All posts in: Azalea

08 Aug 2018

Back to School Looks

Denim Jacket – Gap / Dress – Azalea / Backpack – Everlane / Shoes – Mom’s / Sunglasses – Marc Jacobs

Growing up, I looked forward to a new wardrobe each school year. I remember I once bought some clothes from a website like Sandro Paris and I wore them all year round. I love fashion! My mom and I had a set up where she would give me a budget and the intent was for me to use that only for clothes. It taught me how to spend my money wisely and determine which pieces were crucial to spend on. Did I need five skirts or did I really need two sweaters and a pair of jeans? It also showed me that I could buy more affordable staple pieces through fast fashion retailers and splurge on just one thing that mattered to me if I wanted at the end.

After graduating college, I never intended to go back to school. It’s coincidental now though that me going back to work actually falls right around students returning to campus. I’m grateful that this lesson of school clothes shopping has taught me a better value in wearing clothes for longer than just a year so that I don’t have to do this as an adult. For this shoot, I borrowed my friend Courtney’s Everlane backpack because I thought it worked nicely with my outfit. Even as adults going to work, you still need something to carry all of your belongings. I’ve enjoyed chatting with some of my friends to see what they use for their everyday wear.

For myself personally, I’ve always ended up using my travel bags as a work bag. Initially, I would use them for weekend trips or as my personal item on flights, but now they serve more than one purpose. These days, it’s even tripling up as my bag to store my workout clothes for CorePower. This look reminds me a little bit of my youth and it’s not just because of the mid-calf socks that I’m wearing. I haven’t used a backpack since high school so shooting this 10 years later takes me back.

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26 Dec 2017

Our Favorite Looks of 2017

Duster – Azalea / Tee – Abercrombie & Fitch / Pants – Uniqlo / Boots – J. Crew

Sure, these are my 12 favorites look of the year, but they also overlap with 12 of my favorite backdrops from the year! If you’re someone who documents your OOTD’s, then you know that these two things kind of go hand in hand. This year, I experienced a major shift in my outfits and that is mostly due to a location change. Living in South Bay was a dream, but it meant that I was living in this sort of alternate reality where it was summertime every single day. The last four years of that are something that I would never give back, but now that I’m living in San Francisco, I’m glad that I get to dress for true weather. It reminds me of my days in Seattle.

In 2017, I embraced a very casual look and I pushed the boundaries of day to night wear. I showed love to some of my favorite accessories (bandana, baseball cap, choker) and revived some old favorites (Keds!) We didn’t find ourselves immersed in any crazy trends… but I did find some pieces worn by other people on Instagram that I went out and bought myself! It’s not really the same thing, you guys. It’s almost… worse.

Read more “Our Favorite Looks of 2017”

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23 Dec 2017

Muni Lover

Sunglasses – Marc Jacobs / Striped Dress – Azalea / Black Dress – Brandy Melville / Bag – Madewell

I knew that it would be somewhat of a fashion risk to layer two dresses on top of each other this day, but the good thing about a bad outfit is that it only lasts one day. The whole look was very 90’s (hence the choke-a-loke) and I actually could have pulled this off if not for one little detail. The layered black dress landed just above my knees and if it were just a little bit shorter, it would have been perfect. And okay, if the collar for the black dress would have been a smidge higher, I could’ve worked with that too.

These photos were taken in front of where all the Munis live in the Mission District and was one of my favorite spots! I often miss it and I know there’s a lot of people don’t quite understand my love for this location, but I’m completely obsessed with it. Something about all the buses, man.

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17 Nov 2017

Golden Girl

Hat – Nordstrom / Dress – Aritzia / Duster – Azalea

When I stumbled across the most perfect duster earlier this year, I was determined to find a way to wear it with everything. This was a tough buy for me though. I worried that having a sweater like this would continuously make me feel shorter than I was. I struggled wondering if it was worth the purchase and how I might wear it with dresses, jackets, and jeans. Ultimately, that hassle that I worried about was actually non-existent because it was such a good buy. I’ve worn it with many pieces from my closet at this point, but this is actually one of my favorite outfit pairings for when I’m caught in a pickle and feel like I have “nothing to wear.” It’s my favorite because this dress is already the number one piece I throw on for those cases and this sweater is an easy toss on right after that. I love the contrast of the shorter little black dress with the long duster and I’m following my usual pattern of sticking to one color mainly and adding in the gray duster to piece it all together.

