Doing the Batty Bat

Last weekend, I made what was either a massive tactical error or an accidental genius move: I went to Target to buy two specific things. Needless to say, I left with a trunkful of stuff, including all the baby things ever and some key components of my Halloween capsule wardrobe.

My Halloween Capsule Wardrobe

Have capsule wardrobes fallen from favor? I feel like I see far fewer blog posts about capsule wardrobes than I did a year ago. But this just makes me think that it's about time for me to write a capsule wardrobe post of my own, since I'm the opposite of an early adopter. And since it's October, you probably could've guessed that my very first capsule wardrobe would be Halloween-themed!

And the Livin' is Easy

Well, it's finally fall, even though it's been ludicrously hot in Chicago for almost a week now. This summer was been super eventful, and it was such a nice change of pace from the first several months of the year! First, my mom came to visit, and after spending one of the nicest weekends I've had all year with her, I had two days of Trashy Diva meetups the very next weekend. I went to Vintage Garage Chicago for the first time and scored some sweet new dresses and an epic suitcase, and Jeff and I had a lovely babymoon around Chicago.

Maternity Style Hacks

When I got pregnant, I had three main goals with respect to my maternity wardrobe. First, I wanted to avoid wearing boring, generic maternity wear as much as I possibly could. Second, I wanted to wear my prepregnancy wardrobe for as long as I could, because I really like my current clothes. Finally, as much as humanly possible, I wanted to buy things that would work as well after my pregnancy as they did during. At eight months and change into this pregnancy thing, I'm pretty happy with how I'd done so far, so today I'm sharing some of the top maternity style hacks that have gotten me this far.

Lindy Bop Sale Haul

If I'm honest with you, it's been years since I thought about ordering from Lindy Bop. When I first started wearing retro-reproduction, I snagged several Lindy Bop frocks from Amazon (because free shipping > paying for international shipping). Two of them were massively successful, but I ended up selling the other two because the skirts just weren't full enough for my taste and the shelf-bust styles they offer looked a bit awkward on me. But over Labor Day weekend, I found myself unable to resist the siren song of incredibly cheap dresses in adorable prints.

Why I'm Not Buying a Travel System

It's Unpopular Opinion: Baby Edition time on Thoroughly Modern Emily! Today's topic: travel systems/infant car seats, also known as the bane of my baby-shopping existence, and why I'm not getting one. Before I get into this, though, to anyone who loves their infant car seat, please accept my apologies for what I'm about to write. But I'm 37 weeks pregnant and had all the feelings even before pregnancy hormones got involved, so I've got a lot to get off my chest here!

Purple and Gold

Maybe it's because I lived in LA for eight years and married an avid Lakers fan, but I'm a huge fan of a purple and gold outfit. Mustard yellow and purple just seem like they belong together, so when I got my hands on this new-to-me floral Modcloth skirt, I knew exactly how I'd style it for its maiden voyage.

The Kindness of Strangers

Recently, it seems like I've been writing a gazillion posts about super-heavy and/or difficult things. And while I'm a huge proponent of letting yourself experience your emotions, and have been consciously trying not to shy away from emotionally challenging topics, there's been plenty of sunshine in my life, too!

Life Update: Very Pregnant

Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend! I've spent the past four days in an absolute whirlwind of activity: shopping for baby things, organizing her room, doing a ridiculous amount of laundry, and even sneaking in a bit of fun with my mom here and there. She heads home tomorrow and I'm already sad about it. (Jeff has stocked up on tissues in anticipation.)

The Word from the Bird

Lately, I've been on a serious true-vintage kick. I'd been searching through Etsy for a while and adding lovely midcentury dresses to my cart, but the love affair really started in earnest with my trip to Vintage Garage in May. I snagged three amazing dresses for a song and realized that there's something extra exciting about finding a unique dress with a history of its own. When I set out to narrow down my Etsy cart and take the plunge on a few more dresses, this Word from the Bird number was at the very top of my list!

