Bloggers that Inspire

I'm constantly trying to tap into my inner fashionista and I feel like I'm failing most of the time!  When I started my weight loss journey in January, I felt like once I was comfortable enough in my new body, I should buy clothes that reflected my new found confidence.

I tried doing an outfit photo-a-day when I started my *Smash Book adventure and it helped me get in tune with my fashion sense...but only for a little bit.  I know myself - I am NOT a fashion blogger.  

Especially not with this hastily put together arrangement.  Yikes!

Every time I try and do a "What I Wore" post, I start to feel really, really self-conscious.  And it sucks!  When I was doing the photo-a-day thing for a week, I enjoyed it!  It was a bit of a challenge.  I tried to take inspiration from my favorite fashion bloggers:

Scathingly Brilliant - whose retro vibe is ultra cute and feminine.  One of my favorite outfits is Periwinkle and Sea Foam Green.  I LOVE her take on colors and how she successfully mixes and matches them perfectly!  I'm going to try my hand at styling this Mint Dress that she listed (and I was lucky enough to snag!) and see how well I stack up!
Bonus Look: Snow White styling With a Smile and a Song.  So cute!

The Dainty Squid - whose mix of retro and unusual curiosities works every time!  One of my favorite outfits is Covered in Cameras - which inspired me to take the plunge and *finally* order the ASOS Lunar Flats!  This blog also turned me toward BloodMilk - such great jewelry!
Bonus Look: Hunting for Bigfoot.  Yes, I know it features the Lunar flats as well but I just love how she mixes a casual tee with a cute skirt - something that has been eluding me for a while now.  I went on a large-ish buying spree with dresses and skirts for my "new body" and I've been desperately trying to mix my tees with skirts so that I can have more outfit choices.

Keiko Lynn - has just the right amount of cutesy with a touch of retro and wild and it looks great every time!  One of my favorite outfits is It's All Fun and Flamingos.  Those tights!  That dress!  Such a great mix of neons!  Not gonna lie - those tights inspired me to get some hot pink tights to experiment with.  Not bad for the first attempt, eh?
Bonus Look: Boy Meets Girl.  I LOVE bow ties with anything and everything so this look speaks to me on so many levels!

Mermaidens - dresses the way I wish I could dress most of the time.  I say that because I think I'm getting to an age where it might not be the best for me to dress as such but I should just go ahead and say it: YOLO, right?  One of my favorite looks is Wishery.  That skirt with the harness on it?!  LOVE!!  I love all these great "caged" and "harnessed" skirts and dresses so much!  I don't think I could pull it off right now but after I take off a few pounds, who knows?!
Bonus Look: Queen of Hearts.  The jumper+lady tie combo takes me back to my Brownie days and I love that it's getting to be popular.

All that being said, I've been buying with a different, more thoughtful eye when I purchase items.  Sometimes I find myself thinking "What would  < insert fashion blogger here > do with this particular choice?" and either I purchase it or I don't.  Other times, I let my impulsiveness guide me.  Yes, I'm a terrible implosive shopper.  I have dresses that I've purchased forever ago that I still haven't worn!  That will change, though.  I'm hoping that once the rest of this sickness has left my body, I'll be ready to start challenging my fashion sense once again!

It's just the big, looming project that's freaking me out: the cleaning and purging of my drawers and closet.  I HATE doing that!  My mom told me she'd help me alter pieces that I just can't let go of (like shirts and skirts) so we'll see when I'm feeling brave enough to tackle that.  I think I'm just waiting to start majorly purging for when I hit my goal weight.  Cop out?  Probably.  It's just a HUGE task that I'm trying to avoid...for now...

Who are your favorite bloggers?

Inspiration: Game of Thrones

Along with important shows like Glee and The Killing, Game of Thrones has come back and I'm very VERY excited about it.  I tried not to get into it since it was one of the reasons Camelot was cancelled BUT I knew the old man would be into it and I knew it was going to be awesome.  I just couldn't escape it any longer and now, I've given in.  Sean Bean was a major selling point but we all know that didn't last long...Oh well.  He still got the job done AND there's Kit Harington (who looks like a dark-haired Orlando Bloom sorta kinda)


Oh, and this badass - Baelish

He owns a brothel! And there's just something about this character that I really enjoy. Let's hope he doesn't go rogue and turn out to be a different kind of bad guy.
Aaaaaaanyways...
My favourite part of the show (besides the hot guys losing their clothes from time to time) is the fashion.  I love that Medieval style of long dresses, tunics and our idea of their heavily conceptualized jewelry.
 
Yes, these are all photos of the Red Priestess Melisandre and so far, she has the BEST jewelry on the whole show - and we're only 2 episodes in, folks!  Imagine what she'll be wearing later on in the season!!  I can't wait!

What really started my infatuation was Gogo Blackwater's obsession with it when she posted these photos on her Instagram a while back:


GORGEOUS!!  And then she posted HQ ones on her Flickr here and here! So beautiful and inspiring!  I LOVE IT!!  It makes me wish I had long hair again to have a base for those intricate braided pieces.
And then I remembered - I don't really need long hair - I can just buy it!  In fact, I had bought a black synthetic braided hair headband forever ago that I had never worn.  I originally planned to use it with my pink hair as a nice accent but I could never really figure out what to do with it.  Enter this post by Kate at Scathingly Brilliant. Finally! Something I could do with my short hair and the braided headband! That's a win win right there.
Cut to: me in my bathroom getting for work yesterday morning with my black braid and some bobby pins.  What was I humming?  The Game of Thrones theme song, of course!  I know, I know - it wasn't exactly part of my original outfit and I don't really have the fantasy aspect down just yet but I felt as though I was channeling a little bit of Gogo Blackwater's interpretation of Arya Stark.  No, I'm not as pretty as her or have long hair like her or have access to hair falls and extra braids like she probably did for that shoot but I think I did a good enough job.

Not too bad. And I got lots of compliments at work. Now that I'm familiar with this tutorial for tucking hair into a headband, I'll be sure to incorporate my hair braid a lot more - and I might buy some different colour extensions to mess around with since I'm in desperate need of come colour.  Maybe if the Red Priestess updates her schoolmarm-ish hair do, I might start channeling her.  But I think I'll need to make her badass hexagon neck piece...I hope it's a lot easier to make than the Satine.


I will now leave you with this


Happy Thursday!