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Tag:

what i wore

what I wore : making friends with the locals

by Kaylah Stroup January 7, 2015
details
sweater – Hedgehog and Kisses Sweater c/o Modcloth
button up shirt – Fun and Board Games Top c/o Modcloth
jeans – H&M
boots – Palladium Boots
necklace – eBay
ring –  Mickey Alice Kwapis
 

I made a new friend while shooting outfit photos. This majestic little beast waltzed out from a crack in the abandoned building I was shooting up against and trotted straight over to me, meowing up a storm. When I would start to ignore her she’d walk away but as soon as I showed her the slightest bit of attention she’d run right back over. She liked being talked to a lot but was a liiiittle bite-y when it came to being pet. If I took pictures today my outfit details would include “scratches on hand – c/o of feral cat” I’m going to have to say it was worth it though because I was tickled pink to meet such an otherwise friendly feral cat. I wish I could become buddies with every animal I meet this quickly.

Actually as soon as I realized how friendly and social the cat was I called up Mickey, who is pretty awesome at finding homes for animals, to come scoop this guy up. She was there in basically five minutes but immediately pointed out the cat’s tipped ear, meaning she was part of the Trap-Neuter-Return Program. That didn’t stop the cat from hopping in Mickey’s car while the door was open though! Hah!

I’ve got my fingers crossed this fluffy little babe is there next time I go to shoot outfit photos there. I’ll come bearing treats.
xoxo

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what I wore : plaid + polka dots

by Kaylah Stroup December 23, 2014
details
sweater – Modcloth (a few years back)
flannel – Black + White Flannel via Old Navy
jeans – Skinny jeans c/o Macy’s
boots – c/o
camera bag – Jo Totes
necklace – Saturn Necklace made by Rock Sugar Jewelry
lapel pin – Pintrill
I can’t believe near the end of December this is what I’m wearing. Don’t get me wrong, out on the pier it was COLD and windy – if you couldn’t tell by my hair. But seriously, for this time of the year, this weather is amazing! As much as I’ve been sulking about it being cold, it could definitely be a lot worse. Snow has been few and far between this year. It’s strange.

I think this might be my new favorite outfit, at least for now. Ya know, until next week when I have a new favorite. Hah. These are the same jeans from this post, I kind of can’t get enough of them. In high school I owned a ton of different colored jeans but really had no idea how to style them. In fact I probably just wore them exclusively with Nirvana tshirts. Eventually I wrote them off as something that were hard to wear. These are my first colored pair since then and I’m having way too much fun trying them with just about everything in my closet. I really like that the color is still kind of normal, it’s not too outrageous but adds a touch of fun to an outfit. Must get more colorful pants!!

On an unrelated note, I can’t believe Christmas is at the end of this week. Guess who is 100% unprepared. ME. Whoops. Hope you have an awesome day, maybe one you don’t spend stressing about the fact you need to shop for just about everyone still.
xoxo

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what I wore: stay cozy

by Kaylah Stroup December 8, 2014
what I wore, the dainty squid,
orange hair
shoe detail shot,

details 

hat + scarf – Kin Ship Goods (last year)
coat – c/o
sweater – c/o
necklace – c/o Black Crystals
jeans – TJ Maxx
socks – c/o
boots – c/o
backpack – c/o
patch – Maiden Voyage Clothing Co.
sunglasses – Tumbleweeds Handcraft

The only thing that could make this outfit better to me would be these boots. I currently own five pairs of Palladium Boots (sorry, I literally just told you that a few outfit posts back) but the thing is that they’re all black. Black matches everything, of course, but I’m aching for a brown pair. It took every ounce of my self control not to buy a few colorful pairs during their Black Friday sale.
Regardless, I’m loving this outfit as simple as it is. I will always have a wild streak in my style. I’m sure that some days, no matter how old I get or how “mature” my style gets, there will be days I just want to wear something completely wacky, and more than a little bit obnoxious.  I know I’ve talked about it in the past how what I wear a certain day all depends on how I’m feeling. One day I can
be very into a 50’s housewife look, and the next I might be most comfortable in jeans and a sweater, and the next day something completely different. Jeans and sweaters have been what feels right most of the time lately. I’m a little bit jealous of people who have a super consistent style but I guess there’s nothing wrong with mixing it up… everyday!I was curious what I was wearing around this time in previous years and stumbled upon this outfit post in my archives. I think that will forever be one of my all time favorite posts on The Dainty Squid. I still have that dress, I’m thinking it needs to make a reappearance soon. You know what else needs to make a reappearance? Elycia and our “what we wore” posts, right?!

