Thanks laura, neonginger, caro, Deborah, and em!
Kat - I tend towards minimalism/clean/harmonius too, so this was a departure for fun and experimentation. But I too love a statement skirt! Like you, I usually prefer it with black and will keep wearing it that way. I like the edgier black in #2 also.
Tina - thanks, very wise, choosing an outfit is all in the 'persona' I want to inhabit that day, along with where and what I'll be doing. Some of these I'd really have to be in a super confident bubbly mood to wear (but I fairly often feel that way, so there you go :)).
Torontogirl - I like mixing feminine/soft/flowery with edgy too. It's a big part of my artwork, so it's interesting that it carries over into clothes preferences as well.
Sarah A - thanks, I probably will wear the cage sandals with the second loose black top, it would be very comfortable and a way to casualize the skirt while keeping the look classic. I did try out a variety of shoes with this and it was fun to see that if I was okay with leg shortening at times I could actually wear quite a variety.
Manidipa - I usually avoid pattern mixing too, and tend to prefer more harmonious looks, but this was fun, and I liked a few of them enough that I will wear them out for the right occasions. The leopard one is interesting. It's one that I wasn't sure about too at first. I wonder how much has to do with whether ones' eye is very accostumed to leopard patterns? Or if the silhouette overcomes the pattern difference depending on what one focuses on first?
Annagybe - I love the skirt too, even though it was more hectic than my usual style when I bought it, and still is now. I'm always finding something new in the pattern. I welcome any ideas you have, as you are a master of making a lot of visual information work well in one outfit, and also have a very educated eye about proportion and what feels current.
fuzzylogic - high five! This was fun, but it wasn't easy. There were several looks that worked in the mirror but didn't on film, some that I rethought and reshot the next day, and also I wasn't the photographer (and he had limited patience) so I couldn't try everything out. I tended to skip the tops I already knew looked good with it (often dressier black ones) and tried for things I hadn't yet considered so that it would be a learning process.
Gigi - I hear you, your preferences are the same as mine :). That's why I tried this out, to push my boundaries a bit. My default tends to be matching plain tops and shoes that form a backdrop but don't compete with the skirt, and previously I had stuck with either tall boots or low-vamped dress shoes. I tried some shoes that really didn't work at all (black converse) because of the leg shortening effect. I decided to keep some of the high vamped shoes because I wanted to add something a little unexpected. For example, the white Guess tennis shoes in the first outfit were to balance out the whole thing from looking a bit to much like a sugary Mamie Eisenhower outfit
adorkable and rae - bold solid tops will be my default - it's what I'm most comfortable with too, but some of these pattern mixes might make it out of the house if I'm feeling roguish
Rae - I found that bag at Goodwill the other day, I was contemplating whether a beat up brown leather Coach had any potential when it meowed out to me, I had to have it. I think it's from the same Japanese company that does the pug bags?
