Emerald green vintage dress, Planet Xchange. Green Large Resin Bib necklace, c/o t+j Designs. Vintage Margaret Smith bag. Manor Maryjane in Beige, Marais USA.
Shifting your personal aesthetic is a pretty inevitable fact of getting older. Obviously, or I'd still be wearing logo tees from the mall paired with coordinating plaid bermuda shorts. Whether or not people get bitten with the fashion bug, what they put on says something about them. Sweatpants on girls at my school say to me that the wearer is athletic outside of fashion but extraordinarily lazy when it comes to their own appearance. I don't judge books by their covers (ok, I do a little bit; I'm a sucker for good design), but I might judge people based on whether or not fleece is a part of their "personal style". This fact makes me respect them no less as individuals and personal choice is a beautiful thing...and yet it still makes me what to go into makeover mode.
What does all of this have to do with the outfit I'm wearing in these pictures? The simple fact is this: I can dip my pen into other styles as many times as I want, but when it comes down to it, I know what my stand by personal style is. Ladylike, vintage, modest, classic. Those four words encapsulate the style that I find myself drawn to again and again. I like to switch it up every now and then, adding a few current elements or showing my sassy side with some grungier, edgier pieces. But I'd be kidding myself if all of the sudden I was decked out in Jeffrey Campbell Litas and leather shorts.
This simple, yet stunning, vintage (handmade- there were no tags inside) dress was the perfect canvas for some of my favorite accessories. My prized Margaret Smith bag that I got for quite the bargain a few years ago pairs perfectly with these bestselling Marais USA flats. I thought that I'd try to avoid the saccharine shoes in the coming months, but I just can't help myself- they really are darling (if somewhat impractical- they are entirely made of satin). While my new necklace from t+j designs was quite a bit larger than I had anticipated, I thought it brought the outfit to a whole new level of glamour. That word is one I usually stray from when trying to define my own style, but the necklace features the perfect color palette for the things I've been wearing lately.
I'd love to hear: what are some of the most significant changes you've gone through with your style? What do you always come back to?
3 comments:
That dress is so beautiful, Ashlyn. The emerald color is absolutely stunning. You've got quite the luck when it comes to finding amazing and unique pieces for your wardrobe, if I do say so myself.
I think more recently, I've decided I don't really care what others are thinking when they see me walk into a room and I'm in a dress or a skirt.. but they're all in shorts and a t-shirt. We all have clothes we feel most comfortable in, and mine just happen to not have pant legs a lot of the time. ;)
Kristina
kristina in retroworter
That color is stunning on you! It makes me want to go find a dress in the same color and try to pull it off as well as you do :)
I'm not really sure how to best define my own style. Being that I shop almost entirely secondhand, I have a pretty good mix of styles. When I was younger, I didn't really care much - I just wore blue jeans and t-shirts like most of the other high schoolers. College was a transformation period for me, as I really became interested in how I present myself and started to care more about dressing in a way that makes me feel like ME.
2ndhand Knowledge: A Style Blog
How gorgeous is this color on you! I love the necklace and flats as well.
xox Sammi
www.thesoubrettebrunette.blogspot.com
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