Bloomin'

I mentioned a few posts back that I still have quite a few outfit photos from Georgia, and I'm trying to make my way through them. This dress used to be about five inches longer, but I had it altered so I'd wear it more during the summer. It's made of some polyester/manmade material and now at a shorter length, it breathes a bit better. 

I took these photos on my university's North Campus, on a day when everyone seemed to be out with a photographer to take graduation photos. I originally wanted to take photos at the chapel, but when the hordes never died down, I resorted to the administration building, which tries to be cool in its historical-ness with engravings of author names, but actually has 'Shakespeare' misspelled above its doorway. 

credits - dress, vintage, thrifted | shoes, target. 

Curdled skies

I'm all settled now in New York and it's funny how blogging just falls by the wayside. In the last couple weeks, I've graduated from my program, said goodbye to everyone in Georgia and then drove a Uhaul up to New York (Jeremiah may have helped quite a bit with that last one). 

In addition, I got a job as well! I'll be working for a media agency in the city and I start in a couple weeks. I'm super excited about the next few stages in my life.

I have quite a few outfit photos left from Georgia so I'll be sharing those over the coming days. This yellow vintage dress is one that sat in my closet for years until I decided to recently alter five inches off the length (as part of a graduation gift to myself, I took a few vintage dresses to get altered). Forgive the amount of photos here -- the clouds were so pretty that day I took photos that it was hard to edit down on this location. 

credits - dress, vintage, thrifted | shoes, target | jacket, aeropostale, thrifted | bag, stone mountain, thrifted. 

Turquoise sky

Just a recent outfit that I've worn so many times this semester for different presentations. I love the abstract design against the landscapes. 

The bracelet is a recent vintage find -- it's very similar to my cougar bracelet that I still need to get repaired. Until then, it's a good replacement.

Forgive the brevity -- I'm in finals week! My final finals week ever.

credits - dress and shoes, target | blouse, banana republic | bracelet, vintage, finder's keepers.

And it was all yellow

I have spent a lot of time at this lake lately. Whenever I get free time from work or class, I just find myself driving those back roads to the park, through farm land and past dilapidated farms. It's like nothing can really, truly reach me when I'm there. 

I've been wanting to wear this outfit all spring, and actually envisioned the floral wreath to go with this dress. Yellow used to be my favorite color as a child, and I've been seeking it out to match my current landscapes. I had some difficulties taking photos on this dock -- the outer section floats and doesn't have a foundation, so I had to be super careful with my movements to prevent my camera from falling into the water!

credits - dress, target | shoes, talbots | hair wreath, diy. 

What the water gave me

This post is a direct result of listening to so much Florence Welch and Lana Del Rey this week -- now that it's spring, all I want to do is bust out the floral hair wreaths.  I tried explaining all of this to a friend earlier this week and he called me the ultimate hipster. Though I like things that are popular in the fashion blogosphere -- constructing elaborate photoshoots and  making hair wreaths, for instance -- I can't say that I aspire to embody certain stereotypes. I like what I like and, well, no apologies.

There's been a sense of urgency in my photography lately, since I've been revisiting all of my photo spots in anticipation of moving in a couple weeks. When I go, I spend a lot more time planning for the locations, hoping to make the most of the weather and my time, everything else be damned. Whenever I go to the usual spots, I sometimes run into bird watchers and ornithologists, armed with their cameras and binoculars to watch for the herons and other aviary. It's always a good omen to see these visitors at the park, because usually my photos turn out better whenever they're there. I'm not sure why my photos end up better, but I think it's because I'm there early enough to watch the sunrise and do some reflection photography. When I took these photos, I shared the dock with some very good-natured landscape photographers. I usually shy away from other people at the park whenever I'm there to take photos -- I don't like having to explain what I'm doing to everyone! So when the photographers came and saw me, they were pretty cool about it and apologized for interrupting. And though for different purposes, we stood on opposite sides of the dock, working in silence on our photography. I don't know if they wondered what I was working on, or cared, but it was nice to have kindred company for once.

credits - dress, vintage, agora | floral wreath, self made | shoes, talbots | ring, heirloom.

Brella

Whenever it rains, I try to make it down to the tennis courts because no one will be there so I can practice my photography, and the puddles are just too fun for experimentation. I only had a short time at the courts for this session, because about 10 minutes in, a police car came rolling through for patrols. I've never run into law enforcement during my photo outings (and I haven't gone exploring too far off to garner any trespassing suspicions), but I'd rather keep my streak of not having to explain myself going. 

I'm not quite sure why I've never photographed this outfit before -- I practically lived in it during that weird time between winter and spring. Velvet pants are just way too comfortable.

credits - blouse, vintage, thrifted | pants, talbots | shoes, target | bag, vintage, stone mountain | umbrella, gift. 