xoxo

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what I wore : on the tracks

by Kaylah Stroup November 24, 2014
details 
jacket – Vegan Leather Moto Jacket c/o Golden Tote
sweater – c/o Golden Tote
necklace – Hannah Zakari (a few years back)
 jeans – TJ Maxx
camera bag – Lowepro
boots – Pallabrouse Baggy Ex c/o Palladium Boots

This feels like a very grown up outfit for me. There’s nothing really outrageous, other than my hair. For the most part, this is a pretty chill outfit and surprisingly enough I’m really into it. This sweater is definitely something I would pass right by in the store, never giving it a second look but I actually really love it. It was one of my surprise items in this month’s Golden Tote (more info on Golden Tote here!) As soon as I put it on I was smitten. It just fits really well, is cozy and looks great. I have a feeling it will be in heavy rotation this winter. It’s so great to find items that are simple, and easy to just throw on with anything without much thought. I’d like to fill my closet with those pieces.

I’ve been poking around the tracks a lot lately. I didn’t grow up around train tracks. I actually can’t think of any anywhere near my parent’s house but I always wished there were some close. I like that it’s a little escape from the city to be near the tracks. It’s quiet except for when there is actually a train, there’s usually no one else around, and on top of that, they’re a nice place to take pictures. I certainly wouldn’t mind living a bit closer.
xoxo

PS. Ya like that rock by my foot that I used as a marker for the spot that was in focus? Definitely meant to kick it out of frame. Hah!

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what I wore : la luna

by Kaylah Stroup November 17, 2014
 details 
jean jacket – TJ Maxx
sweater – Sing Your Phase Top c/o Modcloth
shirt – thrifted
back patch – Goners
patch – Spellcaster
lapel pin – Explorer’s Press
pants – TJ Maxx
shoes – Amazon
camera bag – Somerset c/o Jo Totes

Even though the end of autumn is here, and it seems like all the leaves have already fallen I managed to find this colorful little corner. It’s funny how long I spent worrying there was nowhere to shoot outfit photos since I lived in the city now and I’m not one to shoot in front of other people. Now that I’m a little bit more comfortable venturing around on my own I’m realizing all these awesome spots I frequent with my pals to shoot photos make killer backgrounds for outfit photos.

Jo Totes just released this camera bag, Somerset. I’m always excited to get my hands on her bags. This one, although lacking the cross body strap which is how I always wear my bags, is incredible!! It’s SO roomy. Better than anything else though, it has a million pockets. I have always been a sucker for pockets. I remember that being a big deal when I picked out trapper keepers and backpacks, if they didn’t have lots of pockets I didn’t want them. Still kind of exactly the same, pockets win me over every time. This is the perfect purse/camera bag combo.
xoxo

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what I wore: golden tote

by Kaylah Stroup November 11, 2014
the dainty squid, graffiti, orange hair
the dainty squid, orange hair,
details
jacket – Vegan Leather Moto Jacket c/o Golden Tote
shirt – c/o Golden Tote
necklace –c/o Shlomit Ofir
lapel pin – No Fun Press
jeans – H&M
socks – Romwe (a few years back)
shoes – c/o Loly in the Sky

For this outfit post I teamed up with Golden Tote, a company I’m very excited to tell you about! Golden Tote is basically the ultimate surprise grab bag! They have two different tote sizes, $49 for 2-3 items, or $149 for 5-7 clothing items. Those bags have a retail value of up to $200 and $600, respectively. What happens is you get to choose 1-2 items to go in your tote and then they surprise you with the rest based on a short quiz you fill out on the site.

golden tote review

New styles launch on the first Monday of every month so November’s style just recently went live. It was a tough choice for me to choose what two items I wanted in my bag since there were quite a few items I was pining over. As it turned out I ending up loving everything in my tote.  But if I didn’t, they actually have a trading group on Facebook, so it would have all worked out regardless! In my tote I received the two items shown in the outfit above as well as a dress, and two more sweaters which I’m sure I’ll be showing off in outfit posts in the near future. I’m supremely picky about sweaters and somehow I ended up with three I really like. I’m pretty pumped.

Can’t finish this post off without talking about how much I love these photos! I. AM. OBSESSED. I felt so incredible in this outfit, which I’m going to blame on that jacket. I might have even wore the whole outfit two days in a row. The location just felt perfect for the whole look, definitely one of my favorite little hidden spots in Cleveland. My hair looks amazing with the graffiti. Basically, I feel reeeeal good!
xoxo

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what I wore : ALIENS!

by Kaylah Stroup November 6, 2014
alien sweater,
the dainty squid, alien sweater, orange hair, kaylah doolan
details
sweater – c/o Shredders Apparel
shirt – c/o Maiden Voyage Clothing Co.
jeans – H&M
rings – rainbow fortune teller ring c/o Demiflux, question mark ring
boots – Palladium Boots

Hey, surprise! I dyed my hair! I always try to do a post featuring just photos of my hair after every big change before showing it off in an outfit post but since I’m getting it chopped off tomorrow I figured I’d just wait to do that until after. So, “official” hair photos coming soon with dye details and photos that really show off how beautiful it really is!

