Hi! I’m Julianne (she/her)! My birthday is April 26, which also happens to be National Pretzel Day – so that’s definitely a holiday we celebrate around here 😉
My husband and I have been married since 2016 and have two amazing daughters. We also run a travel blog together – Driving Down Main Street.
I have found a wonderful community of friends through Disneybounding and blogging and this space is a creative outlet for all of my favorite things. Most of the site is comprised of an overview of my Disneybounds, discussing my choices, accessories, and anything else I add to make these outfits unique. I’ll also discuss some crafting projects, including whatever I’m currently sewing.
This is a safe space, so please be respectful of others at all times. Any hate speech, etc, will not be tolerated and comments will be immediately deleted.
I love meeting new friends and collaborating, so feel free to reach out any time!
Dressember begins tomorrow and this is your annual reminder that it’s bigger than a dress!
Yes, Dressember is a style challenge, and I participate in Dressemberbound, which combines the challenge of wearing a dress (or tie) every day for the month of December with Disneybound prompts.
Last year I wore the same five or six dresses all month long, primarily wearing my white dress and a red dress. This year I wanted to further challenge myself – and to inspire more conversation around why I’m wearing a dress every day – so I decided to wear just one dress for the whole month!
In all fairness, I’m a stay at home mom and don’t go very many places so my presence is mainly online (follow my Instagram here).
I’m also making this commitment because of the impact fast fashion on the human trafficking network. Many of the people making the garments we buy for inexpensive and wear only once or twice are underpaid and in poor working conditions or worse. Last year I was committed to not buying anything new, this year I am going to style the same dress 31 ways to show that anyone can do this challenge – even with a smaller wardrobe.
Hi everyone! I did a thing! I created this Bounding Planner and it’s on Amazon now. I’m really excited about it because I used to use spreadsheets a lot to plan my bounds, but I’m not really on the computer as much anymore. Lately I’ve just been jotting things down on different note pads, so this is a way to organize all my bounds. Hopefully you may find it a good tool to organize your bounds as well!
In the front there are monthly planner pages, so if you have monthly challenges you’re participating in or anything like that, you can use this section to write down what each day is, etc. There are 12 monthly pages and the rest of the notebook (100 pages) is filled with these really cool daily outfit planner pages.
The daily outfit planner pages have spaces for date, theme, your specific bound, and then your outfit details. Lines for outfit details include tops, bottoms, feet (socks, shoes,etc), head (hair, hats, hair accessories, etc), makeup, and accessories.
This is really exciting to me because this is exactly what I use to plan my bounds, and I really wanted to share that with all of you! I also hand sketched the little outfit icon that I included on all the pages and designed the pages myself. You can purchase either a white cover or a black cover.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I do! To order yours, use these direct links:
It is a challenge to bound using the same item of clothing that fits the theme/color multiple times in a month.
This is a monthly wrap-up of my participation in the challenge including my bounds, outfits, accessories, and some insight behind my style choices.
Follow me on Instagram @rogue_princess_ for current outfits and to view all my monthly looks!
I started to step up my game for April and ended the month with twelve bounds using my purple vest. I almost felt like I was cheating using my best because it went with practically everything, but I was really proud of most of my bounds and was even featured on @DisneyReBound (here)!
Left to right, top to bottom, my April bounds are:
Daisy Duck, Mickey and friends
Figment, Journey into the Imagination with Figment (Epcot ride)
Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story
Fear, Inside Out
Agnes/Agatha, WandaVision
Ursula, The Little Mermaid
Aladdin, Aladdin
Eglantine Price, Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Ariel, The Little Mermaid
Anna, Frozen 2
Mrs. Potts, Beauty and the Beast
She-Hulk, Marvel Comics
Daisy Duck, Mickey and friends
The first week of #athleisurebound was Sensational Six and my very first bound of the month was Daisy. I started with my white romper and put my purple vest over it and a pink headband in my hair. It was pretty basic because I was going for cozy!
