Recent Style

I've been trying to dress more out of my comfort zone now that I've gotten back into blogging. I feel like I have been in a style rut for a while where I just wear jeans, a t-shirt, and a cardigan every single day. It's comfortable but boring and doesn't say anything about who I am as a person. I would like to start dressing in a way that better reflects my personality again.

(Please excuse my poor photography. I'm still working out how to best take outfit pictures of myself. I think I like the way the first two turned out, so I might stick with that style for a while. Still too shy to show my face on the blog, but hey at least I'm not headless anymore.)

This first look made me feel like I was about to go on a beach vacation. All I needed was a straw hat. It's my first time wearing white jeans, and I was paranoid all day about staining them. The weather was warm, so I paired the jeans with a striped linen shirt. I love linen for spring/summer. It keeps you so nice and cool! Some people probably don't like how it wrinkles, but I'm into that casual rumpled look. Also I bought these J.Crew hair ties recently, and I've taken to just wearing them as wristbands. Multi-purpose!

Shirt: J.Crew (old, similar)
Jeans: J.Crew
Sunglasses: J.Crew
Necklace: Charleston Gate Jewelry (from my recent trip to Charleston)
Wristband: J.Crew
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff
Sandals: Sam Edelman

This next ensemble was really out of my comfort zone for several reasons. The first is that I have zero experience with pattern mixing. As you've probably noticed by now, I usually wear neutrals and at most one pattern at a time, usually stripes. Here I'm wearing two different patterns, one of which is very bold. I think it works in this case though because of the different scales: the pineapples are very large, and the stripes are narrow. This just goes to show that stripes really do go with everything! I added a pair of jade earrings to highlight the green in the skirt and a pink wristband to match.

The second reason I felt out of my element is that I'm wearing a midi skirt, which breaks my (self-imposed) cardinal rule about skirt length. Since I have short legs (bordering on petite), I usually wear skirts that end at or above the knee. Midi skirts look best in my opinion on women who are very thin and/or tall. I also don't wear heels, so I can't even rely on that to create the optical illusion of longer legs. Overall, I liked this look though. I received several compliments that day, including one from J. He rarely notices what I wear, but he told me I looked really pretty in this skirt. :)

Top: J.Crew Factory
Skirt: J.Crew (old)
Jacket: J.Crew (old, similar)
Sunglasses: J.Crew
Earrings: gift from my mom
Wristband: J.Crew
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff
Sandals: Sam Edelman

Here I was on my way to a friend's PhD defense celebration, hence the wine. His party was in the afternoon (we were planning to grill by the pool), so I wore this light cotton sundress with an abstract floral pattern. I almost got rid of it during my last closet purge, but I'm glad I changed my mind at the last minute. You can never have too many floral dresses. As Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada says (sarcastically), "Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking."

Dress: CeCe by Cynthia Steffe (old)
Wine: Trader Joe's (haha)
Necklace: eBay
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff
Sandals: Sam Edelman

Below is what I usually wear on days I go to work out. I like to pretend that I'm wearing athleisure. See? I even added a necklace to dress it up. Anyway, I hate the hassle of changing before heading to the gym. I'd rather just pick up and go anytime. On this particular day I headed to my local climbing gym after school.

Top: J.Crew (old)
Sports bra: Nike
Fleece: Patagonia
Leggings: Zella
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff
Shoes: Vans

So which was your favorite outfit? Did you think my first attempt at pattern mixing was successful? Do you have a personal rule about skirt length? When is an outfit athleisure, and when is it just wearing sweats?