Outfits June 16 – June 30 2019
June in San Francisco – aka 50-55F and misting in the morning and possibly up to the low 70s in the afternoon before coming back down. This is pretty apparent in the outfits in the latter half of the month. The more summery ones were weekend outfits since it's warmer in the East Bay.There wasn't really any theme to this group of looks aside from that brief #aweekwithnopants thing on Instagram, but I'm pretty happy with the variety compared to around this time last year.
Some of the content is copies of my Instagram captions because why write it twice? I do like having the collated outfit posts because they're easier to look back on down the line.
Prints
Four different prints in two weeks. FOUR! Sure they're all black and dark blue prints, but I've come to appreciate prints more as I've been able to think of making outfits as a creative hobby, but it's a lot harder to find prints that I like on top of finding stuff that fits and checks all the other boxes so these are actually all the printed items I have.
I really like having the Patagonia fleece (there are loads of these on ebay) for active/outdoors stuff. It's definitely not figure-flattering but it's a lot more fun and cheerful than the all black/gray options I used to have for athletic wear.
The space dress! Since it’s a statement item that doesn’t need any help to look cool I like to keep other items in the outfit relatively subdued. (Also this can easily pass into a “host of a children’s television show” look which isn’t what I’m going for at work.) I like that there’s some texture through all the black pieces though, so it feels like a balanced outfit in terms of visual interest. One of my pet peeves is the “just a pop of something” look where there is one ~statement~ item and the rest of the outfit is disproportionately uniformly flat or more casual.
This might be one of my favorite summer looks I've ever done. Very cutesy but more local adventure/garden-y than brunch-y.
I would eventually like a shirt or dress with a more obvious Peter Pan collar, but I do appreciate the subtlety in this one which is camouflaged by the print.
Cropped Wide-leg Pants
Got these brown wide-leg canvas pants cropped a͞s I͘ ̡con͞t̛i͠nue͝ m̕y a̛s͞s͏i̧mi̢l͟ati͠on ͏in҉t̡ò th͝e hivęmin͝d of͝ ethi͞c̕a͏l ̵fas͘h̴i͏ǫń ͢in͟s͞ta҉g͠ra̧m ahem because I thought the cropped length would work better with lighter weight shoes like sandals and sneakers, making them more versatile as I’d mostly just been sticking to pairing them with pointed toe boots.The cropped wide leg style definitely doesn’t make me look as statuesque as the full length version, but it does feel more playful and less stuffy.The full length is a more classic retro look and I think would age better, but I wasn’t wearing these pants much anyway in the full length so I figured I’d just have fun wearing something unabashedly on trend for however long this style is a thing if it means I actually wear these more often. Either way I’m glad I didn’t spend a lot of money on these because while they’re fun to try and incorporate into outfits, I don’t think these are a personal staple 🤔
Dug out this green field jacket from the “to donate” pile. At one point this was my most worn jacket (I think it may have been my first non-hoodie jacket — I wore it almost every day), but I hadn’t worn it in a long time because I felt the longer hip length was unflattering with the more voluminous pants and skirts I’d been wearing but not dramatically voluminous/long enough to be A Look. It can definitely look frumpy with the wrong styling but I really like how it works with the high-waisted cut of the bottoms, and substantial shoes.For the right side outfit, I also like how the vintage adventurer vibes from the jacket and color scheme are kept from being too on the nose by the modern cut of the pants.It's feeling a little droopy and discolored though (that's how Old Navy stuff usually ends up) so I'll probably keep a lookout for potential replacements.
Low-Key Witch Outfits
AKA my go-to when I want to do something fashion but not something loud. I've been enjoying seeing and trying more spring/summer fashion so for the first year ever I'm not on the OMG-IS-IT-AUTUMN-YET-SWEATERS-PLZ-IM-SARTORIALLY-DYING summer train, but I do always feel pretty cool in these looks because of the monochrome + texture.I particularly enjoyed the minimal goth look of the white sweater outfit which I wouldn't have put together without the "a week with no pants" challenge. It was a result of grabbing the first skirt and top that didn't clash (normally when I'm on a "idgaf about fashion" day I do a t-shirt and jeans). The blouson sleeves are just the right amount of historically-inspired flair without going full vampire-ball-victorian-style-blouse since I wasn't feeling too ostentatious that day.
Finally got around to wearing this look from the summer weekend witchy lookbook I put together a few weeks ago. I like the rock festival vibes and generally just felt really cool in this. I've been thinking that some circle sunglasses would really kick these weekend looks up a notch.
One reason I like this outfit so much is it lets me rotate through all my accessories without having to worry if they really clash since the dress is a nice blank canvas. It still has some cute details like the split hem and these large buttons on the shoulders for getting it on and off, but the thick cotton fabric is a good base for shiny details. Plain but with enough structure to feel like a doing-things dress instead of loungewear.
Storybook Style Outfits
As you all know I like to do the multiple style capsules thing because life's too short to force yourself into just one style if you enjoy a bunch of them. I don't think I could go back to doing all black/gray all the time so this style is sort of the expansion past.My initial foray into this new-to-me style was about a year ago, and while I still have mostly the same pieces, I make more of an attempt to use accessories now which I think has added some depth/completeness to the looks.I think I might try finding a few more headbands. I always feel super cute in them but the red and gold lame ones I have work in limited color schemes.
I mostly wanna share a bunch of photos of this outfit, which I've worn a few times before in minor variations and is one of my favorites:
@nitrochique said it looked like I was heading to work at the Ministry of Magic with Newt Scamander to wrangle some magical creatures (in a good way) which is possibly the best compliment I've ever received on an outfit! Coincidentally later that evening I passed this promotional wall for the new Wizards Unite/Pokemon Go re-skinning mobile game so I got a picture with it.
I always feel more magical when I pile on all the costume jewelry. Unfortunately I keep losing track of my rings. I lost these (most likely in a bag or pocket somewhere in the apartment, not lost-lost) again shortly after wearing them in thisi outfit.
I’ve worn a couple of small variations of this before, but I’m digging it with the flat oxfords instead of oxford pumps or block heeled lace-up boots. Feels a lot more ready-to-be-swept-off-on-an-adventure-involving-detective-work-and/or-the-supernatural 😂👞 I don’t read that sort of fiction much anymore, but that was my favorite as a kid. I also like how it matches this purse.
This drapey coat goes with so many skirt lengths because the asymmetrical hem doesn’t even try to feel neat, and doesn’t disrupt the vertical flow of an outfit if the hemline isn’t close with the skirt. It's also just the right amount of fantasy for my taste without feeling like a full out Halloween costume. It is pretty snug in the arms though so it is unfortunately limited to milder cool weather.
Casual Outfits
I was really glad to see the variety in my casual t-shirt/jeans outfits in this set. These all still feel easy-breezy but put-together I think because the pieces are more structured and/or just take up some space (compared to the jersey dresses and fitted tees and jeggings that were my go-to a few years ago). When I wear a simpler base like in the black scoop-neck top outfit but still want to look like I care about looking nice (because I do!), I put more effort into my makeup and accessories, which is usually as simple as red lipstick and a headband.
That's it for this post. I have some more personal-fashion thoughts I'd like to get out but I think it makes more sense to put those all in a "one year of blogging" state-of-the-wardrobe sort of thing. But overall I'm still happy with the direction things are going and I feel like I've more or less reached the goal of being able to make outfits every day that I enjoy, even if it isn't easy every time 🎉