Classic/ on trend classic

It seems the classic dressers amongst us have the most trouble distinguishing what I'll call "deep classic" from what might be called "on trend version of classic" or "classic with a twist." So I'm going to try this with my own closet. Anyone want to join? The first set of Finds will be the ones in my wardrobe I identify as true classics. By virtue of cut and colour. 

The second set will be "on trend classics" or "classics with a twist." 

This will not include my purely on trend or avant garde or otherwise "different" items. 

My first set: 

1. Cole Haan oxfords. These are a "maybe" because in a knit fabric, and white. But the shape is classic. 

2. J. Crew straight pants. 

3. Club Monaco merino mock-neck

4. Talbot's white bermudas. 

5. Boden white tee. 

6. BR slim straight wool pants. (Maybe with a twist, since ankle length.) 

7. Armour Luxe Breton tee

8. Bernardo midi coat, princess lines. 

9. J. Crew navy merino sweater. 

10. J. Crew red merino sweater. 

11. J. Crew plaid scarf. 

12. Armour Luxe Mariner tee

13. Lord & Taylor charcoal t-neck

14. Boden navy t-neck

15. BR silk/ cashmere crew neck

16. J. Crew denim western shirt

17. Aquatalia riding boot

18. London Fog black trench (why couldn't it be navy??? waaaaaaa)

19. Le Pliage tote

20. Salt cashmere toque

21. J. Crew cabled cashmere crewneck sweater, navy. 

22. Navy moto jacket (navy may make it less classic, but cut is classic)

STYLE OBSERVATIONS:  very little footwear, very few bottoms here. Mostly tops, and most of those tops are knitwear for winter/ cooler temps. Some outerwear, but not a lot. 

This confirms what Angie has told me about my style—that I'm "trendy on the bottom." Also what I knew -- that my footwear tends to be on trend (to a degree at least). Also, my jackets and outerwear tend to be "with a twist." Not truly trendy but also not purely classic. 

19 comments

Trends I want to buy into, trends that may or may not work for me

So, in addition to the trends I can enjoy more or less for free with what I already own, there are some I really want to jump on and will have to make some purchases to fully enjoy. 

Red: I love red! In many of its shades and tones. And yes, I do have a bit of red and burgundy in the closet. But some of what I own is not quite the right tone of red for me (a bit too orange/ coral) and some is just very old. I would like to add to my reds while the option is available and refresh this capsule. 

Magenta, orchid, cobalt -- what I said about red. These are excellent colours in my closet and I already own some items in these colours, but I feel I could update/ refresh to good effect. 

Dark Romance -- this is a maybe for me. "Dark" so often means black. And dark romance can veer into goth -- which is too hard edged for my look. Having said that, I love a floral on a navy background. I love the textural elements -- velvet, sheers, shine. So I'm not against playing around with it. I can even do it from my closet in a Vivienne Westwood kind of way with tall black boots, tulle skirt, sequin cami, military style jacket. 

How about you? Which trends will you need to make purchases for if you want to participate? 

20 comments

Seasonal workhorses (and their opposite)

We're coming to the end of summer n the northern hemisphere and I'm guessing winter is on its way out for those of you on the opposite side. 

Time to evaluate how things went. 

My workhorses included the following: 

1. Cole Haan knit Original Grand oxford. New. Wow, what a comfortable shoe! And washable! It was an MVP all summer long. This was a new brand to me. I worried about the purchase at first because even on sale they were pricey, but they more than paid for themselves and made up for the lack of a white sneaker (see below).I promptly ordered more styles from this company when they went on sale to have them to use in the fall and on reserve for next summer. I bought a platform version, a similar shoe in grey, and a loafer for strictly indoor wear. 

2. Zara asymmetric skirt. New. Wore it several times a week except in the hottest days of summer. Loved it! 

3. Dries van Noten cotten linen plaid pant. New to me (but from the 2013 season! thanks to Jaime  and LJP and others for finding their provenance -- bought on consignment). Best summer travel pant ever. Dresses up and down, looks fun and interesting. Got compliments on them in San Francisco and elsewhere. 

4. Gap crop wide leg. New. Easy summer jean in fun silhouette and wash. 

5. J. Crew two piece dress. Old. Always in frequent use but this summer saw even more wear because I let the skirt down by as much as I could and I prefer it at the longer midi length. 

My duds were: 

1. The white EOS sneakers which promised so much -- KILLED my feet no matter what I did to mitigate. I have to get rid of them. 

2. Sandwich knit top -- not truly a dud, but a workhorse that worked so hard it fell apart! After our San Francisco trip I found it had multiple holes, presumably from the delicate wash! I am not sure it is reparable, though I will try, because I wore it multiple times a week all summer and adored it. 

Lessons:  try new brands, shoes can feel great in the store and awful in the wild, keep being trendy on the bottom, and expect a bit of wear and tear. 

