Start With a Notebook (Spring/Summer Clothes)

This floral notebook cover is called Blooming by Eliza Todd (found at a surplus store). I thought it was very cheerful and colourful, so I decided to use it as wardrobe inspiration for the coming months. The photograph makes it appear  bright blue, but the real-life book is closer to slate blue. Besides that, I see a lot of pink and pale blue in the design, plus white, soft green, and the odd bit of orange and brown.

I posed the book against a few favourite things.

A couple of scarves...

A bit of makeup...

A new pair of glasses. I thought I could see how this would work.

And here's the story...

It's Global Recycling Day, she reads online. She is curious enough to go and check out the website.

She doesn't consider herself a particularly political or protesting person, but she does understand "mend, repair and reuse in order to sustain the usefulness of the items around us for as long as possible." In planning her spring-into-summer wardrobe, she wants to use mostly the clothes she already has, but she's also not opposed to thrifting a few things to help them all hang together a little better. She might even buy a couple of brand-new things, with the intention of using them well and making them last as long as possible. 

What kind of weather does she need to plan for? Some years, where she lives, there's hardly any spring at all, and people seem to jump from coats and boots into shorts and sandals. This winter has been milder, though, and (barring an occasional tantrum) spring does seem to be staking out its turf already. She decides to start with a core of navy (or denim blue) and white clothes, in a range of cool-to-possibly-hot-weather types, and blossom out from there. 

Navy/White Basics (15 items)

navy embroidered sleeveless top

off-white t-shirt, short sleeves

Navy/pale blue  striped t-shirt

 navy t-shirt,  long sleeves

white cotton/linen shirt

white v-neck pullover, loose knit

navy  linen blend pullover  

navy shorts

jean skirt (bought new because she couldn't find a thrift store one that she liked)

bootcut jeans

Lightweight greige cardigan--not the most compelling piece of clothing in the world, but handy all the same for covering up sleeveless things

greige cotton pants

navy dress pants

navy cotton cardigan, open front, striped elbow patches   

blue and white striped shirt

jean jacket, striped lining

She hunts through her closet for navy and white/cream accessories.

plain navy belt (and a brown braided one, because not everything has to match)

navy purse with twin pouches

   

navy sandals (from a company that uses recycled plastic)

ankle booties, for the time before it finishes warming up

white skateboard sneakers      

navy/white "snakeskin"  loafers with bow trim  

cream-coloured clutch/crossbody purse, bought new from Pixie Mood (U.S. site) and made, they say, out of recycled bottles

If she had to pack for a trip or something, that would be enough to keep her going.

But she wants to do something with those beautiful notebook-cover florals. She makes a couple of trips to the thrift store and comes back with: 

a suit-style grey vest, which isn't any of those colours, but which seems fun and a little bit trendy.

blue V-neck t-shirt

powder blue blazer 

vintage striped top and skirt in black, grey, purple, and deep pink

blue sneakers             

     

       Finally, she digs into her summer clothes bin, and finds these older things:

teal/pink/black/white floral sleeveless top

purple top with crocheted yoke      

Pink/purple/blue plaid shorts      

blue chambray high waist pants

blue floral print silk maxi dress

a pink top that she didn't really need to include, but that went so well she couldn't leave it out

grey sandals that go better with the vintage skirt set than the navy ones (made by the same company though)

Two more purses

Besides her jean jacket, she also has a white spring jacket (from the dollar rack at the thrift store) and a vintage purple ultrasuede coat.   (Total: 28 clothing items, plus accessories, if she counted right.)  

Outfits? Not in this post. Well, here's one.

Two more:

Maybe more later.

But just for fun: jewelry.

(the daisies are recycled from paper)