Winter 2016 Outfit Post Featuring Sweater Dress & Plaid Pinafore

Hello readers!

I'm sorry for my belated outfit post of the week. This week, I'm featuring two pieces:

1. A sweater dress I bought a few years ago on Modcloth:

I'm sorry about the crappy image quality, but I hope you can admire how cute it is. This unfortunately wasn't in Modcloth's Made in the U.S.A. section, which includes pieces that were ethically produced, and when I contacted the brand about how they produced they're clothes, they never replied, so I'm unsure of whether or not it's been ethically produced. However, I kept it because I really love it, and it's actually quite warm and comfy.

Here are three outfits featuring this dress:

Outfit #1:

Outfit #2:

Outfit #3:

2. The other piece I'm featuring is this cute plaid wool pinafore that was handmade:

I bought it from the Etsy Shop LoveToLoveYou, which sells handmade pieces that include a lot of recycled fabrics. The seller was very sweet and talented. This pinafore was very well-made. Also, she let it in and put in pockets at my request. I hope you check her stuff out!

And the three outfits featuring this pinafore are below:

Outfit #1:

Outfit #2:

Outfit #3:

I hope you liked the outfits I posted, and look forward to my next post!

Best wishes,

A Metal Pansy

Featured Brand: Book of Deer (A Winter 2016 Outfit Post)

Hello readers!

Today I wanted to present to you one of my favorite brands: Book of Deer. The creator and designer, Eilidh Ho, draws prints by hand, and then has them made into fabrics and clothes at a factory she stays in close contact with. She often visits the factory in person to ensure that the workers are treated fairly and paid well. Her clothes are very whimsical and unique, and more than anything, Eilidh is very personal with her customers, and often thanked me with hand-written notes. She seems like a very sweet person, in addition to being brilliant and creative, so I hope that you support her by looking at her pieces. She makes two collections a year: a spring/summer collection, and an autumn/winter collection. Though her pieces are quite expensive, they're excellent quality, and if her clothes are outside your budget, she often has sales after her collection has been out for awhile, so they can be very affordable.

Here are three pieces from her previous autumn/winter collections that I love wearing, with three outfits I put together for each piece:

1. What I like to call the Snow Fairy Dress (from her A/W 2014 collection):

I adore the bow and the depiction of a snowy forest in the fabric's print, which is why I lovingly refer to this as my Snow Fairy Dress.

Outfit #1: I really like the juxtaposition of brown and blue, an I liked how this hat looked with the dress. Also, the last full-body picture shows you how my favorite winter coat looks on me.

Outfit #2: As you can probably tell, I've developed a habit of attaching brooches to my simple cardigans to spice things up, and I think it worked nicely in this case. Accessories can make a big difference in an outfit.

Outfit #3: I loved how this outfit turned out because of the I think this cardigan and dress were a match made in heaven! Maybe it's too matchy-matchy, but it made me happy since I felt even more like a snow fairy than I usually do when I wear this dress.

2. Here's a beautiful dress depicting the Aurora Borealis (from her A/W 2015 collection):

I appreciate the beautiful colors of this dress, and I thought Eilidh was very creative in making a beautiful print of the Aurora Borealis, which I've never been able to see in person, but hope to someday.

Outfit #1: I tried wearing this dress without a belt, and it's incredibly comfortable styled that way. After wearing this outfit for a day, I realized that I when I wear my purple winter coat, I don't necessarily need to follow my three-layer outfit formula to stay warm, providing that the temperature is high enough (for about a 20-30 F day, just the coat is enough). When I'm indoors, I like to wear my bigger scarves as a shawl, and it works nicely.

Outfit #2: I tried wearing this dress with a belt, and I liked how it came together. I ditched the grey cardigan in the middle of the day, though, since I wrote above, I realized overtime that the purple coat is warm enough to wear on it's own on the warmer winter days.

Outfit #3: I really wish I had the time to take pictures to show how this outfit looks like from the back, since I really like wearing the belt this way. It keeps the back part of my outfits interesting, too, I think. I think this outfit includes one of my most favorite ways of styling this dress, since I like the metallic accessories against the colorful backdrop of this dress.

3. And last but not least, a blouse depicting an adorable town in Iceland (from her A/W 2015 collection):

From the puffins embroidered on the pale pink bow, to the incredibly detailed fabric, this blouse is a work of art!

Outfit #1: I thought it was about time I featured an outfit with pants on this blog, and here it is! I apologize for the strange angle in the full-body pictures. 

Outfit #2: I know I already styled this blouse with the cardigan in the previous outfit, but I adore how the pale pink of the cardigan matches the bow on the blouse, and I think they look wonderful together. I wore different bottoms, though. This outfit is probably my favorite of the three featuring this blouse, and I wore it on my first day of classes this semester.

Outfit #3: Here's another outfit featuring pants, except I tried tucking the blouse in and using a belt this time. It's interesting to see how outfits can change simply by tucking in a shirt.

So here are my three pieces from Book of Deer! I definitely have more pieces from the brand that I want to feature on my blog, so please stay posted. I hope you like the outfits I put together, and stay warm as the snow storms hit this February.

