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Okay, now we're gettin' down to it. It's time to do something fun again, you guys. Enough obsessing about the news, enough worry, enough stress, enough despair. Let us take these few moments to ourselves, forget all that, and gaze upon my sassy pants. If ever there was a time where you could just say "you know what? screw it. I'm gonna buy those bats**t-crazy red serape stripe bell bottom pants I saw that I liked, and I'm gonna wear them, because why not?" - if you have ever caught yourself saying this, now is your time. There really is nothing like the spectre of one's own mortality to really dial-up the sartorial bravery factor by a couple of clicks. Although that said, I do feel the need to apologize for the less than artistic background composition this week, what with being stuck shooting out by the woodshed on account of all the people out exercising (or in some cases, "exercising") on this, the one nice day we've had in a long while. That said, these pants sort of do stand up on their own two legs without a fancy-schmancy background. And no, I do not mean that literally. You still have to put your legs in them. So really what else is there to say, other than you should absolutely be partaking in things that make you happy right now. If that thing that makes you happy is a pair of high-waisted, bright red serape bell bottoms with an unfinished hem, or your vegetable scrap garden that just so happens to be thriving right now since you're home all the time, or your new rebounder exercise trampoline...so be it. I truly believe that at the end of this, we will be forever changed, and right now, we have a choice. We can learn from what is happening and learn how to be at peace with ourselves, live more slowly and mindfully and make ourselves happy and whole as a matter of priority, or we can spend all of this time we now have agonizing over when we can go back to the way things used to be, if we can at all. Personally, I wholeheartedly choose option A. L&B serape pants (sold out), similar, similar, similar / thrifted Prada blouse, similar / sterling feather bracelet (old), similar / red jasper ring (old), similar / ruby in zoisite necklace (old), similar, similar, similar

I've written extensively about leopard print and how over the years it has sort of become the sartorial harbinger of all things courgardom. You can find a lot of those posts over in the archive if you're wanting to add some leopard print to your life but perhaps are needing a bit more reassurance or inspiration than offered by this post. And I suppose to a certain extent, if we're being completely honest we have to admit that there is some truth in The Leopard Print Cougar Parable. However. I have always truly believed that as with anything else in this life, a sartorial accent like leopard print is all down to how you use it. This little flutter-sleeve blouse is a piece I found on eBay after seeing a similar cute leopard blouse in a shop online that was all but sold out in every size except ultra-microscopic. I really love this little secondhand find, and was even more excited when I realized that it looked pretty cool paired with some turquoise for a boost of color. The Three Key Ingredients for Selecting a Flattering Leopard Print Garment I don't have a ton of leopard print in my wardrobe any more, but the pieces I do have I very carefully selected based on a few key elements. 1. Color Make sure that the undertone of the leopard print is flattering to your skin tone. There are all sorts of variations, from brown to tan to grey, so there's some wiggle room here. This one has a bit of a peachiness to it that works well for me. The gradient in the color also gives it a more expensive, finished look than if if were just a flat print. 2. Print Scale Depending on what kind of a look you're going for, scale is important. Too big and it will overwhelm you - particularly if you're petite. Too small, and it doesn't read as leopard, but rather just a dingy, ditsy brown print. I liked the scale of this one, which I would class as "medium". I suppose it depends on what you're using as a control group. 3. Fit This is really the key ingredient when choosing a leopard print garment. You don't need a lot extra bells and whistles with a leopard print garment. It doesn't need to be as tight as a sausage-casing, or super low-cut, or super duper short (if it's a skirt), or encrusted with bling....it's leopard. It doesn't need our clumsy help being eye catching, it was born that way. Like me, leopard does not even have an inside voice. It's loud, and it's not sorry. So pick a piece that's flattering to your particular body type and that's comfortable to wear, then just get out of its way. It really is that easy. Have fun with it! Charlie One Horse Highway Hat / seondhand blouse, similar / duster cardigan (old), similar / Shyanne belt (old), similar / Dingo Laurel boots (sold out), similar / gemstone bracelets from my Etsy Shop / Turquoise rings (old), similar, similar / Vigoss skinny jeggings This post has been shared with the following link-ups: Elegantly Dressed and Stylish, Not Dressed as Lamb

