Color Rotation - Red, round 2, with a twist

Tee: J Crew
Scarf: J Crew
Skirt: Gap
Shoes: Crocs
Earrings: Turkey

The second time around the rotation, I got braver and wore a red skirt. If I do a third round, I'll go for a red top. Baby steps.


Anyway, I've been thinking a lot recently about the way women who care about fashion and style are perceived and how that intersects with what I've learned from other feminists (our topic this week for FFB). Sometimes I get a lot of flak from people for caring about how I look, as if somehow that makes me weak or shallow or insecure.


Except that that's not why I care. That's not why I get annoyed when people make comments about my interest in clothes and style. I get annoyed because the assumption that a smart woman shouldn't care about clothes, that clothes are nothing more than frivolous vanity, that caring about appearances is shallow is (a) not true, (b) misinformed, and (c) shallow. Yeah, I said it. Judging based on nothing but outside appearances is shallow, the end.
Well, that, and that writing off what's traditionally feminine as frivolous is antifeminist in my book.


I don't know if my mom would call herself a feminist, and I'm almost sure that my dad would have a hard time labeling himself as one, but as I look back on my upbringing, I see the feminist tendencies. I distinctly remember my mom telling me that blue was NOT for boys and pink was NOT for girls when I was setting up my Barbie and the Rockers band - an earth-shattering revelation for a five year old. I remember my dad playing Barbies with me when he got home from work so my mom could breathe without small children underfoot. I also remember the way he took me out on long bike rides and trips to the park to fly kites or play ball.


I was encouraged to develop diverse interests, and I think that spurred me to buck stereotypes as often as possible. So here I am, a twenty-eight year old Christian Latina. I like clothes, hunting for bargains, wearing heels, dancing, music of all kinds, boxing, Glee, stupid funny movies, Latin American history, baseball, languages, my hips, going to church, cooking, soccer, serving, reading, shoes, travel, and challenges. You know, among other things.


Because if there's one thing my parents taught me that has influenced my particular brand of feminism is that women (and men) are made stronger by diverse interests. And this is me, confident in my brain, my body, my heart, and my faith. And that's why I will talk style in one minute and immigration policy in the next. Because that's how I roll.

And I'm infinitely thankful that I have parents who've encouraged that. Son los mejores padres del mundo.

Color Rotation - Pattern

Skirt: Kohl's
Top: Target
Shoes: Steve Madden
Earrings: Turkey

Like I said, I skipped purple for the rotation, and will pick it up over the weekend, so instead of purple, here's my pattern.


I felt a little weird in this outfit; it's not something I would've put together on my own. I told B I didn't feel like getting dressed and asked him to pick something out for me. First he picked out a sweater dress on a day when it was actually warm. This was his second attempt.


I probably wouldn't've paired such a blousy top with this full skirt, but I got lots of compliments on the look. It's very ladylike and romantic.


I tried to echo that vibe in my earrings and hair. Less ladylike than pearls, but more me. Also ladylike? Climbing the fence in this outfit. I can. not. figure out the lock on our front gate, and B wasn't around to unlock it for me, so I just threw my purse over the fence and climbed over. Like I said, ladylike.

Color Rotation - Yellow

Tee: Gap
Skirt: Target
Belt: Target
Scarf: Target
Shoes: Crocs
Earrings: Turkey

I'm still doing the color rotation, but I'm having a little trouble with purple, so I think I might restart the rotation and work in some purple over the weekend. I have no school appropriate purple items - they're all super casual and tattoo exposing. Anyway, this is yellow.


I had a massive headache this day - last Friday - and all my pictures are weird.


Anyway, I don't have a whole lot to say about this look. I like it fine, and I think it works. It was an appropriate look for a day when I had to walk a little over a mile - half downhill, half up - to and from work.


See this? Fake smile through a migraine.

Color Rotation - Blue

Dress: swapped
Bolero: Ann Taylor
Belt: Banana Republic
Booties: Aldo
Earrings: gift from sister-in-law

Another day of the color rotation, and what might be my favorite outfit of the month. Clearly, this is me rocking the blue.


I might have been a touch overdressed for teaching and cooking, but I felt amazing in this little dress. There's something about its floatiness that I love, and I think I am obsessed with these shoes. Ob. Sessed.


I was initially ambivalent about the blue-on-blue pairing, but then I was like, let me just embrace all that blue - and the mismatched shades. B was not as big a fan, but I kind of loved it. Besides, this dress is sleeveless, and it was chilly.


