The last two novels I've read (The Girl with Glass Feet and The Briefcase, the latter of which I loved) both had beautiful covers featuring a light blue-green with white and black accents. They made me think of this robin egg blue silk blouse I came across last year, whose colour and quality (all of the seams are French! and the silk has a wonderful hand & pearly sheen to it) made be bring it home, despite the somewhat low v neckline and crazy drapiness. So I started with that. The weather forecasted a high of 78/25, so I knew I should keep the rest of the outfit in cooler fabrics.

My sister recently gave me this cotton cardigan, as she was cleaning out her closet, and I'd been complaining about my lack of a white one. It's not perfect for me (I prefer full sleeves & a slightly more fitted waist), but it makes a good placeholder (cropped, crewneck, not bright/optic white) until I get lucky while thrifting! The colour is almost tea stained white in person. As the covers both felt light and airy, I decided it would be the perfect topper, especially since the drapes of the blouse look funny with a longer cardigan. For trousers, first I put on my charcoal grey pair, to bring in the black of the covers, but somehow they overpowered the entire look. I then tried a medium grey pair, but they too didn't feel quite right. So finally I ended up in these, a quite light grey, and relied on my necklace and headband to bring in touches of darkness.

The necklace is actually opal, which my dad brought back from a trip to Australia. I don't care for traditional opals (my mother's favourite stone), but this one, kept in its rockier setting, fascinates me! My hair is getting longer (not from an intention to grow it out, just from not getting over to the hair salon), and I realised it was just long enough to do a Gibson tuck. I love Alasse's romantic updos, so I couldn't resist giving it a go!

I think this whole outfit looked better in person than in photographs, although I'm not sure why. In person, it looked more fluid than slouchy & felt just right for an overcast but warm winter day (really, we're entering spring down here, but I'm in denial). In the photos it just looks a bit awkward! Looking at it, I think a dark belt (my navy velvet perhaps?) right at the cardigan's hem would have brought this outfit together/tidied it up in photos & made it 'match' the covers a bit more. Oh well, can't win them all. Later yesterday, I tinkered with the blouse a bit and made the neckline a bit higher & more square, which should make it a bit easier to wear. So I look forward to remixing it, perhaps with a skirt next time.

My feet are improving so I should be back to taking walks soon! Thank goodness, although at least I have a lovely view out of my windows, so I'm enjoying all of the birds that suddenly arrived last week. They know it's spring, even if I'm still pretending its winter!

As always, comments, suggestions, critiques, etc. welcome.

ETA: I added a quick photo of the outfit w/ the cardigan unbuttoned at the bottom thanks to your suggestions! I've added it up here too: does it work better?