Cherry, Cherry

Yesterday I got to meet the wonderful Sara Lily (aka my BBRBF – best book-reading blog friend), and we have a few posts all scheduled later to talk about that, but one thing I noticed is that she is excellent at posing. Like, girl just knows how to work it! When I pose, I tend to think I have to change it all up and have my feet, hands, and head all in different positions for each new photo. This means that usually I start to repeat poses because I just can’t think of any other whole-body ways to stand.

Sara Lily, though, is an expert at doing that thing that I think I heard Tyra say once on ANTM — just tweak it. Pose, then move one hand, then the other, then look up, then look down, then move your foot, then your other one, quirk your fingers, tilt your head; tweak every bit of your pose so that instead of inventing an entirely different stance each time, you are essentially creating a slow dance that is fluid movement from one photo to the next.

Since its February 1st, I decided to go with a Valentine’s-day-esque theme for the next few posts. Because bloggers love a theme, right? I mean, it’s basically a waste to not dress in a theme when celebrating a holiday or going to Disney Land (and while I do giggle at the concept, I also mean that wholeheartedly. I am the person who made a Star Wars skirt specifically to wear to see The Force Awakens, so…), so I’m basically just going to wear pink and red for the next two weeks until you’re sick of seeing pinup Valentine looks.

This first outfit features one of my favorite dresses, which was part of one of my favorite outfits (here), and which made its way to a few of the Shaped by Style girls last year. I thought it was the perfect candidate to pair with this heart cardigan. I tried really, really  hard to separate it from the previously mentioned favorite styling, but… same tights, same shoes… oops.

This brooch  belonged to my grandma – she always wore it on her coat, and I don’t think I ever remember it not being pinned to her itchy woolen lapel. In fact, after she died, my dad brought me her coat and the brooch was still pinned to it. So, since the coat was not in my style in the least, I removed the pin and I hope to one day have a go-to coat that I can leave the brooch on in her memory.     

I have been trying to wear my hair down more lately – I realized that I have defaulted to what I like to call the “lazy retro mom” hairstyle. Headscarf, bun, and a victory roll or two. That way my  hair is done with minimal effort, but looks like I cared that day. Ha! So, I’m experimenting with hair-down styles that still feel pinup or retro. I’ve never really considered myself a pinup — I think pinup is a very “done” style and my style is usually… as easy as I can make it. But I love the aesthetic, and I feel myself moving more and more towards it all the time.

And with a headscarf, red lips, and a good hairstyle, it is much easier to morph into that style than I had imagined! I always think of pinup-style bloggers as spending hours on hair and makeup, but this entire look took me maybe 15 minutes. It’s something I should do a tutorial on, because I know I’m not the only one who loves the aesthetic but was intimidated by the perceived time it takes to get there!

Seriously, though, if you can do a good victory roll (easier than you think!) and a cat-eye (also easier with the right tools), you’re pretty much there.

I ended up really liking the way my hair looked down in the back with just one roll in the front, and for once I went with lipstick. Surprisingly, because I am really girly and I do love makeup, I hate wearing lipstick. It gets all over everything when you have two kids who smush their little fingers all over your lips and chin (usually unintentionally). And if I’m wearing lipstick my husband will not kiss me.

I know people who just wear it anyway, but guys… I like kisses. And also I don’t like keeping up the color. So if anyone has recommendations for drugstore lipsticks that stay on, don’t smudge, and can’t be smeared by little hands, please let me know!

Back to Sara Lily- when I was posing for my solo shots (yes, we did a photoshoot together! We’re fashion bloggers, it’s what you do!) she asked if I ever tried to do the Disney Princess pose, and… well, you’ll see my reaction to that question in a post later (it was not pretty), but I think I’ve perfected it. This is totally a Disney Princess pose. Heel popped, pinky raised, displaying my skirt. Which leads me to really, really want to do a pinup Disney outfits series.

I need to start a “blog this” list. Seriously.

Tights and earrings, Target | everything else, thrifted/vintage

I apologize for the rambling nature of this post; it’s one of those days! I’m off to clean my house, figure out what dinner will be, and start in on my February reading list. Don’t forget to suggest books if you have a novel I must read this year. (Here’s my reading list so far)

Happy Monday!

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