Starlight in the Daytime | Feat We Love Colors and Grace Karin

As if to make up for the fact that last week’s Grace Karin dress photoshoot didn’t go as planned at all, this week’s photoshoot went exactly as I had hoped! I have been eyeing this particular spot for quite some time — perhaps months — but I’ve never quite felt brave enough to stop when the light is good. The reason being, it’s a building right on the corner of a VERY busy 4-way-stop, and at rush hour a line of cars snakes up the hill and there is no break to the stream. Even more busy than the sidewalk where I stopped to take photos with the trees, and far closer to the road, it tested every bit of my bravery to walk over, station myself in front of the building — which is abandoned, and is actually the front of THIS green wall that you all have seen a couple times before — and snap away.

Grace Karin sent me a dress of my choice, and We Love Colors sent me tights of my choice. All opinions are my own!

Dress, c/o Grace Karin | Tights, c/o We Love Colors | hat, vintage (similar) | Shoes, Amazon | purse, vintage | brooch, vintage (similar) | Earrings, vintage (similar)

The green side of the building is much less intimidating to shoot in front of, as it faces a large, large parking lot area. I still feel quite visible there, but get much less attention and can usually sort of park right in front of where I want to shoot, thus blocking visibility a little. But this ivy side… is perhaps 15 feet from the road. There’s no hiding from anyone coming any direction here!

And, even though I was honked at, engine-revved at, and catcalled while standing there, I’m glad I stopped. Sometimes, the unwanted attention is worth it for photos, to me. At one point, a van pulled over and a woman about my age offered to take my photos. After declining her offer (I’ve got this routine down!) and discovering she and her husband are also photographers, we chatted for a while and I found out that she has just moved here, has three kids not too much older than mine, and is looking to possibly form a play group at a local gym. I was thankful for that interaction, because it reminded me that amongst all of the annoying and/or completely inappropriate responses I get being so visible in public, there are also good things. Good people. Good reasons to take chances. 

And, if you notice that there are no cars in the reflection of the window, I’ll let you in on a little secret: I photoshopped them out. Haha! I did try to snap when cars weren’t passing, but of course on occasion the windows caught a car in the reflection and it was so distracting because somehow every car that reflected was bright white or bright red. I think this is the price to pay when shooting in more public places — there may be signs, cars, or people that have to be removed.

Although not every blogger will do this and I think perhaps it’s more of a photographer thing? Let me know! Do you photoshop objects from your photos if they’re too distracting? I never touch my body with photoshop, and have only cleaned up my skin for one single photo of the thousands I’ve taken over the years. 

Showcasing this dress (and these tights!) was another good reason to take a chance on location! This is the second of two dresses that I got to choose from Grace Karin, and it was the first one that caught my eye when they emailed to see if I’d be up for a collaboration. As I mentioned in my last post, I have been buying Grace Karin dresses for quite a while, so I was very excited that they contacted me! Grace Karin is one of my favorite budget retro brands, and while it can sometimes be sketchy to purchase retro dresses off Amazon with all of the knockoffs and cheap production going on, Grace Karin has consistently been good quality, they don’t seem to “borrow” styles from other brands, and I never have to guess at which size will fit. As with all of my other GK dresses (which you can see linked in this post), this one fit perfectly in my usual size!

Unlike most of the ones I’ve gotten, though, this one is more of a jersey-feel fabric, being 90% polyester ad 10% spandex, which is actually perfect for pregnancy! While my favorite fabric is by far the cotton+spandex of their swing dresses, I wanted to try out a different fabric blend to see what the quality was like. And I am not disappointed! It feels pleasantly slinky, it’s stretchy, and while it’s not the most breathable fabric I didn’t find myself feeling any warmer than I do in cotton.

What did keep me warm, I think, were these tights! We Love Colors has come out with a new blend for their tights, and it’s always reported that they are even softer, stretchier, and more comfortable than the old blend. I can say with utmost certainty this is true! I had already thought the older make of WLC tights were comfortable, but as soon as I slipped these on and experienced the smooth fit of this new generation of tights, I was sold. I need a pair in every color! 

And as much as I love colorful tights, can I just say how ready I am for warm weather? I really wish I had stocked up on tights before the cold snap ended — I needed them! But I’ll be slowly and steadily buying up a rainbow of colors in preparation for next winter, and in the meantime thoroughly enjoying this bare-legs weather we’ve been having!

Dress, c/o Grace Karin | Tights, c/o We Love Colors | hat, vintage (similar) | Shoes, Amazon | purse, vintage | brooch, vintage (similar) | Earrings, vintage (similar)