the maxi

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I recently picked up the dress from Curator I mentioned admiring a while back. I consistently like this long, loose, belted tunic style—vaguely Athenian or sprite-like—especially for summer.

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A contrasting belt could add interest but this look is more about simplicity.  And this jungle green, jade color I find so lovely, it’s almost a shame to break it up. It’s some kind of hi-tech imitation silk that drapes beautifully.

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I hunted around for ages to find this bag, a French style straw market basket with dual leather straps. It seems like it should have been a straightforward hunt (presumably in France it is) but I didn’t find that to be the case. There was often something that didn’t ring quite true about most of the ones I found, as if they were poor translations of the authentic thing. This one is from Harabu House.

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This is NARS Taj Mahal blush again, which loving.

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Mabel dress from Curator SF, Harabu House market basket, Skagen watch, Kara Ross bracelet, scarab pendant. On the lips, Tom Ford lipstick in Wild Ginger. So glad to break out these gladiator sandals again, which are still everything I want them to be.

There is a natural simplicity to this look that is ideal to me. Everything comfortable and earth-toned yet with a sense of being purposefully chosen that pulls the elements together into elegance. This is one of my ideas of elegance, anyway, the simplest and therefore often the best kind.

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on the nails: the lizard look

I still only do my nails rarely, so far, even after acquiring no small amount of nail stuff. I am quite slow, and need a large chunk of time, and just want to take it all off if I’m dissatisfied with the results. Stamping especially is not for the faint of heart. I find it can be meditative, though, provided I am more or less qualified to do what I’ve set out to do. I have to concentrate enough that I can’t really focus on anything else, such that I seem genuinely to have nothing in my head except for the abstract sense of attentiveness.  And even if it doesn’t turn out, who cares?

If it does turn out, I can stare at it all the time/it distracts me (and begins to become intolerable as soon as it begins to chip).

I admit it is sometimes a strained relationship.

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This is OPI Jade is the New Black (really like this on its own) over a base coat of OPI Nail Envy, layered with the Pueen10 plate  snakeskin motif stamped in China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. OPI RapiDry between coats.

It is bordering on questionable how much I’m into snakeskin right now.