All the Big, Bold Florals for Summer

Hello, and thanks for stopping by my blog!

It is the height of summer,

 and time for some big, bold florals! 

Well, any time is the right time for floral prints in my mind,

but with so much sunshine

 and the colorful blooms of the season,

it is the natural time to

 bring them out of my closet in full force!

Are you a fan of floral garments,

or would you to leave the flowers for the garden?

Today I am wearing a cotton midi dress

 with big, bright green and white flowers

 on a navy blue background

This dress is very comfortable to wear,

 as it has an open V-neckline and short flutter sleeves

I added a white belt from my closet to break up all those flowers and cover the elastic waist band

Wicker and summer go hand in hand

 so today I chose to carry this cute little

 round straw handle bag with a seashell motif

This bag was one of those lucky chance on-line purchases

 that turned out to be as cute in person

 as it did in the photo online,

 It has become a summer staple in my wardrobe

For jewelry, a silver tone collar necklace

 and some fresh white pieces

A 1950s vintage white plastic expandable cuff bracelet,

 and a current pair of white enamel floral earrings

with 3-D petals

The quintessential summer shoe-

  canvas wedge espadrilles

 in a navy blue and white stripe, with navy ribbons

A little fun with the photos,

 Roger is wearing a pastel blue Hawaiian shirt with big blue hibiscus flowers on it

There are not a lot of big, splashy Hawaiian style prints

in my wardrobe,

but here is a wild and wacky

 orange and burgundy skirt 

from way back in the summer of 2019

Orange has become such a big color

 in the past couple of years,

 I kind of wish I hadn't consigned it

Nothing Hawaiian blooming in my garden,

the Rose of Sharon bushes look a little tropical

Here are some gorgeous deep red lilies

from a neighbor's garden from earlier in the season

Hope you are having a good week!

 

Summer Special Occasions

Hello, welcome and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Summer is the season for lots of special occasions

Attending parties for graduations and weddings

are at the top of the event list for many of us

 during the months June, July and August

Have you attended any special happenings

 so far this summer that require dressing up?

For this post, I am sharing two looks for festive events-

I love an occasion to dress up!

For my first outfit 

I am wearing a fancy drop waist dress

in a subtle neutral snake print

The dress has a faux wrap, V neck bodice

and long sheer sleeves

It is short for me, with a swishy two layer skirt

 A wide hip sash that I tied in a big bow is attached 

This outfit is so neutral, 

I fade right into the background!

Anyway, I am accessorizing with some special jewelry

from my collection

I chose a three strand 1940s vintage pearl bracelet,

a silver tone twisted collar necklace with pave rhinestones

 and silver tone earrings that look like curled ribbon

Carrying a metallic silver hard shell clutch

I haven't used this bag much until lately,

  but have brought it out quite a bit

 this spring and summer since metallic has been so popular 

Wearing nude kitten heel sling backs

with asymmetrical metal detail

My next look is bright and sunny 

with a pink and white polka dot sleeveless dress

under a white tuxedo cutaway style jacket 

So much pink!

I wear my silver tone jewelry a lot 

during the warm summer months

For this outfit, I chose

a hammered collar necklace, orb hinged bracelet

(a single polka dot!),

and large vintage flower shaped clip on earrings

with faux pearl centers

Carrying a white leather fold over clutch

This bag does double duty,

 as it has a crossbody strap tucked inside-

 in case both hands need to be free!

Wearing white low heel, sling back pumps

to finish the outfit

 Sling back shoes are a favorite of mine

 and have made quite a comeback, recently

I have seen block heels, kitten heels, pointed toes, and rounded and square toes insulated bags being sold lately

Time for me to purchase a few pairs while they are so available

I bought these this season and I have to say I don't like them for some reason the combination of bright white and kitten heel not look modern

Looking back on this photo,

I don't think I will wear this outfit this way again

Although I love a matchy-matchy look,

this one may take it too far!

I always seem to notice this more

 in a 2-D blog post photo than in the mirror

when I am getting dressed 

I was aiming for colorful and cheerful,

which it is

but now I also think the outfit looks pretty frumpy

The elements will be having 

  a major re-mix next time I wear them

And the shoes I'm afraid are going to have a very high cost per wear

 

Special treats for a special day-

cutest kitty-cat cupcakes from the bakery!

Hope you are enjoying your summer and have a great week! 

 

Capri Blue and Lime Green-Sundress Season!

Hello, and thanks for stopping by my blog!

This week, I am wearing a cute cartoonish floral print dress of aqua and lime green on a white background

 This season Pantone is calling this shade of blue "Capri"- 

Such a perfect summer color!

The flowers on this dress remind me of the flat color,

 four petal doodles that I drew in grade-school

Darling as this whimsical print sundress is,

 I think it is time for it to be re-homed

Can you guess why?

It is a halter style, with a wide criss-cross front bodice

It is quite modest, but as with all halter styles

there is a need for a strapless bra,

and I don't think I have ever found one

 that I have been truly comfortable in

Today, I am wearing the dress under a lightweight,

 white open front cropped cardigan

In the unlikely event that I will want to take the sweater off 

in the over zealous air conditioning of August,

I have clear bra straps, the next best thing to none 

My minimal jewelry is a gold tone bow hinged bracelet

and a pair of 1950's vintage 3-D flower petal earrings

with rhinestone centers in aqua enamel 💙

 I purchased these on Etsy

Online purchases of vintage items is always tricky,

 but this one turned out great-I love these!