Best wishes,

A Metal Pansy

Lessons Learned: The Daisy Dress Story

Hello readers!

I'm sorry to tell you that though I will write an outfit post in the next few days, I have decided to stop Fast Fashion-Free Friday posts. I realized that when I built 100% fast-fashion free outfits, that would make me also build a ton of outfits that didn't include ethical pieces at all, and there was a segregation between the ethical and non-ethical pieces in my closet, instead of the two meshing together. So, I will still make at least a weekly post (probably during the weekend) featuring at least one piece from my wardrobe, and show outfits built around that piece. I will of course still only promote ethical pieces, and share their source, while not sharing the sources of the unethical pieces unless asked.

Also, while I'm on the topic of ethical vs. unethical fashion, I wanted to share a story about my lessons learned from trying to buy ethically, with the story of the daisy dress.

I started thinking about making an ethical fashion blog for at least a year before I actually published it. I actually thought about sharing capsule wardrobes on my then-hypothetical fashion blog, too. In my head, I wanted to have 100% ethical capsule wardrobe to share with readers, so I went extreme, and started selling/donating a big chunk of my clothes that were probably made unethically, to get the money to replace them with ethical clothes. However, I even started selling/donating pieces I really liked and wore often for the sole reason that they were likely unethical. One of those pieces included a beautiful airy cotton dress that was covered with tiny painted daisies, and had flowy sleeves. Each time I wore it, I felt like a fairy in a meadow, and felt that it was impossible not to be happy. When I was cleaning out my closet, I decided to sell it because: A. It didn't have pockets (yeah that's a pretty legitimate reason) and B. I didn't know whether or not it was made ethically.

I realized I missed the dress dearly about a week ago. As I'm graduating college in a couple of months, and have a few trips with friends planned post-graduation, but things are honestly quite stressful now, I made some packing lists in my head as a study break and to feel motivated. It's nice to have a fun trip to look forward to after a lot of hard work, after all. However, I felt much more sad than I thought I would be when I imagined my future summers without the daisy dress. It was probably one of the prettiest dresses I had in my closet, but more importantly, it was one of the most comfortable ones.

As I reflected on my experience, I thought about how I wanted to buy ethically and promote ethical fashion because I'm happier knowing that the clothes I buy were made by someone working in safe conditions and who is paid a fair wage. I also wanted to introduce the capsule wardrobe concept, since part of buying ethically is to buy only what we really want and love in order to minimize the clothes that go to landfills. However, building capsule wardrobes and buying ethically was supposed to be a happy and fun experience as a whole. I did feel happier giving away/selling a big chunk of my clothes to turn towards building ethical capsule wardrobes instead, but there were definitely pieces I felt sad parting with, and I don't think the experience should be sad for me, or for anyone.

So though I don't know wear the daisy dress is now, since I sold it at a secondhand shop, it is hopefully making another person happy. I'm sharing this story because if any of you readers want to shop ethically, I think it should be more about moving forward, rather than purging pieces from our closet that make us happy. I have definitely been committed to buying ethically when I can, but there are pieces in my closet that were probably not made ethically, but I'm still keeping because, unfortunately the damage was done when I bought the pieces. I financially supported an organization/brand/company that likely doesn't care about how or where or by whom the clothes are made. Though that's sad, I already bought the clothes, so if I love the pieces, I decided to keep them but think more about where it came from.

I hope this story shows you that it's not a good idea to part with the clothes already in our closet that make us happy, even if they may be from unethical sources. However, I hope that if you're reading this blog, you feel more committed to buying ethically in the future, and to moving forward. I hope that buying ethically and building capsule wardrobes instead of mindlessly shopping will make you happy.

Thank you if you finished reading this very long post.

Best wishes,
A Metal Pansy

Fast Fashion-Free Friday Featured Winter 2016 Garment 3: Tapestry Jumperskirt

Hello readers!

Today, I'll be featuring a garment that I bought on Modcloth over two years ago, but is by a Canadian brand called Pink Martini. Though they produce their clothes at a factory, they have worked with the same one for years, and stay in close contact with and visit the factory regularly to ensure that the workers are happy and treated fairly. 

I have liked this brand for awhile, since their clothes are very vintage-inspired and unique. The particular piece I'm featuring is a gorgeous dress/jumperskirt made of a tapestry fabric:

It's quite warm, and it looks adorable worn over a blouse. Here are three fast-fashion free outfits that I put together with the piece:

Outfit #1:

I really like wearing this dress with a brooch at the collar, and I liked how the cardigan and dress went together. Again, since temperatures range from around 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit, I'm sticking with the three-top layer formula to stay warm.

Outfit #2:

Though the ankle boots got cut off in the picture, I was glad to see the juxtaposition of the tough, cool girl boots and the more feminine and vintage-inspired dress. I thought the outfit most definitely befit a  Metal Pansy. ^_^ 

Outfit #3:

As you can tell by this last outfit, I've successfully paired this dress with three different boot/tight combinations, and I'm quite happy with how these outfits turned out. I hope you liked my second fast-fashion free outfit post, and have a wonderful weekend!

Best wishes,

A Metal Pansy