Never Never Land

Happy June 1st! Can you believe it's already June?! I feel like spring really flew by... I hope summer goes a little slower! I hadn't planned on using these photos for an outfit post; I actually just took them to enter a contest that Pinup Girl Clothing was holding, called the #PairedUpInPUG contest. Entrants had to pair up with another PUG lover and stitch together photos of each person wearing the same Pinup Girl pieces. I paired up with the gorgeous Shermy (whom you might remember from this blogger interview post), since I knew we both had these Neverland Jenny dresses – and I had a mint cardigan and parasol I could add to match how she styled it. I don't really enter contests often, and I certainly didn't expect anything since there were so many great entries... but we won!! We each got to choose a free dress from PUG's current offerings, which was super exciting! I'd been hoping the Mary Blair umbrella print dress would be in stock, but the release has been pushed back, so I ended up choosing the Mary Blair planes print Heidi instead. It wasn't initially on my wish list, but after seeing how amazing some of my friends looked in it, I had to go for it. It was such a nice surprise, and I can't wait to wear the dress!

This Neverland Jenny will always be one of my favorite PUG pieces. I think it's the best-fitting out of the Jenny dresses I own, and how can you go wrong with a pink novelty print dress that's based on Peter Pan? I know the price of PUG's clothing can dissuade some people, but the quality is SO superior, and it's made ethically and in the United States. Fast fashion can be really tempting (believe me, I'm guilty of supporting it, too!), but I'd much rather have a wardrobe of high quality, timeless pieces that will last forever over a bunch of cheap, poorly-made pieces that'll be out of style in 6 months. Plus, I love wearing things that make me feel special, and companies like PUG always deliver on that!

Outfit Details

Neverland Jenny Dress: Pinup Girl Clothing

Mint cardigan: available at Trashy Diva

Necklace: ModCloth

Spectators: similar

Petticoat: similar

Parasol: similar

Here's our winning photo! Have you ever won a contest? :)

Puppy love

I feel like I've unofficially made it my mission to own every novelty print dress Bernie Dexter makes. Her dog print dresses had been on my wish list for a long time, but I wasn't completely sold on this particular style (she has since started making a version of this dress in her Paris style). When Olivia from Mane Message contacted me about reviewing a couple of her pieces, I knew I wanted to style her dachshund brooch with this dress, so I decided to take a chance and order it. I was surprised with how much I liked the top portion of the dress; I was worried about how the shoulders would look on me, but it turns out that I had nothing to worry about! As much as I love Bernie's Paris style, the top portion isn't actually accommodating enough for my bust, so I adore the fact that this dress is a bit more covered up. And it doesn't hurt that it paired perfectly with both of my Mane Message pieces!

Mane Message is a small accessory company that specializes in hair ties, headbands, bobby pins, and (my favorite) vintage French barrettes. Because there are so many lovely pieces to choose from, it was really difficult to pick which ones to review from that collection. You can check out their full selection of vintage barrettes here (and I dare you to not fall in love!). I actually didn't realize that the dachshund was a brooch at first, but it was a wonderful surprise! Both the pin and the clip are made of sturdy metal, and I love the fact that they're true 1960's vintage but aren't overly delicate. I also have to add that working with Olivia has been an absolute joy; she's incredibly communicative and enthusiastic, and it's obvious (even from simply reading the product descriptions on her site) how much she cares about her work and her customers.

Outfit Details

Dog print dress: Bernie Dexter

Dachshund brooch: c/o Mane Message

Star barrette: c/o Mane Message

Petticoat: similar

Flats: similar

Have a wonderful weekend!
xox Sammi

Friday Favorites #95

Happy Friday! I hope you all had a great week. It's been nice to have some semblance of normalcy again (and to have time to blog!). Here are some of the things I've been loving recently, starting with some pieces that look good enough to eat!

1  //  2  //  3  //  4  //  5  //  6  //  7

These are the cutest, fruitiest pillow cases!

What pretty prints!

a   ||   b   ||   c

I might be crazy, but I think this swimsuit is adorable!

I really want this retro radio:

I have a small collection of makeup and toiletry bags, and I want to add this one!