Figment, Journey into the Imagination with Figment (Epcot ride)
Week 2 of #athleisurebound was participation in Erynn @thegirlwiththedolewhiptatoo‘s #boundtoparkhop challenge and the prompt for 4/9 was “favorite park”. I was having trouble figuring out how to do “Epcot” until I realized – what’s more Epcot than Figment? I just love Figment and wanted to figure out a way to bound him without it being all purple. When I was searching photos of him, I realized he also wears a yellow shirt occasionally so I wore my yellow shirt with my purple leggings and the purple vest over top. I added my orange headband for his wings, horns, and scales.
Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story
I had such a great idea for Buzz, but I didn’t really know where he fit in the #athleisurebound challenge, so I used him on a day without a prompt. I used my white shirt for his space suit and my light green joggers for the green accents. My purple vest made for the perfect purple accents and then I wore one of my teething necklaces with green for the green on top. For his three buttons on his right chest, I wore three bracelets on my right arm with the corresponding colors. I then wore a white headband for an extra dose of white and purple socks for the bottoms of his feet.
Fear, Inside Out
Another bound that didn’t quite fit the April prompts was Fear, but I had to add him on a day where there were no prompts. I was really glad with how this came out – my purple leggings for his skin color, my husband’s striped dress shirt for his shirt, my black and white tote for his vest, and a purple scarf tied around it for his bow tie. My purple vest added the darker purple of his pants and then my houndstooth and purple hat added that last bit of black and white to the look. Oh, and black sneakers for his black shoes.
Agnes/Agatha, WandaVision
For “villains” week, I chose to bound Agatha (and also Wanda, since it’s still not unanimous that either is the villain) and she got the purple vest bound easily. I used my green romper with my green scarf to look like her dress and I put the purple vest over it. I also used a white scarf for her high collar and it came together fairly well.
Ursula, The Little Mermaid
Another bound for “villains” week was Ursula – and I was so happy with how it came out! I wore a black shirt over purple leggings with my purple vest over it. The vest being closer in color to her tentacles, while the leggings were closer in color to her upper body. I used a swirl pendant necklace for her shell necklace and a white headband for her hair. She came out so great!
Aladdin, Aladdin
For “star of the show” week, I started with Aladdin, because who better to wear a purple vest for than a purple vest-wearing leading man? I wanted to wear it over a dark tan shirt but that shirt was nowhere to be found so I ended up wearing a lighter tan shirt. I then wore my white wide legged sweatpants and a red headband in my hair for his hat. I still think the darker tan shirt would have looked better, but the look was really good regardless!
Eglantine Price, Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Even though I just bounded Eglantine Price in March, I really wanted to bound her again, athleisure style. My initial look for her was for “Modern Witch aesthetic”, so I made the look s little more modern and edgier than probably anything Angela Lansbury had ever worn (LOL). This time around I used a plain pink t-shirt, blue leggings, and black sneakers with my purple vest front and center. It definitely felt like another win for me.
Ariel, The Little Mermaid
Another “star of the show” who wears purple is Ariel! This time I found my darker tan shirt that I wanted to wear for Aladdin and used it for Ariel. I wore my mint leggings and mint sneakers for her tail, and the purple vest for her shell bra. I added my green scarf around my waist because I felt like the sequins on the scarf represented her scales. I also wore a shell necklace as a nod to her shell bra, and a red headband for her red hair.
Anna, Frozen 2
“Star of the show” week definitely got the most bounds from me, because Anna is yet another star from this week! She is one of the stars of Frozen 2, and her outfit is perfect for my purple vest! The base of this outfit is my goldenrod Mom-per (a romper for nursing mothers), and then my black long sweater buttoned over it. My purple vest is then over that, and I wore black boots on my feet.
Mrs. Potts, Beauty and the Beast
For our birthdays, Kayla and I created a challenge full of our shared favorite things. One of the days was “Beauty and the Beast” day and so I decided to bound Mrs. Potts because I love Angela Lansbury and thought it would be fun to bound her twice this month! For Mrs. Potts, I wore a white blouse, pink skirt, and my purple vest. I also wore my turquoise necklace for the bits of blue and a yellow headband for the yellow/gold accents.
