Gritty Glamour

There are great deals out there on coats right now so ordered this white fitted puffer from Rack and nothing was mentioned in the description about the attached faux hoodie, but I like it. I don’t know why I didn’t see it because it’s in all the photos! it is removable with its own zipper and adds a nice break between the white jacket and my white hair.  The recommendations said to size down which I did, and it fits great with a thin top but there’s no way I could wear a sweater underneath and zip it up.  So I’m ordering my regular size to see if it works better. Sometimes it’s hard for me to decide between how it looks and how it functions.  

Evaluating my capsule for the first week, I’ve found I don’t mind sticking to a pared down color palette so far, but I’ve reached for a darker base according on my mood and how I am feeling about my body. Don’t get me wrong, I really don’t have much to complain about, except for feeling tired and bloated from too much time at home on screens. We are in the middle of the annual chartreuse pollen blizzard here in Chapel Hill, NC so another reason for wearing darker bottoms.

I’ve been enjoying developing capsules for the different seasons, and for Spring 2022, I’m focusing on 25 items. I really wanted it to be 22 but alas. At the last minute I also threw in my white bag that goes so well with my hair.

Limiting myself keeps me from getting overwhelmed with decision fatigue and I’m more creative with my outfits. I usually add a few new pieces each season but also incorporate some things that I haven’t been wearing to see if they deserve a place in my closet or if I should pass them on to someone else. This time it’s the lilac pink skirt.

It helps if most everything works together although sometimes it’s fun to throw a wild card in there. By the time summer rolls around I can regroup and come up with a new capsule by shopping my closet.

My neutrals are navy, denim, and white and my colors are various tints of magenta, pink and lilac.

5 Tops: 1 tank, 1 graphic tee, 1 blouse, 1 chambray shirt, 1 hoodie

4 Bottoms: 1 skirt 1 light wash jeans, 1 dark wash jeans, 1 white jeans (may need to add one more here)

1 dress

3 Third Pieces: 2 moto jackets, same chambray shirt

4 Shoes: 2 combat boots, 1 sneaker, 1 sandal

4 Bags: 1 tote, 3 shoulder bags

Accessories: 2 earrings, 2 bracelets, 1 scarf

 I may add something else as time goes on since I have a Memorial to attend in May. This is the first time I’ve limited myself this much so wish me luck! Do you do seasonal capsules?

I’m not usually a pattern mixer, but thought I’d try this burnout velvet top with a Spring like scarf. The scarf has similar floral shapes as the top and has colors in common.  Hard to capture the way the top looks in real life. Love my new boots!  

Moonstone earrings, white bag and light scarf background adds the light I need. 

A town close to us has a monthly art walk which we love going to and having dinner after.  I wore my favorite faded and frayed Wit and Wisdom jeans, a rose brown wrap top, denim shirt dress worn as a duster, snakeskin booties and my grandmothers Art Nouveau beaded evening bag from the 20s.  It was a gorgeous night, warm with a cool breeze so we could eat outside. 

I hope you don’t mind me posting daily as I’m trying to work through this new style recipe: Gritty Glamour.

Today I’m wearing a very casual outfit to meet my art journaling group in a cropped hoodie and flares. I started out wearing my pearl gray combat boots, but it felt like the outfit was too masculine. So I switched to pewter Chelsea boots and a pair of marcasite and pearl earrings; Small changes and not sure it works but seems to make a difference in how I feel. Anything else you would change or add to bring in some glamour?

Happy first day of Spring! Heading out for Lunch to celebrate and it’s a pretty day. I’m testing out my new style Name Gritty Glamour with a mauve pink floral embroidered dress, pearl gray combat boots, charcoal leather cuff and a white and hematite phone bag. I’ve ordered this chain link hematite necklace which I think would add some Grit to most outfits. Changes or additions?

I put together all the words you used and a few of my own to describe my style in the previous challenge post https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....-scenarios and here’s what I came up with — several words belonged together in distinct categories and I have never had a more clear vision of my style.

Glamorous: luxe, elegant, retro, Art Nouveau, sophisticated, silky
Gritty: tough, edge, industrial, bold, urban, modern
Comfortable:  relaxed, casual, soft
Creative: arty, artful, artist
Romantic: playful, alluring, soft, bohemian, fluid, flowy, feminine 
Color story: monochromatic, neutral silver-blue, English garden colors: cool purples,lavender, blues, pinks
Light: icy, silver, white

Im sure I will still be refining this but so far this is what I have. . . Drumroll please . . . 

Dug out my ancient beloved Converse mid tops (seriously they are about two decades old) which have black and white flames and skulls, and paired them with a sheer floral black, white and gray top and silver coated jeans. This is a lot of pattern for me and often feel like I want to reduce it somehow. Accessories are a charcoal leather cuff, small flower earrings and a pearl gray bag.

I struggle with whether Converse are too juvenile in an outfit like this, but too warm today to add a jacket which would have been nice to take it up a notch and reduce the pattern impact. . Suggestions or tweaks welcome.

I was inspired by RunCarla to post this challenge in order to better understand my style. 2 years ago, Jenn posted this ‘style your wardrobe’ challenge https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....-challenge and I’m repeating it now.

The 5 challenge outfits were:

- date night

- important meeting

-a wedding

- working around the house

- running errands

The collage below shows different refinement levels and activities.  I don’t really have important meetings anymore LOL but I did include some appointments that I dressed a little better for: two date nights, ukelele band performance, optometrist and yearly check up.  

I tend to dress in a flexible way for most days so I can do various things and change out accessories or third piece to dress it up or down without changing my base.  A good example is the second to last outfit.  I was wearing the charcoal knit onesie for home, but added a wool sweater and hiking boots to go meet some friends for a hike and coffee.  I could easily change to different accessories to head out to dinner.

Do you see any consistency of style words/themes across these scenarios? I would love to hear your thoughts on mine and please post your own if this intrigues you.