Blog Feed

Cleaning Out Your Closet: Common Pitfall Phrases

Published on by jamielanelleLeave a comment

I have noticed in cleaning out my own closet (and helping others clean theirs) that we tend to use the same phrases over and over again. These phrases initially seem like a reason to keep an item, but are actually red flags that it is time for these items to go. I’m hoping that addressing a few of them here, with some stories of my personal struggle, will keep you from falling for the same mental traps that I do.

  • “I really should wear this more” // usually this phrase comes out when we have dragged some item out of the depths of a pile. It is something we have not seen in a long time, but we remember liking it?

Every time I pulled this heart sweater out to wear it, I thought “I really should wear it more” but then I would wear it and remember why. It is just not very comfortable, fits a bit tight for my taste, and the sleeves always left painful imprints on my elbows. Yes, it was cute, but I will never reach for it over my other more comfortable sweaters. So this most recent cleanout, this sweater was gone.

What you should do: when you have uttered this phrase, that doesn’t mean an immediate no, but you should take a minute and think long and hard about the item. Why don’t you wear it more? Why was it in the bottom of this pile? Often the reason we don’t reach for items we can clearly see is the same reason we don’t search for items that are long forgotten. Either they don’t fit, or they aren’t our style anymore, and just in general they aren’t serving us. If you get to the end of this thought process and still decide to keep the item, then make sure it is in a prominent place. If you haven’t “worn it more” by the time your next closet clean out rolls around, then get rid of it.

  • “It was a gift!” // usually happens when you come across a thing that you do not actually enjoy wearing, but a person that you care about gave it to you so you feel guilty for getting rid of it.

This red dress was a matching set of dresses my grandmother picked out for celebrating the 4th of July one year. I liked it in theory – I am generally into oversize printed dresses as layering pieces and the ruffle at the bottom could look cute under a sweater. However, the few times I did try to wear it again I just didn’t like it. So in the next round of cleanouts, this dress found itself in the going pile.

What you should do: when this comes up, ask yourself why you are really keeping this item. Is it serving you or is it taking up valuable storage space, and cluttering the things you enjoy wearing? Will the person remember that they gave it to you and ask about it? If you aren’t going to wear it, and it is likely that the person will not remember giving it to you, then you should get rid of it. If you just cannot bring yourself to get rid of the item, try finding a storage solution that doesn’t keep it out in the open.

  • “I used to wear this all the time!” // usually occurs when we see an item that we used to love, but have since stopped wearing for whatever reason. We eagerly try it on, and often quickly discern why we stopped loving it.

This purple shirt with fun sleeves was a hard one to get rid of. In fact, for me the “used to love it” line is the most dangerous. It is hard for me to admit that a thing just does not work for me anymore. This shirt was so fun, a great color, and gave me all the French provincial vibes I adore but when I tried it on recently it was just. too. tight. It was uncomfortable to wear, and required layering underneath since it’s so thin. I knew that I wouldn’t wear it anymore so it was time to go.

What you should do: this phrase is an acknowledgment that you used to love it, but clearly don’t wear it anymore. Whatever the reason – if you don’t reach for it over other items in your closet then you don’t need to keep it. Unless it is something unique, timeless, or valuable, I would say “used to love” items are ready to go. If they are still in good condition then someone else will love them just as much. If they are falling apart beyond simple repairs, then they have served their time.

  • “Oh this would be so cute if…” // usually shows up when we find an item that we’ve been meaning to edit for a long time. A shirt we’ve been meaning to crop; a skirt we wanted to hem; some pants that we wanted to adjust the waistline on.

Ah this skirt. I bought it on a last chance sale (i.e. non-returnable) thinking that it was only a few inches too big and I could easily fix it. When the skirt arrived, I realized a few inches was more like 5 inches where I wanted it to sit. After my first mend, I still wasn’t happy with it and I knew I wouldn’t want to put the effort in to mend it again. Someone else will be happy to have a skirt that fits them, and I don’t need to be giving space to an unfinished project.

