Thinking about sustainability always brings me back to my classic "remix" roots and sharing all the ways I've worn a piece. Clothes are meant to be worn and reworn! So in that vein, here's a few pieces I remixed recently, starting with my favorite red dress that I've had since 2011 and I'm still wearing today! It's simply a Zara dress (so not the most sustainable shop!), but it has stood the test of time in my wardrobe. I'm a sucker for a classic red dress and it doesn't get better than this one for me; crazy to think that 8 years after I first got it I'm still wearing it!   I bought this white dress last autumn with spring and summer in mind. I'm always looking for romantic white dresses to suit the type of nature photography I aspire to. This one looked like the perfect style, so even though it was the wrong season to wear it, I snapped it up and waited for the right weather and season to shoot! I actually got the first chance to wear it in November for an Outlander themed post. It was a dream to wear and shoot, so I'm considering getting it in other colors now. I'm excited to wear it on summer holidays and lazy weekends around the park, as well as for all of my pastoral inspired photoshoots. This dress comes in a few other colors than white and is still in stock (not something I can say with most remixed pieces!).  Every book lover needs her own book print dress! I picked this one up a few years ago and it's a favorite. I love this style of dress fitted on top with a full skirt and the fact it's sleeveless--it makes for a perfect layering piece. You can wear it alone in spring and summer, or layer blouses underneath for a more pulled together look. All the different colors in the print also allows you to mix up how you style it; I've worn it with warmer yellow layers, cooler greens, and even gone more neutral with tan and black accessories. For me this style dress is a wardrobe staple; I have several dresses (both printed and plain) in this exact silhouette and style that I wear all year round in a variety of ways. I got this suspender skirt a few years ago and wore it so much that I actually got a bit tired of it! I didn't wear it much last year as a result, but took it back out this year and have been enjoying it all over again. This is part of the reason I like to store some of my wardrobe out of the way in the attic for a few months or even a year with certain pieces. It makes things feel brand new when you pull them out after not having seen them or worn them for awhile. This skirt itself also lends to many wears since it pairs well with so many tops, but also the skirt can be converted to different styles as well since the straps are completely removable. It's another thing I try to look for when shopping for new pieces--how many ways can I wear this?   
Here's another dress I bought in the autumn with spring in mind. It snuck it's way out of my closet a few times over autumn, but now that it's spring expect to see it a lot more! It's a bit of a dream dress for me; I'm in love with the full sleeves, romantic lace details, and the skirt is so light and swishy it's a dream to move around in. Like my longer white dress above, this one also comes in multiple colors and I'm so in love with this style I'm tempted to buy a another versions of it. When something works I'm always tempted to snap up multiples before it's gone from the stores forever.

The Mummy is a loose remake of the film by the same moniker from 1932, so this film also takes its inspiration from that era in terms of style and costuming. However, it’s not about silken 1930s glamour; Evie’s outfits are practical and smart. Most notably though, Evie’s wardrobe features a number of masculine inspired elements—in fact in the first few scenes her outfits mirror her brother's almost perfectly. Matching striped tops, khaki bottoms, dark tie, and spectator shoes? Check. Just look at how identical they are! Given the fact that Evie is one of the only female characters in the movie (she is the only woman in the film who speaks) and perhaps the "world" of archaeology she is trying to edge into, her masculine-inspired wardrobe is no surprise. She is a woman in a man’s world. Indeed other characters even note “They are led by a woman. What does a woman know?” Fortunately, while Evie might be used to this nonsense, she isn’t overly affected by it. Evie knows her worth and knows she just how much more she knows about history and Egyptology than the rest of them combined. She might want to be taken seriously by the boys and blend in, but she's still very a strong, opinionated lady ready to march into a prison and save a man!