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13 Nov 2017

Let’s Taco ’bout It

Beanie – Aritzia / T-shirt – Urban Outfitters / Duster – Azalea / Denim – Citizens of Humanity / Heels – Vince Camuto

Up until this day, I had never really thought of putting all of these items together. This combination of a long duster with the high-waisted jeans and the addition of heels fascinated me. It was casual with a side of fancy and I didn’t hate it. My company recently moved offices and while I was SO ready to move, there were a lot of gems in our old spot that I probably will miss. One of those things is our various lunch outings. On this particular day, we decided to walk up the street to a food truck serving Mexican food that we had heard great things about. I can still remember my chicken quesadilla with extra guac pretty vividly!

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26 Aug 2017

Dark and Sub Pop

Tee – Sub Pop Records / Duster – Azalea / Pants – Uniqlo

For months, I had been looking for the perfect duster. I searched high and low at Aritzia, Nordstrom, Madewell, and then at one of my favorite San Francisco boutiques, Azalea, multiple times. The first time, they didn’t have one that was perfect for me, but the second time? It was just right. I love this look for several reasons. The duster is a piece that you can throw on over anything and more often than not, you won’t fail. I like wearing it casually with pants like above, but also with shorter dresses. If there’s anything that I am more cautious about, it’s that the bottom of the duster can sometimes drag on things and while it doesn’t hit the ground (which is gross) it gets pretty darn close. This Sub Pop tee is the third item that I own from this store at the Sea-Tac airport and is becoming a fast favorite. It’s so soft and the dark grey is very Seattle and makes me feel like I’m back home in the Northwest even though I’m far from it. It’s also a very modern updated look to my scene days from when I was an angsty little teenager, but not really all that angsty.

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06 Jul 2017

Yow Yow! at the SFMOMA

Top – Abercrombie & Fitch / Duster – Azalea / Jeggings – Uniqlo / Boots – J. Crew

The time in between when I left my last job and when I started my current job was the most calming and peaceful experience I’ve ever had. I can’t wait to share more about that later on with you. I had been wanting to check out the newly opened SFMOMA for quite some time, but never could find the opportunity to until I realized that I no longer had to work away all my weekends. Wenwen was a member of the museum so she took Leah and I one afternoon and it was so much fun! Growing up, I always loved going to museums. They were my favorite kind of field trips and because my father is an artist, I naturally grew up with art around me.

California Layering

Beanie and Sweater – Aritzia / Dress – Azalea / Boots – J. Crew

Living in California brings a whole new meaning to “layering” during the winter season. When I was in Seattle, I often found myself in a heap of winter accessories – tights, hats, scarves, etc. and here I find that I just don’t need as much, but still have the warmth that I need. I was obsessed with this dress once I first bought it and am now trying to keep it alive by making sure it does not shrink! If you had to ask me what one of my personal uniforms would be, it would probably be along these lines – a dress with a longer cardigan over it and out the door!

What an outtake.

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23 Apr 2017

Thanksgiving Stripes

Dress – Azalea

My friends and family think that I’m such a nut, but I am OBSESSED with this Cabbage Patch Kid! For the last few years since I’ve been living in California, I’ve been spending Thanksgiving with my extended family in Southern California. It’s the perfect trip because it allows me to get away for a little bit for the holidays, but it’s also a very quick trip! Growing up, Thanksgiving was peak cold time in Seattle so I’m used to being bundled up, but in good ol’ SoCal, I can wear less layers. For the record, I wore this dress and thought it was the perfect coverage because of the sleeves, but it was scorching hot that day. Naturally, we cooled down with a glass of wine before the family came over.

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09 Mar 2017

Blanket Scarves in Boston

Dress – Azalea / Cardigan and Scarf – Aritzia

I knew I was really pushing my limits when I decided to take these boots with me to Boston. For the most part, I can last a whole day in these, but if I’m forced to walk a city for an entire day? Not so much. I was exploring Boston with a friend of mine and we did my “perfect” day – starting with brunch, shopping, and a stroll among a row of brownstones. There’s something about them that I find to be very magical and charming. Maybe it’s because growing up in Seattle, we just didn’t have anything quite like that. In a previous post, I already talked about the Boston Public Library and here’s the outfit we wore to check it out! I truly did not know how amazing it would be until I saw it in person with my own eyes. It’s the place that you know you could probably sit at for hours and be completely content. When it comes to dressing up in different cities, I’m usually a hit or miss. For a fall day and a week that had been mostly filled with showers, wearing this without a jacket was a gamble. I can admit that I haven’t quite nailed the game of layering. I’ve had this blanket scarf for a couple of years now and it’s one of my favorite fall staples. The larger one I have is from Oak + Fort, but I like having two that are in different colors and two different sizes because it means that sometimes one makes more sense for an outing than the other.