She-Hulk, Marvel Comics
Another prompt for #JulianneandKaylasMagicalBday was “Marvel” day. I was inspired for this day by @followtheyellowbrickgirl, who bounded as She-Hulk during the March Disneybound Challenge and I really wanted to recreate it. I wore green leggings and my white slip dress with my purple vest over it. I then edited my picture to look like I was breaking through the wall like she is on the cover of the She-Hulk comic book.
I am very happy with all of my April bounds and glad I was successful in pulling off twelve with my purple vest! Since it was my birthday month, I also (as I mentioned) co-hosted and participated it my own challenge, which I will talk about in another post! To view these pictures and more, follow my Instagram: @rogue_princess_
It is a challenge to bound using the same item of clothing that fits the theme/color multiple times in a month.
This is a monthly wrap-up of my participation in the challenge including my bounds, outfits, accessories, and some insight behind my style choices.
Follow me on Instagram @rogue_princess_ for current outfits and to view all my monthly looks!
March’s color of the month was green – which greatly shaped how I approached the March Disneybound Challenge. As I set off to plan the month-long challenge, I kept my green item in mind, resulting in a total of eight bounds for my Green Button Down.
Before I get to the bounds, however, I want to start out by saying that this shirt was only an idea until I found it at the thrift store. What I mean by that is I was planning bounds based on the premise that I would find a Green Button Down at a thrift store and use it. It wasn’t until I found the perfect one that I knew I’d be able to pull this month off. I was walking through my local Goodwill in January and I remember having a shirt that I thought would work, when I finally found the shirt. That was when this all fell into place for me.
Clockwise, from top left, my March bounds are:
Yoshi, Mario Party
Kermit, Muppet Vision 3-D
The Tree of Life, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park
Peter Pan, Peter Pan on Broadway
Sarge, Cars
The Incredible Hulk, Marvel Comics
Pizza Planet Green Alien, Toy Story
Robin Hood, Robin Hood
Yoshi, Mario Party
The prompt for 3/10 was “MAR10” (Mario) so I wanted to bound as Yoshi since he’s the character I usually select when I would play Mario Party in college. Since his belly is white, I wore a white dress as my base and left the Green Button Down unbuttoned over it. I was still pregnant when I took these pictures, so you can see my belly sticking out in front of me. For Yoshi’s red shell, I turned my red purse into a mini backpack (which came out better than I expected) and then I wore one of my green knit hats on my head. I chose the hat that almost has the appearance of a turtle shell because I thought it would give more of an idea of a shell.
Kermit, Muppet Vision 3-D
March 12th was “Disney Parks Day” so I chose to bound as the side of the Muppet Vision 3-D show as Kermit! This one was fairly simple as bounds go – just the Green Button Down and my green frog hat. I had to get the pose just right so I could edit the Muppet Vision logo onto it and I think it came out really well.
The Tree of Life, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park
For March 17th, the prompt was “It isn’t easy being green” for St. Patrick’s Day, and I also wanted to participate in #BoundtoThrift, making it the perfect chance to use my thrifted Green Button Down. I was trying to think of something environmental and decided on the Tree of Life. Over the Green Button Down I wore my forest green sweater. I paired them with my tan leggings and brown boots. I’m my hair I wore my gold leaf headband for the leaves and I wore an earth tone necklace that I made in college around my neck. To incorporate more of the animal designs on the tree I wore my zebra scarf and my upcycled frog earrings.
Peter Pan, Peter Pan on Broadway
March 22nd was “Disney on Broadway” day. Although I’ve seen quite a few Disney shows on Broadway, I went with a bit of a rule breaker since Peter Pan on Broadway is not technically Disney. My reasoning, however, is that I was obsessed with the Disney movie Peter Pan as a girl and so for my first Broadway show, my family took me to Peter Pan on Broadway. The poster from the show hung in my bedroom for most of my childhood and I was excited to attempt to recreate it. For the bound, I wore my Green Button Down under my unbuttoned olive green dress. I belted it with my brown belt, and wore my dark green pants, brown moccasins, and green headband as well. I am still so proud of the pose I was able to get right for this one and the edits I made.
