The Tiny Closet

Ever since I moved to Southern California and started exploring the amazing Southwest, I've grown a strong admiration for the style, the lifestyle, the colors and the vibe that is all around me.  Side affects of this admiration however, include a consistent urge to dress like a cowboy or some bohemian desert mama.  Which isn't all that fluid and natural looking when all said and done.  So because I have a tendency to get very "themey" when I let my obsessions dress me, I've made a rule to just add splashes of my current inspirations to my daily style, rather then tip the whole bucket over my head and wear everything all at once.

My home-base style is modern minimalism and on a daily basis, I am versed in working mainly with whites, blacks and heather grays.  But when I think of the Southwest, a plethora of colors and textures and back drops swirl around in my mind and I want to abandon everything about my personal style.  

But my personal style exists for a clear reason.  So instead of abandoning it for a crush, I think it's more fun to just incorporate the two.

 I'm gearing up for the holidays this year, and instead of letting it trample over me, leaving me in disarray on January 1st, I want to minimize the bigness, the pomp and circumstance of it all and just add "little touches" of the holiday to my life.  I'll be showing this over the next few weeks and I'm excited about it so keep visiting!

Oh and tomorrow marks the beginning of December!

Happy Holidays :)

But mainly, I just love wearing this new Tiny Closet design.  The drape and double slits are excellent in movement but also pretty flattering when sitting.  Like sitting for dinner.  A new favorite piece!

 I mean, I never want to take it off.  This thing is so roomy and regal and sexy and...  And who wants to where something tight on Thanksgiving?!  You can have it.  This Thursday, I'll be stuffing myself with stuffing and relaxing under this navy blue tent.  

But you know I'll be showing the legs though :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

***Want to buy this dress?  It's been released again in 100% silk!  Super light and airy, perfect for a Summer statement piece. Get yours now! ***

Morning is my absolute favorite time of day.  I feel like anyone who works for themselves or just plain ol' has a lot of stuff to get done will agree that mornings mark fresh starts and give promising light to those who dilute themselves in believing they'll get it all done today!

The secret to life is a formula, a recipe maybe - made up of love, light, food and waking up super early.  So I kiss my husband, I refuse to put curtains on my windows, I keep my fridge full and I set my alarm for 6:30am every morning.

But since I am one of those who believe I can do it all, there is some anxiety that comes with my early rising.  "Gotta get everything done / Why can't I go faster / Can't break, keep going".  I start immediately on a project or I run off to the fabric district or I just start cleaning... before I've even had breakfast.  I love mornings but recently I've noticed it's a grind.

*sigh*
I'm working on this.  

So I decided one way to un-grind would be to, you know, maybe enjoy the morning.  
And while I'm at it - put on something a little too nice to run around in like a chicken with its head cut off.  But also just nice enough to get down to business.  Chic, classy, relaxing. 

I notice when I think about how I want to look, I think about how I want to feel.  

It's more than just "comfortable" or "decent", I want to look "fresh" or "feminine" or "light".  

And whatever it is, for the rest of the day, I take on the feeling of what I chose to wear.  Employing this way of life using my closet has helped me take control of my mornings when I'm feeling the pressures of my own expectations and to-do's.  

Over the Summer, I went to thrift shops and bought up a bunch of super XXXXL men's button up shirts.  Like this one.  And also this one shown here.  In this post, I cut off the collar and the arms and I've been wearing it as an oversize shell over lace camis with jeans.  These cute diy shirts have been one method to un-grinding lately.  By replacing my beat up tees with a cool, modern looking button up to tackle the day, things go a little more smoothly for some reason...


I'm tellin' ya, the wardrobe is an influential thing.

 Lets see... where were we?

For the longest time, I've been trying to figure out how to actualize and share all the inspirations and creative phases I experience in my head.  I think it got to the point of desperation, actually.  After a while, ideas have to be put to paper and then to the hands to create.  If not, then any type of expression is just a lie I guess.

It had gotten to the point where I wasn't showing what I was experiencing.  I wasn't connected.  I think I finally got tired of thinking all the time and I really just wanted to start doing.  Expressing!  Whimsies, fleeting fancies - they're just too fun not to share.  And what better medium than here?  It just comes down to this:

Think it

Write it

Show it

Move on.

So continuing on still in a Tiny Closet style, my mind has been completely taken with the illustrations of "Where The Wild Things Are".  And also wrapped up somewhere in the 1930s with the adventure and exquisite aesthetic of vintage travel.  Travel to new and exotic places.  I decided to create that feeling and imagine those illustrations into an intimate interior setting.  A Tiny lil peek into what that world might look like from the bedroom.

Oh and also, what one should wear for the occasion of leisure vintage travel.

Oh and one more thing.  I cut my hair.  Again :)

 I've been only seeing chartreuse lately.  In everything from plants to illustrations to fabric.  High waists, worn leather belts and the crisp white of a man's shirt - all things I have been obsessed with over the past month.

I took an XXL men's button up and snipped and shaped it into a cute cap-sleeved waterfall shirt.  I had made a pair of soft jersey chartreuse gauchos earlier this Summer but never imagined them outfitted this way.  Simple and to the point for the charming far and away look I was imagining.

Theo and I have been working together for years now.  What an interesting team we make.  Every time we're on a job, it always surprises me when people remark on how well we work together.  I've never really thought of it that way.  We're both stubborn control freaks but greatly admire each other's ideas anyway.  And the fact that we're in love has kept one from killing the other on many collaborative occasions.  When it comes down to it, we're each other's biggest fans.  This picture is a rare type of photo we take but it's a good reminder.

Anyway...

Good to be back :)

pssst, thank you for visiting!  Come back next Monday for more Tiny Closet imaginings!

Well, that was quite a pause.  I've missed this.

I was away for almost exactly 3 months and I needed it.  Aside from enduring a very trying Summer - some even might call it a tough time, I managed to get through a foggy thick artistic block that had been following me around for what seemed longer than necessary, and arrive back here, thank God.  I was hoping it would bring me back to the blog.  And yay! It did.

And while I was trudging through the fog, scrolling through old photos, I realized I kind of had a lot of these things.  Like a crazy amount of them.  In fact, spread over 3 hard drives, I had over 2,500 photos.  So since I wasn't quite ready to create something new, I decided to get cozy and take a look back.

If you've been following me for a long time, this might be fun to see every single photo I've ever taken since I started sharing my personal fashion online.  If you blink, you might miss one!

And if you're new to the blog,  yes, the photographer is my husband, and yes, he has a lot of patience.

For all the times you have visited and revisited, thank you guys.

Thank You
Thank You
Thank You

I'll be back next Monday with an official post starting up the blog again.  
And just in time for the fashionable holidays of Winter.  
Don't worry, I'm bursting with ideas!