what we wore: fashion cats in a small town

Simon&Garfunkel - Leaves that are green

Whenever we take photos near the house, our fashion cat Uno joins us. He sees the camera and tries to get in the shot. Although when he's relaxing on a couch or just being cute, it's impossible to take a picture of him! Such an unpredictable guy. But he loves outfit photoshoots. My favorite photos of the day are below. Hahah Don't get too close to Uno!

Since we moved here in July we've been getting more and more relaxed about what we wear. The pace of life and the overall attitude toward self-presentation is very different in a small town than a big city. No one cares as much here about what you wear. As long as you look clean and you're not naked, you're fine. In a big city like Moscow it's very important to dress to impress. Every day. You're being judged everywhere: on your subway ride, on the street, in a store, at school, in the office, etc.  It's important to dress up. I would never ever wear the same thing two days in a row when I worked at an office in Moscow. And doing what might seem unreasonably uncomfortable -- like wearing high heels on your hour-and-a-half long public transport commute to work -- is an unspoken big city fashion rule, and you don't want to be the one who can't keep up with it. When you see other people around you going out of their way to look stylish every day, it motivates you to do it as well. 

Now it's a different story. If you look like you really spent time dressing up in Sandpoint, you sometimes hear jokes about it or at least get curious glaces. I lived in Bozeman, MT for a couple of summers and it was the same way. As my mom keeps telling me, I shouldn't give up on dressing up.  I should dress just as I did in Moscow.  But I slowly make my way down to flip-flops, tank tops and sweat pants, and it gets harder to motivate myself to really plan my outfits in advance and spend lots of time ironing, applying a different nail polish every day, wearing make-up and heels because I know that no one will see it or care if they do.

This is why I feel my blog is so important! I know that readers see my photos and are interested in things like fashion and personal style.  I am changing and my tastes, and preferences are changing, too. And through this blog, other blogs, your comments and advice I feel like I have more chances to stay in touch with fashion.  It's not that I don't like the more relaxed atmosphere, but I enjoy taking pride in what I wear and I don't want to lose my inspiration.

 jacket//thrifted; brooch//c/o Origagas; jeans//Levi's; shoes//from Moscow.

Ben is very supportive, too. I love his taste, he always looks stylish wherever we live. And I love shopping with him. Usually we pick out the same items and it makes a decision making process easier. Although he doesn't share my love of plushy fleece things, haha. I can't ignore homey, soft, cozy, fluffy things, but when I show Ben a cute white fleece hoodie or something like that, he just says: "It's OK".

 
 
sweater//Insight; brooch//c/o Origagas; ring//ASOS; jeans//Mossimo Target; heels//Centro.

Here are a few cool things I also wanted to mention:

- Don't forget to enter this giveaway!

- We were featured in Lucky Magazine!

- I know Halloween is over but I really want to share my love for Kathryn's photoshoot! Check it out!

- Have you already had Holiday favorites at Starbucks? We had eggnog latte a couple of days ago! I've never had eggnog before, so I couldn't imagine what it'd be like. But I loved it! It's pretty thick though, I should have had a smaller cup. 

- This shop has the most adorable animal prints, cards and stickers on the planet! Of course, I've ordered some already :-)

October favorites and thank-yous

1. Persimmons. There's a connection between persimmons and holidays in my head. Or a frosty morning and my dad bringing me a persimmon, and it's so sweet and cold.. I'm just really glad it's this season again.

2. Aqua Allegiria Tiare Mimosa by Guerlain. A birthday gift from my friend. My favorite for fall season! It reminds me of honey.

3. Sun, sparkles and colorful leaves. I kind of like that on a sunny day it's more comfortable outside now: no heat, no bugs - the same bright sunshine, more hot drinks and more layers.

4. My new iPhone case c/o The case of Mr. Pelham - isn't it perfect for the coming winter season? I'm so excited! A bullfinch is a winter bird, I love seeing this red feathered pretty on white snow. Now I have my own seasonal birds in a pocket!

5. Ben gave me this flowers when I arrived. He said these are autumn flowers. Dark purple, blue and red looks like a really good fall color match.

6. Hand stamped initial necklace c/o illusy is so sweet! Gold is one of the main accents for me this season and this pretty piece fits so perfectly! 

7. Uno the cat is very friendly recently. And he kept getting in my pictures and knocking off my props. What a furry ball!

8. Everything is so colorful around! When I was leaving Moscow it was all grey and rainy and Sandpoint really surprised me. This town makes me appreciate autumn. 

I also wanted to thank my wonderful blog friends who guest posted for me while I was away. Thank you, Sara, Lauren, Laura, Katia and Alice! I really appreciate your help! I loved all of your posts and it was a pleasure to have you at Chestnut Mocha!

Oh, and there's a giveaway going on our blog. If you haven't yet you should enter to win a credit to an art shop. There are lots of cool prints and cards for the coming holidays gifts.

Surprise!

Recently I've been working a lot to help my mama organize her Etsy shop!

My mama is an amazing woman! I can't believe the creativity and time that go into each one of her flowers: mama carefully picks the fabric, then uses batik technique to dye it (if it's white), cuts out different petals, curves and irons each one of them with her special tools and assembles them all together! I am so proud of her and excited to share her shop with you!!

whofanciesme