What you should do: with these items I give it the “right now” rule – am I willing to sit down and fix this right now? If I am already doing a closet clean out, then I know that I have the energy and motivation to complete the task, and often simple edits I can whip out in that moment. If I am not willing or able to do it right now, then it is time for it to go. If right now doesn’t work for you, give yourself a time limit that does. Maybe until the end of the week works better for you. A time limit is the key – these items need an expiration date. Unless you’re a seamstress regularly sewing and mending items, the likelihood that this will continue to be an unfinished project taking up space is high. Make peace with the loss and move on.

I also want to say about this line — if the modification is to your body and not to the garment then gone it should be. “This would be so cute if I was more tan” or “… if I was thinner/thicker” means that the piece was not made for you, is not serving you, and needs to go. Clothes should fit you, not the other way around, and all bodies are beautiful and valid as they are 🙂

  • “I spent so much money on this…” // usually comes up with an item that we regret buying. Either it was an impulse buy, a trendy piece that didn’t work out, or a vintage/thrifted item that was ‘such a good deal’ in the store but not actually right for you.

THIS. DRESS. AAHHHHH… So I don’t even have any pictures of just the dress. I originally purchased it from someone who made it for me but the sizing was off. So I purchased it again, and sent them measurements, hoping that it would fit better. The new one did fit better, but I realized the the style was not working for me. I spent so much money on these two basically identical dresses that just didn’t work out. Time to cut my losses and let them go to others who will like them more.

What you should do: like the items above, you might just have to make peace with the loss and move on. There is a reason you don’t wear these items enough to justify the cost; the guilt is a red-flag in and of itself that this item is not serving you. The goal of a closet clean out is to have readily available the pieces we love to wear, and that make us feel good. Items that bring up guilt don’t accomplish that goal. Perhaps you can list it online and recoup a bit of the cost? Or take heart in the fact that while you don’t love it, someone else certainly will.

  • “Oh, this actually fits!” or “Well, it fits.” // usually happens when we try on an item we initially wanted to get rid of; the surprise is because we don’t actually wear it that often.

I owned this sweater for a long time because it fit me really well and I liked it in concept. However, I never wore it for various reasons – it was hard to style, it was a bit small for me – but honestly I just did not like it as much as I thought. It was not my style. So while it passed many cleanouts because it did fit me well, I finally gave it up. Someone else will love this sweater and wear it all the time, no need to it to be taking space in my closet.

What you should do: This is a trick of the mind – we think because it fits that means we should keep it but fit isn’t the only reason that an item deserves a spot in your closet. Maybe it isn’t really your style anymore or doesn’t fit your current climate or lifestyle. Like the things we used to love, these items end up cluttering the visual space in our closet and hiding the things we really love to wear. There is a reason you didn’t know that it fit – and it’s probably time for this item to go.

Often we know as soon as we see an article of clothing whether it should stay or it should go. I am hoping that recognizing some of the phrases in you hone in on your instincts and curate a closet that makes you excited to put on your clothes in the morning. After all, clothes should make us feel happy and confident – not guilty or uncomfortable.

What are some common pitfalls in your closet clean outs? Do you recognize any of the above phrases? Did I miss any the should be addressed? Let me know in the comments below.

Travel: Walking, Wind, and Waves!

Published on by jamielanelleLeave a comment

Oliver and I recently went on yet another international vacation – this time to Greece. We decided to change up our usual modus operandi and try out a cruise ship. I have a lot of thoughts on that (let me know if you guys want a blog post just about this?) but this post is about what I wore and why I brought it.

Now if you’ve read my post about Tahiti, I definitely decided that next time we were planning to travel to somewhere warm (and believe me – Greece was HOT the entire time we were there) that I was going to bring copious amounts of sundresses. And so I did, to the detriment of my backpack.

My collection of proposed packing items (almost exactly what I ended up bringing minus a few last minute cuts, and the “geriatric nurse” outfit that I wore for the plane. Supremely comfortable, and perfectly warm if not my most stylish travel ‘fit.

