Wardrobe Round-up: October 1-7 2021

Not too much exciting going on around here after last week's trip. Mostly just trying to enjoy the mundane bits of the day, all things 🦇OCTOBER🍂, and whatever outfits as they come, including experimenting with switching over to fully casual athleisure looks ~3x a week.

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Purchases

Target Wild Fable Heart-shaped Sunglasses OS – I've been meaning to get a new pair of sunglasses for a while. I previously had a pair of prescription Ray Bans, but for some reason they've felt uncomfortably tight to the point of causing headaches this past year. I'm not sure if my head has gotten wider or if I've just become more sensitive, as I've been unable to wear that particular pair only after my concussion last April. I've been making do by wearing a baseball cap or wide brimmed sun hat when going out most of the time, but after really missing sunglasses in the car ride during our Yellowstone trip last week, I figured it was time to get another pair, even if it wasn't prescription. I figured getting a cheaper pair would be fine as long as it had UV protection, and given that I'm not really in a situation where I can easily go try on a bunch of shades, I went for this more whimsical but well-reviewed pair from Target.

Luckily, they worked out well for my face shape and unlike the Ray Bans, don't rest on my cheeks! That happens sometimes when glasses aren't meant for low nose bridge / flatter face shapes, but these only touch by face at the nose pads. I also really like that the heart shape is fun, but without any visible frames, they're a bit more subtle than any contrasting plastic frame heart shades. The description puts the lens color as pink, but IMO it leans more green.

Keen Terradora Mid Waterproof Hiking Boots, canteen/marsala 7.5 – I think I may have gotten the last new pair of these available online from a third party seller 😅. I bought my current pair of hiking boots several years ago, and Keen has since come out with a mark II version of this boot. I haven't had a chance to try that one on yet, but I can definitely say that the first version is THE best fitting shoe I have ever tried on in my life. I think it took a little breaking in, but currently it is far and away the best fitting shoe I own.

Given that fit is particularly important in shoes that you intend to walk several miles in at a time, after the Yellowstone trip I figured that since we have the storage space, it wouldn't hurt to have a backup pair of these. As someone who's never really identified as a hiker since around these parts if you say you like hiking, people tend to assume you mean hardcore hiking, it took me a while to finally get a pair of actual hiking boots. But man, it's like that chicken-egg thing where having the right equipment will allow you to go so much further, you just need to get over feeling like you don't deserve said equipment.

Banana Republic ruffle sweater, M, NWT via Poshmark – Since the recent resurgence of the statement collar, I've been LOVING all the frilly femme accents in shirts and knitwear. I love the peter pan collar puff sleeve blouse and chelsea collar blouses I've acquired, but sometimes a woven shirt still feels too stiff for my taste, so I've been keeping an eye out for knit pieces. I already have a few lettuce hem long sleeve mock neck tops, but sometimes I still crave something more extra. This week on Poshmark, I finally found the sweater for me! A 55% merino, 40% nylon, 5% cashmere cool toned taupe sweater with flounce/ruffle sleeves and a ruffled mock neck collar, this top is comfortable but doesn't seem terribly delicate, and the sleeves are the right length! They come up to my knuckles when my arms are at my side, but otherwise end around my wrist when I'm actually moving my arms around.

I feel like I'm particularly known for all my puff sleeve dresses, but I do like other types of statement sleeves! I just can't deal with sleeves that can't be pulled up, so while I like the look of trumpet/bell sleeves, they're not right for me. This sleeve is more of a flounce/ruffle cuff situation, and the length is perfect. Really excited to use this for layering with my sleeveless dresses this fall/winter!

Woods of Wonder (Etsy) amanita muscaria mushroom necklace – this one is still in transit, but I've been enjoying my little collection of pendant necklaces and thought it would be nice to add a classic toadstool for a bit of color. I've been really into these polymer clay necklaces because their more earthy feel compared to metallic pendants is more comfortable for me to just throw onto a random casual look.

Pumpkin Season t-shirt from TeeTelier (Etsy) adult M, cream – I realized that I don't have ANY fall/halloween tees?? At ALL? This is a complete travesty as I wear that stuff year round, and I have corrected this by ordering this 70s style t-shirt proclaiming the season of decorative gourds and squash-based desserts and entrees. I've been enjoying my groovy style frog tees so I figured keeping my fashion graphic tee collection (as opposed to my vintage tech tee collection) in a similar lane would be good. I plan to pretty much just wear this with jeans and cardigans or fleece jackets. I'm not sure but I think I originally saw this particular t-shirt from @roseybeeme. Still in transit.