See how floaty and spinny the dress is? Love it. Also, those mountains in the background? That's actually Volcán Poás, the second largest crater in the world. And this is behind my house. In fact, that's the view I have from my bedroom window. I wake up to see the view of a misty volcano.


Be jealous.

Angry Eyes and Color Rotation - Green

Cardigan: Apt 9 via Kohl's
Tee: Gap
Skirt: Ann Taylor
Belt: Ann Taylor
Tights: Simply Vera via Kohl's
Booties: Aldo
Earrings: Target
Scarf: Turkey

I'm doing my color rotation all out of order, y'all. Also, this is my angry face.


Sometimes communication just doesn't work out well, and that's what happened on Wednesday. And then I got annoyed because I didn't know where I needed to be and what I needed to do. The pictures are funny because you can see me venting to B as he took my pics.



See? Hilarious. At least it is after the fact. At the time, not so funny.


Also, can you see how my clothes don't fit me? So sad, y'all.

Color Rotation - Red

Scarf: gift from Morocco
Tee: Target
Cardigan: Ann Taylor
Skirt: Gap
Belt: came with a jacket
Booties: Aldo
Earrings: Turkey

This is me totally slacking on red for the color rotation. Like I said, red is scary for me. It's bright, it's attention grabbing. Those are two scary things for me. I mitigated the fear of red by opting for this almost ruby colored scarf.


All my planned outfits have been ruined by weather. It's been like walking out into a cloud most mornings - cold and wet. That's why I keep reaching for dark colors.


I shivered all through school. SHIVERED! And my students were all like, "Miss, no one here wears skirts because it's so cold." Which is not exactly true, but I understood where they were coming from. I just really don't like wearing pants.


Shivering it is.

Color Rotation - Orange

Dress: H&M
Sandals: Target
Cami: Petite Sophisticate
Sunnies: Puerto Rico
Earrings: Turkey
Ring: swap
Bracelets: gifts
Purse: Nine West

So much color! I find red terrifying, so I skipped it and instead went with orange. Red-orange. For some reason, this color doesn't scare me at all. And yes, I realize that's weird.


Anyway, this was last Saturday, when we left the cold mountains behind and went to the city to get stuff we needed for the house (electric showers!) and to take some time off. B and I watched I am Number Four which we'd heard pretty much nothing about before buying our tickets.


Also, this dress is super old. I found that I brought a lot of really old clothes with me. I guess they're well loved; I also guess that I don't shop nearly as much as I used to think I did.


And on a completely unrelated note, we went to the fancy supermarket to see if I could find contact solution. Contact solution was unavailable, but I did find this product. Can I just say that I hate the first word of that product? It's so icky.


But check out the UPC! Ha!

The Money Pit & Color Rotation - Pink

I'm participating in the Color Rotation started by Colleen over at Scrap and Run. Of course, given our current Internet woes, I'm super late in starting. Anyway, I'm starting with pink.


Shirt: Gap
Jeans: Old Navy
Belt: Target
Shoes: Target
Scarf: Vintage, thrifted
Earrings: Turkey

I don't own a whole lot of pink, clearly, since this outfit has just tiny touches of pink in it. My students told me I looked like "una vaquera elegante" - an elegant cowgirl. And I kind of like that.


Can we talk about these jeans? I don't know why I brought them here, but I did. They've belonged to all the women in my family at some point: my sister, my mom, me. They're at least five years old, possibly older, but they do have the right rise for tucking in. Also, can I just gripe that I'm not even 5'3" and these jeans are just a touch too short. What is that about?!


And I love this vintage scarf. Love it. I can't find enough ways to wear it because it's slippery and small and square, but I do try to work it in whenever I can.


Also, that's our new house. I've taken to calling it "the money pit", at least, that's what I call it in my head. We're living here rent free (in exchange for fixing it up), and using it for a "teacher/intern house". Right now, there are three of us living there; this summer there will be six. It's a family's vacation home, but they haven't used it in the two years since the earthquake.


It's a beautiful place, with a volcano view and cows next door, but I won't lie: earthquake damage is a sneaky little thing. There are the obvious fixes: broken windows, cracked walls, cracked floors. Then there are the sneaky things: a leaking toilet, the tub that no longer drains because everything shifted, electrical issues, the sink that didn't work, the fact that the bathroom smells a bit like a sewage treatment facility....


Even so, things are coming along and it feels so good - SO GOOD! - to finally unpack completely. Y'all should visit. Bring a volunteer plumber and I'll feed you for free.