I want to stress that trip packing is not a one-and-done deal, but that there are always new lessons to be learned and new tweaks to try. We took some of the lessons from Tahiti and applied them to great impact on this trip:

  • We made more room for sunscreen by bringing shampoo/conditioner bars and reducing other liquids.
  • We brought straight up /better/ sunscreen and were more religious about applying it
  • I packed more with the idea of comfortable in mind than I did when we went to Tahiti – for example I brought looser clothing (sundresses) and remembered bike shorts for my poor thighs

The red sundress I wore in Crete and the sunflower dress I wore in Rhodes.

I learned some new lessons on this trip, however, when it comes to clothing.

  • The benefit of not sundresses is layering – of course this comes into play with style, to keep outfits feeling fresh, but this also comes into play with smell. Dresses get smelly, and when one is too smelly it takes a whole outfit out of play instead of just one piece. I did hack this a bit by hanging my dresses inside out in the closet while on the cruise ship, which allowed them to air out some.
  • The type of shorts I bring are very important, and bike shorts are my real heroes: they keep my thighs from rubbing together and don’t move, they are comfortable, they are thin enough to work under a dress but thick enough to work as bottoms on their own, they pack small. For real, if you’re mid-size or bigger, try bike shorts on your next vacation.
  • Long sleeves didn’t necessarily equate to hotter, and it was sometimes nice to have a loose fitting long sleeve shirt to wear to save myself some sunscreen effort.
  • I need to prepare for not being able to wear my dresses some days, or that I’ll want to change up my look, and bring more layering pieces in the future.

The striped shirt and bike shorts I wore in Mykonos, and the t-shirt and bike shorts I wore in Olympia.

Now, let’s get into the nitty gritty of what I brought, what worked, and what didn’t.

** Skincare/Hair Care **

I have been working on clearing up some pretty rough acne and I know that sunscreen and dirt and sweat can make this worse, but I also wanted to cut down on liquids so here’s what I ended up with.

What I Did: At the time I was using Curology (I’ve since stopped using their products, but they did a decent job on this trip) so I brought their cleanser and moisturizer. Greece has a limit on how many prescription products you can bring, so I did not bring my medicated cream. In addition, I brought these face wipes from BusyCo which are really awesome, work well, smell great, and are compostable! They also pack super small which is convenient. For hair care, I brought this set of shampoo and conditioner bars which I got from Grove Collaborative (but you might be able to find elsewhere).

What Worked: In contrast to Tahiti, I wasn’t having to bug spray at night, so I actually did my most intense washing in the afternoon when we stopped by our room to shower off the day’s sweat and rest. This worked very well for me, and I think would be easy to replicate with any skin care regimen. My skin was pretty rough before we left, but actually cleared up a bit while on the trip. The shampoo/conditioner bars were honestly better than I expected though it did take a bit of effort to figure out how, exactly, they worked. If you can put up with a bit more work in the shower, I say look into some bars because they save on liquid space. I put ours in soap savers I got for like $6 from Ross, so they also dried out well between uses and packed without leaving grim on anything.

What I Would Change: Honestly, not much. I think I really hacked what worked well for me this time.

The floral dress I wore in Corfu, and the red dress worn again under one of my layering tops for Santorini.

// Hair Sidebar – Accessories //

Since I knew we wouldn’t really be swimming on this trip, I brought a few more accessories.

What I Did: I brought a whole host of cute bobby pins, a couple of clips, and two big scrunchies, and two small scrunchies.

What Worked: This setup was a quick and easy grab, especially since I have short hair right now. These were all tested items that I use every day at home, so I knew they would do roughly what I wanted them to.

What I Would Change: THERE WAS SO MUCH WIND IN GREECE. Legit, I almost made Oliver learn to French braid while we were on the cruise ship. If you were wondering why my hair is such a mess in all these photos – for real, the wind was a problem for my short curls.

** Shoes **

What I Did: I brought my Vionic leather sneakers and this pair of Tiva sandals.

