Go Go Gadget

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OKAY ANDIE | Go Go GadgetOKAY ANDIE | Go Go Gadgetshooting with my new camera

It has been awhile since I had shot myself outdoors. I used to be a stickler for having an outfit post every week, but with my new job over the last year (more on that one day), and a desire to just chill out once in awhile, I decided I would do what I could when I felt inspired and stop beating myself up when things didn’t work out as planned. So, I don’t post near as much as I used to here, but I do post to instagram most days since it feels easier, less exhausting and more immediate/raw. Anywaysssss, all this to say, Zach bought me a new camera for Christmas, Nikon D5500, to be exact, and it wasn’t until last week that I even brought it outside to shoot myself for outfit photos.

I’m still getting used to its new features (touch screen and wifi, weeeooo!) and I am now using an app on my phone to connect to my camera and help me shoot my self portraits. It’s not the greatest app and definitely has flaws, but once I get really comfortable with it, I think it’s going to be a great help, it already has been tbh. I used to miss focus a lot when I was shooting myself. It just was never quite there. You don’t know (or maybe you do) how hard it is to focus a camera when there is no subject to focus on other than a purse. Being able to tap on myself on my phone screen to focus has been exponentially helpful. Much of my time was wasted on focusing and missing and refocusing and so on, so I’m hoping with the time saved on that it will feel less daunting to shoot my images, especially on colder days when I want to just get in and out (out and in, in this case), as they say.

How are ya’ll doing? I gained a lot of new followers over the last couple weeks, so hello to all you new friends!  Thanks for following! Please do comment letting me know about yourself. I love getting to know my readers ❤

-WHAT I WORE-
Shirt: Club Monaco (similar) via CS | Sweater: MOTH. (sort of similar) via CS | Jacket: vintage (similar) via CS | Purse: vintage Coach via CS | Socks: Topshop | Hat: Fossil (similar) via CS | Shoes: Dr.Martens
OKAY ANDIE | Go Go GadgetOKAY ANDIE | Go Go GadgetOKAY ANDIE | Go Go Gadget

My Favourite Blue Jeans

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OKAY ANDIE | My favourite blue jeansBlue Jean baby

If you have been reading this blog long enough, you know jeans were a rarity up until last year. It’s strange (but also expected) how time changes your opinion of yourself and then trickles down into the way you decide to dress. I never felt good in jeans, and because of that I really disliked them. To me they were too easy and thus boring. I think working as a clothing buyer and seeing trends and upholding those trends or rejecting them, ends up giving you a whole new perspective on clothing, an appreciation for quality and an open-mind to all sartorial choices. It has certainly changed my style and allowed me to try new things that I would have once scoffed at. All this to say, I have come to love love love jeans, specifically blue jeans. Unfortunately all these jeans are second hand or vintage (which pretty much all my clothes are now thanks to my job), so I am unsure that I can give you direct links, but I’m going to do my best to find something close to each.
OKAY ANDIE | My favourite blue jeansLevi’s 531 mom jeans (similar…i also own this exact pair and love them)

I had been searching for what felt like forever (and by searching I mean waiting until a pair came into my work) for the perfect mom jeans. No mom jean ever looked quite right on me, until I found these ones. I remember doing a little happy dance when I tried them on because it felt like fate that a vintage pair – of Levi’s, no less – would fit me so perfectly. I have worn them all through Summer into Winter, which is sort of the beautiful thing about a good pair of jeans – they are practical for all seasons.
OKAY ANDIE | My favourite blue jeansHigh-waisted American Apparel skinny jeans (same style although I can’t find the same dark wash)

These too I got secondhand, which I am pretty happy about. I hadn’t walked into an AA in years, so I had no idea what I was missing. I am very picky when it comes to high waisted skinnies, mostly because they accentuating what feels like all the wrong parts of me (thiiiighs), but for whatever reason these jeans make me feel amazing. The indigo colour, the perfect high rise, comfortable and slightly stretchy denim, large back pockets…I don’t think I will ever look for another pair (so please don’t go fully out of business AA).
OKAY ANDIE | My favourite blue jeansVintage seafarer jeans (similar…and this brand has quite a few similar styles) (similar)

Ya’ll know about my high waisted, wide leg love. It was the first type of jeans I shared on this blog. I have another pair similar to these from H&M, but I was getting a bit worried that if they ever bit the dust I wouldn’t be able to find something similar (this seafarer style is surprisingly hard to find). Lo and behold, these beauties…and vintage, to boot.
OKAY ANDIE | My favourite blue jeansLevi’s kick flares (similar)

These jeans were brought into my work by a middle aged biker. He said he had loved them, but they no longer fit. He had unstitched the pant hems that give them that worn, frayed look that new jeans are trying to replicate these days and unstitched the Levi’s leather tag off the back. I prayed (metaphorically) they would fit me, and fit me they did (you can’t help but feel that much more lucky when a one-off fits). They are a stiff denim, which makes them not the greatest jeans for moving about, but they have that perfect chilled look that keeps me pulling them from my closet time and again.