Carrying a handle bag in black and white gingham

An easy way for me to work in a little pattern mixing

with the perfect summer print

Wearing my own thin black belt,

and a pair of black low wedge heel sandals

with asymmetrical straps

These have gotten a surprising amount of wear this summer

They work well with shorter dresses and skirts,

and all types of ankle length pants

Matchy-matchy once more-

Roger in an aqua blue polo

that complements the flower print in my dress

Wearing a dress in this beautiful summer color 

last season on the blog (when it was just called aqua)

 This one is an aqua background, covered in a print

of pink and purple butterflies 

 

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Ditsy Florals for Summer

 Hello, and thanks for stopping by my blog!

When I think of ditsy prints, the first type to pop into my mind 

are the nostalgic micro florals 

that were so popular in the early aughts

A lot of details from the Y2K era have been popping back up 

in fashion over the past few years

Ditsy florals, and other random all-over prints 

come in all sizes and figural themes

I have seen some really cute 

and whimsical ones of many different types of objects 

They float around on the background of the garment,

in a weightless kind of way

Florals are by far the most plentiful though,

and easiest to find

Are you a fan of these ditsy floral prints?

The first dress I am wearing is a medium size ditsy floral print  

of daisies in the complimentary colors of orange and blue 

suspended on a white background

It is a lot of dress, with a slight high-low hem

  and a midi skirt with three tiers of flounces  

The dress is a partially lined crinkle gauze,

and is very light and breezy for summer

It has lots of sweet and feminine details that I love,

like flutter sleeves, a flattering V neckline,

 and a faux wrap bodice

The dress did not come with a belt and has an all around elasticized waistband, 

so I added an orange and peach floral scarf

 tied in a bow as a sash belt 

I decided to gussy this outfit up for a special occasion,

but with the slightly boho style of the dress,

I think it could easily be worn more casually, too

Since silver metallic is so on trend,

I'm carrying a small reptile embossed clutch

and wearing a silver and rhinestone hairband

I chose light, sparkly silver tone jewelry

to compliment the dress-

hoop earrings, a daisy pendant necklace

and wide open X's cuff bracelet 

For shoes, I went metallic with silver kitten heel sling backs

My next outfit is made up of separates with a midi skirt

of that familiar micro ditsy floral print we all know so well!

The very type that I wore in the aughts,

 but the skirt length was shorter back then

How about you-do you like this type of retro print?

This skirt has a gray background

 with pale pink and mauve flowers, and moss green leaves

I think it would work styled for fall, as well

Worn with an ivory crinkle rayon flutter sleeve peplum blouse 

layered over a blush pleated neckline sleeveless top  

Carrying my little two tone pink heart shaped handle bag

For jewelry, I chose a dainty gold tone collar necklace

with rhinestone starbursts, and gold tone hoop earrings

The bracelet is a wide row of nude leather cord straps

embellished with a large pink stone 

Nude tie low heels to finish the outfit

Another ditsy floral print in pink tones on a skirt I wore 

on the blog two years ago, in the summer of 2022,

with a 1980's blouse

Ditsy floral prints resemble this bed of pretty

 yellow, violet and purple pansy faces in the garden

Love 😍

Hope everyone has a good week!

Independence Day

Hello, and thanks for stopping by my blog

A very happy 4th of July to those in the 

US who celebrate!

Today I am wearing an outfit that is perfect

 for the summer holiday weekend,

in patriotic red, white and blue

Well, perfect so long as there is nothing

 really sloppy is on the menu

 Then I would suggest a very large napkin

 for your lap while eating!

Gingham is a print that loudly proclaims it is summer, 

so I chose this royal blue and white oversize check blouse

 worn over a white camisole top for the day 

I paired it with my white inverted pleat denim skirt

You might recognize the blouse

I have worn it on the blog before,

in a post from May last year, titled "Bright Blue in the Mix"

 That wear was over a royal blue flared dress

Bright blue is always in my mix, whether it is trending or not!

The skirt might look familiar too,

as I wore it on the blog in one of my outfits just last week

It is by Burberry and is a classic that has been in

my wardrobe for quite a few years

I always look forward to seeing it

 when I switch from my winter to summer clothes,

I never get tired of it, it can be worn so many ways

This little bag seems to be made for a patriotic summer holiday, as the flap is star studded

 and the channel quilting is in a striped pattern

 

Must add some red 🙂 so for jewelry,I wore my vintage 1950s

 red cuff bracelet and red enamel anchor pieces

A necklace and post stud earrings

It looks like they could be a set,

 but they were brought a year apart

Playful shoes for a fun day-

  wearing my white lace wedge sneakers

Roger's in the house!

 Wearing a red polo shirt and classic dark wash Levi's, 

 black sneakers with red laces

Independence Day 2019-

a little all American tie-dye and denim!

Some picnic fruit from the farmer's market-

fresh local produce is one of the best things about summer!

Red spider mum-looks like floral fireworks!

Hope everyone has a great holiday,

and those in other countries, a great week ahead!