How about you? 

What were your seasonal workhorses? Were they new items or older? Any surprises? Any lessons to be derived from your successes (or failures)?

27 comments

Trip report: ETA I wore the puffer after all

My plane's delayed so while I wait, I'll offer up the trip report. 

My packing proved excellent, so thank you for the advice! There were only a few items in Finds that I did not wear: the puffer (totally unnecessary), the blue and white silk blouse, and the DVF cardigan. I wore everything else, multiple times in most cases, and it all worked in different combinations well. 

Big winners included my Cole Haan oxfords -- more comfortable than either pair of sneakers even for a substantial hike in the Presidio and a walk down to Marshall's beach! (I washed them out afterwards, too, and now they are sparkling white again). 

The silver slingbacks worked! No slipping off and the comfort is great! They also pack well because they have such a low profile and they are lightweight. I only wore them twice, but was really glad to have them. 

The Dries van Noten pants were fantastic additions to this capsule. I got compliments on them and found them the perfect weight for the temperature several of the days and evenings. Wore them 3 times. 

The wool pants were too warm for most days but I did wear them once on a day that began cooler and foggy. I was really glad to have my Zara sarong shorts with me -- I wore those 3 times, too, because it was warmer than we'd anticipated most days. 

Denim jacket and sweaters were useful in the evenings and for sporadic layering in daytime. 

Judging from our short visit, San Francisco's climate is unlike any I've ever known and it might take some getting used to! Layers are key, as everyone advised. But I'm used to dressing in layers. This was a bit different because the changes can be so swift and also so temporary! If I lived here I'd definitely need a wardrobe of backpacks to carry around all my stuff all day! 

We had a terrific time checking out different neighbourhoods. We figured out the transit system and enjoyed getting around by MUNI and BART. We happened upon a gallery opening in Chinatown -- an African-American artist who does amazing work with resins and masks (https://jessicasilvermangaller.....lhouettes/) and got to mingle with the invited guests, which was fun. We stumbled on some lovely little community gardens. We explored lots of different neighbourhoods and did most of the typical tourist stuff as well. And we ate a lot of good food!

People were unfailingly helpful and kind. 

ETA: I wore the puffer after all. When our flight out of SF was delayed by about 4 hours, we missed our connection to Vancouver Island and it was the last flght. No hotel rooms to be found, so we ended up sitting in the airport all night. The puffer came in handy around 3 am in that pre-dawn chill! 

23 comments

Puffer in the bag: San Francisco, here I come. . .

Well, I was supposed to make this trip in June, but then I got hit by a car. I'm finally taking off for my first ever visit to San Francisco tomorrow at the crack of dawn. 

Complicating my packing: We're in the midst of a major heat wave, here in the Pacific Northwest. The idea that I might actually feel cold is a bit hard to imagine at this moment. But the forecast is for temps at least 10 degrees C  lower than here (or 20 degrees F lower). 

I'll be there for 6 days. Weather with highs in the low 20s (70s F) and lows in the high teens C. Sun and cloud. No rain. 

My bag is carry on size for international but I am checking it anyway, and I feel like I am taking WAY TOO MUCH. But I'm likely to be making decisions on the fly and needing to carry weather appropriate and day-to-night outfits in my backpack, because we are staying off the beaten track and won't always get back to our place to change after a day of galleries and hikes, for dinner. 

Activities: Hikes, galleries, restaurants, some shopping (maybe). General sightseeing, since I have never been to SF. 

What I am thinking of taking (in Finds). A lot of it is about layering. 

Note: the Vince "dress" is actually a blouse -- I had it shortened. It is nice with the Dries van Noten pants. 

If weather is warm (ish), I have;

 Dries van Noten cotton/ linen pants
Sarong shorts
Boden skirt
Sleeveless/short sleeved tops
Silk blouses (for evening) 
Paul Smith jacket (lightweight wool/ linen)
Denim jacket

If the weather is cool (ish), I have: 

Wide leg full length jeans
BR lightweight wool pants
Skirt (in a pinch -- if in Uber/ taxi) 
Silk blouses (layered under knits/ jackets for eve)
Foil sweater (for evening) 
Puffer
Other toppers, with knits underneath

Footwear is all comfortable for walking at least short distances -- the slingbacks are not for actual hike, obviously, but evenings. 

Some possible combos I tried this morning -- please excuse no makeup, messy hair, etc. These are decidedly not fully styled -- I didn't add belts, jewellery, or anything like that. Rushing to get ready! 

The last two pics are my travel outfit -- wide legs, sneakers, sleeveless Sandwich top, Paul Smith jacket, scarf if needed. 

If you can see anything I can cut out, let me know, and if you know what the weather is really going to feel like, let me know that, also! 