A Year In The Life

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OKAY ANDIE | A Year In The LifeHappy New Year M’Loves

I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions, so you won’t be getting any lists like that here. But when a new year comes, how ever man made it is, you can’t really help but feel like it’s a fresh start, a marker of sorts, for acknowledging the past and looking to the future. This year for me has certainly been up and down, as all years are for everyone, really. I went through depression that felt like it would be the end of me. I had days of complete elation where I felt incredibly lucky to be alive. I learned from a dear friend that to be in a lasting relationship you must choose that person everyday and that sometimes is easy to forget. I met some of the most kind and beautiful people on this planet. I’ve learned new skills that I am proud to have and that I am much too hard on myself. I’ve had moments of feeling like the luckiest person in the world, surrounded by love and moments of hating myself so deeply I wasn’t sure if anyone in this world genuinely liked me. I’ve talked about my feelings and bottled them up. I’ve laid in bed all day watching netflix and got painfully sunburnt swimming in the warm and salty sea. I’ve yelled until it hurt. I’ve laughed until it hurt. I’ve lived the only way I know how. As I do, everyday, of every year.

There are big markers, good and bad, for every year. But years are also made up of small moments and details that weave in and out of the big ones that make up most of our lives. They say you can’t see the forest for the trees, but sometimes acknowledging those trees can help to see the forest for what it is. We are mean’t to do things with our life, but just existing and living is doing something too. It’s okay not to be the best or the worst and it’s okay to have no real plan at all. There is a system and societal structure to this life that can make us feel inadequate and exhausted, but realizing that a slow pace is still a pace, afterall, can be a relief like no other.

As always, thank you guys for being here. I didn’t post near as much as I did in previous years. I’ve written and deleted countless posts for the reason why, but in the end, it probably needs no explanation. I am here now, and that’s all that matters.

I love you all and you enrich my life by just stopping by here. I hope my words and images do the same for you.

-WHAT I WORE-
pant suit: Zara via CS | Blouse: Anne Klein via CS | Jacket: Topshop | Socks c/o Tabbisocks | Shoes: Seychelles
OKAY ANDIE | A Year In The LifeOKAY ANDIE | A Year In The Life

photos by Zach

 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year

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OKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the YearOKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year…most of the time

These days you can pretty well always find me in pants and a jumper (usually, a rollneck). My jeans and trouser collection has become pretty extensive in the last year, and since the cold season has arrived, so has my jumper collection. Dressing for autumn/winter has always been my favourite. Sure, dressing for the summer is always a welcome change after a long winter, but I feel most myself this time of year. Autumnal/winter shades are my favourite and suit my hair/skin tone most, plus being dressed in layers of warmth is something I will never tire of. Each summer I feel like I go through a confusing period of not knowing how to dress or what feels most like me, and then autumn rolls around and I fall (pun!) into it with ease. I love most things about this time of year, yes, but I’m not going to give it all the glory, anything that reaches subzero temperatures and can literally freeze parts of your body can’t be all that good, right?

-WHAT I WORE-
Jumper: Jcrew via CS | Jeans: H&M | Coat & purse: vintage | Boots via CS
OKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the YearOKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the YearOKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the YearOKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the YearOKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Beauty: How-To Trim Your Own Fringe

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OKAY ANDIE | How-To Trim Your Own Fringewith a twist!

It’s about damn time I share this tutorial. I have been trimming my own fringe for about a decade now, pretty much ever since I left home and no longer had my mother to trim them for me (lol). Over the years I have become more and more self-assured when it comes to trimming my fringe, and in the more recent years have discovered the easiest and fastest way to get the job done. Trimming your own fringe, not to mention your own hair, can seem a little bit nerve wracking, but I promise this technique is pretty much fool proof, and as long as you take your time and just relax, I am 100% certain you can do it yourself as well. Here we go, my little trimmers.

OKAY ANDIE | How-To Trim Your Own Fringe1. Section it; for those who already have a fringe, just pull your fringe forward creating a diamond or (Glenn Danzig) shape over your face. If you don’t have a fringe, part your hair in an upside down v shape (^), pulling forward the amount of hair you would like in your fringe.

OKAY ANDIE | How-To Trim Your Own Fringe2. Twist it; taking the ends of your fringe, twist your hair a half twist (to the left or right, doesn’t matter) and hold it there.

OKAY ANDIE | How-To Trim Your Own Fringe3. Cut it; with your free hand, place your fore and middle finger where you would like your fringe length to be and using proper hair cutting scissors (which I haven’t always done, and tbh, didn’t notice a difference, but I’m sure a professional would cringe at that ) and cut below your fingers. Tip – It’s always best to cut a bit less off of your fringe to start with, you can always cut more, you def can’t add back on.

OKAY ANDIE | How-To Trim Your Own Fringe4. Tidy it; for the most part your fringe should be pretty close to the shape and look you want, – it won’t look perfect just yet, but it’s definitely something you can easily work with – from here you will even it out and trim any stray pieces.