My Style >> Fading into Fall

I've noticed that the mornings and evenings around these parts have become slightly, well, brisker.  It's still warm, but it's been raining much more often and my BFF the sun (who should just stop setting earlier and earlier right now before it's too late) has been hiding behind blankets of clouds.  As much as I dislike these subtle hints of cooler weather on the horizon (along with the prospect of summer ever coming to an end), I'll admit that I've missed my jeans just a tiny little bit.  So when Robbie and I went out for a casual dinner date the other night and the air felt breezy, I was kind of excited to pull a pair out of my closet.  I was already wearing the tunic/dress, and I didn't feel like spending a bunch of time getting ready, so it was an easy fading-into-fall kind of outfit.

I actually got this tunic years ago when I was showing my clothing line at an event in San Francisco.  Another designer (Jodi of YeahYeah) approached me about doing a trade, and I fell in love with this piece.  Like my designs, it's eco-friendly (organic cotton), but the best part is the hand block-printed design.  It's ridiculously comfy and its ability to transform from a dress to a tunic has resulted in it becoming a stable piece in my wardrobe over the years.

And speaking of eco-friendly fashion, how about this killer handbag - made from recycled seat belts?!  Yep. It's true. This outfit was just way too neutral and desperate for a pop of color, so I turned to my brand new Campus Tote from Maggie Bags in vibrant purple.  It gave the outfit a fun punch, and any excuse to use this equally cute and durable bag is fine by me.  Maggie Bags is a really rad company you guys.  Due to the high government safety standards for seat belts, millions of yards of seat belt webbing are rejected by automakers each year.  So Maggie Bags saves these discarded, landfill-bound seat belts and give them new life by using them in the creation of their handbag line.  LOVE that.  The bag itself is the perfect size - plenty of room without being bulky - and the quality is pretty much unsurpassed.  This is going to be one of those accessories that I'm still using in 20 years.  Mark my words.

Let's get back to the whole almost-fall-fashion thing for a minute.  In addition to being able to break out the jeans on a more regular basis, my favorite part of the transition from summer to fall fashion is changing up the shoes.  I wear a lot of boots during the autumn months, but I also like to have a pair of go-to flats, and these Sadonna Oxfords from B.A.I.T. Footwear definitely fit the bill.  I've been loving the Oxford trend over the past couple of seasons, but they're not exactly the most comfortable shoe style that's ever existed.  The Sadonna's completely solve that problem for me - they're soft instead of being all rigged and digging into your ankles.  They're like the fun, youthful cousin of the traditional (and sometime stuffy) Oxford, which is awesome. I can tell you right now that I'll be wearing these on a daily basis once fall rolls around.

Since the vibrant handbag was enough on its own as far as accessories went with this look, I kept the jewelry simple: some thin metal bangles, a chunky brass bangle, and my trusty brass owl ring.  A little hint of metallic is pretty much a constant in all my outfits. It just makes everything better.  I threw on some green eyeshadow too, which I never do.  Grey eyeshadow is pretty much it for me, but I've had some green in my (ridiculously disorganized) makeup back for months and felt like busting it out.  Maybe it's a subconscious/desperate attempt to hang onto summer colors...

Bag: c/o Maggie Bags   //  Shoes: c/o B.A.I.T. Footwear  //  Jeans: Levi's  
Tunic: trade (YeahYeah)  //  Bracelets and Ring: gifts

It's Friday!  What are your weekend plans?  I'm excited because I'm giving myself a few-hour work break today to take my mom to lunch for her birthday.  Her birthday is actually tomorrow, but we have a yearly tradition where she takes her birthday off of work so we can hang and celebrate (usually this involves afternoon mimosas and shopping).  This is also Robbie's only weekend home through the end of September, so we have big plans to dork out and do something couple-y.  Hopefully this will involve more than fixing something in our house or snuggling on the couch with our individual iPads/phones in hand.  A girl can dream.