Better Late than Never

Two months ago I got all dolled up for my great friend Mindy's wedding. And took some (slightly dark) outfit shots. I really loved this outfit, so I hope you'll forgive me the lack of chronological and photographic clarity.

 * dress: Teri Jon * shoes: J. Renee * flower earrings: purchased for my wedding * headband: Chinatown market *

While I generally love the ability to lounge around in comfortable duds, the occasional opportunity to go all out is one I relish. For this look, I let the dress-- a fabulous retro-cut navy number with floral embellishment at the neckline--shine. Just add some blingy peeptoes, a jeweled headband and a deliciously fruity cocktail for a perfect wedding recipe.

Giraffe with Glasses

Lazy Friday of a very long weekend (no class Thursday-Tuesday) yielded this little number, featuring a slightly ridiculous sweatshirt I picked up at F21 over the summer. What can I say, other than I have a thing for fake glasses? And, apparently, giraffes.

* sweatshirt: F21 * skirt: Anthropologie * flats: Chinese Laundry * earrings: gift from sister * bag: Anne Klein *

Hubs is here in Philadelphia over the next 6 weeks doing an away rotation, and it is really lovely to finally turn my apartment into something more than simply a landing space. After soldiering through Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday of Sukkot begins tomorrow night. Hopefully the mild weather we've been having here over the past week holds up while we wine and dine under stars.

Testing, Testing

[Ahem...Is this thing still on?] Oh, hello there. If you're still reading after my little two-month vanishing job, big thanks to you. I've gotten several emails and formspring questions asking where I'd gone, and I feel I owe you an explanation.

As I noted in my last post, life had gotten a bit complicated. And rather than settling down again once school began, it only got worse. A combination of my first semester of coursework, traveling back to New York as soon as I finished classes each week/heading back right before classes began the next, and a general sense that my time was simply better spent at the library than at home (where I had no internet, natch) boiled down to one simple thing: no photographs, no blogging.

I considered giving it up. After all, I don't see my schedule suddenly clearing up. But each time I wrote a post about calling it quits, a sense of loss kept me from publishing. This blog is more than just a fashion chronicle. It was my creative outlet after my father died, a network of support when I lost my job, and a hobby that doesn't require learning how to knit or purl. I still believe in the mission of the blog, too: to explore the tension between living as an Orthodox Jew immersed in the modern world, exhibited through sartorial choices. While "modesty blogging" has certainly taken off, I feel that my perspective, one of respecting the tradition while struggling with its implications, is still relatively unexplored.

So I am not giving up. I am back, but will not be posting nearly as regularly as before. As I've always said, I view this as a hobby, and will post when I get a chance or have something interesting to show/say. I understand if some of you feel that a non-daily (or even weekly) fashion blog is not what you signed up to read; I thank you for reading, hope you'll stick around for my sporadic posts and understand if you don't. And if you've been wondering what I've been wearing...

 Summer Bat Mitzvah wear. Nothing like a patterned dress to set a fun tone. 

Dress: purchased from Orthodox-run boutique in Brooklyn. Shoes: Nine West: Necklace: F21. Headband: F21.