Sarge, Cars
For “Radiator Springs” day of the Disneybound Challenge on March 27th, I wanted to bound one of the residents of Radiator Springs. I’ve blinded so many already and wanted to do someone I’ve never done before, so I decided to choose someone based on my Green Button Down. Eventually I decided on Sarge, and, again, wore my olive green dress unbuttoned over it. Instead of my brown belt, this time I used the drawstring from the dress to cinch the waist. I wore my black leggings and black work boots for his wheels and my green headband for a little more army green color. I added my white star necklace for the star on Sarge’s hood and topped it all off with my Route 66 purse that I bought at a small town curio shop while driving Route 66 with my husband on our honeymoon!
The Incredible Hulk, Marvel Comics
I had the idea for my Hulk bound for “Star Wars vs Marvel” day on March 26th while I was still pregnant as another maternity bound. That is why I look so pregnant in my Hulk picture! For this bound, I wore a black shirt under my Green Button Down, with the buttons opened on the bottom and my belly popping out. I paired it with my burgundy pants, like the purple pants he wears in the comics. I then went barefoot and gave my best Hulk pose!
Pizza Planet Green Alien, Toy Story
“Outer Space” day was March 23rd and I really wanted to bound as my favorite green aliens. I’ve bounded them before, so I wanted to do a new take on them. I wore my Green Button Down under my blue dress with my purple infinity scarf. I added my pizza necklace and put my Pizza Planet Green Alien cozy from Once Upon A Cozy on my water bottle (use coupon code JULIANNE15). Altogether I just love a Pizza Planet Green Alien bound!
Robin Hood, Robin Hood
March 16th was “character crush” day so I had to choose Robin Hood, because for an animated character he’s especially romantic. Robin Hood was one of my favorite movies growing up and it still stands today as just such a great movie. Also, I had my husband dress as Robin Hood the previous month for “cutest couple” day (if you remember from my February post) so it was a bit of a throwback to that as well. For Robin Hood, I wore the Green Button Down with my burgundy skirt. I put on my arrow bangle bracelet and arrow necklace and my red feather earring. I also wore my brown boots and took a few extra pictures holding my stuffed fox.
With the March Disneybound Challenge, March is always a busy month. I was happy to have been able to get eight bounds out of my Green Button Down shirt and I look forward to wearing it again for future bounds (or day to day)! For more photos, follow my Instagram: @rogue_princess_
It is a challenge to bound using the same item of clothing that fits the theme/color multiple times in a month.
This is a monthly wrap-up of my participation in the challenge including my bounds, outfits, accessories, and some insight behind my style choices.
Follow me on Instagram @rogue_princess_ for current outfits and to view all my monthly looks!
The color for the month of February was pink, so I decided to use my PNK spirit jersey since I love it and don’t think it gets enough use after I spent so much time sewing the letters (machine and hand sewn) onto it. I had a handful of bounds I was considering for pink, but there were also a few other challenges I wanted to take part in for February that I attempted to tie pink into. First off, Courtney @colormemagic hosted #colormevalentine for February 1-14 and then I jumped into a handful of others for a day or so, while also trying to fit in all of my maternity bounds before the end of the month. That being said, I still put together 6 (well, really 5) bounds with this shirt that weren’t just PNK! So let’s jump into the PNK Spirit Jersey bounds from February!
Left to right, top to bottom, my February bounds are:
Hamm, Toy Story
Maid Marian, Robin Hood
Fortune Teller Little John, Robin Hood
Rapunzel, Tangled
Sleeping Beauty Gender Non-Reveal
Hyacinth Hippo, Fantasia
Hamm, Toy Story
The first day of #colormevalentine was “Make It Pink” and I had initially intended to use my Hyacinth Hippo bound for this day, but the day before I had an idea for Hamm that I couldn’t wait to post – and it fit the theme even better! In addition to the PNK Spirit Jersey, I wore my pink sweatpants, and a pink headband in front of little pig ear buns in my hair. Then I used a necklace I have that looks like coins and attached a cork to it to symbolize Hamm’s piggy bank cork and the coins that fall out (I believe the scene is in Toy Story 2). I am still so happy with how it came out and so proud of this bound!
