Monday, February 28, 2011

Delightful Dozen Launch Party!

You're all invited to a party to celebrate the launch of the new Delightful Dozen blog!

The party will take place on Tuesday, March 1 from 8AM to 7PM EST!

We will be kicking off the start to the new Delightful Dozen with 12 hours of style, remixes, tips, giveaways + more!

We will each be posting frequently on the blog with DD remixes,reader spotlights, ways to remix items, things we love, D.I.Y's, tutorials, giveaways and so much more! We're all so excited!
Join along with us!
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Saturday Breakfast

Blanket coat: Thrifted ($12)
Shirt: J.Crew outlet ($19)
Belt: Vintage (old)
Necklaces: H&M & Black Sparrow
Jeans: Madewell High Rise Skinnies
Boots: Matiko v. LF sale ($80)
The weather this weekend was deceptive. On Saturday, despite being beautiful and sunny, it was an icy 20 degrees with major wind chill. Chris and I had planned to walk to our favorite breakfast place, but were forced to drive when met with the wind. It really wasn't the worst, we got our coffee and were warm again as soon as we sat down. Saturday breakfast is one of my favorite rituals, it is a way to signal the start of the weekend for us, and a time to re-connect after a busy and stressful week. When Chris is around, I always want to dress up, we see so little of each other during the week, I fear he thinks I live in yoga pants and sweatshirts! I resisted the urge to be fancy on Saturday, mostly because I wanted to show off my new coat.

Oh how I wish I had found this beauty at the beginning of the season! The colors are perfect for fall, and it's made of soft wool. I found it while out thrifting on Friday afternoon, after wandering the aisles of Savers with nothing to show for it, I found this dream wedged between two winter coats. Even though I've been focusing on building my Spring wardrobe, I couldn't resist. To lighten the mood, I added a light chambray shirt, and stamped leather belt (which I obviously didn't get a good picture of).
How was your weekend? I have a really exciting thing to announce this afternoon, so stay tuned!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Steven Alan Fall 2011 (or: Can we just fast forward to September?)

I'm sorry to do this two days in a row. I'm well aware of how saturated blogs are with post-fashion week coverage, but I have an excuse: April showers have decided to arrive early and the world is simply too damp for outfit photos. BUT, I have something really good to show you, rarely am I so drawn to a designer's entire collection, but I'm finding myself so with Steven Alan's Fall 2011 presentation:
Image source: Style.com
I mean, how perfect is the whole thing? What I love about this collection is how accessible it is. We can't all afford Steven Alan (oh, but I wish I could!), but these are all items that are easily thrifted or bought cheaply, if not already existing in our closets. The pops of red, leopard, and stripes are what makes the whole collection for me, without those little bursts of excitement I think the whole thing might feel a bit dull. I also love the minimal accessorizing, the prints are allowed to breathe without being weighed down by too much jewelry. These are going right into my inspiration folder, maybe I'll even use them now, it's still cold out after all!

Can you believe it's nearly March? We're getting rain down here, but my sources tell me further north is getting another 15" of snow. I'm spending the day running errands and trying to stay dry. Happy Friday!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Rachel Antonoff F/W 2011




All images via Refinery 29
I don't post much about designer collections here, mostly because I feel there is so much coverage everywhere else on the web, especially post-fashion week. But I couldn't help posting these images from the Rachel Antonoff F/W 2011 presentation I came across on Refinery 29. Antonoff does such an impeccable job presenting the entire life of her collection in her presentations, it's instantly understood where her inspiration lies. The images themselves, shot in Holga format, remind me of the 6th grade school dances I was so reluctant to attend, only much more stylish of course. I'm so excited to see that the 60's and 70's will be hugely influential this coming fall, two of my favorite decades.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

In the 7th house

Sweater: Vintage/thrifted cashmere ($5)
Hat: Chris's from vintage fleamarket
Necklace: Black Sparrow (gift)
Bracelets: Vintage/Thrifted
Belt: Vintage/Thrifted ($4)
Shoes: Matiko/LF ($40)
Bag: Mom's (gift)
On another, slightly warmer day I wore a long flowing skirt and cozy sweater and didn't need a coat. Once again, I can't wait to wear this dress more simply, with just a belt, leather sandals, and a necklace. I have allowed myself to think constantly of warmer months, and there's no going back. I've started my vigil, these trees have got to bud sometime. I never thought I would love long dresses and skirts as much as I do, wearing them always seemed faux pas for shorter women- someone asked yesterday, I'm 5'5"- but I think the trick is to find a maxi dress with the right proportions. Or get it hemmed to the right length. I love this one Spotted Moth sent over, color-wise it's appropriate for multiple seasons (depending on how you style it), and it super comfy. I love the flutter sleeve too, even though it's covered up in the photo. I played off the oranges, taupes and browns by adding a taupe sweater, orange belt, and brown bag, and then added some gold to make everything pop.

