As anyone who has met me can attest, I like skirts. And I have a ton of them- all of the preppy and/or girly variety. Sometimes, however, I get a little tired of the "sweet" look inherent in a lot of my skirts, such as this pink silk number I picked up at a consignment shop a few years ago.
<- Remember this? It's the overpriced but highly discounted Burberry trench I got at a Hong Kong outlet. Well, what I didn't tell you then was that it actually came with a separate belt- a white patent leather one with two buckles that meet at the center. There was one problem though: it didn't match the coat, which is counter-intuitive since they came together and are the same colors. However, the belt was a slightly off-white shade that when worn with the trench made it seem out of place. Also, it was too big. Instead of sitting neatly at the waist, it kind of dropped down toward my hips. And because of the double buckle design, I couldn't make it smaller.
Beijing finally decided that it was spring and therefore time to bring out the sun! And I found the perfect color combo to herald the coming of sunnier times: coral, white, and royal purple! Ok, ok, so it's really just a fancy way of saying "purple and pink."
Today was Casual Friday at my office, and I decided to take a younger, more streetwise approach to the color combo. Instead of the usual gray office pants, I opted for distressed gray jeans. Well, technically they're black jeans that have been washed about 100 times to many and otherwise tortured to make them look artsy. And in place of a yawn-inducing collared shirt, I wore a light pink lace shirt over a white tank top. And to cap it all off (har har har), I added a gray (well, black and white mottled together to look gray) fedora. Et voila!
So I skipped the gym this morning out of sheer laziness and thus had some extra time to play dress-up before work.
And finally, I ended up messing with my hair. What started out as a '90s Topsy Tail (remember those?) ended up a barrel roll of sorts. After making my low ponytail, I parted the hair behind the elastic (the part closer to my scalp), creating a hole, and instead of flipping the ponytail up and tucking it down into the hole, I flipped it under. And then I flipped it again. And again. And again, until the whole thing was all rolled up over the elastic. Then, as usual, I put about 10,000 pins in it and smothered it in hairspray. As a final springy touch, I added a flower hairpin. 
So the nautical thing seems to be pretty popular these days. Every store, campaign, and magazine seems to feature at least one sailor girl outfit, and I have to admit, I quite like the aesthetic. Lucky for me, I have a number of navy blue items, including this blazer I bought the last time the nautical thing was big- about two years ago.
