Fashion

Midweek Inspiration: Pattern Clashing!

This week, I didn’t feel like emulating any particular outfit so much as doing a bit of pattern mixing, inspired by this outfit (I want that bunny shirt!) and this outfit in particular. I loved the combo of stripes and florals, but I don’t have stripes and florals that really go together, so I opted for polkadots instead. And this might be a new favorite outfit of mine!

I also love this location– while we didn’t walk yesterday, the beach and the park are a walkable distance from my house, and I’m pretty sure Mr. Owl and I will spend a lot of our time at the beach (in the mud) or exploring the woods in the park.

And you can see in the background, there is a public dock that juts out over the water. It’s just a great place to  be able to access so easily. I’m sure as the summer gets nearer, the park will be invaded by kids (there’s a baseball field) and it won’t be quite as fun and secluded, but still. It’s a wonderful place!

Of course, seeing as it was the beach, I had to take off my shoes.

I did have a good excuse– there were tiny little rocks in my shoes, since the beach is more rock than it is sand. But I can’t keep my shoes on when it’s above 65 degrees and there are trees to walk on. (Seriously. Bare feet and trees are the best thing ever!)

This may be one of my absolute favorite places to shoot, ever. This stump looks amazing, and feels amazing (it’s so smooth!), and is full of pretty glass and shells and colorful rocks, and the ocean is nearby, and… oh, I love it! I can’t wait for summer, when it’s bright and beautiful!

And the wind came up to play with this skirt. It seems that every time I wear a light garment, the wind comes. I’ll never win.

I am sorry there was no tutorial yesterday: I’m not sure how well Tutorial Tuesdays will continue. I love doing tutorials, but I think it’ll be a more… upon-request thing, because I am not quite creative enough to come up with ideas out of thin air, plus I’ve got work and, y’know, Mr. Owl to take up most of my time, and then I have very bad lighting in my new room.

Blogging, as it is, is usually done late at night right before I go to sleep. I’ll be honest: most days, I get off work and immediately see my man, who doesn’t leave until almost bedtime, and then I’ve got an hour to blog before going to sleep… and on the weekends, I’m more likely to sleep in than get up early to blog before I (can you guess?) see Mr. Owl and we go off on adventures.

So if I get requests for tutorials (I do have a few that you lovelies have mentioned that I want to try), I will do my best to post them, otherwise Tuesdays will be… who knows. Outfits, most likely, or random other things.

Last but not least, one of my lovely blog-readers and friends, Sarah, is doing a 30-days of dresses challenge, and I’m going to join her, starting on Saturday! So if you’d like to join in as well, feel free! You can snap a picture of your pretty daily dresses, and then tag me in them on Facebook so that we can all see how lovely you are! And if you only have seven dresses, do seven days of dresses, or fifteen, or forty, or however many dresses you have (or feel like doing).

I’ve currently got about thirty-five dresses, so I will try to do at least thirty days, if not thirty five. It should be fun, and challenging!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

37 Comments

  • Snigdha

    Those shoes are kiling me, Mara. I do have one in the same color, but that little ribbon thing! It’s so adorable! 🙂
    I’m thinking of joining you on your challenge. Not thirty, because I do have to go to school and all, but at least ten. A lot of Indian traditionals, I hope that won’t be a problem?

    And of course, Mr. Owl is a lucky man 🙂
    Love,
    Snigdha

    • Mara

      I know, I love these shoes! Shoes like this are hard to find, although I’ve noticed a few other bloggers wearing similar kinds (with the ribbon thing) from Modcloth.com, so maybe they have some?
      Yes, do join us! I’d love to see the Indian traditionals, I bet they’re beautiful!

      Aww, thank you. 😀 I’m a lucky girl to have Mr. Owl. 😉

  • Salazar

    The stripes and polka dots go together so well! And maybe I’ll join you on the dress challenge as well… I don’t think I have 30 dresses, plus they need to be packed away pretty soon for my move, but I’ll try to wear as many as I can.

    • Mara

      It’s always hard to do challenges when you’re moving! But yes, join us! Even if you only do a week or two, it’s still fun!

  • Demy

    Hi!! This is such an adorable outfit, I love the print mixing, and seriously these shoes are gorgeous! And that’s the most beautiful location ever. Hm..if you like this place, then you’d like my place too, it’s something like this, but the beach is kind of bigger and it goes on and on for miles.. So I guess that you should get our lovely mr. Owl and bring him here! I’m offering my whole house for you! 😀 😀 Anyway, I’m really happy that you and mr. Owl are getting along so good. It’s so amazing that you have so much time for you 🙂 Isn’t he working? And don’t care about Tutorial Tuesdays, I’m pretty sure that anything you post will equally perfect! Many many kisses :*

    • Mara

      Thank you, love! Isn’t it pretty? I bet I would like your home, it sounds gorgeous! Someday I really do want to come visit! And I’ll bring Mr. Owl. Hehe.
      Currently, the only work Mr. Owl has is making custom furniture for people/refurbishing furniture for people. He’s looking for a full-time job, but the job market is terrible right now. So he has lots of time to pay attention to me. 😉 Hehe.

    • Mara

      I know, I wish I could figure out how to let people edit their comments! So far I haven’t figured it out, unless I’m just missing something. But I can always go in and edit it for people if they want me to.

  • Loren

    You look great! I love the pattern mixing, and the photos of you on the stump are so much fun. I love the idea of the ‘dress challenge’.

    • Mara

      Thank you! I loved that stump. I wanted to stay on it all day, but Mr. Owl wouldn’t let me. 😉
      You should join in! It’s a fun challenge. 😀

  • mariecarolk

    Love love love that skirt! And the dress challenge sounds really fun, but I can’t really wear dresses to work, so maybe for half the day? I hope that counts 🙂

    Marie

    • Mara

      Half the day totally counts! I’ll probably do a few days where I change after a while because Mr. Owl and I like to have some adventures that require pants.

        • Mara

          Work always throws an interesting spin on what you can wear. I know when I was barista-ing, I had to make sure that if I did any low bends, I wasn’t showing anything, because most of the time the cars were so far down that I had to lean way over to hand customers their drinks.
          Yay! I’m excited to see what you do if you try!

          • mariecarolk

            Gahh I know what you mean. I’m constantly running across the restaurant and picking up napkins from under tables and bending down. I have to make sure everything is a-okay 😛
            I wore a dress yesterday to my dance class, but I didn’t take a picture…oops

  • Michelle Hay

    So great! Everything looks so beautiful and your outfit matches the location! Well done 🙂 And you thrifted those shoes! What?! Mega score!

    • Mara

      Haha! I didn’t even realize I matched the location. That kind of makes me laugh. 😀 Thank you!
      I know! I’ve been keeping an eye out for more shoes like this, because I so need another pair!

    • Mara

      Thank you! These are some of my new favorite pictures. Possibly because they’re on the beach, and I love the beach. 😀