And so, I'm back. It was a rough end of the year, it seemed like at least one of us was poorly in various illnesses at any given time from Halloween onwards. And speaking of Halloween, it got completely cancelled because of some not very pleasant stomach bug (I'll spare you the details...). Our thrifted and refashioned Halloween costumes will have to be re-used next year I suppose.
What I have had time for though is thinking about why we do the things we do. As an example; the other day I decided to have a proper wardrobe cleanse, and as I was trying on a pair of black slacks (tag still on, please don´t judge) I realised that they actually represented my latest "new" purchase. I think I bought them in January last year, in preparation for my new job, but mid-March, after having been all of 2 days at my new workplace, we were ordered to work from home because of Covid-19. Hence the tag being still on I suppose.
Thinking back, I've always loved thrift shops, and vintage style, but mostly limited my purchases to things for the home or fabrics for sewing, occasionally picking up a dress to be refashioned, inspired by the amazing Jillian the Refashionista, but this year I've been upping my second-hand shopping game. It's becoming a bit of an obsession really; if I need something, I'll look second hand firsthand. And I love it; it’s fun, frugal, and, most of all, it's better for the environment. What we wear, how clothes are made, and the amount of clothes we buy, are seriously impacting our planet. It's a drop in the ocean some say, and sure, it is, but every little help, I say.
Now style. This is a hard one for me. We are so lucky to have our two wonderful children, but the pregnancies left me with an underproductive thyroid, with lots of problems, including weight gain, as a result. Current fashion (and yes, I am very much aware of the difference between style and fashion), with flowy dresses, oversized blazers etc doesn't suit me. But then, neither did some of the previous trends with bare mid-riffs, boyfriend jeans, paper-bag waists or miniskirts either. These styles look fabulous on a lot of people, but they are not for me.
Consulting the style gurus Trinny and Suzanna (I found a second hand copy of The Body Shape Bible on Amazon), I am to go for tailored pieces, that will give my body the illusion of a curvy figure, look for high waists, show off a bit of leg, avoid polo necks (sigh), and opt for V-necks instead. And I agree, I feel like I look nice when I manage to pull one of those looks off, but it is hard to find as stores stock what is on trend, and on trend is not me. (And I’m not giving up the polo necks btw; they are essential when living in wintery Sweden, style be damned)
Shopping second hand was the answer I didn't know I was looking for. 2020 obviously forced me to look for online sources, and I’ve found some great ones (I'll list them in a later post), and I've noticed how it becomes clearer when something is "fashion" and when something is "stylish". Some of the things out there, regardless of original price tag or designer, look awful after a season or two, whilst other items can be 1, 5, 10 even 20 years old and still look great.
But even though I now have a "recipe" to use when shopping (thanks to T and S), I still haven't found my style. I've read all the advice out there; choose your colours and patterns and so on, create a signature look, but I've come to realise that I like too many styles to choose just one. When I was little, I loved dressing up, and maybe this love of make believe is still my greatest influence?
I love a bit of rock chic, a nice 50's silhouette, bohemian flower power dresses, sharp 1940s tailoring and so on (although not at the same time). So, this'll be my style then, I guess; eclectic? Oh, and I love colours. Not that this is obvious; peek inside my wardrobe and all you'll find are whites, greys and beige, with the occasional black. There are two reasons for this; firstly, I have psoriasis, and so I’ve had to choose colours that wouldn't show off the "specks" that was my constant companion for years. Now, with the new medication I am practically symptom free (thank you science), and so, for the last year and a half, I have been gorging on black items. The second reason is that I'm a coward. With my complexion I should be wearing strong colours; reds, blues, magenta, but I'm craven, so I resort to my staple colours. This is about to change though, just watch this space :-).
So, looking forward to 2021; we’re on the home stretch it seems; vaccines are being distributed, we can go back to a new normal, but hopefully, a new normal that is more respectful to this amazing planet we live on, more caring of wildlife and more understanding of humans. A better future. My contribution will be this blog, the way I live my life, and how I raise my children. Clothes and fashion may seem superfluous and flimsy, but it is one of the myriad of ways we humans express ourselves, and creativity and artistry are not superfluous or flimsy; they are essential.