Pretty Ladies in the Big Chateaus

Ruffle blouse: Forever 21, remixed * Skirt: thrifted * Tights: We Love Colors (maroon), remixed * Cardigan: Forever 21, remixed * Belt: Forever 21, remixed * Earrings: hand-me-down from my mom * Rose ring: Forever 21, remixed * Glasses: Burberry, remixed * Two-tone brogues: UO, remixed

Whew! There's a long list of stuff in this outfit! Normally I'm more of a "less is more" kind of gal, and I adore outfits that convey tons of style and personality with minimal pieces (I think Erin of Calivintage is particularly skilled at this). However, every now and then I love having an outfit that starts from a pretty simple foundation and builds to awesomeness with accessories; shoes, tights, jewelry, etc. I feel like I'm pretty good at working accessories into my outfits, but I think that they often play second fiddle to the attention that I give the big ticket items (i.e. my actual clothing). I think that's why I ended up feeling so great about this particular outfit; at first glance it's pretty simple, but I think what makes it look (and feel) classy and pulled-together is the use of accessories to tie one part to the next. Plus, these are all my favorite accessories, so I couldn't help but love it (the earrings used to be my mom's, and are made from porcupine quills. How awesome is that!)!

I actually wore this outfit late last week, but I'm a bit behind on posting outfits, so I'm only just getting around to it today. It was so windy on this day (I think it was Thursday? Oh no! That means I'm a whole week behind...). Just on our walk to this spot to take pictures, Joe and I saw a giant tree branch crack off from the tree and fall on a car! You can see my blouse doing some crazy wind acrobatics in a few of these pictures. I was lucky that this was a tightly tucked outfit, because I would have been risking a major Marilyn moment otherwise. We were originally planning to walk all the way out to the lake, but the wind just got exponentially stronger each block that we walked, so we finally just gave up and took pictures here. I kind of like the abandoned building in the back, though, so I was still pretty happy with how everything turned out. Plus, I didn't blow away, so I'm counting it as a win.

Title song: Doris Day, "Just Blew in from the Windy City"