An Explorer’s Best Friend

When one decides to go adventuring across sandy dunes boots are actually your best bet for footwear. Sandals may seem like the best option, but they have a tendency to come off all the time, or get filled with sand. Closed shoes also get filled with sand after a while, since they have open ankle. But boots solve all of these problems, because they don’t readily come off, and they are closed around your leg. This means that you aren’t going to be hindered by annoying grit between your toes, and you’ll stumble a bit less since your boots are secured on your feet. The only downfall is that most beachy exploration occurs in the Summer, so boots can get to be a little warm… You also can’t cool off by sticking your feet into the water, since it takes a bit more effort to remove boots than sandals and shoes…

This pair of boots I picked up for a song (seriously only $7) at Value Village just when we were seeing the last of winter. I’m not sure what brand they are, since there’s no insignia or logos anywhere on them, but I don’t care because they’re fabulous! As much as I’m not always into gold accents (I tend to go for silver), these boots are pretty damned close to perfection, since they have just enough of a sole, and the lines are super clean. The first time I wore them they were a bit uncomfortable, but once I had worn them a few more times they were much better. I wore them for about 3 hours during the photoshoot for Earn Your Stripes, and I packed a pair of sandals just in case they decided to give me any trouble, but I had absolutely no problems with them except that my legs got very warm after a while.

I like to think of these boots are being suited for a ship’s captain (hence why I’m featuring them during Nautical week), but they can also work really well for Equestrian-themed fashion. Of course, I rather dislike horses (it’s SO clichéd for girls to be obsessed with them), so I’m going to stick with calling them my captain’s boots J

Nautical Navy

Today I have another polish from China Glaze’s Anchors Away Collection, called “First Mate,” given to me of course by the lovely Kirsten Glittagloves.

When I first saw this blue I was underwhelmed (yes, you can be underwhelmed, but usually only in Europe…), but I figured that with some creativity I could put this polish to use. At first glance I thought it wasn’t a shade of blue that I would enjoy, since it’s quite a bit flatter than most of the blues I am drawn to. Even though it’s not actually a polish with a matte finish, I feel like the tone of the blue was very matte from how it looked in the bottle. Thankfully it didn’t really turn out the same as the bottle portrayed it, and it was actually quite lovely on. It’s a nice, subtle, slightly-lighter-than-normal navy, and it has a LOT of gloss to the finish, which gives it a bit more kick than I was anticipating. It covered pretty nicely in one coat, but for safety’s sake I decided to do a second, which made the colour quite a bit deeper. Sorry that the polish is a bit messy in these shots, but I was too lazy to actually do any clean-up, and Photoshopping was too much effort as well :p

I was surprised by was how much the colour changes between the light where I was painting my nails in comparison to natural light, and natural fluorescent bulbs. In incandescent light the colour looks like a true navy, and is quite dark, but under proper light it lightens up quite a bit, and is kind of a middle tone between navy and periwinkle. Obviously periwinkle is quite a light blue, and navy is quite dark, but First Mate falls pretty darn close to the middle of the spectrum of colours between them.

under natural fluorescent light

I decided to try and give First Mate a bit more personality by doing an accent nail in a glitter polish, even though I was rather happy with how it turned out solo. Breaking from the polish-norm I did an overcoat on my pointer fingers of OPI Last Friday Night (from the Katy Perry Collection). Suffice to say I was not pleased. The colours of the multi-sized glitter in Last Friday Night (silver, turquoise, and blue), and the slightly tinted base colour actually worked against the blue of First Mate. The problem was that Last Friday Night had too much going on with itself to be added to another polish properly. I’m also rather akeptical about how Last Friday Night is on it’s own, since I don’t really like that the base colour is tinted and not clear. Bu tI’ll try it on it’s own eventually, and we’ll see how that goes. 

glitter fail :(

Earn Your Stripes

We sure did! Here’s a few helpful tips on how to get a nautical themed outfit going. It’s seriously one of the easiest trends to incorporate into your wardrobe, and many of the pieces can be cross-referenced to other styles!

Step One: Stripes. How can you not love stripes? They’re so cute, and can be worn in a multitude of ways. (Check out my earlier post about pattern mixing if you need some help with this one).

Step Two: Bright reds. Add a dash of red to a neutral outfit and you’ve added some flair to an easy ensemble. Classic red lipstick, red belts, and even chunky red jewelry count!

Step Three: Tall boots. They’re sexy but still practical, especially when exploring on the beach! Though I won’t recommend them once the summer heat sets in…

Step Four: Gold jewelry. Every sea-farer has a handy stash of gold, so why shouldn’t we have ours (not that we would ever give up our accessories, unless we’re getting a good trade!).

Here’s how my best friend Aina and I worked the nautical look when we went beaching! For more photos check out her blog, Aina’s Addiction, or either of our Facebook pages! If you want details on any of the things we’re wearing we’d be happy to share, so just ask <3

To Top it all Off

Today’s wishlist item is something that I wouldn’t normally want, since it doesn’t meet the criteria of my fashion style. First and foremost, it’s a hat, and I don’t wear hats. Secondly, I don’t actually like the nautical trend that much. But I’ve been dying to get my hands on a captain’s hat for quite some time now. I’m not going to tell you why I want it, since it’s part of something rather big I have planned for the future that’s a surprise. Well, not that big of a surprise (since those of you involved know already), but it’s something that I’ve had in the works for quite some time, and when it all comes together it’s going to be fabulous!

This example is a basic captain’s hat that I found from the Amazon.com website, and I would totally jump on board (ugh puns…) and buy one, except that their shipping costs to Canada are expensive, and the Canadian site doesn’t carry apparel of any sort! What the heck guys, we wear clothes and accessories in Canada too! If anyone sees one from a legitimate site in Canada, or actually finds one in store somewhere then please let me know! I’ve been told that an Adult Store would probably have hats, but I’m loath to go there since the hats are probably cheap and crappy looking, and I want a nice one! I’m kicking myself now for not getting one at Halloween, since I saw tonnes of them come through Value Village! Oh well, I’m sure my shopping karma will kick in and find me one eventually!