In other news, how awesome is this sweater!? Last year I got their bigfoot sweater, seen here, and this year I chose aliens! I’ve been hoarding it away until it was cold enough to wear it since it’s a seriously warm sweater! I actually went to the beach without a coat, just the sweater and was comfortable. It’s finally feeling like fall is over in Ohio, which I’m not quite sure how to feel about. Mostly because I want to be on my bike and daaaaang, it’s cold. I never thought I’d be pining for those hot days of summer where it felt like I was biking on the sun, but I kind of am. It’ll be back soon enough though. Guess I’ll just enjoy sweater weather, and crunchy leaves while I can since it’ll be snowing before I know it!
xoxo

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what I wore : polka dots

by Kaylah Stroup October 13, 2014
details 
dress- It’s A-boat Time Dress via Modcloth
belt – snagged from another dress
necklace – Jesiiii
tights – Target
shoes – Le Bunny Bleu

I’ve somehow managed to keep this dress in my closet for over a year yet only wear it one time before this. The first time I wore it was actually around this time last year when I was in Philadelphia. Since then it’s sat untouched until my big closet clean out sale (which I still cannot believe went SO well!) I rediscovered it and decided it needed to be worn. It’s such a nice cut, if only it were black and white striped… Hah!

This outfit shoot did no go as planned. First a cop, who I’ve decided might not have even been a cop at all just someone strange in a uniform, walked up the road to where I was and just stopped about fifteen feet away from me. He started pacing around, looking up at me every few seconds, just sending off weird vibes. I tried waiting him out but eventually freaked myself out enough I just moved to the other side of the park. Better safe than sorry, right?  Especially if he wasn’t really a cop. There are crazy people out there, certainly ones crazier than that heavily tattooed girl alone at the park taking pictures of herself! Hehe. Then it started to rain, and then I broke my remote. Blergh. But I was pretty pumped when I got home, went through the photos and realized I liked enough of them to post! So it’s not all bad, always a silver lining.
xoxo

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what I wore : seasons change

by Kaylah Stroup September 23, 2014
kaylah doolan, palladium boots, the dainty squid, ootd, outfit post
palladium boots, the dainty squid
palladium boots, blogger,
the dainty squid, purple hair, outfit post, palladium boots
details
jean jacket – thrifted
dress – Foxtail & Fern Dress via Modcloth
belt – Foxy Moxie Belt c/o Modcloth
pins – Good Vibes via Pintrill, Explorer via Explorer’s Press, Pro pin via Nasty Nasty
ring – Firefly Collections
back patch – Stay Home Club
tights – L’eggs Sheer Energy
boots – Palladium Boots

This is one of the few dresses that isn’t black and white striped that managed to survive my most recent closet clean out. (Shop my closet sale goes live tomorrow! Eeee!) My style has changed so drastically over the past few years. It’s funny because it happens so slowly that I don’t really even realize it’s happening until one day nearly everything in my closet just isn’t me anymore or is something I no longer can figure out how to style.

That’s actually one of the main reasons I like to document my outfits, to watch my style evolve. Things I used to wear still look cute to me, but they no longer feel right on me. I tried this dress on with a few different cardigans, tights, and shoe combos before deciding on this one because it just felt good.

early 2013 // late 2013 // 2014

This outfit is cute but still super practical, which is all that I care about anymore. I was able to climb around on the drift wood because of my palladium boots, which surprisingly look awesome with a dress! Dresses and boots paired together are kind of a new thing for me. This was probably the very first time ever that I have been ecstatic about how they looked together. The dress is cute and feminine but long enough that I don’t have to worry about people seeing my butt while climbing around and picking up things for my found on the beach project. Plus the color is the best, which probably is what really accounts for it’s lengthy stay in my wardrobe.
Anyway, enough rambling about personal style. Hope you’re having an excellent Tuesday!

xoxo

PS. Happy first day of autumn!

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I'm Kaylah! Renovating a 150-year-old home in Northeast Ohio. Likely found in my garden.

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THE DAINTY SQUID
  • blog
    • all the posts!
    • stroup mansion
    • some of my favorite posts
    • plants + gardening
    • beauty, fashion + hair
    • reviews
    • window shopping
    • explore everywhere
  • about me
  • contact
  • shop