What Worked: After our very first international trip to Paris, and again tested in Tahiti, I have really figured out what shoe combination works well. The sneakers were better for our city roaming days, and the sandals were better for scrabbling about the dusty ruins. I am a firm believer in bringing two pairs of shoes – even better if they are pretty different from each other – so that when things start to rub or blister, you can change it up and give your feet a break. I saw this in full force on this trip. Also, it should be noted that my Vionic sneakers held up much better than my Aerosoles I previously used as my travel shoes, and they had better support than either the Aerosoles or the Soludos. If you’re looking for a solid pair of well made travel shoes, I highly recommend checking out Vionic.

What I Would Change: My main concern was that neither pair of shoes had a really good grip for the loads of marble or the dry, dusty climate. I wasn’t anticipating that Greece would be so dry in general, and I might hunt better grip shoes for our next foray into arid lands, but overall both pairs of shoes did exactly what I needed them to.

Athens days one and two. The striped shirt and shorts was by far my least successful outfit – in future trips I probably won’t bring these shorts again. The dress was fine, but I felt a little weird about how see through it was.

** Clothing **

What I Did: I brought on this trip four sundresses, three t-shirts, one long sleeve shirt, one sweater, one pair of sweat pants, three pairs of bike shorts, one pair of looser athletic shorts, two long tanks, one crop tank (tight fit), light rain jacket, one swimsuit.

What Worked: As I mentioned above, the bike shorts were the real heroes – even though the sundresses were a lot flashier. I’m very glad I brought two long/loose tank tops, as these did all the real sweat mopping work under my cute dresses. The tight top wasn’t super practical – I’m not positive I would bring this one again.

I purchased another sundress from the locals and once again, this was the perfect thing for this climate. It’s almost as if the people who live there know how to dress for it! Also, as I mentioned a bit in the caption above, I frequently had some concern about how see through some of my dresses were. Fun fact: the Greek people do not care ONE BIT about you seeing their underwear through their cute sundresses so this was entirely my own self-conscious issue. Once I got over this, I was a lot more comfortable in the heat.

What I Would Change: Definitely some of the items I brought were just too heavy. Specifically the turquoise t-shirt; while it’s a very cute layer and did do that job well, it was a bit thick for the heat. So when I was layering it over things, I was often just too hot. I also probably needed to bring one more pair of regular shorts (maybe the denim ones I cut from the first picture in this post) and maybe one more t-shirt. I forget that my travel outfit is usually completely wasted by the time we arrive (I get so smelly on planes)! Also, I didn’t need to bring the raincoat at all — the only day it rained, we didn’t have our coats and my sundress dried out just fine. Plus the wet was a welcome reprieve from the hot sun and dry wind.

The sundress I bought in Greece, my go-to cruise ship outfit, and Oliver in his favourite outfit – linen pants and floral button down shirt, paired with his dad hat and sandals (of course).

** Final Thoughts **

I really love travel, and while I complain endlessly about it, I also love the challenge of travelling out of a backpack as a fashionista. It feels like such an accomplishment when I implement new lessons each time, and learning and growing always feels so natural when it comes to trip fashion. At the end of the day, I love to look good and I love to see new things, and the combination of the two is *chef’s kiss.*

I feel like each time we go on a new international vacation, I also start to hone in on what is important to me while travelling, and it’s comfort – hands down. I really need to be able to move well and look cute while doing it. In this sense, the sundresses do a lot of work. But I also need to bring items that pack efficiently, and use what little space I have to the best of my ability. The sunflower dress was so dang cute and pretty comfortable to wear, but took up about half of my space. If I had swapped that for some smaller items, I could likely have fit at least two other full outfits – dresses or tops & bottoms – and this would have been to my advantage.