TheGorgonist (Etsy) toad enamel pin, green and rose gold – I loved the little frog witch pin I got from Etsy and have decided to start collecting pins to embellish my backpacks, tote bags, and overalls. This sort of thing feels like it could get out of hand easily, so for now I'm sticking to a personal policy of only having one pin in transit at a time. This toad is just the perfect mix of cute and angry, and it reminds me of the squeaking toad from the viral BBC nature video. This item also hasn't arrived yet.

I quite liked the art style of The Gorgonist shop, which had a strong millennial-liberal-nerd aesthetic. I'm not sure how to explain it other than it feels like it's influenced by Adventure Time, Over the Garden Wall, Steven Universe, and the like.

Closet Clean Out

This week I rounded up, washed, listed, and gave away to a neighbor (via a Buy Nothing facebook group) my 10 piece set of Uniqlo Heattech thermals. They're perfectly fine thermals especially for the price, but they're just snug enough that I tend to opt for just piling on more sweaters if it's been cold. I figured at this point it would be better for someone else who fit them better to have them and I think I'll eventually replace the set with just one merino long sleeve base layer and one pair of thermal leggings from REI or something.

Outfits

Some easy fall looks again, starting with this warm weather one during the short heat wave we got at the start of the month.

Free People 'Get Obsessed' babydoll dress S, Birkenstock 'Mayari' sandals, Woods of Wonder bat necklace

Rich jewel tone fabric accessories over a cozy neutral base:

Target A New Day two-tone satin wrapped headband, Target Universal Thread button-front cable stitch cardigan L, Free People 'get obsessed' babydoll dress S, Dr Martens Leona Boots, Woods of Wonder owl necklace

Overalls! Embellished with an enamel pin and barrettes.

Free People 'Ziggy' denim overalls, Urban Bliss rib knit mock neck top from ASOS (old), Converse Chuck 70 high tops in parchment, mass produced frog witch enamel pin via Etsy (if you get it via Etsy instead of AliExpress, compare price vs ship time of all the shops selling it).

And the rest

As part of my closet clean out, I've been thinking more about how to get more even wear of all the items that I like enough to let them take up precious closet space. I've gotten in the habit of pushing myself to always aim to put together more of a ~look~, since years ago when I decided to figure out how the heck styling worked I was starting from "I literally don't know how to wear anything that isn't leggings/jeggings and t-shirts".

I don't actually not like leggings and t-shirts and sweats, and I have a nice little collection of sweatshirts and tees that I'd love to wear more! I try and get them in rotation as loungewear or when I'm out for some exercise, but I don't always have it in me to do two-outfit days even if there's a practical component to switching to athleisure, because at this point I've updated most of my 'outfit items' to be comfortable enough to be fairly active in.

Inspired by the recent week of only hiking outfits combined with wanting to prioritize exercise and my day job a bit more, I figured that I might as well just commit to that athleisure life roughly half the days of any week. I've done this for a week and a half at this point and it seems to have been one of my better ideas. I've been getting outside more often and it's been nice to get the sweatshirts outside.

Morris & Co x H&M men's medium sweatshirt via Poshmark, Athleta 7/8 leggings, New Balance Classics women's 574v2 sneakers

When I have time to snap a photo, I'll still share these as a bonus pic on days that I do post on Instagram, but I might not bother adding them to the wardrobe round ups, unless y'all have any strong opinions otherwise (let me know!).

Old Navy crew neck sweatshirt in petite L, Athleta hustle 4.5" short in victorian periwinkle L, New Balance Classics women's 574v2 sneakers, Columbia 'popo' hip pack

In other "news", I've decided in the spirit of spooky season to start watching through some of the classic monster movies during the weekly hangout with some friends (which I'm very glad is no longer virtual, as they moved back in town after some job switching). The 1999 "The Mummy" is one of my favorite movies (my favorite movies are all popcorn sorta movies – Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc), so I started out with the OG version of that. We actually accidentally watched the 1959 version with Christopher Lee initially, but it was neat being able to compare that to the 1932 one with Boris Karloff. I haven't watched too many old school movies and even fewer pre-code ones, and it was refreshing to watching stuff that just had a slower pace!

If you're gonna watch just one, IMO the 1932 movie is much more entertaining than the 1959 version. It's shorter (only ~70 minutes) and more stuff happens, the cinematography is more exciting, and the story is more satisfying.

I think we're probably going to watch Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein next, which I'm looking forward to. It doesn't look like we're going to get around to doing any pumpkin patch or corn maze stuff this year, and we are certainly not going to be hosting any parties, so I'm pretty chuffed to have found another option for seasonal goings-on.