Party Like It's 1899 !

With a return to long dresses (albeit deflated), and an exhaustion of all other eras of dressing, the turn of the (20th) century looks fresher than ever.  

Claude Monet hit the nail on the head with his picturesque immortalization of the woman below with a straw hat and blue scarf:  

Claude Monet

This washy, airy chiffon dress and straw hat craves (aside from a nod to the 70's) a pastoral scene and petite garden path, painting below also by Claude Monet...

Claude Monet

There may be nothing more feminine than yards upon yards of fabric, billowed underneath a pretty dame.  Jessica Stam (above) demonstrates a modern version of this phenomenon.  John Singer Sargent (paintings below) loved his women and their soft, dreamy yards of excess.

John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent

Are you craving a day at the park with a parasol yet?

all fashion photos via DustJacket Attic

Delicious Spring-y Baubles

It might not be fair for me to skip winter as if it didn't happen, but have a look at these delicious spring-y jewels.

This is sort of awesome, right?  Stacking Babushka ring from Anthropologie.   

I would probably try to wear this with everything.  Oh here's an idea that involves winter...I would wear this one with big chunky over-sized fisherman sweaters.  And everything else dainty...skinny legged pants in jewel tones, and little ornate flats. 

But for Spring I would wear this with deeper colors...burgundy, dark blues, bright tomato red.  I'm thinking dresses.  And of course little vintage leather flats.

I guess I'm really into brushed matte gold right now.  Frog Lake ring, also from Anthropologie.  (Can you tell its my favorite store for jewelry?)  I'd wear it with airy bright whites, lace-up vintage leather flats, and a basket-y bag. 

  

This deliciously juicy bauble really steals my heart away.   Of course for something this grand, it couldn't be anything other than Dior Joaillerie.  From the Incroyables et Merveilleuses collection, this is the Oiseau ring.  Note the little nest with pearl eggs and the diamond encrusted birds!   

A perfectly sweet and completely over-the-top ring for the season of all things new.  I would wear this with everything.   

Yes, sometimes the thing that seems least likely to go with anything is the very thing that actually goes with everything.  And besides, if you ever hope to get your money's worth for this dazzling little charm, you'd probably better wear it every day for the rest of your life.