Finally, I want to talk a bit about colour palette: I’ve proven, handily, that you can bring a whole host of colourful patterned items that all work together. To all the people out there who want to try a capsule wardrobe or want to travel out of a backpack but aren’t really into plain-jane clothing and neutrals – it can be done. I never once felt like I was trying to make colours or patterns go together that just didn’t work. The whole palette made sense. My best helpful hint for how to do this is to lay all the items out that you intend to pack (like I did in the first photo of this post) so you get a quick visual on things that just don’t work together. In the future, thought, I might not put the strict ban on black clothing like I did this time. I have some really fun sundresses and shirts that were quickly ruled out as packing options which might have worked better than some of the items I brought.

I hope all of you get to travel soon, and that these fashion debriefs are helpful in your own packing adventures.

What are your go-to items for vacations? Do you bring multiple suitcases or just backpack it like we do? Planning a trip and don’t know what to pack? Let me know in the comments below.

The Struggle: SUMMER FASHION

Published on by jamielanelleLeave a comment

It was basically 80 degrees today in Seattle, which means yet another summer approaches. I scrolled through my fashion Instagram earlier because I often use my own previous outfits as #outfitinspo, and I only found two really hot summer outfits from last year. The most exciting my hot weather wardrobe got was in Tahiti, where I mostly wore the same three pairs of shorts & shirts because they were comfortable and I was sunburnt.

Those striped shorts from the first picture featured heavily in my few hot summer outfits. I guess they are the most interesting?

My brother has been really digging into his personal style as of late, and continually texts me: “Does this look stylish?” He says, sending me a picture of yet another shirt and shorts look. To clarify, our styles are basically opposite. While Brent loves minimal looks with a bit of pizzazz, my looks are maximalist pattern mixed chaos. Yet we both have the same struggle – summer fashion is, to us, boring.

It’s boring. There I said it. BORING. Yes, there are super cute sundresses but a lot of a wardrobe is built in separates. I am not going to have ten or fifteen different sundresses, and for Brent who prefers more masculine looks, this isn’t even an option. And yes, I’ll admit that you can play around with silhouettes and lengths but unless you’re wearing a dress or romper, most of summer fashion boils down to: shorts/skirt & shirt. That’s it! There are no more layers or fun things to add because it is just too hot. Even today, I had Oliver take some photos of my outfit. When I asked him, he initially seemed surprised.

“This outfit?” He asked, as I handed over my phone.

“Yes!” I responded. I asked why he was so hesitant.

“Well, it’s not really that interesting,” he replied.

“Yes! That’s exactly the point I want to make!”

– Oliver and I, earlier today
The not-very-interesting outfit I had Oliver take pictures of today.

I’ve recently been on a bit of a journey to try and accept more minimalism in my fashion life. I scroll through so many cute accounts and blog posts and videos of people that are just in jean shorts and a white button down and they look so fresh and clean! Then I put the same outfit on myself and I feel like I am missing something critical – think those dreams where you are in class and realize you aren’t wearing any pants, that’s the feeling. I just want to add more: another pattern, another layer, something interesting. While I struggle with this year round to be honest (a couple of my recent forays into trying this out in cooler weather are pictured below) it’s easy enough to quell the something-missing feeling with another layer. “Oh, I’ll just toss on this jacket” I’ll say, or “I can add a collared shirt underneath.” With summer clothing, this becomes cumbersome and sweaty.

Some of my latest versions of simple outfits. In each case, I struggled to post them because they didn’t feel like enough, but the graphic sweaters helped convince me.

What really struck me about this infinite struggle in my life, is that Brent is having the same problem. Is it that less fabric = less interesting? Is it harder for us to somehow make a #look now that we have just less yardage to work with? In Brent’s minimalist style, the outfits above are honestly entirely too much, and in mine they are too little. Yet in summer wear, we feel the same. Does anyone else struggle with this as much as we do?

I decided to go back in time – I’ve traveled before to Del Rio for 4th of July where it is quantifiably hot. I thought perhaps that my Pacific Northwest locale had ruined my own inclinations toward cute summer clothing. So I went back in time… and found that I had very few outfit pictures from our Del Rio trips. You might be tempted to say it’s just because I was too busy enjoying my time with family, and to some degree you might be correct. However, I know that my need to prove that I was cute one day usually outweighs this (and Del Rio is accompanied with plenty of downtime for narcissistic photo shoots). I went back even further to our first trip to Seattle, which was warmer than we thought it would be, and still found no inspiration.

