pencil it in

I cannot get enough of midi length skirts and dresses right now, especially in a pencil silhouette. There is a retro ambiance to this length, hemmed somewhere around the calf, that is conservative while still feeling chic.

asos midi jersey pencil skirt

I find this length revealing in all the best ways, much more universally flattering than something that reveals the knee, and drawing attention to the calves and ankles in a way I find particularly feminine. I think this holds for a full or a fitted skirt, it’s all about that length.IMG_9281

The slinky jersey accentuates the pencil silhouette here, creating that fertile tapered curve from the width of the hips to the narrow point of the knees. Clothes that reveal more or less everything but do so with plenty of fabric nearly always come across as sophisticated to me. I positioned the skirt fairly high up on the waist as well, and do I only imagine that I seem taller?

The curvier you are, the better this silhouette looks.

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And white. Of course.

One can imagine this look with a black skirt but…white is definitely the bold, conspicuous way to go. Somehow white skirts are exponentially more appealing to me than white pants. Why is that? I’ll have to think more on that.

I can imagine it with a teal skirt or something along those lines as well, or a bright shoe, but I wanted to keep it duochromatic.

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Remember this necklace?

I like a natural look like this, a peachy/bronzy look with no eyeliner. This is the Charlotte Tilbury Beach Stick in Formentera as bronzer/highlighter, NARS Gilda blush, a beautiful matte burnt coral, and Charlotte Tilbury lipstick in Penelope Pink with a little Korres lip glaze over top to pink it up (Penelope Pink is not that pink, despite the name, it’s a really nice nude). The Beach Sticks are lovely, by the way, remind me of the Kjaer Weis cheek creams, and a bit like a NARS multiple upon initial application but with more of a cream-to-powder formula as you blend. Very easy to blend with fingers.

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Try putting a touch of your blush (or bronzer) just above your crease with a loose blending brush to tie everything together. It doesn’t really matter what other colors you may or may not have going on on the lid (I have gold here, incidentally, loving my Lorac PRO palette), it works with anything.

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asos white midi jersey pencil skirt

J Crew silk blouse, asos jersey midi pencil skirt, Zara suede d’orsay pumps, thrifted jewelry.

J Crew polka dot silk blouse

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just the lip

I love looks that call out one feature and leave the rest of the face natural.

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Especially when that one feature is the lips, and especially when those lips are red.

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I keep tweaking my new haircut, making micro adjustments. This is the haircut that never ends.

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Charlotte Tilbury So Marilyn lipstick over MAC Brick lip pencil. I find Brick to be so versatile. It’s one of only two red lip liners I have (I have a more cherry one as well from it Cosmetics) and I use it for basically every shade of red. Going crazy trying to match lipstick to liner seems completely unnecessary to me, though this may be because I color the whole lip in with the pencil, not just the edges, and I’m always blending the edges out anyway, just to get the shape and gentle haze I want.

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I do have foundation/blush/bronzer here, but with a very light hand, just enough to take the edge off the red, so it isn’t too stark, and only a light lashing of mascara.

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J Crew tee, marabou jacket (thrifted), Coach knee-high boots (thrifted), Express jeans. I am loving this marabou.

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