There are so many items I would like to discuss in this post. I’ll start off by being Dior inspired. There’s a taxi stand down in Central, Hong Kong where the line usually takes at least 20 minutes to get a taxi. It’s no problem; the people watching is always good in Central, HK. Plus, there are luxury brands every which way you look. Recently, Jennifer Lawrence in her stunning Dior campaign, simply stared down at me from the beautiful advertisement overhead. I was completely mesmerized. I spent my time in that line staring at every detail of her look; once in my taxi, I spent the entire ride online continuing my Dior inspired search. How could I have that hat? (Never! I can’t even imagine the price tag!!) There’s a scarf under the hat…could I pull that off? I definitely have plenty of scarves. Could I dress like these images? I’ve got lots of bohemian clothes. Would I need to make anything? Or were all the items already sitting in my closet. The very next day, completely Jennifer Lawrence and Dior inspired, I set out to create the look that I’d studied and fell in love with the night before.
I wore this exact outfit to work. I received a couple of “Howdy cowboy,” comments, but other than that, I feel very safe in expressing my creativity through the way I dress. This safety makes me feel very lucky that I have freedom in what I can wear to work every day. Sure their are guidelines I should follow–the same ones the kids have to from the school handbook. But other than that I can experiment and create different looks daily. What a luxury! If I want to wear jeans on Friday, there’s no problem; meanwhile the day before I can be all Dior inspired and feel like J. Law. There’s an ulterior motive to dressing creatively as well. Who knows if my influence reaches far, but I like to hope that maybe I dare students to express themselves. Oh, we’ve got plenty of Lulu Lemon clones, but there are some keen teens out there with some pretty great style to share.
I’m pretty lucky about something else: I have a partner in crime at work. Norbyah is also a blogger and a style chameleon like me. Every now and then, we text one another in the morning to see if we’d like to shoot our looks. Recently on a reoccurring Instagram rut, she nudge me on, reminding me that I dress for myself. I blog for myself too. Instagram and its record of my daily outfits of the day are for me–no one else. Luckily she brought me back to my focus word: creativity. I love getting dressed; it makes me feel creative. Taking it one step further, I love to share my creativity–hence this blog and the whole Kremb de la Kremb package. Every now and then, it’s nice to have a friend that’s supportive and reminds me about what I love. So thanks to Norbyah, my fashion work buddy who’s so creative: she’s the gal I want to see every day just to see what she’s wearing!
How about you?
Are you free to express yourself through your clothing? Do you have a buddy who helps to motivate your creativity? And have you seen the real campaign that created this Dior inspired post? It’s amazing!
Love these pics. What a great outfit! Especially the hat! I too dress for me, blog for me and take OOTD pics for me. I’m not in a race to get followers (although it is nice when I do). My husband encourages me. My family and friends do to a small extent. They don’t quite get it I think.
Here I wrote this post on Monday, and on Tuesday I was already getting down about the Instagram number. In a week, I’ll go up five down ten, up five and basically stay at the same number; this has been going on for a year! I need to practice what I preach. I wish we could make the Instagram number invisible!
Ok. That rant is over.
Let’s get back to creativity; that’s what I love. And I definitely felt it in this post. The hat is just a cheapy from Forever 41, op! I mean 21!! Then I added this really cool turquoise and skull necklace I picked up in Rishikesh, India! It’s quite the special necklace–there are even bits of red in it (that of course you can’t see). The pic on Instagram shows the colors. What an easy DIY: just add a necklace to your hat!
I totally hear you about the friends and family bit–I think they think I’m a total odd ball. Like, “What the heck does Annie think shes’s doing!” In fact, my mom won’t even read my blog–which admittedly does kind of hurt. She’d rather I write a novel! Ha. I remind her that I do write–just not the way she had hoped. Luckily my immediate family (husband and two kiddos) are extremely supportive!
I plan to make more posts like this–not just style for the sake of the blog, but also style and actually wear the outfit. Not the other way around!!
Thank you for all your love and support Cindy. It means the world!!
Love, Annie
DANG!!! This is SO COOL!!!!
I love the black and white photos.
The hat is very spaghetti western funk. I have an all leather one a lot like this except that it has a very flat brim. Got it at Goodwill probably 8 years ago. Now I know the look I can achieve with it. Great for South Dakota and Idaho too!
This is such a unique post Annie. One of my all time favorites!
Spaghetti Western funk? I just had to look that one up Jude. Here it is according to Wikipedia: “Spaghetti Western, also known as Italian Western or Macaroni Western (primarily in Japan), is a broad subgenre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone’s film-making style and international box-office success.”
Gotcha!
Did you take at the inspirational links? Did I pull it off!?
Your flat brimmed hat sounds even more exact to what I was trying to emulate. Just add a scarf or ornate necklace to the base!!
I’m glad you liked this one Jude. Makes me smile!! 😀
Love, Annie
Hey, yes, great look, i just bought boots like these..aren’t they the greatest flats beside sneakers? Personally, I stopped blogging because it made me spend way too much time online & i didn’t have the patience, plus the name (now shown on Disqus) wasn’t all that great…but I miss the ‘ structure’ it can give to a creative outlet, if you know what I mean..# HK: could you do a feature on tea houses? So curious about them!
Yay to these boots! I bought mine at a swap, but they hadn’t even been worn. SCORE!! And yes, I’m so used to wearing sneakers; it’s a nice change to wear something with a little bling! In fact, I’m wearing them again today!!
I’m so sad you stopped blogging, but I get it. I’ve considered stopping more than once! Luckily my creativity keeps me going. If it were up to numbers, I’d be long gone. But that isn’t to say I don’t appreciate your visit and the time you took to comment. Thank you!
You have inspired a great idea regarding the tea houses. I think I may have to do my upcoming Chinese New Year post in such a location!! Thanks for the inspo!! See! You are so helpful to me!!
Thanks again for commenting Barbara!
Love, Ann
wowww, such an amazing inspiration!, and you nailed it! Love that kind of boho, folk, southern vibe!
I’m admiring the way you observed every detail and made it work into your own style, so creative!. And then you took fabulous photos. You totally rock!!!
besos
Thank you so much! This was a fun one. I need to do more inspriational shoots like this because it was just so much fun!!
Love, Ann
This is a great outfit! I love the blend of jewelry and boho fabrics. The hat is fabulous and the simple coat over the whole outfit is perfect! You look terrific!
It was hard to go with black and white! The colors of the tunic and the turquoise in the hat are lovely if I do say so myself. But, I wanted to stay as true as I could to the campaign. You can see a color version on my Instagram—@krembdelakremb.
Love, Ann