When we start the film Evie is a decidedly uptight librarian. Her brother quips that he’s a missionary and Evie isn’t far from looking the part (think Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen), but as the film progresses and Evie embraces the adventure and her feelings for a certain uncouth American, her style loosens up as well. It also gets darker, literally. In the first half of the film all of her outfits are composed of white and tan layers, even down to her feminine nightgown she is wearing when unceremoniously thrown into the river in the middle of the night. All of her clothes are literally lost as the ship burns and sinks, so Evie buys or borrows a dress from Bedouin women. As she first emerges from their tents in a little sheer veil and dark dress the transformation is startling. In a sea of sandy beige, she's a sudden explanation point of black. As Evie embraces this outfit though we find her more assertive than ever. She's not trying to be part of the boy's club anymore, she's a woman and she's in charge of this expedition. In a moment we'll see how even after she comes back home, she brings some of this style back with her...
When they return to the city and O’Connell is trying to convince her to run away, Evie has access to her own closet again, but her style has changed. Before her clothes were always fully buttoned and layered with multiple elements—a masculine tie, a belted jacket, etc. In the Giza port scene she and her brother’s outfits are nearly interchangeable, but now she’s wearing a new dark coat on top of her neutrals (before the trip she never wore anything so boldly dark or declarative). Now her blouse is barely buttoned and her layers are minimal (side note: I'm also convinced she is literally wearing one of O'Connell's shirts in the scene where he's trying to make her pack). She’s let down her shields and is a changed woman. Even her nightgown has gone from innocent and white to darkly sultry while mirroring the first nightgown. Both are gently v-necked with pleated detailing on the bodice and trimmed in lace; she's embraced her "dark" side but unlike the borrowed Bedouin clothes, this is Evie. What’s so great is we see she has returned to the elements she wore in the beginning, men’s shirts, khaki skirts, lace-trimmed nightgowns, but she has relaxed (no mistaking her for a missionary now) and embraced her femininity and isn't afraid of getting attention. In this style evolution we can see her growth, but also the fact that she’s never going to stop being that librarian-weirdo-historian that we fell in love with at the start. She’s more outgoing and confident, but all those bookish elements that made her so charming and unique, aren’t going anywhere. And there's no mistaking her as her brother now!
I'd add that when channeling Evie's style, we don't need to get caught up in cosplay. Instead, I would take elements of her style and interpret it in my own way. My inspiration would come more from her penchant for white blouses with tan separates, round glasses, retro heels, and a stylish hat! 

These little white buds are some of the first blossoms of spring. We spied them in the hedgerows between fields in February and slowly watched them spread to the nearby parks. Watching spring coming into blossom always feels me with such optimism; you can feel the days getting longer and brighter. Sometimes this is a false optimism. An optimism that convinces me I can wear a little sundress out in the middle of March with bare legs and be alright, despite the looming clouds or threats of strong winds. So after this day of mixed weather and brisk temperatures I have to say only my toes tucked up in cozy socks in these boots were warm! Rather glad I've hung on to these boots (and not just for their coziness). I got them a few years ago but never wore them much as in autumn I crave warmer colors and usually when spring rolls around I just want to retire my boots for ballet flats. But this year I've worn them loads; they're a perfect balance with breezy minis and are almost exactly the same shade as the grass. The most practical part of my wardrobe of late as I stomp through some muddy fields in search of every spring bloom! It's moments like these when I think spring is actually my favorite season. After a dark and cold season when the world looked a bit grey and dead, it's so nice to feel as if life is breathing into the woods and fields again. There are spring lambs leaping through the fields, new buds forming in spindly branches, and every extra minute on sunlight speaks to the warmer months ahead. How can you not welcome this season with open arms? 

I have an overly sentimental attachment to clothes. It means when I'm doing my spring cleaning and come across as quirky print dress from 2013 that I haven't worn in years but is the sweetest style and made by someone I would call "friend" I can't justify getting rid of it. (It's by Family Affairs and while some of her older styles are still in stock, this one is gone.) Of course, spring cleaning is all about the getting rid part. I can't continue to acquire and acquire all these sentimental bits of fabric until I'm literally drowning in dresses! Still, this is one I'm not quite ready to let go of yet. So when I was working on recent Instagram campaign about keeping clothes out of the bin, I decided to do a quick remix with this one. It's startling to me how many clothes do end up in the bin each year--the statistics are staggering and honestly it's the last place your old clothes should go. Maybe that means taking a fresh look at that dusty frock shoved into the back of your closet and find new inspiration to style it up again, or if it truly has to go, thinking about where it's going to go. You can swap with friends, donate to a charity shop, or even find your local garment recycling center if it's too ripped/worn/stained to be desired by anyone anymore! 

It's not officially spring until the end of March, but similar to how it looks and feels like fall long before the "official" start date, I've been finding glimpses of spring all around the countryside. One of the things I really like about this region is how many phases of the seasons there are. We are teased by glimpses of snowdrops and crocuses before the daffodils burst into life. It's still a few weeks before the woods start to turn green and bluebells carpet the ground, but each teasing blossom gives you hope that spring is around the corner--even when the weather is as sporadic and unpredictable as it has been. March has definitely entered as a lion and we've yet to know if it will exit as the proverbial lamb. My optimistic is blooming with the flowers though. I've brought out my favorite spring and summer accessories and dresses. My straw hats and woven bags are back, along with a variety of pastel dresses that haven't seen the light of day for months. It might be a bit early for them, but a late sprinkling of snow from last weekend is not destroying my optimism or the hearty daffodils raising their heads in my garden.