I don't talk very much about makeup on my blog, but I recently picked up this BB cream on a whim and I'm IN LOVE. My skin tends to be prone to redness, and because I'm on Accutane, my skin is even redder and it's incredibly dry (so my BareMinerals powders don't look right). These cream goes on green and then turns to a universal shade. It looks SO natural but still provides pretty great coverage (and it's non-comedogenic/dermatologist recommended). If you have similar issues with your skin, I'd definitely recommend giving it a try!

This denim dress is so cute!

These might be the prettiest/tackiest pink jelly shoes ever:

Speaking of pink, flamingoes seem to be everywhere lately!

a   ||   b   ||   c   ||   d   ||   e   ||   f

g   ||   h   ||   i   ||   j   ||   k

And finally, while we're on the subject of birds: has anyone else seen I Am Big Bird? It's a fantastic documentary about Carrol Spinney, who plays Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street. I really want to be a puppeteer, so the subject is of keen interest to me, but it's an incredibly interesting and moving film. It's available on iTunes and On Demand and I highly recommend it.

That's all for this week! Have a great Friday!

xox Sammi

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links, I may receive a small commission, which helps to run my blog. I link only to items and brands I absolutely love. Thank you for supporting The Soubrette Brunette!

Tick tock

I'm not normally big on jewelry. I'll wear a delicate necklace or a cute ring on occasion, and of course, I have my ever-growing novelty brooch collection... but other than that, I don't like the guild the lily, so I usually let my dresses do the talking. But when the kind folks over at JORD contacted me to review one of their beautiful wood watches, I decided to take a trip outside my accessory comfort zone! JORD (the Swedish word for "earth") specializes in contemporary, sustainable watches for modern living, and they carry a variety of stunning designs. After some hemming and hawing, I ended up choosing the Fieldcrest watch in Maple; I felt it was simple, versatile and not too oversized for my small wrists. The craftsmanship of their watches is evident from the product photos on their website, but even so, I was very impressed upon receiving my watch (which comes in a carved wooden box for safekeeping).

One of the best features about the JORD website is that you can actually have your watch custom-sized before it's even sent out to you! Having a watch resized is a bit of a pain, so JORD provides instructions and a printable ruler to help you to determine your correct size. I provided them with my measurement, and the watch ended up fitting perfectly when it arrived (it also came with extra links, just in case!). I love that all of their watches are made from natural and sustainably sourced woods, and they also use stainless steel clasps (which is helpful for anyone with metal sensitivity). I was afraid my watch would feel bulky, but I actually found it to be surprisingly lightweight and comfortable to wear. Plus, I knew it'd be a great match for my new dress from Pinup Girl Clothing!

I fell for this piece from The Magic of Mary Blair collection as soon as it arrived in their "coming soon" section, but I was unsure as to whether or not the olive green would work on me. After seeing how great both the dress and skirt versions looked on social media, I decided to go for it – and I'm so glad I did! This is my third Jenny dress, and the fit seems to have changed slightly for this piece; there's some extra baggy fabric around my ribcage that isn't present in my other Jenny dresses, but I remedied it by swapping the belt for a thicker option. The print of the commuters on the skirt is obviously the most important aspect of this dress anyway! Since they're all hurrying to get to work on time, I thought the addition of my watch would be especially fitting. :)

Outfit Details

Jenny Dress in Mary Blair Commuters Print: Pinup Girl Clothing

Fieldcrest Watch in Maple: c/o JORD

Black flats: similar

Pettislip: similar

Do you have any pieces from the Mary Blair collection?? If not, what's on your wish list? I'm adding at least 2 more pieces from the line to my closet (oops)!  

Have a great day!

xox Sammi

PS: the winner of my Beauxoxo giveaway has been announced! Congratulations to Jennifer W.! Georgie will be contacting you shortly with your prize. Thanks so much to all who entered!

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Amazing Gracey

Happy Memorial Day! I don't get the day off, but I am back to working for my mom (I had to take the last three weeks off for my performing gig). As much as I've loved feeling like a professional actor this past month, I'm kind of glad to be getting back to some normalcy for a bit. I guess I'm sort of out of practice; not only did I become really dehydrated during the rehearsal process, but I also really messed up something with my hip. My body is definitely telling me I need to take it easy right now, and that I need to start taking care of myself better and build up some stamina and strength. I'm already in rehearsals for my next show (but the process won't be anywhere near as grueling), but I'm definitely going to make that a goal for this summer.

