Style Inspiration // The Polyvore Collection

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Have you ever seen the website The Polyvore Collection? It's basically a blog made up of various Polyvore outfits and is much easier to browse than the actual Polyvore website. It's mostly full of dark and minimalist outfits which isn't exactly my style, but I love looking through it and just seeing outfits that are different from what I would put together. Even though most of the outfits aren't my style or even my ideal style, there are a lot that I get inspiration from. For example, all of these outfits I've included in this post. They all get me really excited for original prints and outfits made up of neutrals, which would all be perfect for the upcoming summer.

Yes or No 1

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Hi, everyone! At the moment, I'm trying to save up for what will hopefully be a trip in the summer so I haven't been buying anything at all! I'm also trying to build up a wardrobe for college and making sure I have any essentials, so I've been trying to save as much money as I can. I've still been peeking at a few websites here and there, though, like Forever 21. Though I'm not buying any of these pieces, I could help but imagine pairing those shoes and that dress together for a spring/summer outfit. I recently discovered nail rings, too, and I love them, so I thought they would be fun to include. While I love all these pieces, I'm completely torn about this outfit. I really love the idea, but I feel like I'd have to see it in person to decide if they all really work together. I say yes, my friend Madison says no, so I'm wondering what you guys think! I can see either way and even though I won't ever actually put this outfit together, I can't help but wonder how it'd look in person. Do you guys think it would look any good? 

Inspiration // Rings

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I'm most definitely a ring person. I love the look of wearing multiple rings and especially the idea of having rings that you wear every day. In practice though, I never wear rings because it's almost impossible to find one that's not made of metal. But I still love looking at them, especially on Pinterest. I included all of these in a style inspiration post because I think these rings are especially original, interesting, and gorgeous. I wish I could own them all!

P.S. Have you ever heard the phrase "ring by spring?" I've only heard it as a cliche people use when talking about Baylor University since a lot of students get engaged while they're in school there. Have you heard it anywhere else? I love the rhyme!

Inspiration // Evil Eye Jewelry

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Ever since my brother's friend's mom got me an evil eye bracelet a few years ago, I've always loved them. The design is typically so simplistic, especially like the ring above, but it has such a cool idea behind it. Basically, the evil eye is worn to keep away evil, not bring evil to you, which is what the name makes it sound like. I really like that idea of a sort of good luck charm like this that you can wear every day, like numbers 1, 3, and 5. 

Since I can't wear metal jewelry, I'm thinking about buying a little evil eye charm and making my own everyday necklace or bracelet with it inspired by these pieces. These beads from Etsy all look pretty promising, so I'm having a hard time deciding what I'd want to get! What do you guys think?

Inspiration // Foundations

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You guys, it's been so long since I posted! I'm so sorry! It's been a crazy last month or so, but I have a new post! Since the summer, I've been keeping a file on my computer called "Learn From Her" in addition to various style boards on Pinterest. I've been saving a lot of pictures of outfits like these that I love on these girls, but personally, I mostly see them as foundations. With all of these outfits, I'm just dying to add a patterned, colored top under Chloe Moretz' jacket and colored scarf to everyone else's. I love the idea of basic simple outfits, but in reality, they're just foundations for me or else they don't feel like my style. Even so, I'm so inspired to play around with basic outfits like these and add my own touches.

Currently listening to: "Guiding Light" by Foy Vance

"I Knew You Were Trouble"

(credit to Vevo and MTV, screencap by me)
By this time, you've probably already seen Taylor Swift's new music video for "I Knew You Were Trouble." If you haven't, please watch it before continuing to read this post! It really is an absolutely gorgeous and incredible video, and it should really be experienced through the actual film, not just screencaps. And while this video is much darker than any of Taylor's other videos, I love the way it has a completely new and all encompassing vibe. The grungy and hipster clothes and colors remind me of an Urban Outfitters campaign  but I love it, and so have taken these screencaps as inspiration. Of all the outfits, I think the black circle shirt is possibly my absolute favorite. When I first saw it, I immediately started thinking of ways to DIY it. I'm not sure how I'd do it yet, but I definitely want to figure it out. Apart from the DIY, I'm looking forward to breaking down these outfits even more and putting together some real ones inspired by them. Those posts should hopefully come soon (though next week is exam week), but I just couldn't wait to share these with you all!

(For some other pictures and behind the scenes shots, click here)

I'm actually kind of glad I don't have blonde hair or I might be calling the hair salon right now. And my school bans unnatural hair colors. But, it's incredibly different and I love this little shoulder length bob. If I were Taylor, I don't think I would ever wear my hair any other way.

Sketchbook Pages: 14

This is another artist that I found in the summer and I really loved the way she combines 2D images with texture, so she immediately went into my sketchbook! I've been thinking about the idea of combining a 2D image with 3D accents, and so I liked that Izziyana Suhaimi does that in such a low key, but original and beautifully detailed way. It sort of seems like the perfect way to start playing with dimensions. Inspired by her art, I actually have been working on a painting with embroidered detail, but I still have quite a bit to do before my piece is done. Embroidery really takes a while, even when you're just doing the most basic of lines like I am! I'm looking forward to posting it on here when I've finished though!