Pollen paisley

Town has been so covered in pollen, I really am surprised I haven't been engulfed in a giant yellow ball of tumblefluff yet. This J. Crew dress is one of my favorites for spring but it basically matches everything on the ground right now.

When I took these photos, I had to essentially wait in line for this spot. Everyone is out on the historic campus taking graduation photos. I normally shy away from public areas for outfit photos (because it's still weird and after four years, I feel like I still have to make excuses for such weird narcissistic behavior), but there's only three weeks left to hit up my favorite spots. I've been driving to other parks in the area lately -- there is something emboldening about having a full tank of gas, sunscreen and a little more free time. 

Here is the last roundup of all the ways I've worn this dress. I like to mix it with khakis and green. 

credits - dress, j. crew | blouse, vintage, thrifted | shoes, talbots | ring, heirloom.

P.S. After being a holdout for so long,  I'm on instagram now! Follow me at @joannssidewalk. 

  

   

Classic revival

I took these photos a few weeks ago when my bangs were still fresh. My hair has grown like a weed since then! 

I've been hopping around to different places around the area to practice my photography, but I keep coming back to my favorite building on campus, the Fine Arts Theatre. Some history of the building: It was built in 1941 and was  apparently the last building of the Works Progress Administration(WPA). It also was used to train WWII pilots. I like being able to walk through this history, and it's one of the reasons I'm going to miss Athens after I move. Photos in this spot are really difficult to do because it's near a busy road, so my time here was a bit brief. 

credits - dress, target | sweater, loft | necklace, thrifted | shoes, talbots | bag, thrifted, stone mountain. 

Back in focus

Confession time: I've feeling iffy on my Nikon DSLR camera for the last few months. Most of it is because with my model, the focus options  were really out of place on most of the settings I tried, making most of my photos pretty blurry. After spending lots of time trying to sharpen and correct a bunch of outfit photos, I was pretty much ready to call it quits on my camera and just go back to the point-and-shoot, thinking the problem was that my photography skills had disintegrated over the last few months. Turns out, the focus feature is a common problem with my model, and after finding a few how-to hacks to the settings, I think I am back in business! It's always rewarding to see photos reflect reality.

I've wanted to wear this outfit for months. It's bright and academic-ish, and perfect for campus and work. 

credits- dress, nine west | blouse, vintage thrift find | shoes, talbots | bag, stone mountain, thrift find | pocket watch necklace, waltham, heirloom.

Watson Mill Bridge

Now that I have a lot more free time, I've been visiting some of my favorite spots around town as sort of a "goodbye tour" through Athens. One of my favorite photography spots is Watson Mill Bridge Park. It's the longest covered bridge in the state. I had some fun taking photos this weekend and splashing in the water. 

This vintage dress from local store Agora is a gift to myself for finishing up my last semester of graduate school. It fits perfectly and, coupled with my bangs, I cannot help but feel like I'm Zooey Deschanel in "(500) Days of Summer." 

credits - dress, 1950s vintage, from agora | bag: stone mountain, thrifted | shoes: target | belt: vintage, from a giveaway.

P.S. There must be something in the water around April, because I seem to visit this spot at the same time every year. Here and here are my last few visits to Watson Mill Bridge. 

Muscle memory

I've been in New York for the last three weekends for job and research stuff, but now that my media research project is over, I have much more free time! I'm looking forward to enjoying my last month in town before I move up North. 

So I've been resorting to the same uniform of sorts for the last couple weeks -- dress, sweater, tights, and out the door. I haven't really worn my brooches in the last year or so, but I've been revisiting them as kind of "good luck" talismans I wear throughout the day. I bought this leaf a few years ago before I graduated from my undergrad years -- it seems appropriate now to rewear it while my life is in transition!

It's been very cold down here that my tripod has been freezing in place. I'm so happy to play around with my photography more now that my time is more open. 

credits - dress: loft | sweater: talbots | coat: h&m, thrift find | boots: tj maxx | brooch: vintage, from finder's keepers. 

Grand Central

I went to New York last week for spring break to visit Jeremiah, go to some meetings and work on a giant research project. While I was there, I had to shoot some video footage around the city for my project, so we went to Grand Central. Jeremiah lives in the city now, but had never been! We spent some time wandering around and staring at the beautiful constellation mural on the ceiling. I love old architecture in New York, and learning about the stories behind building development. Growing up in suburban Georgia, most buildings have been built in the last 40 years, so it's cool to visit cities that have more  remnants of their historical background. When I move up to the city, I'll be checking out a few more places I've found on Scouting NY and capturing these details with my own camera. 

I wore this dress multiple times during the week for my meetups -- it's such a great staple. 

credits: dress- loft | blouse- vintage, thrifted | boots, tights: tj maxx | bag: stone mountain, thrifted.