinets of curiosities and natural history collections. I really desperately found myself wanting one (or all).

 This one was my favorite, and I'm peeved that I could not for the life of me get a good picture of it. It's almost otherworldly in person.

Outfit Post: Little Red Riding Hood

Oh Anthro, damn you and your whimsical fairy-tale-esque pieces that I can't help but buy. I picked this capelet up over the break (thanks to Jennifer for finding the only one hiding on a sale rack!) and have worn this exact outfit at least four times now. But this is the first time it's been photographed, so the first time it counts, right?

 It even comes with its own effing coin purse, too fucking precious for words, right? Whatevs, I'm twee, I've accepted it.

Capelet: Anthro (new!)

Sweater: Gap

Skirt: Penneys

Tights: Penneys

Boots: Aldo

Outfit Post: Steampunk

While I'm no cosplayer or anything, I've been kind of into a slightly steampunk aesthetic for a while. I think it hearkens back to my serious love of all things Jules Verne when I was around 10 (and I do still love a good British empire explorer/spy novel...I'm reading Mark Gatiss's Lucifer Box series right now, which is delightfully cheesy).

Some fabulous recent steampunk inspiration:

The world created for the Doctor Who Christmas special, A Christmas Carol (+tweed!)

A new character on my favorite guilty-pleasure sci-fi show Primeval. Her name is Emily and she's from the 1840s...and wears a kick-ass leather jacket belted over a bustled skirt. Love. Oh, plus her bff's name is Charlotte and for a minute I was pretty sure they had made the Brontes into time-travelers. Alas, no.

My interpretation for the day:

I included some art-nouveau inspired accessories just for fun:

Blazer: Banana Republic Outlet

Blouse: Monsoon

Jeans: Gap Outlet

Belt: Avoca

Boots: DSW

Necklace and rings: family keepsakes