Maid Marian, Robin Hood
The #colormevalentine prompt for 2/13 was “cutest couple”, so I somehow convinced my husband to bound with me as Robin Hood and Maid Marian. To be fair, I only asked him to wear a really comfortable shirt he has, and I did the rest of the work! My Maid Marian Disneybound consisted of my PNK Spirit Jersey under my light purple dress, with my turquoise necklace. Even though there wasn’t a lot to it, this was extremely fun and I was excited to include my husband in a bound from one of my favorite movies.
Fortune Teller Little John, Robin Hood
For 2/9, the #colormevalentine prompt was “what’s your sign?”. I had the hardest time thinking of a character for my sign (Taurus), and then I thought of a fortune teller for astrology. I had seen some friends do Fortune Teller Robin Hood and Little John before, and thought it would be so much fun to do Little John while pregnant (and then Robin Hood after having the baby). I didn’t have anything with pink and white polka dots, so for his bloomers, I used my Minnie Mouse pajamas bottoms. I wore my orange dress under my PNK Spirit Jersey, and put my pink polka dot tie front shirt over that. I wore a red headband in my hair and my red Toms on my feet. The final touch was my daughter’s blue ball that looked like a crystal ball.
Rapunzel, Tangled
The prompt for 2/8 of #colormevalentine was “leading lady” and I decided on Rapunzel. For Rapunzel, I used the same light purple dress over my PNK Spirit Jersey as for Maid Marian, but I then put my pink skirt over it. The pink skirt is asymmetrical, with brown elastic that has a tie up look to the front of it. I wore my purple leggings under it and went barefoot, just like Rapunzel! I then braided my hair and put my sunflower hair tie in it. My jewelry included my Tangled inspired necklace and sunburst earrings.
Sleeping Beauty Gender Non-Reveal
I wasn’t really sure what to call this flat lay style post, but a gender non-reveal sounded good since I mainly posted it to say we were excited whether we had a boy or a girl. I have the same spirit jersey in blue and pink, so I used them both with scarves of the corresponding color and my sign reading “Make it Pink, Make it Blue, Boy or Girl, We Love You”. I also made a Reel wearing both shirts and scarves with my fairy wand 😉
Hyacinth Hippo, Fantasia
As I mentioned earlier, I initially was going to post Hyacinth Hippo on the first day of the month, but I pushed it all the way to the end of the month and didn’t post it until the 26th. Hyacinth is another recreation of my previous maternity bounds, so I wanted to make sure to fit her in. For this bound I wore my PNK Spirit Jersey under my pink slip dress, under my yellow skirt (as her tutu). Under that, I wore my pink/purple leggings and my yellow heels. I may not have been as graceful as she is, but I sure had fun!
Although I wasn’t able to come up with as many Disneybounds for my PNK Spirit Jersey as I was for my January shirt, I still really enjoyed the ‘bounds I did come up with. February was a busy month, getting ready for a new baby as well as preparing for the March Challenge (more on that next month) so I was glad to create the content I did create. To follow along on this year-long challenge or to see the other outfits I put together, you can follow me on Instagram at @rogue_princess_
I’m so excited to share that I’m now a Brand Rep for Once Upon A Cozy (IG/Etsy)! I’ve absolutely loved these cozies for years now and I use mine ALL the time. I love the touch of magic a cozy adds to your cup, and I also love that they can be an additional accessory for any bound!
Heather Coella, the creator behind Once Upon A Cozy, hand makes each cozy she sends out and the quality is really excellent. I have so many cozies already and I always love the new designs she comes up with. Here are the cozies I own, but definitely check her Etsy for what she has in stock now!
It is a challenge to bound using the same item of clothing that fits the theme/color multiple times in a month.
This is a monthly wrap-up of my participation in the challenge including my bounds, outfits, accessories, and some insight behind my style choices.
Follow me on Instagram @rogue_princess_ for current outfits and to view all my monthly looks!