Welcome to the first post of my pandemic life, which to be fair, looks a lot like my pre-pandemic life. I'm still working because as a nurse practitioner, I'm considered essential, as is my husband, who is a ferry skipper. So essentially our life is the same, with much drier hands and a much cleaner house. And the whole social distancing thing? Yeah, that's sort of my lifestyle anyway here in the Highlands. Funny that only when there's a global disaster that you learn your choice of lifestyle actually has a name, and that name is quarantine. Pandemic Dressing for Comfort, Ease, & Simplicity - Sans Sweatpants In less complicated times, I would likely never have even given this dress a second look. It's a sort of unexciting color, a style that isn't exactly groundbreaking, and made from a material that essentially renders it an oversized t shirt. What I'm trying to say here is that this t-shirt dress is totally basic. I almost didn't keep this dress when it arrived in my every-other-month Stitch Fix delivery. I realize that we're all on a bit of a budget right now, and shopping is not exactly a priority, but I've found that my Stitch Fix subscription was one of the things that I did not want to let go of just yet. If you are unfamiliar with Stitch Fix (and no, they're not paying me for this), it is essentially a personal style-edit delivery service that you can set-up to suit your budget and timing. I get one every other month - for now. Sometimes they send me some cool stuff, other times, meh. But what it does do is get me to try things outside of my comfort zone, so if it's within your remit to give it a try, do it! Plus, right now while we're not going anywhere (except the same old back yard to shoot posts), It's kind of nice to get something in the mail. It's like a little reward. Right. This totally basic dress. We are all having a hard time getting ourselves to find the will to even put on pants these days, am I right? I mean, why bother - it's not like my fireplace or my television, or even the locker room at work cares if I turn up completely groomed and ready to take on the world. But let us all remember why we are here. If you're reading this, like me, you really like fashion. You find it fun, and enjoy expressing yourself through all things sartorial. Is this something that's gonna cure COVID19? Of course not. But there's a hell of a lot of good science behind the art of doing things that make you feel good. Turns out, it's good for you! Apparently there really is some truth to the old saying "if it feels good, do it!" - and all the better if that thing is every bit as comfortable as those sweatpants that you're having a hard time putting down right now. So once you're ready to bust a move out of those quarantine sweatpants, try something like this basic dress; it's a comfortable alternative to those pandemic sweats that won't be a complete shock to the system, and better yet - it layers really well! Editor's Cut dress (exclusive to Stitch Fix), very similar / Happiness Boutique necklace (last seen here), similar (US), similar (UK) / Circle G boots / Grace in LA jacket, similar (US), similar (UK) This post has been shared with the following style link-ups: Elegantly Dressed and Stylish, Not Dressed as Lamb

