The Last Rose of Summer

The first day of fall has come and gone. You wouldn't know it from the temps outside, but I'm definitely ready to slip into tights and turtlenecks and pinafores. I had a little taste of my autumn wardrobe while I was in Iceland, and I'm eagerly anticipating busting it out again here. For the moment, I'm trying to find a happy medium, and indulge my desire for layers and longer hemlines while still staying comfortable.

As much as I love traveling, one part that's difficult is not having access to much of your wardrobe. Especially with this last trip, I was really limited in what I could bring, and I'm sure you can imagine how hard it is for a clothes horse like me to wear the same skirt and dress day in and day out. Actually, it really wasn't that hard, and there was one day where I just wore tights and a long jacket for the better part of the day, but I digress. Getting home and being able to put on anything that I wanted was as much of a treat as sleeping in my own bed again.

This dress has made an appearance here once before. To be honest, while it's very pretty, I still find it difficult to wear. I love that it's got that 20s style without being as fragile (or expensive) as a genuine 20s dress, and the color is very soft and sweet in a way that I think works pretty well with my current hair color. On the other hand, with loose fit, longer length, and muted color, it can go drab and frumpy pretty easily. There are also some kind of weird construction issues with it as well, especially in the sleeve area.

I sound kind of negative, but honestly, there's something fun about finding a way to make those not quite perfect pieces work for you. In the past, I found that a belt was really helpful in disguising some of the dresses issues, but in this case, I found that a cardigan that I had, which was a near perfect match colorwise, de-wonkified (a technical term) the sleeves without taking away from the drop-waist style.

Also, exciting news - Adelaide is here! I'm so excited to take her out for a spin, and I'm trying to brainstorm outfit and shoot location ideas worthy of such a lovely piece of millinery. I'm so excited!

Dress: Asos
Cardigan: Vintage, Vintage Underground
Shoes: Modcloth
Headband: Urban Outfitters