The theme of the month for January was Polka dots and I happened to have the most adorable burgundy polka dot maternity blouse to use that I purchased in the fall. I quickly began thinking of different places I could use a dose of burgundy and eventually came up with nine looks for the month.
Left to right, top to bottom, my January bounds are:
Pumbaa, The Lion King
Lotso Huggin’ Bear, Toy Story 3
Roz, Monster’s Inc
Kristoff, Frozen
Minnie Mouse, Mickey and friends
Mother Gothel, Tangled
Madame de la Grande Bouche, Beauty and the Beast
Jafar, Aladdin
Mulan, Mulan
Pumbaa, The Lion King
I started the New Year off with some pig bounds to keep moving forward and Pumbaa was the first of those hogs! Pumbaa’s colors range from a burnt-orange to a burgundy so I went with the burgundy side of the spectrum with my approach. With the burgundy polka dot blouse as my base, I chose accessories to accent it based on the other colors in his illustration. I used my pink purse for the pink of his nose, my black scarf for the black of his hair, and my white headband for the white of his tusks. I then added my apple brooch for his apple in the “luao” scene for a final touch!
Lotso Huggin’ Bear, Toy Story 3
Another challenge I gave myself this year was recreating some of the Maternity Disneybounds I created while I was pregnant the first time (which I will sum up in a future post) and Lotso was an easy choice to link the two challenges together. Although he’s more strawberry/pink, he sometimes appears more burgundy, so I was able to stretch it to work. It also helps that I used burgundy the first time I bounded him as well, so the recreation was more closely aligned to that. Along with my burgundy polka dot blouse, I also wore burgundy leggings. I added a cream colored skirt and headband for his teddy bear tummy and face and I intended to wear my burgundy colored moccasins, but I couldn’t find them at the time (still unpacking into our new house), so I wore brown ones.
Roz, Monster’s Inc
Roz was a suggestion from Courtney (@LibraryLadyLife) when I posted at the beginning of the month and I loved the idea, especially since I also intended to recreate my Mike (Monster’s Inc) Disneybound, so I did them around the same time. The burgundy blouse was one of the easier parts, the color of her skin was a lot harder. She has yellowish-green-brown scales and underbelly, and I wasn’t sure I had the right colors for it. I ended up using my olive green dress, unbuttoned, for her darker scales along her back, and my gold leggings for the almost golden color of her underbelly. I wore my brown moccasins again and then used my Monster’s Inc mask to symbolize her clipboard. Although I could find things to improve on, I liked it as a first try!
Kristoff, Frozen
For Christmas I received the best gray fleece that I absolutely love and I also received a burgundy bag. When I put them together I got major Kristoff vibes, so I knew this would be a good one for my burgundy polka dot blouse. Since Kristoff has burgundy around his collar and a sash around his waist, I wore my gray fleece over the blouse, with just enough sticking out of the neckline and a red belt. I also wore my black leggings and gray snow boots. This was one of the most comfortable bounds I’ve done!
Minnie Mouse, Mickey and friends
For National Polka Dot Day on January 22nd, I put together a Minnie Mouse look inspired by my burgundy polka dot blouse. First I found white fabric with burgundy polka dots to use for bows, since Minnie is all about the bows, and made Minnie ears and a black purse with a bow on it as well. I used snaps to make the bows detachable to leave it open for other bows in the future. For my outfit, I wore a black slip dress over my burgundy polka dot blouse and tied the tie from the blouse around the dress for a belted look. I then wore it with black stockings, white heels, and my white dot earrings. Overall, I love this look!
Mother Gothel, Tangled
Mother Gothel is so much burgundy so she was a natural choice for my burgundy polka dot blouse. I also have really comfy burgundy lounge pants that, paired with the blouse, gave off some really 70’s vibes. Since Gothel has a bit of gold accents as well, I added my gold sneakers to finish off the look.