This is the best I could find from ALL 4 trips (three Del Rio, one Seattle). It’s really not a lot.

When I look at all of these pictures, the outfits are cute, sure, but none of them really feel like anything to write home about. I can tell that I’ve tried to spice a few of them up – I added a cardigan, or I included some fun contrasting socks – but for the most part they are just shorts and a t-shirt (or a sundress). They feel lackluster, and are definitely not inspiring. I don’t find myself wanting to repeat or recreate them.

I usually try to end these posts with an upside or lesson – something that we’ve discovered together – but in this case I really don’t know what the answer is. Perhaps I just need to keep wearing what is comfortable and find joy in the simplicity of summer clothing. Perhaps I will always feel like summer fashion is missing something and just wear clothes cause I have to. Perhaps I will find the thing that really cracks summer fashion (though more likely, I’ll realize that the thing is all in my mind).

Perhaps I will just soak up the sunshine while I wait for fall fashion to bring me life in layered patterns again.

Do you have the same struggles? If summer’s your jam, any tips you want to share? Do you have a season that you struggle to dress for? Share in the comments below!

Travel: Style Blind Spots & Nature Travel

Published on by jamielanelle2 Comments

Recently, Oliver and I were able to travel to French Polynesia for a ten day vacation. It was an exciting trip filled with a lot of firsts: our first major trip mid-pandemic, our first nature focused vacation, and our first trip to an island. We were so excited to have a chance to get away from everything and go somewhere remote and warm for a bit.

As you may know, Oliver and I are strict believers in carry-on only when we travel (you can read my review on our Osprey bags here or check out my how-to for packing here) and this trip was no different. However, this going to an island in the middle of their summer was a big highlight on a style blind spot for me: summer clothing.

I have never been great at choosing summer clothing. Growing up in Colorado, summer clothing was very much about “how can I stay as cool as possible” but I spent a lot of my summers in my bedroom at home, and not really out doing things because it was just too hot, so my summer clothes were whatever was comfortable from the thrift store. As I grew older, my style evolved for other months but my summer style stayed largely the same: comfortable t-shirt and shorts. I had a few years of summer dresses that I really enjoyed, but they were fleeting at best.

Now, I live in Seattle where our summers are still relatively cool. There is maybe one month of 80’s and sunshine, but a lot of the other days are still 60’s and overcast, so investing in a lot of summer clothing that I just really won’t wear seems like a waste. Therefore, packing for a trip to a hot island mid-summer was setting itself up to be pretty rough. As I told Oliver while packing, my job was almost made easy by how few summer clothes I really have.

To be honest, some of these choices were pretty optimistic…

While I didn’t necessarily have a wealth of choice in the clothing I brought with me, I did choose things intentionally:

  • Three crop tops: I picked these because they are light and comfortable – basically very easy to wear. Crop tops are a flattering fit on me, and they are cut a bit looser which I (correctly) assumed would be important in sweaty, humid heat.
  • Two regular t-shirts: this was more of a just in case choice that I imagined would mostly be plane wear to be a bit warmer.
  • The only summer dress I have (which, turns out, does not fit anymore)
  • Red check shorts: a pair that I’m not super attached to, but dries quickly and fit well. I always try to bring a set of clothing that can get ruined while travelling, just in case.
  • Purple patterned shorts and brick colored shorts: both are lightweight cotton pairs that fit well, look cute, and are comfortable to wear.
  • Linen striped shorts: not necessarily practical color (they can be a bit see through) but with intelligent underwear choices, these would be the most practical fabric-wise. Linen is cool and quick drying.
  • One tank top: mostly as a plan warmth layer, but ended up serving other uses.
  • One pair of thigh savers: my thighs rub together, especially in shorts, especially when sweaty, and I thought these would get a lot more wear than they did.
  • Two pairs of shoes – my Soludos sneakers for travel days, and Tiva sandals for when we were on the island.
  • Both swimsuits that I own

Honestly, going in I thought I had packed very well. The outfits were easily comfortable and classic; they were all roughly in the same color palette so they would mix and match well giving a lot of flexibility in outfits. I definitely learned a lot during this trip and would pack a bit different in the future. Below I’ll talk about each section, things I did well, and things I would change.