Now, a little bit about this adorable Voodoo Vixen dress! Seriously, who doesn't love gingham? I think this tiffany blue gingham is incredibly sweet, and I like the fact that the neckline is a little more sultry in contrast. The buttons are a lovely detail too (though all are purely for show), and I always appreciate a back zipper in a dress (I am very anti-side-zip!). I normally like my skirts a little bit longer, but this would definitely be a good option for hot summer days. The cotton fabric is on the thin side and the skirt is unlined – which, again, is good for the heat factor, but it's a little too sheer for my taste (though wearing a slip underneath helps). This dress does run true to size, but if you're in between sizes on the Voodoo Vixen chart, I would recommend going with the larger size in this particular dress, since it doesn't contain as much stretch as some of their other pieces. All in all, the Gracey is a great option for summertime BBQs, picnics or simply enjoying the sunshine.

Outfit Details

Gracey Dress: c/o Voodoo Vixen

Sunglasses: c/o Unique Vintage (similar)

Flats: Aerosoles (old)

Have a great day!

xox Sammi

Orange Crush

Picking a favorite Bernie Dexter dress is next to impossible, but this vibrant orange print one is pretty high up on the list. Bernie's Paris style is definitely one of her best silhouettes, in my opinion, and it's the sort of dress you can put on and instantly feel pretty stellar about your bod. I do wish we had orange groves in Upstate New York (for the sake of blog photos), but my backyard will have to do for this post.

I'm currently in the midst of performances for the workshop/reading I'm in, and I'm totally wiped out. I had planned on doing a Friday Favorites post yesterday (especially since there are a bunch of good Memorial Day sales going on), but I passed out almost immediately after getting home from our Thursday night performance. In case you're in a shopping mood: Unique Vintage is offering 20% everything (including this orange print Bernie!) with the code MEM20, Pinup Girl Clothing is offering 25% off everything with the code CCSAVE2015, ASOS is offering 20% off full-priced items with the code LONGWKND, Tatyana is offering 20% off all dresses and separates with the code FLAG, Amazon is offering 20% off all fashion-related products with the code FUN20SUN, and ModCloth is currently having an up-to-40% off summer sale!

Outfit Details

Bernie Dexter dress: Crush Boutique

Boater hat: similar

Petticoat: eBay

Flats: similar

Have a wonderful weekend!

xox Sammi

PS: you have until Sunday night at midnight (EST) to enter my current giveaway! The winner will receive a $30 gift voucher to Beauxoxo! Get all the details & enter to win here.

Flower carts

This springy, scalloped dress from Tatyana was destined to be part of my wardrobe. It's absolutely darling, and well-made to boot. My one complaint is that Tatyana's sizing is very inconsistent, and they don't provide specific size charts for each garment they produce. I had to guess on my size, and since the dresses I tried on while visiting the Tatyana store were both larges and mediums I went with the large on a gamble. It turns out that I should have ordered the medium, because this dress runs quite big. You can't tell too much from these photos, but I want to see if I can get it taken in a bit. It's also more see-through in the top than I would have liked, but even with these flaws, I think it's still going to remain in my closet. I'm such a dress hoarder!

I'm normally a lot better at thinking of creative blog post titles, but I have to be honest: not only was it really difficult with this dress, but my brain is absolutely fried from this rehearsal process. On paper, our rehearsal hours don't look like much (typically, they've been 5 hour days with 1 day off per week), but I am physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. It's been a great experience to work with industry professionals and this kind of opportunity is really rare around here... but that being said, it's going to be a relief once it's over. I'll definitely miss being able to feel like a "real" working actor, and this has kind of lit a fire under my tush, but I also really need a break (especially since I ended up getting really dehydrated and was kinda messed up last week and this week from it). Taking care of yourself – even when you don't think you're doing anything particularly strenuous – is so important, and I certainly won't forget that any time soon! I feel like "self care" has kind of a negative connotation, but it's totally necessary.

Outfit Details

Dress: Tatyana

Belt + petticoat: eBay

Shoes: BAIT Footwear (similar)

Have a great Wednesday!

xox Sammi

PS: Have you entered my current giveaway yet?? The winner receives a $30 gift voucher to Beauxoxo! Get all the details and enter to win here.