Oct 16, 2012

That Fall Feelin’

Madeline Beard Fashion fall, fashion, seasons, transitions, vacation 5 Comments

Coming home after a vacation is never easy; make that a vacation to the sunny, crystal clear beaches of Mexico and it is near impossible to snap back to reality. I woke up yesterday to a cloudy, grey DC morning and realized that I needed to do something to make this transition feel a little less painful. I began to unpack from my trip, which soon led to me reorganizing my entire closet, finally packing away my shorts, breezy tops and lightweight dresses I had lived in this summer. In place of these pieces, I hung up some of my coziest sweaters and laid out all of the boots that had been sitting in the back of my closet. The act of rediscovering these seasonal favorites had a hugely positive effect. At the end of my hour-long organizing session, I threw on “the best of fall” : black leather riding boots, patterned tights, a sweater dress, faux fur vest, dark lip and a beanie for good measure. The dress gave me comfort, the vest gave me structure and some polish, the beanie gave me a bit of grungy edge in contrast to the vest, and the whole look gave me a new attitude.

As it turns out, the temperature climbed to 75 degrees and sunny yesterday afternoon, so I had to strip off the vest and forgo the beanie. The clouds cleared and the change in weather accurately matched my change in outlook. Today as I still struggle to smoothly transition from vacation back to my daily grind, I decided to start making a list of all the things that excite me about fall. Here are a few things that I came up with so far:

Pumpkin Spice Lattes at my neighborhood Starbucks

All of the seasonal pies I will bake

Lighting candles that smell like cinnamon on cold nights

HALLOWEEN (one of my very favorite holidays)

Jumping into a pile of fallen leaves

Flannels, knee socks, riding boots and blazers

The list is ongoing, but those are what immediately came to mind. What are you guys most excited about for fall? Tweet me or write a comment below.

♥

Oct 4, 2012

Hard + Soft

Madeline Beard Fashion bib necklace, fall, fashion, hard, humidity, leather, linen, soft 2 Comments

Today’s outfit post draws inspiration from two sources: first, my absolute favorite blogger/idol Emily Schuman of Cupcakes and Cashmere and second, Rumi Neely of Fashiontoast. Neely’s minimalist way of dressing sometimes frustrates me, but other times I can really appreciate her aesthetic — she’s definitely a less is more, quality over quantity, monochrome kind of girl. Schuman’s style is a bit more approachable and I have gathered a lot of inspiration from her ability to seamlessly integrate different textures, patterns and colors in each of her looks. Her style communicates this classic effortlessness, something I always want to achieve when I’m picking out what to wear.

This look is centered around the bib necklace I received in yesterday’s care package, passed down from my grandma Lee:

I wanted to juxtapose the sweet girly look of the necklace with something a bit edgier. I immediately reached for one of my favorite pieces in my closet — a black faux leather skirt I picked up at Buffalo Exchange for a cool $13.00. To balance out the skirt, I opted for a loose fitting linen tank top and some black booties.

I just like how this outfit makes me feel — it’s a happy little union of hard and soft, like “I’m a biker chick who also likes cupcakes and art and indie music.”

… or you know, something kind of along the lines of that. I topped it off with a subtle red lip stain and a super messy top knot (with maybe one too many flyaways for my taste, but who’s counting?). The weather in DC has been pretty strange the last couple of days — overall really humid with temperatures ranging from the 60s to the 80s. This reality has forced me to reign in my “OH MY GOD, IT’S FALL I NEED TO WEAR SWEATERS AND BOOTS AND TIGHTS ALL THE TIME AND NOTHING ELSE EVER” attitude. Sweaters and humidity are two words that should never be associated together. Linen and humidity, however, is slightly better.

Do you guys have any other suggestions of how to wear this bib necklace? Maybe with a collar? More sweet sartorial stories and awesome alliteration-filled adventures to come.

♥

Oct 4, 2012

Unexpected Surprises

Madeline Beard Other Adventures candy corn, care package, fall, maman, mean girls 2 Comments

There is nothing quite like a care package to make a day go from good to great. They take me back to my summers at camp and I still get that same giddy anticipation when I get a package notification, even when it’s just a refill printer cartridge I ordered from Amazon. Lucky for me, today wasn’t the average package kind of day; today I received the most wonderful surprise from none other than my lovely maman:

She filled a box with some of my favorite things: a big book combining the mediums of photography and illustration (great inspiration for my next project in graphic design); a bib necklace passed down from my sweet grandmother Lee — check back tomorrow for the related outfit post; nail polish in some of fall’s best metallic shades; tights on tights on tights; AND CANDY CORN. I. love. candy corn. And now that it’s fall, it feels more appropriate to start consuming it in mass quantities again.

My mom is the greatest. I’ll try not to turn this post into a big cheese fest, but she really is one of my best friends. And she is an avid reader of SLB, so at least I know I’ve got one faithful fan. Thanks ma!

And in honor of yesterday’s holiday, I leave you guys with this:

More adventures to come.

♥