On Haters, Again

Every so often, I see posts on Facebook or Instagram that make me sad. Apparently, some people cannot go out in the world wearing whatever strikes their fancy without being inundated by obnoxious, judgmental, and downright rude comments from coworkers, 'friends'/relatives, and perfect strangers. And it sort of baffles me that so many people apparently never learned that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. It's not exactly rocket science, is it?

Shelter Island Hallockfest

Last month, I took my last trip to New York until 2018 (sob!), and as usual, it was an absolute whirlwind of a long weekend. I think I slept about twenty-eight hours total from Thursday night to Tuesday morning, which is a far cry from my preferred 8-10 hours per night. But a bit of fatigue is a small price to pay to cram in as much time with the people I love as possible! This trip was no ordinary jaunt home, however: I was there for a long-expected Hallock family reunion on the island where my dad grew up!

Review: Trashy Diva Wildflowers Streetcar

Trashy Diva has almost-singlehandedly turned me into a floral aficionado. Between their glorious tropical prints, their classic allover florals, and their big, bold flower prints, I've come to see the light at last! So when they released their Wildflowers collection, it was love at first sight! I had a little trouble deciding which style to order, but since I've been drooling over the Streetcar dress from afar for ages, the answer seemed pretty obvious.

Babymoon: the Adler Planetarium

Calling all space/astronomy nerds! There's a big event coming on August 21: a total solar eclipse! For the first time in quite a while, the path of the eclipse will cut from coast to coast of the United States, and I'm actually going to get a pretty good view in Chicago at midday. I've already planned my entire day around getting to Chicago's Adler Planetarium for the eclipse, though I still need to assemble a kit for safe viewing.

Review: Vintage Inspired by Jackie

If you've ever come across Vintage Inspired by Jackie's Instagram or her Etsy shop, there's a better-than-average chance that you've fallen hard for her work. Adorable Disney/Star Wars print dresses made using classic vintage patterns? Yes please!

Review: Lady V London Jasmine Dress

The British retro-reproduction clothing world is on fire lately. Between the Pretty Dress Company, the House of Foxy, and Collectif, I've given the Royal Mail and Fedex quite a workout in the past several months! I'm finally starting to get over my distaste for international shipping and its attendant cost, and after seeing some of my fave Insta pals looking amazing in their Lady V London dresses for ages, I decided to take the plunge. And if today's review of the Jasmine dress is a bit late, well: better late than never!

A Modest Proposal for Body-Positive Sizing

It's amazing (in a horrifying way) how much that tiny number or letter on the tag of your clothing can affect your entire sense of self. In the past week or so, I've seen some folks really struggling with body image, and it seems like whenever the matter of body acceptance comes up, the issue of clothing size isn't far behind.

Help Me, Trashy Diva Obi!

If you think I'm mildly obsessed with Trashy Diva...well, you're not wrong. They have so many amazing prints and such lovely vintage-inspired styles that I really cannot resist! I've reviewed quite a few of the new releases over the past year, but every once in a while, I like to take an older print out for a spin.

Hot Mama: a Stylish and Cool Third-Trimester Dress

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the year you buy an air conditioner is the year you'll get a ridiculously mild summer. To anyone out there in Chicago that's reading this: you're welcome. Remember that one week of 90+ degree heat and humidity in early June? Yeah, that ended the day before we had our ACs installed.

A Day in My Life

Routines are how I calibrate my life. I find comfort in familiar things and adapt fairly slowly to change, so I enjoy having daily and weekly rhythms that I can rely on. (I also don't get tired of the things I like, which is why I often order the same things at the restaurants we go to, and why I've seen Star Wars literally hundreds of times.) My little routines also help me to stay on track and be productive; without any concrete plans, I tend to just sort of relax and lose track of time.

Today, I figured I'd give you a peek into my daily routine. Since I'm such a creature of habit, it won't be too hard to remember what I do each day ;). I'm going to stick with the weekday routine, since it's a bit more fixed and definitely less embarrassing: the weekend edition involves far too much 'read the internet' and 'put feet up on the arm of the couch' for my ego to comfortably share.