30 Day Challenges,  Fashion

The Second Best Thing

The Second Best Thing | www.eccentricowl.comDressember DaysThe Second Best Thing | www.eccentricowl.com Since we’re starting our anniversary celebration today, I sent my husband a text asking what his favorite thing was for me to wear, since I feel most attractive when I know he thinks I look good. He texted back two answers.

This dress was his second one. His first answer was uh… not appropriate for public. We’ll leave it at that. Haha! The Second Best Thing | www.eccentricowl.com He’s actually not super fond of this coat; it reminds him of the Matrix, since it’s leather, and he isn’t too sure about the color even though he has a coat in the exact same shade. Maybe it’s too much like his and he thinks it looks too masculine… which… I disagree with. The lapel and the cut are uber feminine, in my opinion, and it being leather just gives it the perfect amount of edge.The Second Best Thing | www.eccentricowl.com The Second Best Thing | www.eccentricowl.com This dress, though! I love this dress. I haven’t worn it in quite a while because the seams were coming apart, which is an easy enough fix… but… as I’ve mentioned before, I’m pretty slow at getting my piles mended. I knew I needed to sew it up for Dressember, though, and once I did I wondered why I hadn’t gotten to it sooner! It seriously took me less than five minutes to fix the popped seams. The Second Best Thing | www.eccentricowl.com   This dress was made to move. I meant to fix it when it was full-blown fall out, but uh… better late than never?

I’ve just realized as I have been sitting here for the last five minutes staring blankly at my computer that having a blog with pictures that focus on fashion makes it really hard to talk about anything else. I had a million thoughts and ideas rushing through my head as I got dressed, but once I was done with pictures none of them really fit.

The Second Best Thing | www.eccentricowl.comThe Second Best Thing | www.eccentricowl.comThe Second Best Thing | www.eccentricowl.com I think that’s a big thing with me: the pictures and the text have to go together. That’s why even when I write up a long post about something non-fashion related that I love, I don’t always publish it. I don’t write about motherhood a lot because I like my posts to be image-based and… then it makes it harder for me to switch over to things other than what I’m wearing.

I’m going to try hard to break that trend, because I don’t think a blogger should be trapped in fashion-speak just because that’s what’s in their pictures. There is so much more in my head that I want to combine with these pictures, I just have to find a way in my match-obsessed head to meld real-life talk with the frivolity of what I’m wearing that day.The Second Best Thing | www.eccentricowl.com The Second Best Thing | www.eccentricowl.com If you’re a style blogger, how do you deal with this? Do you feel the urge to write about what you’ve taken pictures of, or to at least match the mood of your outfit to what you write? Or do you throw cohesive image-to-text posts to the wind and just write whatever the heck you want with what you post?

I don’t really want to have text-only posts, because while I value those posts on other blogs, it’s just not me or my blog. I’ve tried, and they just don’t feel like me any more. The Second Best Thing | www.eccentricowl.com

Belt and vintage coat, slip, and dress, thrifted | Shoes, Modcloth | glasses c/o Firmoo

I’m trying to write down ideas when I get them, and I think my challenge this month (to add to Dressember and wearing more patterns mixed) will be to write about at least one more serious subject a week. Some of them might be fashion related, some will be about motherhood, some… who knows. I’m constantly striving to make sure that I share the real me on the blog, and I don’t want laziness to steal that away!

I hope you have all had a good week! Today, Asa finally got back to his normal good-baby routine of actually going to sleep when I put him down for naps, and I’m hoping he’s good for his grandma tonight! It’s been such a relief after the entire week of fighting him to get him to nap. I am so looking forward to spending some actual alone time with my husband today! If I don’t get around to posting the weekend’s dresses here on the blog, check Instagram or Facebook; I’ll be sure to post a shot there.

And if you wouldn’t mind, please continue to vote for me in the Firmoo blogger contest! You can vote once a day! I’m sure I won’t win, as there are so many fabulous women to vote for, but it’s worth a shot!

Happy Friday!

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7 Comments

  • skye

    This coat and dress were absolutely made to go together. Love the combination – even more so because it was thrifted! Is it weird that I automatically appreciate something so much more knowing it was a random thrift-shop find?

    As for discussing fashion-unrelated topics, that’s something I’ve also been trying to figure out lately. I don’t want my posts to seem disjointed, but I also want to be more than a pretty face. Some shoots speak for themselves, particularly my more artistic ones, but some don’t. My favorite fashion blogs tend to be the ones that merge words and pictures seamlessly. I haven’t quite cracked the magic formula yet, but I’d like to. I’m going to start posting outfits inspired by short stories I’ve written, and I’ll see where that takes me.

  • Salazar

    I have to disagree with Mr. Owl about the coat too – it’s gorgeous! And hey, what’s wrong with things that look like they come out of The Matrix? Besides, the color almost matches your hair exactly, which is awesome.

  • Grace

    I never mind when you don’t have a specific topic to write about. What you do write even if it’s fairly mundane and ordinary, is engaging and enjoyable to read. It always feels like I’m checking up on a friend when I read it. You’re the only fashion blog I follow and I am certainly not a fashionista (even though I wish I were a little bit) so I think that says a whole lot about how much I enjoy your style of writing. Keep up the good work and keep your chin up about Asa babies go through stages it could all change tomorrow but each day is a blessing. Happy anniversary and the coat is lovely.

    Grace e

  • Jamie Rose

    This dress is so girly and cute. If I think “floral dress” I think of something like this. It’s very classic! I love the leather jacket paired with it. It’s kind of unexpected and very cool. I definitely don’t think it’s a masculine jacket and that reddish color is great.

    Jamie | http://www.petitepanoply.com

  • Heather Gwinn

    I love a blog that has photos. I suppose I’m a visual person, but that being said you don’t have to feel that your topics have to be about clothing or fashion entirely. Don’t get me wrong, I love fashion and I never tire of outfit posts, but I like to read about all sorts of random things, family life, passing thoughts, what’s new, even if it’s as trivial as getting a new throw blanket for your couch. But maybe I say that cause I mention things like that on my blog. I love to know that there is a mundane side to peoples lives. It makes them seem more real.

    I got a chuckle out of you mentioning your husband and his two ideas of his favorite outfits for you. My husband would have given an answer exactly like that. LOL!

    I also love that you manage to post daily. I desperately need to make a stronger habit of doing the same. How you manage to do that is mind blowing! I’ve been up to my elbows in house cleaning, errands, apts, and laundry. Wish we lived closer then maybe we could team up and I’d post more often.

    Anyhoo, always a treat reading your posts.

    Take Care,
    ♥ Heather
    http://www.thearbitraryfox.com