Thanks for bearing with me here! 

1

Go to the full post to see all of the pictures →

32 comments

In the navy now...and not nearing retirement.

I'd be seriously remiss if I didn't report to duty for today's post. In fact, I'd probably get demoted. ;)

Like Angie, navy is my dark neutral and my closet is packed full of it for all seasons. Unlike her, I also wear sprinklings of charcoal and occasionally a bit of black -- but black for me is a colour or an accent, not a neutral, and truth be told, I will likely get rid of it all within the next 3 years or so, as things wear out. 

I was fascinated to read about the specifics of Angie's choices, though—the way she picks and chooses what items she prefers in navy. The pattern that emerges for me -- in relation to her own style -- is that she avoids navy or navy combos (like a strict navy suit) that might seem "corporate," "uniform-like," "stuffy," or that would drag the playfulness of her overall ensemble down. Given her other preferences, the items and combinations she mentions as "not her" might do that to her outfits. Whereas they might work fine, for another person. Even one with a playful style. For example -- I'm the delighted inheritor of a navy bag she passed along!  :)  

Interestingly, though — I tend to wear that bag with my lilac coat. Not navy. 

When it comes to solids, I tend to look my best in a bright, lighter navy, like the J. Crew cotton rollneck sweater  and the Bernardo coat, below. In prints (especially with white) any navy works well. But I wear them all, from darkest ink right on through. I wear navy in patterns (especially stripes with white or off-white) and in plains. In fact, it is a challenge to find a wardrobe item I do *not* own in navy. I even have navy undies! 

While sometimes, for presentations, I have created a navy "suit" with my blue tuxedo blazer and a slightly different navy trouser, it's rare for me to do this, because it feels a bit too strict for my style unless I can lighten it up with a playful, fun top. I'd be much more inclined to wear a navy patterned suit. I do wear navy pea coats, and raincoats, and overcoats. Navy footwear, accessories, and bags (when I can find them). 

The challenge, for me, over the past few years, in fact, has been to find wardrobe items in colours other than navy. That's because with earth tones trending for so long, navy was often the only cooler colour on offer or the only one that had any hope of suiting me. I'm still working on building up a red/cranberry/ burgundy capsule, and a lilac/lavendar capsule; I've been at this for years and never seem to get very far because no sooner do I find one good upgrade/ update than I have to retire two older items that have worn out or no longer work for me. 

That doesn't mean I'm done with navy, though! Always on the lookout for great pieces in my favourite dark neutral. 

Also, I will say -- if you build a closet primarily around a dark neutral, whether that be navy, black, charcoal, brown -- it becomes very easy to mix and match. Within a given season, almost anything in the closet has the potential to work with almost anything else. Jenn's closet is a great example of that, using black. 

1

Go to the full post to see all of the pictures →

37 comments

Style renewal vs. style refresh

It seems I'm posting non-stop these days! The reason? A large scale closet refresh. In posing the question Janet raised the other day: Do I want to wear this? I found myself giving the side eye to a lot of items in my closet. That is something that has not happened for a decade. Which is the last time I did a style renewal. Then, it was as a result of significant weight change and new roles. Now, I've had a smaller weight change, I live in a different city with a different climate, and a few (but not all) of my roles have changed. 

Despite those factors, I don't think I'm undergoing a style renewal in the sense that Angie describes here or here.   My core style persona remains consistent with the one I identified back in 2012 or 2013. 

But the kind of refresher I seem to be undertaking -- while organic -- is much larger than any I've undertaken for a long while.

For a long time, I've maintained my wardrobe and evolved my style by buying somewhere between 20-30 items a year (more or less) and retiring an equal number (more or less). That includes footwear, a high wear- high buy category for me -- I never get away with fewer than six new pairs of shoes/ boots a year and it's usually more.  This year, I have already retired 35 items and purchased 20! 

And I'm far from done, fab friends! 

So, I'm curious about you. How often do you do a major refresh of your style? Or have you ever done one? Have you ever done a style renewal, in Angie's sense? Is there some other term that covers what I'm doing now? Is there some reason for it? Are others going through a similar shift? I am guessing, from Dee's recent post, that I'm not alone. 

51 comments

Denim on denim, the faded version

You've seen a few of these items, mentioned in today's blog post, already, but for fun, I wanted to show you the piece de resistance! The Scotch and Soda denim jacket. 

This was pricey for me but a felt like a smart splurge, if that makes sense. When I first joined YLF in 2011 (I think?) one of my first purchases (on sale, from the Bay) was a lightly distressed mid-blue cropped denim jacket that I still wear all the time. You've seen it in countless outfits. Later that year I bought a white denim jacket in the kids' department at Old Navy. 