For my birthday last month, I met my mom in New Hampshire for lunch and she surprised me with some items that had surfaced while she cleaned our basement. It may sound funny, but receiving these items again was one of the best gifts I have ever received. Included among the family photos, vintage clothes from my childhood dress-up trunk (yep, always loved vintage), and books, was this bag. It needs some serious care, but I love it. I never really expected her to relinquish it to me, and it means so much more now that she did. Anyways, I thought it went well with the 70's art student vibe I had going on. Thanks mom!

On an unrelated note, I mentioned on my Facebook that I received a question from a reader about my diet last week and am taking questions. I'll be answering these questions in a post early next week, so if you have a question to add tot he queue, head over to the Orchid Grey Facebook page to ask! You can also ask me a question on Twitter!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

With the greatest of ease

Photos: Chris
Dress: Beacon's Closet ($12)
Bag: Vintage Thrifted Coach ($20)
Belt: J.Crew (gift)
Tights: American Apparel ($25)
Franklin Necklace c/o Jess LC
Ahh, Friday seems like it was a lifetime ago! As I mentioned yesterday, we experienced an all-too-brief taste of spring with 70 degree weather. As a celebration of the impending season, I broke out some items that have been burning a hole through my proverbial pocket, just for a day spent running errands with Chris. I bought this springy dress on my trip to New York at Beacons Closet, and it's so comfortable. I love clothing that doesn't take much thought to wear, just put it on and go. I've been saving these shoes for a few weeks now, there's been too much snow to wear them out. I love them with tights here, but I can't wait to throw them on with pretty spring dresses and skirts, sans tights. For being so high, they're remarkably easy to walk in and comfortable. I added some brown and gold accessories, like my Coach bag, brown belt, and gold cuff. I'm kind of in love with this bracelet, it features a rather angry looking sea-bird, which is appropriate since I live close to the water and stepping out into our parking lot can be like entering a scene from "The Birds" at times.

This week has been quiet so far. Unfortunately, the warm weather didn't last and we're back to a very brisk 20 degrees. This morning I volunteered at the Shipbuilding Museum, which I'm hoping will become a regular thing. My task for the day involved leading a few school groups along a boatbuilding themed scavenger hunt. I'm really looking forward to going back when it's warm, if any of you have ever heard of Woodman's (where the fried clam was invented), the museum is right up the road.
Happy Tuesday!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Over the Weekend: Mug-up at the Essex Shipbuilding Museum

Did you have a good weekend? After a very warm Friday (70 degrees!), we were back to chilly winter on Saturday, but I didn't let the freezing cold wind keep me inside. Bright and early Saturday morning I headed to Essex with a couple of friends for a mug-up at the Essex Shipbuilding Museum. What's a "mug-up" you ask? It's the Cape Ann term for a coffee break. The term comes from where the mugs are kept on a boat, usually they hang upside-down and you have to "turn your mug up" when you get your coffee. Waaay back boatbuilders preferred whiskey instead of coffee, but the drink of choice was changed in the name of productivity and cost. Anyway, the real reason we were there was to view the new schooner being built at H.A. Burnham across the way, the Ardelle. My friend Chris led the way as our guide, and despite the cold we all had a great time:
I'm volunteering at the Museum tomorrow and I'm really excited about it. I love this area of Massachusetts, mainly because it doesn't feel like Massachusetts. It's a completely different environment than Boston, or even the area of the Northshore that I live. I think I like it so much because it reminds me of Maine, and I miss living in Maine. We're back to winter again today, I woke up to snow, but admittedly as much as I can't wait for Spring, the snow is really beautiful.

What did you do this weekend?

Friday, February 18, 2011

Zebediah

You didn't think I would forget, did you? Zeb has been my constant companion this week, which is strange. Out of the two of them, Zephyr seems to think he's my personal assistant and Zeb only hangs out on special occasions (like if someone new and worth flirting with comes over). But for some reason, this week has been different, and Zeb's been my little shadow. Our dryer has been broken for the past month or so, and after getting sick of dragging our wash to the laundromat, I've invested in a drying rack and made use of our heating system. The combination of warm laundry and heat is like a magnet for Zeb, and when he wasn't sitting on my lap, I kept finding him lounging between the towels. Cats always seem to find the best places to hide.

