the fisherman’s sweater ii

It can take a few wearings for a piece to be integrated into my wardrobe, with the first few wearings somehow stilted or off. It’s too new, I overthink it, I try to do too many things at once. I didn’t love this look, in retrospect (and it wasn’t that long ago):

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I thought: I can do this better.

Not just wear the sweater again, though this is also certainly part of the plan, but try this look again. This torn jeans, oversized sweater, leather accents, minimal embellishments look. I want the lip to be brighter and more transparent, I want the eyes smudgier, I want a different hair/head situation. Bigger hair. No hat. Or not this hat. This hat needs different hair entirely (cue entirely new vision).

[What I imagine to be a common practice of trial and error is less notable (less potentially galling) when one is not in the habit of publicly recording what one wears…]

Anyway. Sometimes I want a do-over.* And not to do it “better”, exactly, as I think that’s not a very useful word here, but more in line with the spirit of the concept, the original vision. The effect in the first case is too polished, too tightly controlled, not casual enough – given the reference point. It looks fine, but it’s not how I wanted to look.

*This is distinct from liking a look so much that I want to try infinite variations of the look, which I suppose isn’t a bad definition of a clear personal style.

This is more what I was thinking.

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I swear I was trying to make a neutral face here. I think my neutral face is just not very friendly.

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Carraig Donn sweater (thrifted), AG jeans (thrifted), Ann Klein loafers, Skagen watch, Mulberry bag (thrifted). On the lips: MAC lipstick in Speak Louder. On the nails: Barry M Gelly nail paint in Satsuma. I think gold liner is such a great alternative to brown. Oh, and this is the Michael Kors bronzer at work, though I recently tried the Hard Candy Hula Hula bronzer and found it a great budget option in the same deep, shimmery style.

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This nail color is incredible, a saturated mandarin orange. Better angle:

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Why why why do I not wear my hair like this all the time? OK, I know why, but here is my official reminder to change my ways.

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the fisherman’s sweater

A sweater and jeans makes an excellent uniform for warmer winter days.

I can’t remember if I’ve yet mentioned wanting to knit a sweater. Well, I do. An Irish fisherman style cable-knit sweater along these lines (for I want a green one).

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love leather and knit textures together

Oh, and I got a floppy wool hat. I sometimes think such hats look silly when the hair is tucked underneath, without any tendrils escaping or anything [I can’t really have the kinds of tendrils I mean. Alas, it is not my lot to have long, faintly curling wispy tendrils. Though I can fake it.], but…I go back and forth.

IMG_1130This is the scarf I knit a few years ago. Light and flexible, forgot I had it for a while. A closet review is definitely in order. What is the use of excellent, carefully chosen belongings if you cannot remember that you have them?

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Carraig Donn sweater (thrifted, a men’s small and properly cozy), Express leggings, Eric Michael boots, wool hat from Chicwish, Pratt & Hart leather mittens, 9mm studs from Pearls of Joy, Mulberry bag. On the lips, Revlon lipstick in Black Cherry (I couldn’t find it so I got another). On the cheeks, Chanel cream blush in Fantastic.

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