Madame de la Grande Bouche, Beauty and the Beast
So this was a huge stretch for my burgundy polka dot blouse, but I thought it would be hilarious to make it work. I wore a mint shirt with my white slip dress over it and a gold headband for the wardrobe herself, and then I hung three dresses on my arm for the dresses she offers to Belle in the animated movie. The first is my red slip dress, and the third is my mint slip dress over my green shirt. The middle dress, however, is my pink slip dress over, you guessed it, the burgundy polka dot blouse! The hangers got really heavy, really fast though, so if you try it, take quick pictures.
Jafar, Aladdin
Like a number of villains, Jafar wears a lot of black, but under his black (and red) cape there are some burgundy sleeves, making it the perfect excuse to throw on my burgundy polka dot blouse! Over the blouse I wore a black dress (which, look carefully, is not the same dress as my Minnie Mouse bound) and a red belt. In my hair I wore a gold headband and tried to fit a red feather in somewhere but it just didn’t work. On my legs I wore black leggings and added my black boots (like I said, Jafar wears a lot of black).
Mulan, Mulan
To be honest, Mulan was probably the most difficult of this bunch to get right. I have a flannel shirt that has all of her colors so I thought that would look good, but I couldn’t figure out if it would work with the polka dots. I ended up just going for it, and adding polka dots with the skirt as well, to have a look that was somehow very busy, but came together. For this look I wore the burgundy polka dot blouse under the blue, coral, and white flannel, under my navy blue polka dot skirt. I wore black stockings and black wedges on my feet and then tied the entire look together with the belt from my coral colored robe. It ended up being the perfect combination!
Ultimately, I was successful in putting together nine looks for this burgundy polka dot blouse in January and I even have more ideas for this blouse in the future! Do you have any ideas for this blouse? Let me know in the comments and be sure to check out all these looks and more on Instagram: @rogue_princess_
This year’s Dressember has just ended and I am so happy with the turnout and generous gifts from friends and family. I thought it would be a good time to talk about fashion and how it impacts the trafficing industry.
Many “fast fashion” types of companies use cheap labor to keep costs low, meaning workers may not receive a living wage for their work. Trafficked individuals may also be forced into free labor, which is why Dressember and the companies working to end human trafficking encourage ethical and sustainable fashion.
For this month-long challenge, I have also challenged myself to use as few dresses as possible and not to purchase anything new for the challenge.
This year’s #dressemberbound prompts list
The dresses I’ve chosen to use are a white dress, a black dress, a red dress, and a burgundy dress. I also used a few green dresses, as well as a blue dress and a sweater dress, but those were each mainly used one time, so I wanted to focus on the versatility of the other dresses.
The first thing I did while looking at the prompt list was to figure out characters that fit those prompts which use the colors of my dresses, or, more specifically, colors associated with Christmas (so that I could also have my feed have a Christmasy feel to it.
White Dress
I was also limited in my choices by being 6-7 months pregnant. This meant I needed dresses that would fit over my baby belly as well!
Burgundy Dress
Black Dress
In all I was happy I could use dresses that not only fit and were used more than once, but also that were already in my closet! I even used my red dress in the month before Dressember for Fall Dapper Day from home!
Red Dress
What are your thoughts on fast fashion? Do you have any suggestions for wearing more sustainable clothing? Or an ethical clothing line I should check out? Let me know in the comments!
I’ve learned more in a week about racism then I think I ever have. And that is a problem. I wasn’t listening.
I am now.
It took too much to get my attention.
For a very long time I ignored the news because I didn’t want to hear about bad things happening. I didn’t understand this is a privilege. I didn’t understand that by doing so, I was contributing to the issues that the world is facing rather then helping.
I do now.
I also didn’t understand that Black Lives Matter is essential to life issues because all lives cannot matter until Black Lives Matter.
I do now.
It’s not too late to change my ways of thinking and acting and I understand that now. I was in this bubble of non-racist negative peace, where I would deny being racist but want to keep the status quo. I didn’t understand how it effected me, even after studying 20th Century Peacemakers like Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King Jr in college. Heck, I cleaned my bookshelf of most of my school books just a few weeks ago and left those three books to inspire me. I didn’t pick them up to read them again though. They were there for some other time.