Despite wearing these two items constantly, I had not updated/ upgraded to anything a little fancier. Both are looking a bit tired, TBH. They fit fine, and I really do prefer the cropped lengths to the longer oversized fits of recent years. But the one from Old Navy has some stains on the collar. (So if you see a great, cropped white denim jacket with silver hardwear, let me know, LOL! Or a blue one, for that matter!) 

Anyway, in the meantime I tried this lighter wash with the blousy cut and dropped shoulder, and it is a a really fun change. It seems to work best so far with wider trousers (denim or otherwise). It is so generous that it will fit over a big cotton sweater, which makes it versatile. 

But it's the details that really make it fun and special. See photos. 

Just trying it here with the ON wide legs (perfect match!) and the GAP wide leg crops -- for fun. These weren't real outfits. But I will probably wear it like this if it ever warms up!  

I haven't worn this light a fade since 199-what? 

1

Go to the full post to see all of the pictures →

25 comments

Formula dressing

Dee's recent thread on adopting what she called my formula of stripes and wide legs (which was itself a version of Angie's suggested "unexpected spring tweed jacket outfit -- not a formula, per se, since she gave variations) has me thinking, what actually counts as a formula? 

Is it a combination of types of pieces, i.e. jeans + tee + moto? 

Or is it more specific, yet still somewhat generic, e.g. wide legged denim plus striped tee?

Or is it more about silhouette, i.e. long over lean or short and boxy over wide? 

Or is it about picking specific items in one's own closet and wearing the outfit one creates with those multiple times a season?  

I guess in a way it's all semantics -- maybe formula dressing could be any or all of those! 

But if you asked me whether I'm a formula dresser, I'd probably say no because I don't think "okay, today I'm doing boxy over cropped" (or whatever) or "today I'm doing jeans + tee + moto."

On the other hand, I very definitely find outfits I like from the stuff I have plus whatever new piece or pieces I've added, and wear those multiple times within a season. For instance, I have already worn the outfit below at least three times in the last month-- double denim, simple navy top, floral scarf (when needed) belt. (That little rolled bundle in my arms is my packable puffer for the colder evening temps.) The jeans are new -- the rest of the stuff is seasons old. 

I know some of the capsule wardrobe people conceive of formula dressing in one or another of these ways. And it might be helpful when you are building a wardrobe to decide on certain silhouettes or type of item you've going to emphasize and think about how to make outfits from those.

I'm not sure, for me, the first version I mention (jeans + tee + moto, i.e. A type of item, + B type of item, plus C type of item) would be useful in any real way because if the devil is in the details, then you can't just throw on any jeans with any tee and any moto -- it won't work! 

One of the weaknesses or problems with my type of formula dressing, if you can call it that, is that I get quite wedded to the combos I like, and when something wears out or gets tired, I can look for a direct replacement rather than evolving to a newer shape -- usually because that newer shape won't work in the old combination. Over time, this can lead to a feeling of being in a style rut. 

How do you conceive of formula dressing and whether you consider yourself a formula dresser or not, and why?   

39 comments

New wide legs (and J. Crew)

You've already seen my Paige wide legs. These are the ones that are cropped on the models -- full length (though not floor dragging) on me. 

I also got a light wash of the Everlane Mariner. I like these a lot, as well. They are fairly rigid low stretch jeans (though they do stretch out a bit on wearing -- not too bad, though, so far). They have cargo-influenced details like a deep hem and larger back pockets. On me they are full length. There's a break. But they don't drag on the ground. So, somewhere between the new full length and the old full length. 

I'm enjoying wearing these. Warning -- if you are the kind of person who shrinks from comments on your clothing, you might want to wait until the trend is more established. I get comments every single time I wear one of these jeans. Some complimentary and some more jocular, of the "I haven't seen jeans like that since god knows when," variety. ;) 

I've been wearing wide leg crops since what seems like forever. My first ones were called "culottes" but I'd say they were more like cropped flares. Then I had a pair of cropped wide leg trousers from J. Crew, and a pair of cropped wide leg jeans from BR. I passed all along eventually. The first pair wore out, and the second two tended to stretch out too much over time, plus the pockets on the J. Crew were a bit problematic. 

I'd say the difference between the newer wide legs and my previous ones (besides the length, obviously)  are the  following:

Newer waists may cut less straight across, i.e. the rise is higher in the back than the front, and they have darts in the back -- this leads to a better fit overall. 

Legs are wider all the way down. A looser fit on the thigh. 

Denim has less stretch (at least in the ones I have tried so far.) 

I'm really loving the full length, but for summer I'm aiming to get some crops again. I'm considering some from the Gap and some from Everlane. How about you? Are you trying the wide legs, or not? 

Wearing with J. Crew rollneck sweaters in cotton -- these are slightly cropped and a good length for higher rises. Nice quality cotton sweaters with a raglan sleeve. 

1

Go to the full post to see all of the pictures →

37 comments