Okay, first of all - yes. I play the saxophone. For real. It's in the bio. But you probably didn't even notice that aspect of this photograph, because you were too busy wondering just what in the hell is going on with my hair. We all have some odd, if not downright regrettable hairstyles somewhere in our histories. Some of them will have been influenced by the styles of whatever decade they were from, some of them were just a really poor fit for the needs of our particular heads. I'm pretty sure the one pictured above has enough reach to cover both of those categories, and more. I couldn't have been more than 16 or 17 in this photo, but my hair is easily pushing 80. I call this style the Lamb Dressed as Mutton. It goes without saying that this wasn't the ideal style for my face shape, and in fact I'm not sure that there actually is a face shape that would support this particular brand of mushroom-cap volume up top. I probably saw this style in a magazine on some wraithlike model and thought, "yes. I'll have that." Of course, not all of my hairstyles were deeply regrettable. Some of them were perfectly lovely, just not right for me. I've had this chin-length bob several times in my life - most recently when I finally grew out the last of my dyed hair and wanted to cut the last few centimetres of dye off. This hairstyle is actually one of my husband's favorites. Me...perhaps not so much. I call it The Not Quite. Not quite long enough to pull back, but not quite short enough to not be in your face when you exercise. It also requires a lot more maintenance than one might think for a "carefree" shorter-length hairstyle. Having wavy hair, it required a decent amount of flattening, product, and blow drying to get it to not look like a slightly longer version of the Lamb Dressed as Mutton. Too much work. Old Photographs Can Betray Your Darkest Past Hairstyle Shame This hairstyle, which I had in the mid to late 90s, clearly wants to speak to the manager. This was at the height of the Christy Turlington boyish pixie cut craze of the 90s, when all the models were toothpick-thin and had boy cuts. I was living in Seattle at the time, and this was my professional headshot. Would you believe I was only in my mid twenties in this photo? This hairtyle transformed me into a middle-aged soccer mom who in reality was too young to actually play a middle-aged soccer mom. This hair was a casting nightmare, and a pretty bad call on my part. I'm calling this one the Coupon Clipper. Lastly, where would we be without the obligatory high school yearbook photo? With apologies to my 1989 high school classmates who shared this page with me (along with our rooster-comb "mall bangs"), feast your eyes on the glory that was my kinky perm. I call this one The Permaculture (see what I did there?) I'm not sure you can even still get a perm in the year 2020, but man I can still remember the smell coming off of that thing. My hair reeked of ammonia for MONTHS and never really grew-in straight again, such was the extent of the trauma it had endured. I know... weird, right? Got a regrettable hairstyle story? Share it in the comments!

Hey everyone. If you've been here a while (or perhaps even been here only once before), you're likely aware that I'm still in the process of migrating the blog. It came to my attention today that my Bloglovin feed was not updating properly, as were some of my RSS feeds for the blog. If you've been subscribed for a while, especially via RSS or Bloglovin', you may not be getting updated feeds (particularly on Bloglovin'). So while I work to sort out the feeds, you may find you need to re-subscribe. The best way to do this is at the bottom of the site either via email, or if you are a diehard fan of RSS, there's a wee link to my Feedburner there as well. Once the rest is sorted I'll have the Bloglovin' option up and running again too. Thanks for your patience! K.

Who would have thought that a total impulse purchase of a pair of weathered turquoise Laredo Maddox cowboy boots (that looked so delicious online and were such a bargain) would turn out to be one of my emerging wardrobe staple items as we head (hopefully) into spring, but that is exactly what is playing-out over here. In writing this post, I realized that these are on sale for even less than I got them for (doh!), so if you like 'em, get 'em while you can. As it turns out, this shade of boot is actually sort of a neutral when you pair it with denim. It's lighter than black, less expected than brown or tan, and looks pretty darn cool as it weathers. Here I've paired it with a thrifted top (tunic? dress? Who really knows!) that I found at Goodwill the last time I was home in Wisconsin. I wear this outfit a lot when I'm bumming around in the city. Sure, it's not the most urban chic look in the universe, but it's comfortable, and it weathers the storm(s) of the Scottish climate. And yes, I do mean that literally. I was also pleased to have an excuse to trot-out this turquoise chip bead necklace that I made for my Etsy shop, then promptly kept because I liked it so much. But don't worry, this was the first of its kind, so if you like it, by the time you will be reading this, I will have undoubtedly made a few more to add to the shop. And I will have gotten better at it too, so there's that. Laredo Maddox boots as above / Spanx denim leggings (US), similar (UK) / thrifted tunic, similar (UK), similar (US) / turquoise chip bead necklace from my Etsy shop / Nicky Butler gemstone cluster ring (old), similar / turquoise east west ring (old), similar (UK), similar (US)

