Lately

This first week of summer has been all about staying outside to soak up Athens. Whether it's meant playing tourist around campus, catching a few acts at a music festival or walking around the farmer's market, my time has been spent hanging out with friends and trying to reach the elusive goal of sampling every locally-made popsicle flavor in the county. One key lime version down, many more to go!

All laced up

There is something sweet but defiant about wearing lace in the summertime. It's basically saying, "I may be sweating in this heat, but I'll look dolled up when I'm doing it."

credits - dress: the webster for target | sweater: ruche | sandals: miss trish of capri for target | necklace: gift.

Lace is a fabric I wear throughout the year -- here are some of my favorite lace pieces: 

Thoughts from the Sidewalk

from "Sunrise" by Norah Jones. A song that's often on my mind when I'm taking photos in the morning.

Just passing through

Sometimes when summer's lost its novelty, I like playing tourist in my town. It basically means I wander past my familiar haunts and take my camera to places I haven't visited before or in a while. I spent some time on north campus earlier this week and thought I looked appropriately dressed for an afternoon of picture-taking. Somewhere in our family albums, there are photos of me dressed in the same uniform during trips around the country. Except in this case, I'm traveling to old buildings that have personal history around them too, since I've been in school here for so long.

The first photo was just a fun experiment in Photoshop layering -- I like how it turned out. I really am haunting the old haunts ... or something to that effect!

credits - lace blouse: vintage, from agora (athens, ga) | shorts: walmart | bag: fossil, thrifted |  shoes: born crown| watch: c/o the trendy boutique.

The past reaches out and extends its hand

Just experimenting with layers (in nail polish and Photoshop). The color on my nails is Sally Hansen Sonic Bloom. Remember my couch cushion from this post? It's been serving as a pretty nice photo backdrop!

Prep schooled

Growing up, I had to wear a uniform for middle and high school chorus performances. Though a lot of my classmates hated the tucked-in shirts with peter pan collars, cross-ties and pleated skirts, I secretly loved it all (perhaps it was a nod to my newfound love for Britney Spears?). Either way, this is my adult version of that long-gone uniform. I've worn the bowtie as a brooch before, and I like it with the argyle print here.

credits - dress (as skirt): elie tahari, handmedown | argyle vest: arizona jeans co, thrifted | bowtie: vintage, from minx | shoes: born crown.

This pleated Elie Tahari dress was a secondhand item from Jeremiah's aunt. Here are some ways I've worn it before: 

Happy summer

I may or may not have worn this dress like three times over the weekend. It's simple and perfect for 90-degree heat, and transitions well from studying to dinners to movies. 

Jeremiah took these photos while we were in downtown Athens. He's been holed up inside for most of the month working on his master's thesis, and I feel like these photos perfectly capture my joy of getting out and spending time downtown with him!

credits - dress: ruche | shoes: naturalizers | ring: family heirloom, gift.

Lately

Springing evergreen

Because I've been working from home this month, it's been really tempting the last few days just to stay inside, sleep in my pajamas and rewatch all of "Breaking Bad" before season five premieres in a few weeks. 

I must have been subconsciously thinking about Walter White when I put this outfit on, because I match the  "Breaking Bad" series poster! I've always loved how that show mixes in greens, yellows and browns to show  character development in costume design. 

I've been trying to rewear some older items in my closet recently. This J.Crew dress has been a remix master in my wardrobe for several years now. When I originally bought it, I had no idea how to wear paisley or mix prints. Now I can't stop wearing it.

credits - dress: j.crew (2009) | vest: old navy | shoes: montego bay, handmedowns | frog belt: vintage, won from a giveaway | sunglasses: forever 21.

Here are just some of the many ways I've worn that J. Crew dress:

Shabby Apple giveaway winner

The winner of the Shabby Apple gift card giveaway is ...

Congrats,  Leah!

Didn't win the giveaway? Sidewalk Chic readers can save 10% on any purchase by using the code "sidewalkchic10off" (Ends 7/1).

Second life

So this is what an entirely secondhand outfit looks like. At the end of every school semester, I tend to splurge on myself for finishing another round of classes by buying things I've had my eye on for awhile (a dress here, a purse there). Since there will be four semesters for me this year instead of the usual two, the shopping never really stopped after May. I've gotten into a bad habit of only wearing new things, so I thought I start re-wearing items in my closet that have been neglected because they've lost their new-to-me luster. This entire outfit cost about $12, as all the items are either vintage or thrifted. I like thinking about who owned them before me, and how the items are getting second (or third or fourth) lives with me...

How was your weekend? Jeremiah and I spent some time visiting family for Father's Day. Highlights include lunch with my family, seeing "Prometheus" at a dinner-movie theater and perusing the racks at Forever 21 (there isn't a store in Athens). 

credits - dress: vintage, donna ricco, thrifted | shoes: ipanema, thrifted | bowtie: vintage, from agora.

This dress has been a closet staple since I found it two years ago. See all the ways I've worn it:

From lemons to lemonade

I'm usually a purist when it comes to post-processing -- I normally do very minimal edits to my photos, as I feel that all the heavy-lifting should be done when I'm on location with attention to lighting, focus and composition. My philosophy is that great photography can be accomplished without fancy cameras or editing software, and I work really hard toward that goal (hence the hundreds of photos I take every week for outfits and landscapes).

However, I've recently loosened up a bit, and have cast a second look on some of my old work, especially photos that I normally would discard. In an attempt to better sort out my online photography account, I went through some recent photos that didn't make the original cut in my photography posts and reworked them by tinkering in Photoshop and Pixlr. The umbrella ones are my favorites, as that was a really fun shoot and I'm glad I was able to rework some of the leftover shots. 

Vintage field trip

Here are some photos from last week's flea market trip that yielded the costume design book I found.

I went with some grad school friends, and it was great showing them some of the "landmarks" I pass every time I visit this vintage market. Special finds this week? Vintage ads and an Olympia typewriter ...