Summer Black-Out, Day 2: In the Garden

I'm sorry I'm posting this now, Fabulous Readers, instead of yesterday. Fabulous Husband and I went down to visit my parents and, of course, took advantage of their amazing garden as a photo location. Unfortunately, by the time we were done with photos, it was time to go out for sushi! I decided a slightly delayed blog post was the better part of valor.

Bodhisattva tee: Lucky Brand, Marshall's

Brown belt: thrifted, remixed

Blue ruffled skirt: Marshall's, remixed

Boots: John Fluevog, "Bellevues: Libby Smith"

Art Nouveau necklace: depths of the jewelry box

Tiny mandala beaded earrings: self-made

Braided silver bracelet: Anima Perdita, remixed

Continuing with this week's ancillary theme of dredging my wardrobe for seldom-used items, I wore these boots. They're a bit of a challenge to work into an outfit: they're an odd height for such a fitted boot, and distressingly close in color to my legs. Given their Victorian styling, I keep wanting to wear them with floor-sweeping skirts. Pairing them with a knee-length skirt, especially without stockings to give some visual contrast between the boot top and my leg, was a bit of a stretch for me - but I think it worked.

The boots weren't the inspiration for this outfit, though. That honor goes to this pretty bodhisattva:

I'm not usually a graphic-tee kind of girl, but I fell in love with this top. The graphic reminds me of Yuan and Ming Dynasty ink paintings, with its calligraphic lines and washes of gentle color. I picked up the bluish-purples and the floral motif with the skirt, which resembles a folded lotus or peony bloom, and the necklace: the tiny mandala earrings were also a perfect match both in theme and in color. The red buttons on the boots would have been a bit jarring with the delicate pinks if they were in closer proximity, but distance - and the dominance of the cream color in both tee and boots - kept them from clashing excessively.

I usually don't tuck-and-belt, and you can see why here. I am very short-waisted indeed! The belt, which narrows to about 2 1/2" on the sides, is hitting both the bottom of my ribs and the top of my hipbones. The proportions of this outfit ended up being a little strange as a result. Trust me, it looked even stranger with the tee untucked!

photos: Fabulous Husband

Are you willing to surrender "normal" proportions to create an otherwise great outfit, or does proportion trump all for you?