** Skincare/Hair Care **

I’m not a high maintenance person in this area, but I did bring more this trip than usual, and I do have some level of skincare routine that I feel is easy to replicate for other carry-on travelers.

What I Did: I brought these facial cleansing wipes, a day moisturizer, and a night moisturizer (both from No B.S. skincare line). I would cleanse deeply with a wipe, moisturize, and head to bed. If I felt the need to cleanse throughout the day, I would repeat with the day moisturizer. For hair, I have curly hair and a lot of maintaining curls is keeping the natural oils in the hair. I assumed the salt water would do a good job of stripping it, so I brought a lot of shampoo/conditioner sets.

What Worked: My choice of skincare routine worked pretty well even on a face that was dealing with an entirely new environment. At night, we were both pretty exhausted, so it was good that my routine was simple and easy. I use these face wipes – which did a good job of cleansing. About halfway through our trip, my skin started to clear up really nicely even which was neat to see in spite of the sand, sunscreen, and bug spray caked into it. Having a lot of conditioner was also great! I feel like my hair did pretty well until the very end.

What I Would Change: In the future, I probably wouldn’t even bring shampoo to a destination with salt water that we are swimming in every day. I used it maybe once, and the rest of the days I just cleansed with conditioner.

** Swimwear **

What I Did: I brought initially two swimsuits, as well as two extra period swim bottoms (I’ll talk about those more later).

The super cute front of the swimsuit… and the impractical back of many straps.

What Worked: Definitely having multiple swimsuits was a good idea, and in future I would bring at least two again. Things would not dry overnight, unless they had been in the hot sun for a bit and since we were sometimes swimming in the evenings to cool off before bed, our swimsuits often weren’t dry the next day. Having a few interchangeable swim pieces to work with made swimming more enjoyable day to day.

What I Would Change: If we did a trip like this again, I would purchase entirely new swimwear for a couple of reasons.

  1. The swim wear I brought was very old, and three of four main swim items did not fit well. This made each day of swimming unnecessarily uncomfortable.
  2. The swim top that I brought which fit best has a lot of straps at the back. This made it both inconvenient to put on/take off each day (especially if it hadn’t dried all the way) and particularly uncomfortable over my (inevitable) sunburnt back.
  3. The four main pieces didn’t really match, and weren’t interchangeable. It would be nice for future trips if I could mix and match pieces throughout the week.

** Period Items**

Getting down and dirty for a minute here, but I wanted to specifically talk about my period underwear and swimwear.

What I Did: I brought six pairs of period underwear – two heavy flow, two medium, and two light flow. I brought two pairs of period swim bottoms.

What Worked: Honestly, all of these items were a god-send for many different reasons. I highly recommend that women wear a pair of period underwear on long haul flights, whether or not they are actually on their period. Since they are designed to help wick away moisture and contain things, they help immensely with staying comfortable in a situation where bathroom breaks are scarce and you will be sitting for a long period of time. I use Thinx for the underwear. The period swimwear were also amazing – in addition to providing comfortable bottoms to replace those that didn’t fit well, they worked marvelously well in a situation where bleeding in the water was potentially dangerous. They were easy to clean, dried well, and held up even after long days of activity. The ones I brought are these from Ruby Love.

What I Would Change: not a lot to say here, except that either from bugs or other conditions, my older pairs of period underwear got rather destroyed. So maybe keep this in mind if you’re travelling to a similar, bug ridden and humid locale.

** Shoes**

What I Did: I brought my Soludos leather sneakers and this new pair of Tiva sandals.

The sneakers were perfect for skipping about, and my sandals were great when I wasn’t enjoying the super soft sand.

