Skagen - The Seventh Sphinx

I recently picked up the dress from Curator I mentioned admiring a while back. I consistently like this long, loose, belted tunic style—vaguely Athenian or sprite-like—especially for summer.

A contrasting belt could add interest but this look is more about simplicity. And this jungle green, jade color I find so lovely, it’s almost a shame to break it up. It’s some kind of hi-tech imitation silk that drapes beautifully.

I hunted around for ages to find this bag, a French style straw market basket with dual leather straps. It seems like it should have been a straightforward hunt (presumably in France it is) but I didn’t find that to be the case. There was often something that didn’t ring quite true about most of the ones I found, as if they were poor translations of the authentic thing. This one is from Harabu House.

This is NARS Taj Mahal blush again, which loving.

Mabel dress from Curator SF, Harabu House market basket, Skagen watch, Kara Ross bracelet, scarab pendant. On the lips, Tom Ford lipstick in Wild Ginger. So glad to break out these gladiator sandals again, which are still everything I want them to be.

There is a natural simplicity to this look that is ideal to me. Everything comfortable and earth-toned yet with a sense of being purposefully chosen that pulls the elements together into elegance. This is one of my ideas of elegance, anyway, the simplest and therefore often the best kind.

It can take a few wearings for a piece to be integrated into my wardrobe, with the first few wearings somehow stilted or off. It’s too new, I overthink it, I try to do too many things at once. I didn’t love this look, in retrospect (and it wasn’t that long ago):

I thought: I can do this better.

Not just wear the sweater again, though this is also certainly part of the plan, but try this look again. This torn jeans, oversized sweater, leather accents, minimal embellishments look. I want the lip to be brighter and more transparent, I want the eyes smudgier, I want a different hair/head situation. Bigger hair. No hat. Or not this hat. This hat needs different hair entirely (cue entirely new vision).

[What I imagine to be a common practice of trial and error is less notable (less potentially galling) when one is not in the habit of publicly recording what one wears…]

Anyway. Sometimes I want a do-over.* And not to do it “better”, exactly, as I think that’s not a very useful word here, but more in line with the spirit of the concept, the original vision. The effect in the first case is too polished, too tightly controlled, not casual enough – given the reference point. It looks fine, but it’s not how I wanted to look.

*This is distinct from liking a look so much that I want to try infinite variations of the look, which I suppose isn’t a bad definition of a clear personal style.

This is more what I was thinking.

I swear I was trying to make a neutral face here. I think my neutral face is just not very friendly.

Carraig Donn sweater (thrifted), AG jeans (thrifted), Ann Klein loafers, Skagen watch, Mulberry bag (thrifted). On the lips: MAC lipstick in Speak Louder. On the nails: Barry M Gelly nail paint in Satsuma. I think gold liner is such a great alternative to brown. Oh, and this is the Michael Kors bronzer at work, though I recently tried the Hard Candy Hula Hula bronzer and found it a great budget option in the same deep, shimmery style.