Happy cat friday and happy weekend!

NYC in Pictures: Part 4 (Style File)

Coat: J.Crew (sale)
Shirt (beneath): J.Crew ($20-ish)
Jeans: Madewell (sale)
Boots: Matiko ($80 sale)
Bag: vintage & thrifted Coach ($7)
Sunnies: Beacon's Closet ($16)
Hat: Vintage (Chris's)
The last of my NYC pictures. These were taken on our travel day back home, last Friday. This outfit is purely practical, just something comfortable I threw on for the train and then the car ride home. While packing for the trip, I neglected to take into account that I would probably be coming home with more stuff than I went there with (or maybe I was naive enough to think that I wouldn't actually buy anything? ha.), so packing to come home was...a task.

I threw on the hat and glasses so they wouldn't get crushed in my bags and layered a couple of sweaters underneath so I wouldn't have to pack those. The final product felt a little Gloria Steinem, which I'm fine with. I found this bag on a thrifting excursion on my birthday. I don't think anyone noticed that it was Coach, because it was priced at $6.99, probably the best deal I've ever gotten. I love the size of it, it's large enough to fit a library book, but not too large that it gets filled with papers and trash (my bad habit). Plus, I like that it's the opposite color-wise from my jacket.

Well, this marks the end of my New York photos this week. All-in-all it was a great trip, but I really can't wait to go when the weather isn't frigid!
PS- Jen took these photos for me. Thank you!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

NYC in Pictures: Part 3 (Style File)

Hat: Vintage (chris's)
Belt: J.Crew (gift)
Scarf: Vintage thrift ($5-ish)
Bag: Vintage D&B ($10)
Necklace: Black Sparrow (gift)
Tights: TjMaxx ($4)
Shoes: Matiko sale ($40)
Sweater: LOFT (swapped)
There have been glimpses of my IFB outfit in my last couple of posts, but I thought I would do a real style file today. To tell the truth, I had a completely different outfit planned, but the morning of I decided on this and over-all, I'm happy with it. This ModCloth dress has been sitting in the back of my closet for a few months now, I had forgotten that it works best with tights (you can see how I previously styled it here), I packed it up and brought it along! To off-set the bright white, I mixed in a lot of neutrals and dark green. My goal was to look spring-y but seasonally appropriate. I think I got it right.
And yes, it was coooold and windy!!!
photos: JenLovesKev

NYC in Pictures: Part 2

Definitely fewer pictures today than yesterday, but when you're in a conference for the majority of the day (and sick as a dog), there's more time spent listening and absorbing than taking pictures. The main reason I travelled to New York in the first place was to attend the IFB Evolving Influence Conference. Not only did I see attending the conference as great professional development, I was also really excited to see some of my favorite girls.
This was my first time attending IFB, and I'm glad I waited. While I definitely returned home with some helpful information and ideas on how to improve Orchid Grey, I do wish there had been more diversity among the panelists. It felt like the majority of who we heard from were high-end bloggers who collaborate with luxury brands and worked with PR firms. While that may be what some bloggers aspire to, it's not what all of us (including myself) aspire to be as bloggers. Not all of us live in New York or LA, but that doesn't mean we can't experience own own versions success, to me that's the beauty of blogging. To that end, I really enjoyed hearing Rebecca and Keiko speak, I found them to be the most relatable and feel like what I did go home thinking about, was brought up by them. I also really enjoyed the first panel, which dealt with blog content, trademark and copyright. Were you at IFB? Did you watch the live stream? What did you think?
But we weren't just there to hear the speakers! Meeting other bloggers and seeing blogging friends is more than half the reason I chose to go. I mean, I'm not able to travel much this year, so what better time to catch up (however briefly) with friends? I was so happy to see Jess again, and meet other bloggers who I've followed for so long.
Jen, Punky and I did set aside some time to take outfit photos, even though it was SO COLD. Really, it was the best day to spend completely indoors, I have to say I'm excited for warmer weather. After the conference we headed to a diner for some much needed food (french fries and gravy) and then headed back to our hotel where we were met with this disaster:
Apparently, none us us do mornings well.

Stay tuned for a full outfit post later today!

(all images: Punky. Thank you to swap.com for providing our hotel)