What do you think about her work? Isn't the amount of detail in the right-hand picture below amazing?

Sketchbook Pages: 13

These pages are also ones from the summer and I found them separately, but decided to pair them together in adjacent pages because I liked how the blues complimented each other. What I really liked about the photos on the left was how 3D aspects changed the way the painted words looked. It made me eager to try combining 2D pieces with slightly 3D sections, which is what I'm working on with some of my IB studio pieces now.

The painting on the right, though, became one of my all time favorites the moment I saw it. It's called "Nocturne in Black and Gold (The Falling Rocket)" and was painted by James Abbot McNeill Whistler in 1874. Because I'm having to use an old camera right now, the quality of my pictures don't really do this painting justice, so I've included a better version below. I could seriously just stare at this piece for hours. I love that there are so many different things that you can see in the piece. I can see a cavern with people, a huge ship approaching a man and a woman on the beach, or those two looking at boats in a harbor with smoke in the air. Almost every time I look at it I see something new. I normally am not a huge abstract fan, but Whistler manages to combine abstract and slight realism in a fantastical and magical way. Not to mention the way that he uses the blues and greens to contrast the black and then the gold to highlight the blue. It's all so perfect!
 (painting link from here and here)

Accident

These pictures were taken by my camera (before it stopped working) a while ago, and I've been meaning to post them ever since. I'm not quite sure how this happened since I wasn't the one taking the pictures, but this is how they turned out without any editing. I think there was a shutter speed and lighting problem, but I honestly love the effect. I love how hazy and layered they look, but still silly at the same time.

I also wanted to apologize for the unplanned little blog break that happened last week. Things have been crazy over here in IB world, but hopefully I'll be back to regular posting (except that this is Tuesday and I didn't post yesterday either. Sigh. Oh well).

Charlotte

Musically Dressed: "Settle Down"

(Screencaps by me)For my final post in this mini-series, I decided to put together an outfit inspired by "Settle Down" by Kimbra. This music video is a little creepy, but I think it's really clever and well done, not to mention all the colors and shots are stunning. I think it does what a music video should, which is hint at a possible meaning but still somewhat leave everything open to interpretation, perfectly. 

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For this outfit, I knew it had to have a classic, polished vibe, but I also wanted to include some of the edgy factor that the end of the video has. This Forever 21 dress echoed the ruffles in Kimbra's dress and still had a sweet, classic, and almost vintage feel. I thought this scarf was also perfect, worn either around the neck or as a headscarf, like in the fourth picture. The heels definitely added to the classic feel, and I just had to sneak in those bright orange skull beads.

My version of this outfit will be up on Wednesday!

Charlotte

Musically Dressed: "Ready to Go"

(Screencaps by me)

I can't help but love Panic at the Disco. They're one of my all time favorite bands, which is funny because last year I couldn't stand them! Mostly because when they were really popular (when I was in middle school), for whatever reason, everyone who wore their shirts and bags was really obnoxious or rude so I didn't listen to them! How middle school, right? I just assumed I wouldn't like them since I didn't like the fans, but two of my friends showed me this video and I was immediately hooked. Not only do I love the song, but I adore the video. It's one of the best music videos I've ever seen! 

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For my "Ready to Go" inspired outfit, I wanted to put something together that somewhat represented every part of the video, so I went for a colorful modern-vintage vibe. I really think the dress fits the modern beginning and the pretty, feminine dresses at the end. I also knew I wanted to include some kind of lace up boots to echo the boots worn in the chimney scenes, but since the dress wasn't as bright colored as I'd wanted it to be, I included the color with the shoes! Aren't the beautiful? I'm kind of in love, I think. I just think the color would go with so many things (I promise I'm not being paid to write this). And finally, I just had to include a hat like the ones at the end, and the only thing this outfit is missing is a fabulous printed umbrella!

I'll be posting my real-life version of this outfit on Wednesday!

Charlotte

Musically Dressed: "Sugar, We're Going Down"

(Screencaps by me)

Remember Fall Out Boy? I'm sure you guys have seen their video for "Sugar, We're Going Down," but it's one of my absolute favorites. Because I love it so much, it was one of the first videos I thought of when I decided to start this new outfit inspiration mini-series! Basically, I'm going to put together screencaps of my favorite music videos and an outfit inspired by outfits in the video, color schemes, or just the general vibe of the video. Then, later that week, I'll share the outfit I wore that was inspired by this post.

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I love how this video is sweet, quirky, and really beautiful all at the same time. When putting together this outfit, I actually couldn't decided between the red skirt and the yellow dress worn as a skirt, so I included both. What I really wanted was for this outfit to have a sweet and girly, but casual and almost outdoors-y feel. I chose the yellow and green because of the setting of the video and the skirt, shoes, and plaid top (to be worn open over the tank) because I think they reflect the styles in the video. 

What do you guys think? Stay tuned to check out the actual outfit I wore!

Charlotte