Well, some other time came when I couldn’t ignore the news anymore because it was everywhere. I knew I needed to re-educate myself so I picked up my Martin Luther King Jr book (I Have A Dream: Writings & Speeches That Changed The World). I read Dr. King’s Letter From A Birmingham Jail. I still didn’t fully understand, but certain phrases stood out to me that needed further investigation. It was a starting point.
Throughout the last week I’ve been reading stories, listening to all of the really wonderful information out there, and learning what I should have taught myself all along.
The looting was scary. Driving home through Trenton was said to be scary. I was told the bridges were being closed so I needed to avoid Trenton. Rumors spread that rioters were going to march up the bridges from Trenton and start looting Pennsylvania shopping centers. I told my husband our personal safety was more important than the things he has at his garage. We bought into these rumors and nothing happened. We didn’t seek out the truth.
On Wednesday night, our neighbor came to us panicked that there was going to be a protest right in front of our house the next day. A person was threatening to loot our neighborhood and there were random pictures of bricks around town posted on a facebook page. Our neighbor was afraid that the old houses on our street would be set on fire. After we went inside and calmed down, my husband looked everything up. I was really concerned for our safety after what she had told us, but we talked about it and then we saw the information linked to the protest – a peaceful protest with specific times outlined for chanting, kneeling, and dispersing that would only last a half hour.
That night I started thinking about attending. It would be right in front of our house and people would be social distancing and it would only be a half hour so I would be home in enough time to make dinner. I already was leaving work early because I wanted to make sure I would be able to drive down my street and park my car without the added worry of people in and around my driveway, so I could easily put a sign together when I got home. I started talking to my sister, who had a friend attend a protest in the area, in a town somewhat similar to mine. She sent me the information and I really wanted to go.
I had already planned on doing some sketching because a lot of the time while I meditate and pray on something, it helps me to draw. I had an image in my head and was going to take out my sketch book and pencils, but with the protest, I decided to paint it on cardboard instead. I still made a sketch on the cardboard and then outlined it in marker before painting over it. I painted hands, different colors but using the same three paint colors for both. I painted a heart. I painted a rainbow. I was initially going to write something inspiring – like a Martin Luther King quote or something but then it felt wrong. The piece said a lot to me and I wanted it to evoke in others what they needed. Words seemed meaningless when a picture was worth a thousand.
My sign dried. I made sure my husband was okay with me going. I watched as crowds of people walked down our street toward the intersection where it was starting. I walked outside and wandered a little until I found my spot. People were lined up on either side of the street. At about 5:35 the chanting started. I held my sign and chanted, quietly at first because I was shy, but louder when I started to learn the chants.
Black Lives Matter
No Justice, No Peace
George Floyd
Ahmaud Arbery
Breonna Taylor
Cars drove by and honked. Some passerby held their fists out the window in solidarity.
I began to feel emotional as car after car honked and drivers held their hands out the window. So many people showing support while even more people stood on the street.
Then we knelt.
I prayed.
When we stood back up we chanted louder this time. At the dispersing time, a police car with it’s hazards flashing led a march all the way to the train station. It was probably a part of the dispersion plan, since a majority of participants parked at the train station and walked down the street, but it felt powerful to see just how many people were out on the street today, chanting and marching. I told my husband when I got home that the march was so large it reminded me of the crowds our town gets for the 5k or even the parades we hold annually. It impressed me since the town is so small. My town growing up is huge and I would have expected thousands of people there, but where we live currently is such a small town that I really didn’t expect the turnout to be what it was. It felt so real, so raw, and so important.
I know that a small town protest may not be impactful on a national level, but my hope is that it makes an impact on our community, on anyone who was watching from a window or porch, and on anyone who maybe sees it on facebook or something.
I didn’t think I’d be able to get to show my support in this way with an almost two-year-old at home, so I was happy to stand out there. I’m trying to do more but my main medium is Instagram. Receiving local news will help me know if there is something else going on now and hopefully I will be able to participate in something else.
For now, thanks for listening to the ramblings of a white woman. I definitely won’t forget this protest.
Styles of a Rogue Princess 