I didn't realize until after I shot the first few photos in this dress that there is a little piece of my dog in just about every one of the shots. And as always, he (or more specifically, his rear-end) made the cut, because I am inherently lazy and I am not going traipsing out there a second time for the sake of some canine booty. So. The dress. This Lilly Pulitzer dress is a bit of an enigma. Yes, it's short, tight, and shows a it of cleavage, but at the same time it is also made of this really comfy, light, stretchy fabric, and the top sort of has an almost scuba-like fit that actually reads a lot sportier than all this short, tight, goldness would have you believe at first glance. Normally, I would have paired this with a pair of simple flat gold sandals, but most of my good flat sandals are in Florida, so I had to go with what I had. Really, when your dress is short, tight, and shows a bit of cleave, the last thing you need to do is add heels. But, well. There ya go. Thinking about wearing this for my upcoming 47th birthday dinner, which is insane, because there will probably be a LOT of food, and beer,..and you will literally be able to see each and every IPA I drink in this dress, and I envision sucking my gut in the entire night...okay, maybe I just talked myself out of it.

I've always thought of myself as not really a hat person. I suppose now that we split our time between Scotland an Florida I find myself wearing hats more often to keep the sun out, but generally I always steered clear of them on account of my gianormous head. Seriously, my head is huge you guys. Plus I have a lot of hair, so if I do buy a hat, I have to take hairstyle into account as well because it will absolutely affect the fit of a hat. I always purchase my riding helmets a size up to make room for braids. So I suppose I sort of surprised myself when I saw this hat online and was really drawn to it. This is the Charlie 1 Horse Highway hat. Charlie 1 Horse is an American western hat maker that also does these kind of in-between fashion styles. I really liked the way this hat mixed the design elements of a pinch-front western hat and a fedora. I got it in black because I felt it was the right pick for the season, but it comes in a lot of really nice colors, both neutral and jewel-tone, so there very well may be another of these in my future. I think that what I've discovered I like best about this hat is that it's a really easy way to change/elevate a look at...er....the drop of a hat. I know. Sorry. hat as above / fringe sleeve sweater (UK), fringe sleeve sweater (US) / MiH Marrakesh jeans (UK), MiH Marrakesh jeans (US) / sterling silver feather cuff bracelet (old), similar (UK), similar (US) / concho earrings (old), similar (UK), similar (US) / chrysocolla ring (old), similar This post has been shared with: Not Dead Yet Style, Away from the Blue, Elegantly Dressed & Stylish, Walking in Memphis in High Heels, Not Dressed as Lamb, Jersey Girl, Texan Heart, Living on Cloud Nine, A Labour of Fashion, Curly Crafty Mom, Doused in Pink

There is a slight danger that I got these photos taken just moments before summer ended here on the wet coast, excuse me I mean the west coast of Scotland. I hope I'm wrong about this, but we've had a really nice long spell of beautiful weather - more so than usual, and in the back of our minds we are all fearful that that may have been it. Goodness knows there's precedent. New disappointing rainfall notwithstanding, it is still summer,  and therefore time to let the few pieces in my wardrobe that I haven't moved to Florida out into the paddock for a wee gallop. This is a thrifted find - a tiered floral print top from, of all places, White House Black Market - a place that sort of built its whole ethos around a black and white palette with "pops of color". Clearly, this top was one of the "pops of color".  I am thinking this top is circa mid to late 2000s, due to the fabric and the tiered effect. Funny, I almost passed this one by, thinking it was too referential to the decade it is obviously from, but then I kept coming back to it. The red print kept drawing me in. Then I realized that it did not matter one iota if this piece was dated and referential, because that was exactly what I liked about it (since when do I care about these things anyway?) I guess even those of us who as a matter of policy don't give a hoot about the social fashion forecast are still susceptible to it - if only in a subconscious way. Anyway, it is exquisitely comfy, and as a quick-grab top for summer, also a safe bet because the pattern will hide anything you spill on it (a very real probability if I"m wearing it), and the tiers hide that second...okay, third Gardenburger you ate at the barbecue. thrifted top, similar / thrifted jeans / thrifted sandals, similar / rose leaf earrings from my Etsy shop / rose gold-plated silver bracelet (old), similar

