One of the blogs I love is jenloveskev. Like me, she blogs about all sorts of things–recipes, art, her life in general. But mainly she focuses on fashion. She posts “Teacher Style Files” (she’s an art teacher) where she shows the outfits she puts together each day. Her style is great–funky, fashionable, but also generally wearable. There is this whole genre of blogs out there focused on what individual bloggers are wearing. I find it fascinating.
I have always loved fashion, but over the past few years it has become more of a love/hate thing. After spending 2 years studying fashion and another 3 working in the industry (for crazy people, no less), I was a little burned out. And then I became a mom, which brought about a whole fashion crisis. I did better at being a stylish pregnant lady than at being a stylish mom. I suddenly didn’t know what was appropriate. First of all, there was the leftover baby weight. That is gone now (finally!), but my body still isn’t the same as it was before. But there was also this idea that I’m a “Mom” now, so I should dress like one. But what does that mean exactly? Well, I don’t want to dress like a teenager anymore, but I don’t want to look frumpy either. I had a major closet purge before we moved to Italy. I got rid of probably more than I should have simply because of my poor body image at the time. I thought I’d never fit into things again. Now I wish I had some of the clothes I threw out. But generally, purging is a good thing. At the very least I made room for new things (ha ha!).
I’ve gradually started to remember that I love fashion and style. I’ve picked up a few cute new items to supplement the basic wardrobe to which I’d simplified. Which, by the way, I did with the help of
The Lucky Shopping Manual. People usually look fashionable not because of the individual pieces they are wearing, but because of how they put them together. You can combine the old and the new, even vintage with modern, to create your individual style. I’m going to share some of my outfits here on the blog from time to time, for something new and interesting.
The one featured here is what I wore today.
Blue and White Striped Oxford
Red Cardigan Sweater
Black Skinny Jeans
Black Leather Flats
Pearls
and My Awesome Rhinestone Skull Brooch
It’s comfortable. It’s wearable. But hopefully it’s not frumpy
