nature style Archives - Northern California Style

Italian Vogue

We are leaving next week for a trip to Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons and then down to Utah for dear friend’s wedding. I was thinking of all the possibilities of what to wear to this event when we got the groom, Justin’s email detailing the activities of the day. He is renting out the lodge of a gorgeous ski resort and many guests are camping out there. They are being married by a pastor from the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Serious! It’s real, check it out. I thought it was Justin joking. Justin and his fiancé Laurie will be in, “costume,” and he encouraged others to dress comfortably for scavenger hunts, star-gazing, roasting s’mores and more. He said he’d probably be changing into Carhartts later. Hmm, I wondered, “What the heck is Carhartts?”. When I googled Carhartts it said flame resistant work wear, i.e. plaid shirts and the like. Huh? All the high fashion possibilities for this event just crashed and burned!

A Carhartts look for Fall. WHAT??? You can see from the background they know their customer!

Okay, I have some knowledge of this stuff. My husband grew up in Humboldt County, in the little beach town of Trinidad, 7 hours North of the Bay Area. This area of California is often referred to as behind the Redwood curtain. It’s a place where even few Californians ever venture. Carhartts is the uniform up there give or take a pair of birkenstocks and a tie-dyed T. It’s a unique area of the world that is a mix of hippies and lumber jacks. When I met my husband Max he only owned shorts, Ts and wore Tevas with socks. I kid you not and he was a late 20-something engineer who was going places. One day I’ll do a post on Humboldt, but suffice it to say that Justin, his family and all his friends are from up there. They also happen to be the kindest, most fun and loveliest group of people I have ever known. All of them.

Reese Witherspoon in a Carhartts type of plaid.

So I’ll work the California nature girl/grunge look I guess. I can do that. It will also be right for the first 4 days we are spending in Jackson Hole and the Tetons. I’ll have to incorporate some of my own things with the flannel shirts!! Some possible inclusions:

A vintage looking denim skirt

Cargos for hiking and a Prana yoga top plus my woven necklace from my friend Etsuko in Japan and my J Crew Timex.

Maybe if I add a boho type scarf they won’t look too preppy?

Gotta have my stripes! A shout out to my pal Kim from How to Love this World, who always inspires me with her love of all things stripes also. Just check out her very chic blog for inspiration!

…I could always add one of my son’s plaids on top!

Because this is a casual wedding, maybe I’ll wear this Roxy stripe dress above with a J Crew cardi and bauble necklace.

And I’ll take this.

And why not? ( This T was a gift from my husband. ;P)

I’ll need some deet apparently. 🙁

As my friend June said, “You can leave Louis Vuitton’s at home.” I crack up at the thought.

Bringing my Feed bag for sure…

And my union jack tote from Boden.

Of course a few pairs of Toms and hiking shoes.

I think this Michael Kors bracelet my husband just bought me has an earthy vibe so I’ll bring that too.

Here’s a few of the styles from Humboldt I snapped on our last trip.

Kale just adds that extra oomph to an outfit…

At the Arcata Farmer’s Market, men in skirts and women who may have time traveled from Sherwood Forest. This was just a random sample, but you see what the vibe will be at this occasion!