October 31st, 2008
Today’s post on the recent YLF gathering in Seattle was written by casual-chic boho Meredith, a fab friend and an active member of the YLF community.
Luck shined on us for the second YLF get-together. The sun filtered through the beautiful autumn leaves and into the windows of Café Flora, a lovely vegetarian restaurant in Seattle’s Madison Valley. About six of us gathered around the table, looking just as sunny as the day, sporting splashes of yellow and green.
Wild mushroom omelets, pumpkin pancakes, and sticky buns arrived at the table as we chatted about fashion, sipped our tea, and devoured our brunch. One question for Angie was, “How does one wear a brooch?” Angie said that wearing them on mufflers is a perfect way to combine the casual with the glitzy. Pinning them onto jackets is fine, but shoot for more monochromatic looks. Brooches that contrast too much with a garment can tend to look a bit garish and kitschy.
Another question was, “How do you know when your closet is full?” Angie told us about her system for knowing when she has enough clothes. Her closet has shelves with notches, and she hangs one hanger in each notch. When all the notches are full, she has a completely full wardrobe. Nothing new comes in, unless something else goes out.
Angie also shared a story about how the chemistry in her last hair dye had gone a bit wonky. I learned that your dye might change color over time. Although she left the salon blond, in a few days time her hair had turned a nice yellow. “I looked like Big Bird,” Angie said. But fortunately, better living can be achieved through chemistry. She returned to the salon, and they applied some sort of magical solution that returned her hair to the nice color we all know and love.
After eating our yummy food, sharing giggles, and catching up on families and travel (and yes, the elections too), we gathered outside to pose for the camera. Some of us have very few inhibitions when it comes to vamping for the lens. We had good, silly fun posing with our shoes, bags, and outfits in the sunny garden outside the café.
Sihaya layered multiple pieces to create a fantastic tailored look with depth and texture. Marianna sported preppy sophistication in skinny jeans, a button-down shirt and belted boyfriend cardigan. Julie was radiant in an earthy animal print cardigan and skinnies. Laurel looked lovely in a voluminous green print dress, leggings and fabulous coordinating green handbag. Angie was stunning in her retro Winter floral dress with chartreuse cardigan and chunky new pearls—all recent Hong Kong acquisitions. I wore a bohemian sweater over a tulip denim skirt and my favourite wedged knee-high boots
In the spirit of Autumn, boots and closed toe pumps were the order of the day: from Julie’s fab mock-croc grey snip-toed kitten heels and Marianne’s pretty chestnut mary-janes, to Sihaya’s riding boots and Angie’s pointy patent peds.
Oversized totes and structured satchels in brights or cream reigned supreme.
We are all looking forward to the next YLF get together. Hope to see you there!
28 Replies
Posted on Friday, October 31st, 2008 at 7:35 am
You all look completely fantastic! And thanks for including the bag and shoe shots again – love those.
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 7:53 am
Love it! You all look wonderful.
Wow, I need to take my white bag out! I put it away for the winter, but yours look fabulous with your pretty fall weather gear.
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 8:08 am
What fun! I could always use a free SWA ticket if you give advance notice on a future get together.
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 8:12 am
I’m glad you all have the opportunity to get together! It looks like such fun!
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 8:14 am
I’m sorry I missed it — what fun!
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 8:30 am
I read Angie’s closet tip before, and it has been such a huge help in keeping everything organized (and not too full!).
Everyone looks fantastic!
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 8:45 am
What fun-you all look so cute and stylish. Too bad Seattle is so far away from me 
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 8:49 am
I enjoyed the shoe star and bag shots. Very colorful and festive!
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 9:12 am
Wow, all of you looked awesome! Ans sounds like you had a lot of fun as well! I am SO looking forward to the Boston YLF get-together.
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 9:38 am
Meredith’s line about “better living through chemistry” just about killed me! Hilarious! You ladies look beautiful – thanks for sharing photos.
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 10:19 am
FABULOUS!!! I’m even more sad I missed it now. You ladies look SO fabulous!! The style quotient is sizzling. Thanks for wonderful report, Meredith, and all of you for posing and sharing the chic with us
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 10:41 am
Wow – the colors are fantastic! Where is that red patent leather bag from? It’s beautiful!
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 11:19 am
Jessica,
I found that red leather bag at JC Penny on sale for $30!! I’ve been carrying it around for over a year, and it is still holding its shape. Thanks!
Meredith
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 11:24 am
Thanks for the info – I love it!
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 11:27 am
I’m sorry I missed it too. You all look very stylish. I bet you turned some heads for your beautiful well put together selves.
The pictures are great and the story was fun to read, well written and entertaining. Thanks for shaing.
All your outfits are stunning.
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 12:00 pm
That was one stylish get-together! Everybody looks marvellous and I’m smiling about the bags and shoes close-up. Great selection! Aaah I really wish I could have been sitting there at that table with you, not just to get to know you irl and chat, but to inspect that food from close-by too. Everything looks delicious;-)
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 12:11 pm
How exciting! You ladies all look wonderful. Glad you had a fantastic time.
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 1:08 pm
You all look like a zillion bucks! Love how unique everyone is – with very different styles.
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 1:45 pm
You all look wonderful!!Thank you for sharing.
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 1:45 pm
You are all a very stylish bunch. And I’m envious of whoever owns the cute yellow bag!
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 2:16 pm
You all look gorgeous!!! I especially love everyone’s shoes and bags!
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 2:44 pm
You ladies are so stylish! I love that red bohemian sweater/skirt outfit and would totally wear it too. That outfit would perfect with the gorgeous diamond necklace my hubby bought me from http://www.idonowidont.com for our 10th anniversary. It would make me look so chic when I go downtown!
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 3:28 pm
It is so fun to see you all together—-such style going on—-
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Hi Joelle – that’s me. I found it at Macy’s in May this year. A friend of mine has the same design in black. Meredith, thanks for the great writeup. It was such a fun get together.
Posted on October 31st, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Lovely pix. Is that leopard print cardi the JCrew snow leopard Tartine? Just got one of those myself!
Posted on November 1st, 2008 at 6:06 am
Thanks for the wonderful write up, Meredith! I had loads of fun that day and felt honoured sharing a table with your stylish selves. The ease and comfort with which we all got was impressive. I feel I’ve known you lovely ladies for years (of course, some of you I actually have known for years).
The Seattle YLF community is quite large. There are several YLF-ers who are active on the blog but not the forum, and this is probably why you were unaware of the Café Flora event (the events are arranged on the forum). I’ll include the non-forum Seattle YLF’ers on the mailing list next time round just in case you’d like to join us. Carolyn, I’ll be sure to contact you as well!
Posted on November 1st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Sihaya–thank you for the tip! I just checked the Macys website and didn’t see it, so it must have been a style they only had for spring or summer. Oh well. Congratulations on your fab find! Meanwhile, I’m still on the lookout for a bright colored accent bag.
Posted on November 1st, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Everyone looks so gorgeous, great style!
Posted on November 8th, 2008 at 11:09 am
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