It's a good thing that I rearranged my closet a few days ago to make my warm weather clothes most accessible, and that my spring/summer wardrobe refresher plan ended up heavy on lightweight blouses, because my new area is experiencing a heat wave. While a typical early May high is around 68, it is currently 81 as I type this, the same temperature as in the South Texan city I left due to excessive heat I might add. Luckily the sun doesn't burn as fiercely here, and even if I don't have a/c I have plenty of breeze-catching windows and four ice cube trays, so it's not too painful. It also helps that it's still getting down in the 50s at night, so in the mornings everything is refreshingly cool. But I definitely wasn't expecting to be trying out my new hot weather silhouette this early.

Anyway, over this past winter, I became addicted to my high rise wide legged wool trousers: so comfortable and easy and they balanced out my shoulders. I've only worn skinnies or slim/tapered trousers for ages, but that experience made me want to add some wide legged trousers to my year-round wardrobe. Now to my eye, on my figure, the silhouette looks best with some waist definition on top, and as not all of the trousers I found were high enough for tucking, I decided to add some warm weather weight blouses with built in waistbands. I had a grand time on Ebay last month, exploring various options, and ended up having a kind of secondhand Anthropologie blouse extravaganza. hehe

This blue blouse is one of the additions. I knew beforehand that the smocking was too high to hit my natural waist (I always ask sellers for the length from shoulder seam to waistband), instead it hits at my much wider ribcage. Such empire/regency waistbands are not my best look, turning me more into a rectangle than a slim hourglass, since they obscure my smallest point. But I really loved the details on the blouse and hoped that with the gathering at the bust it would fall into the 'just flattering enough' camp. It's also at just the limit of how saturated a colour I can wear, but if I decide it overwhelms me I can always tea dye it to calm it down a bit.

Anyway, for today I paired it with an older pair of linen grey trousers. Then I decided to play up the regency look of the blouse by adding a cameo brooch and pearl drop earrings; my delicate gold ring and bracelet finished the look but are pretty much invisible unless you're staring at my hands in person. In the heat I prefer to keep my hair off my neck but didn't want to fuss with it, so a ponytail it is; I did use a bit of white lace to cover up the ponytail holder and echo the white edging of the blouse, although you can't see it.

For my walks, I decided to pull on the linen/cotton fingerless 'gloves' (arm gloves? sleeves? I've no idea what to call this accessory) I knitted last year, to complete the Regency look (I did forgo a bonnet, lol). These are so useful in giving me sun protection without any extra heat insulation, like a cardigan or jacket would have done, and adding a bit of a quirky vintage layering feel that I love, that I plan to knit a couple more this year. And I opted for my trust Aurora t-strap flats, which I knew would be kind to feet no longer used to going sockless! The navy is a bit dark for the rest of the look, but oh well. My feet were happy, which is more important! The trousers are actually a bit longer than the look in the shoe photo; I think when I bent down to buckle them just before the photo was taken I accidentally hitched the one leg. They're not quite PPL but closer than they look here.

From a functional perspective, this outfit has succeeded wonderfully: I'm perfectly cool & comfortable sitting in my apartment (especially when there's an iced drink to hand) and on my walk. The fabric & cuts catch every breeze. I also feel psychologically comfortable in it. So now the question becomes: to observers, is this 'just flattering enough' or should I stick with either blouses that hit at my natural waist or that surrender the waist completely? Thats what I've always done before, so I'm very open to sticking to that again in the future if you think it's best. I plan to play around more with these trousers & see if I can do a volume over volume look without being overwhelmed with fabric. And I plan to do a post about the spring/summer refresher I keep mentioning very soon! This week for sure. Just trying to figure out the logistics of how best to photograph the additions.

Honest feedback, both positive and negative, is always appreciated. I added 'outfit lab' to the title to indicate that this is an experiment for me, so my feelings won't be hurt if you don't think it worked. Thanks in advance! (And I realise that the poofiness of the blouse might lead some to think I'm pregant; that specifically doesn't bother me, as long as the proportions in general fall into the 'JFE' category).