Clothes definitely add a certain "mood" to my day. Put me in a trench coat and beret and I'll be feeling mysterious like a spy for most of the day. Try on a tulle skirt and flats and I'll probably be reliving my childhood ballet fantasies. Given the opportunity I will dress for the occasion; nautical clothes to go by the seaside, dramatic long dresses when exploring ancient stone circles, etc. A woman in the right clothes is prepared for anything. This however was not the case when Thomas and I went to the movies last night (half price Tuesdays woo-hoo!) and on the way he decided to stop and get a milkshake from his favorite shop. Since movie theaters usually frown on you bringing your own food inside he asked me to smuggle his milkshake inside in my purse...My new, perfectly round circle purse from Bell&Fox. This is not the purse you carry when you plan on smuggling a milkshake into a movie theater! My novelty popcorn purse would have been perfect--on theme for the location and a flat bottom and firm sides that would prevent any milkshake spilling. But a circle purse? Totally impractical for a milkshake and not within theme at all. Still, I reluctantly agreed to attempt to carry the contraband, using the contents of my purse to try to build a base around the milkshake and worrying the whole time we stood in line that my purse was being ruined and a tell-tale leak of strawberry milkshake would soon betray us. We did manage to pull of the con, purse and milkshake unscathed!
P.S. Get 20% off any Bell&Fox purse that catches your fancy with code "aclotheshorse20" milkshakes, thankfully, not included.

I might run a fashion blog and be rather familiar with regular picture-taking, but I still find myself quite intimidated by the odd garment or two. You see, I'm quite the opposite of everything I picture a model to be and at 5'1" I think many styles are beyond my scope. Some of those dramatic bell sleeves that are popular right now? I think they dwarf my frame. Ditto on so-called mom jeans or really most of the recent denim trends--although I did give Thomas laugh when I tried on a regrettable pair of "girlfriend fit" Levis. So when this dress arrived in the mail with tier upon tier of bright yellow gingham ruffles I wasn't sure I was ever going to wear it out of the house! In some ways it's a combination of a lot of things I can't get enough of--yellow! gingham! romantic ruffles! But maybe too much of a good thing, like trying to eat three desserts at once. But I persevered to at least give it a solid go. Nothing like some can-do spirit in the wardrobe department. I cinched on my thickest belt, threw on my beaten-up flats and headed out into the sunshine. As I was setting up my tripod to snap these pictures the loveliest older lady walked by and complimented me on my outfit. She said I looked so lovely someone, "should be taking pictures of you!" I didn't tell her I was about to take pictures of myself, since that's a bit difficult to explain to the non-blog indoctrinated, but it was just the compliment I needed to slip into my faux-modeling mindset and start snapping away. I think I will be wearing this dress out of the house again...

Did I ever mention how summer clothes are my favorite? I don't really look forward to throwing on a swimsuit, but simple little dresses in happy colors? Those are my jam! I think it's freeing to dress so simple as well, lets you focus on other things. So I basically ironed this buttercup dress from Margu the second it arrived in the mail and threw it on to go enjoy our oft-fleeting sunshine. I love the classic design of this dress and the fit is a dream--I want one in every color (and it does come in two other colors) and it feels good to be wearing something handmade with sustainable materials. Margu is feminine, slight retro, with an emphasis on ethical production from organic cotton to thoughtfully sourced notions. To me it's the sort of dress that becomes a vintage dress one day; it's how I imagine a lot of my favorite vintage dresses began. Well made and classic in design it seems like something that would last generations and make me merely the first wearer of this dress on its journey. It's so interesting when you go vintage shopping and you wonder who owned something before you and where they wore it; I love shops that actually know the stories of their garments and pin little pictures and stories to their tags. It would be wonderful if a modern dress like this can become part of that legacy; it probably won't happen with most high-street pieces you purchased, but an independently designed dress might just be something that can be passed through generations and worn for years and years to come.
P.S. The buttercup version of this dress is sold out, but you can still get this classic dress in cream or navy check.

I've been working on a little freelance project on the side that has me thinking of the colors and mood of each month. In my mind May is a softer green with loads of pink highlights (think apple blossoms) and bright glowing evenings. It's easing us into summer when the sun doesn't set until 10PM and you want every meal to be a picnic.

Confession: I don't really like eating watermelons. I love fruit. Some of my fondest memories of childhood are of picking giant cartons of strawberries in the hot North Carolina sun and then feasting on the literal fruits of our labor for weeks. Some summers it felt like we had strawberries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, eating as many as we could and then begging to go picking again when my mother turned the remaining fruits into jam which we would often give to our new school teachers at the start of school, truly signifying the end of summer. All I have to do is think about peaches and my mouth starts to water although I haven't had a truly good peach since I moved to Ireland. But Ireland has also introduced me to fresh-picked plums from the family farm in early autumn; a new fruit addiction that I now anticipate months in advance...I could go on about all the fruits I adore and a few of the memories tied to them (pineapples in Hawaii...) but watermelon...not so much. It's ironic though since watermelon is probably the most popular fruit in my closet! I have a little watermelon print dress so short I can only wear on the hottest days of summer, a watermelon skirt from last spring I'm already planning new outfits around for this year, and my favorite watermelon cooler bag that would be perfect for a picnic, but I tend to carry whenever I need a slightly bigger bag and stuff it full of books. My latest addition to the watermelon collection? This lovely dress by Samantha Pleet with delicate little watermelon embroidered pockets. I loved the shade green of the dress and the classic shape, the watermelon pockets were the cherry (?) on top! Do you have any themed clothing items you end up accidentally collecting even though you don't really like the theme/item that much?