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A Tortoise In The Garden

2/3/2015

24 Comments

 
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Hobo chic with a touch of geek. Ya'll know how I do. :D Pretty much everything I'm wearing, you have seen in a previous post. Click here to see how I last wore this brown bag lady coat and here to see a monochromatic style centered around the vintage animal print sweater. The only new thing I'm wearing is pair of grey socks with an eyeglasses print on them. They're one of a few socks I picked up from Sock It To Me as part of a prize pack for winning a fashion contest held by Threadless, last year. ^_^

So, I'm not going to bore you with what I wore and how I wore it, because I think what I've done is pretty self explanatory. This outfit is as basic as it gets for me. It's just straight up casual. Borderline boring, even. Heh. Instead, I want to talk about the title of this post. Yeah. Just bear with me, though. :P

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Awhile back, I said something about being lazy and just wanting to stay home and binge watch MI:5 on Netflix. Hehe. The title for this post is a snippet of one of my favorite scenes from that show. It came to me while I was staring at my wool sweater in all its vintage, 80's animal print goodness. There's a rather tense scene in MI:5 where these two, powerful men (who distrust and basically loathe one another), pretend to have a civil chat. In that scene, one man says to the other: "What do you have to show for all these years? I have a wife and a son. And a tortoise in the garden." The response he received from the other man was nothing but silence and a countenance of regret. Clearly, the question was more than a question. It was actually a statement of the status quo and an opportunity to gloat for having it all.

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This is what we all want, I think...to "have it all." I know, I often feel as if my life isn't moving fast enough in the direction that I want. I get really anxious thinking about how old I am and how far I have yet to go. I can tell you the little details of my modest, perfect home and where it will be located. I can tell you the things I want to be doing every evening when I retreat back to that perfect home from my perfect job. I can see myself laughing and drinking with colleagues from work at a swanky bar and holding fun dinner parties for my closest friends. The problem is that this is a dream that has as of yet to become a reality.

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This is my so-called, "end game." The point at which I can kick back and say, "I finally made it. This is my life." It's what I wake up early every morning and go to bed late every night working toward. For the sinister gloater on MI:5, his perfect life consisted of a wife and son and a safe place where they could live together in peaceful harmony. Everyone has that single *thing* that they desperately hope to attain.

I look at these photos and, though I am genuinely happy, I see a person who has a long way to go to achieving ultimate happiness.
I hope to look back on this post one day and feel no regrets. I hope that, if and when I dig up this post, I will already be in that little house in the perfect location, with my loving partner, my ungrateful cat and a tortoise in the garden. So, how's that for the feels? o_O <3


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Nectar Clothing - Olive Green Skinny Jeans
Warby Parker - Dark Brown Ombre Glasses
Etsy - Vintage Eddie Bauer Animal Sweater
Sock It To Me - Eyeglasses Print Socks
Thrifted - Brown Boots (Gift) & Olive Hat
c/o Jollychic - Oversized Brown Coat

Forever 21 - Mustard Tassel Scarf

♫ Thank you so much for your comments! Though I may not respond to each one, I read and appreciate all of them! ♫

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How The @#%! Did She Do That? - Tutorial #4

2/1/2015

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What the what? o_O Those are trees in the step-by-step photos, bro! I know. Just gimme a second. Let me explain. So, what happened was...heh. I keep a sketch book (the sketches are terrible like woah) and it has outfit ideas, color ideas, etc. I sketched out the outfit above back in the Fall of 2014, but I knew that I wanted to wear it in the Winter. So, while I was taking photos for tutorials #2 and #3, I also went ahead and took photos for this anticipated tutorial. I knew that months down the road, I wouldn't want to go outside and suffer numb fingers and cold winds doing these photos. So, I thought ahead!

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STEP 1: OK? Alright. We're OK? Hehe. So, the first step in creating this layered up look was to take a sheer lace floral maxi skirt and bring it up over my chest to reduce the length. Then I pinned it at the side to create asymmetric folds and to further reduce the length, so that my tights could be seen.


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STEP 2:
I layer a sleeveless blouse over both pieces, because I want to show off just the metal collar.



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STEP 3: Now, a warm braid pattern sweater goes on over the top and skirt. Keep in mind that I also wore a thermal long sleeved top and a long sleeved cotton top as my base layer! So, I'm pretty warm at this point, though the layers continue! :D Also, I'm really digging the mix of patterns, textures and colors here. Using different shades of black helps to keep each piece contemporaneously unique and uniform.


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STEP 4: The sweater is then tucked into a black pleated high low skirt and garnished with a gold studded belt. Look at those sweet, sweet textures. :D I love the ripples and folds in the fabric. <3


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STEP 5: Then I add the final layer, a double breasted tweed coat. I liked the smoothness of the coat juxtaposed with the patterns of the sweater and skirts. I tried to mix a lot of textures for visual appeal.


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STEP 6: A textured black infinity scarf goes on last and I make a cowl hood out of it for maximum scare factor. :D And voila! This garment configuration isn't for everyone, but I personally enjoy it. ^_^



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I really believe that fashion is an art form. It is both practical and fanciful. So, I don't personally think that I'm weird for keeping a sketch book and drawing cool (I dunno, it's arguable) outfits in there. Heh. I'm not a fashion designer, as much as I would totally like to be. I can't sketch an outfit and then buy materials and make it. I'm just not that cool. Instead, I try to achieve the same creative aim through the clothing I already have, if that makes any sense? I try to use the garments in my closet in new and interesting ways, so that I can still have the satisfaction of creating something unique without actually building it from raw materials. Hence, the complete outfit above is something that you can't find on a rack at a store. Though, I
think it would be cool to be able to buy a layered, ready-to-wear look. :D

I hope you guys find this tutorial useful! I'm happy to answer questions! Have a great weekend! <3

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    Hi! I'm Anna <3

    I'm fond of artistic fashion, esoteric music, retro games (the older the platform, the better), delectable noms, good libations, my Maine Coon, Bonaparte, and my Tabby, Winsome.

    Also, I attended university in Hyogo Prefecture and I am proficient in Japanese.


    もし、あなたは日本語が話せる、あたしに日本語で話て下さい!練習が必要だ!*^_^*
    



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