The Maximalist

  Since my closet is so small (and half of it is full of Dan's stuff) I often hang more than one item on each hanger– such as a cardigan over a dress.  But every once in a while I do this and then stop and look at the two pieces I just paired together and realize they'd make a perfect outfit together.  Which is exactly what happened with this blazer and dress.  I suspect the print mixing might be a bit too crazy for some people, but I love mixing all kinds of prints.  I've realized that my natural tendency is to maximalism, in pretty much all areas of my life.  My design work always tends towards the visually dense, in all my art I end up doing the most tedious processes ever (and love it), my hair is big, curly, and crazy... so I suppose it only makes sense that my outfits would express this as well.

blazer/courtesy of modcloth :: shoes/minnetonka :: dress/modcloth bag/courtesy of handbag heaven :: belt/thrifted
Lately I've been trying to get better at minimalism.  I've always really appreciated and loved the clean lines and open feeling of minimalism.  Aesthetically I think it's beautiful, but whenever I go to design something it will naturally tend to be visually dense.  It takes work for me to get my brain to re-calibrate to a more minimal look, but I'd like to have the ability to create things with more diverse aesthetics.  My aesthetic has always been a sort of tacky, 70's, pattern-filled aesthetic, but there's something to be said for the sophistication of minimalism.  I'd like to be able to merge the two somehow.  To retain that retro, sort of tacky, feel while maintaining a more sophisticated look.  Graphic and interior design aside, though, I think I'll always like to wear visually dense outfits with mixing patterns, textures, and colors.