Monday, September 30, 2013

The Duck Stops Here

  You know I've owned this cardigan for months and only realized there was a duck on it this week? Alternate titles for this blog post include Duck & Cover, What the Actual Duck, and Augh This Ducking Cardigan.
  I just thought it was a cool asymmetrical pattern! I was not incorrect, but my pattern recognition skills clearly need work.
Migrating Mallard cardigan: Rosie Neira (thrifted)
Belt: eBay (available here)
Jeans: ZARA basic (thrifted)
Sleigh Boots: Report (thrifted)
Excellent Photoshopping over ugly flowerpot: ME

  Gets better: I grew up on a lake. I've been feeding mallards like this my whole life.

  While the Internet has been going on about pumpkin spice boots cooler weather fall blah blah, I have been enjoying San Francisco summer, and desperately gripping the warm, sunny weather with my little blacksmith hands. All the talk got me thinking, though: I have been doing this "outfits" thing for less than a year, now. I have no idea what is going to be Aya style (stAyale?) for fall. What do I even own?

  So I tried this outfit, which I think was kind of based on this idea from Once Upon a Zipper, a website for a consignment store in Nashville, Tennessee. I like the looks the employees put together!
...Then I overheated after an hour and changed. :D This cardigan is warm!

  This cardigan is also the closest to "animal print" I've got. If animal prints are your thing, you should check out How I Wear My: Animal Print at Everything Just So and The Rich Life (on a budget) tomorrow.

  's right, not a zebra, giraffe, or orangutan in my closet, just the occasional dragon and this duck. I have a bustier with what might be blue leopard. Maybe. Evidently I do not do animal prints. Or neon. Or patterns. Or pumps. Or flats. Or capris. Or bright colors. Or open-toed boots. Or wedges with that weird straw/dock rope material looped around the sides. Or anything yellow. I am, however, trying out cardigans and sweaters after a mere 27-year hiatus. I'm sure my adventurous personal style is an inspiration to all.

  How long does a shirt have to be before it's considered a 'tunic'? Thought this one might, but now I think it stops too short and just points directly at my crotch. Too much skinny-jean-squeezed-thigh showing. Clearly this will take some work. But in the meantime, I'm going to be in sundresses and my one pair of embarrassingly holey denim shorts for as long as I can.

  What do you not do in your own wardrobe? Anything you've tried after a long time that you never thought you would?

6 comments:

  1. Holy crackers, that sweater is amazing. (We'll talk later about your inability to recognize a mallard). Also, I think that's a tunic but it could stand to be an inch longer, I guess.

    What don't I do? Boobs and legs out at the same time (or ever, really). No open-toed boots (they're confusing). And no camo.

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    1. I too can appreciate open-toed boots on others while finding it mind-bendingly dissonant for myself. Warm weather? Cool weather. Warm weather. Cool weather? Aaaa.

      I had never thought of it as boob & leg but you are right. I am ok with showing shoulder or above knee, but not both at once.

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  2. Hey Aya, LOVE the outfit ... it is a really good interpretation.

    I absolutely love those boots! and as for missing the duck on the jersey ... if you had laid it out flat on your bed then I would say "How could you" but if not ... then it is absolutely excusable!!!

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    1. Haha, thank you Lynn! I tried it on once in the thrift shop and I guess I never stared at my right armpit. I just saw the back and thought it was awesome, then folded it up when I got home. :D

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  3. I'm giving you the 'suprise! it's a duck' since the vital clues to its anatomy (is that the word?) such as the neck and head are oddly designed so that they sit crammed up in your armpit... who designed that? I mean it's lovely other than the awkward duck positioning.

    Up until I discovered the joys of sewing, I did not do dresses or skirts or anything girly... Look how far I've grown. I actually cursed having to put on jeans again last week (due to, yes, the cold weather we have in our region), because I'd become used to the freedom of dresses and skirts over the summer. The denim strangulating my legs felt suffocating. And then it warmed up in the afternoon and I wanted to die. Stupid temperature fluctuations (frost in the morning and 70 degrees Fahrenheit in the afternoon) and bus-ing/walking to work.

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    1. Yes! Thankyousomuch. It wasn't until I laid the thing out that I saw the duck head and then it all made sense. I kind of like where the head is now, though. I think it looks like the duck is trying to kiss my cheek. Or eat my earring.

      I too never wore dresses or skirts or girly things until recently! And with this warm season, I realized with the blog I couldn't very well run around in ratty denim shorts and a tank top all day as usual, either. I am trying out cloth relaxed bootlegs with high socks for in-between so they can be rolled up/down when it gets warm in the afternoon.

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