I seem to be starting out all my posts of late in the same manner, which is to offer some type of an apology for my sparse postings. I can assure you it's not because I have lost interest in fashion, thrifting, or anything else - in fact, quite the opposite. I've been undertaking a training course and simultaneously trying to do orders and dream-up new things for my Living Earth Etsy Shop. In the pursuit of the latter I have sort of inadvertently become the natural insect repellent distributor amongst my coworkers and their families - something that here in the west of Scotland, is pretty much the same as being knighted, or even marrying into royalty, such is the weight of importance given to the promise of a potentially bug bite-free summer. So from now on, you may refer to me as The Lady Highland Fashionista, Duchess of Herbal Midge Repellent, or if that's too wordy, simply Her Ladyship will suffice.  For those of you reading this outside of Scotland, a "midge" is essentially the same as a "noseeum" in the US. Those little, bitey bastards that can fit through screens. Of course the upside to becoming insect repellent royalty is the underlying indication that the weather is indeed good enough to be getting bothered by bugs at all, and such has been the case this summer. In over a decade of living in the West Highlands, this is far and away the best summer I have seen. It was nearly (nearly) to the point where I found myself wishing that I had left some of my Florida clothes here to add to my rotation. While what is appropriate in SW Florida is never going to look completely right in the Scottish West Highlands, that usually doesn't stop me from trying, so today I shook out one of my Lilly pima cotton Marlow shift dresses, a "just in case" holdover that I decided to leave in Scotland, and proudly pranced around in it. I'm royalty now, so I can totally do that - although don't expect me to be caught dead any time soon in sensible royal hemlines or shoes. That's going just a step too far. Lilly Pulitzer Marlowe dress / Jack Rogers Marbella sandals / handmade beaded parrot earrings from a tourist shop in Sarasota, similar

It had been a while since I'd shot an outfit of the day post, so naturally I got all ready, got out the DSLR, set up the tripod, then pffft. Dead battery. There was rain on the very near horizon (because Scotland), so today's brief post is brought to you courtesy of my iPhone. This is a Lilly Pulitzer romper that I found on sale at the end of last season in Tampa. I'm not sure why I thought I even needed to bring it back to Scotland with me, as this is certainly not the kind of thing you can get much wear out of (or really, probably any) in the Highlands, but apparently I had some reason for doing so. But it will be going back to Florida, probably next month. In summer, and I'm talking about properly hot summer here, I like things that are easy. One piece - preferably in a strong color or print so you don't have to wear a lot of jewellery or makeup. The older I get, the more I'm turning into a "one and done" kind of a gal. That said, onesies, rompers, playsuits...whatever you want to call them - they can be problematic. When you are tall and long-waisted, they tend to fit in a way that renders your, um...Southern Hemisphere into a shape resembling a distal digit on a certain dromedary mammal. You know what I mean. Don't make me say it. Also, when you're out at a bar or restaurant and need to use the facilites, you are basically sitting there stripped naked from your neck to your knees. It gives you a lot of time to reflect on your choices, sartorial or otherwise. Despite these pitfalls, I still really like the idea of a one piece garment, so when I finally found one that actually fitted my long torso, I pulled the trigger. Just a few touches of gold, in this case a bracelet, simple pair of earrings, and some thrifted gold leather heeled sandals, and done. Lilly Pulitzer Karlie romper (last season) / thrifted gold leather sandals

Big announcement everyone! Over the next several weeks, I'm going to be working on migrating the blog to this, our new platform! This is a move I should have made ages ago, but laziness and a lack of desire to faff about with my following kept me from doing so. However, my growing frustration with what I could do on the old platform finally got the better of me, and it was definitely time to fish or cut bait! You may need to re-subscribe if you get your posts via rss, as I am now using an email subscription service, but the blog will remain at the same domain name. I will keep the old site alive as an archive during the migration process, and there is an "ARCHIVE" link available on the new platform during the transition should you wish to browse older posts - and hooo-boy! There are a lot of older posts! Nearly a decade's worth, so I guess I had better get back to it. Thanks for your patience during this transition everyone. If you notice any broken links or anything else malfunctioning, send me a message via the contact page. Kristin