What Worked: Overall, both of these choices were pretty solid for their given purposes. My sneakers held up well and were comfortable for hurried airport running and walking all over the city, and my sandals did exactly what I asked of them both on land and in the water. I ended up using my sandals exclusively in our bungalow because there was just dried coral for the ground – practical in the mind of the owners, but not great underfoot. They were comfortable, easy to clean, and quick drying. The sneakers also gave an added benefit of protection and comfort for my bug-bitten, sunburnt feet on our last day of travel.

What I Would Change: this was, honestly, the first place I have bene to where flip-flops are actually a practical choice of footwear. I ended up pushing down the backs of my sandals and treating them as slide on shoes for a lot of the trip because you’re in and out of shoes a lot. Being light, small, and easy to pack I think a pair of flip-flops would have been a welcome addition.

** Clothing**

What I Did: you can see the list of clothing I brought above. Add to that a light jacket (not waterproof) and a thin raincoat (both from Outdoor Research) since we knew it would be wet season, and while we were there I purchased a sundress from a local shop.

Two of the crop tops which made multiple appearances. Also featured, the red checked shorts that doubled as sun-blocking swimwear, and the brick red shorts that were super comfortable. Light rain jacket in the first photo.

What Worked: The crop tops were a GREAT choice. Since they have a looser fit, they didn’t rub or cause any issues with my sunburns. They also provided better airflow than my longer shirts, which fit tighter near my butt. All being made of thin cotton, they dried quick, and I wore them many times. The two t-shirts also worked well for their intended purpose – flight clothing. Since I didn’t want to wear them during the week, I ended up having a nice clean shirt to wear going home which felt really good.

The shorts ended up working nicely as well. The red checked shorts were perfect for swimming on the days where we wanted a little extra protection from the sun. The brick colored shorts (United by Blue brand – highly recommend) were awesome, and I wore them most of the days because they were just perfect – not too fitted, very comfortable, just the right length, quick drying… etc.

The sundress I purchased from the locals was, no surprise, very well suited to the environment. Perhaps a bit of a poor color choice for Tahiti, it will make a great summer dress for Seattle.

First photo shows my flight outfit – arguably the least practical.
The second photo shows my super cute local dress – arguably one of the most practical.

What I Would Change: The plane to Tahiti I wore the light jacket and a pair of leggings. While this worked well flying out, I just could not stuff my swollen, sweaty legs back into my leggings. I also could have gone without the linen shorts – they are a bit less soft, so they bothered my sunburns and I was really only able to wear them on my last day. Not a practical choice for an 8 hour flight home either, but I had little choice since my other shorts were straight up gross after 7 days of wilderness living and my leggings weren’t happening. In the future, for flight wear I would bring a looser pair of sweats or joggers that still look nice and keep me warm, but would be easier for end-of-vacation me to wear.

I didn’t need the chub rub shorts, and definitely didn’t need two pairs. Since they take up little space, I would probably bring one again but not both.

I would also have appreciated more sundresses, especially that fit comfortably. It would have been nice to just throw on a dress over swimwear and sunburns, rather than having to pull shorts or a shirt over every time. Also I forget how much I enjoy wearing them, and I think long term I just want to work more sundresses into my wardrobe.

In the future, I would have just brought the rain jacket. While it’s not better than the other light jacket for flying, I didn’t use the light jacket at all while we were there, and I didn’t even use it for the return flight. The rain jacket, however, worked very well as both rain and sun protection.

** Final Thoughts **

Overall I learned a lot about myself this trip, but especially so about my fashion choices and I’m feeling re-invigorated to spruce up my summer wardrobe come the warmer months. I definitely want to add more sundresses to my wardrobe, and I need to find a few more practical swimsuits.

I also realized that a lot of my assumptions of why clothing would or wouldn’t work were correct – which feels good when going into a trip with very few options. When we go on our next warm weather vacation, I’ll have bolstered confidence in my packing skills, and a lot better of an idea of what I’ll need.

How do you pack for nature-focused vacations? Do you have any wardrobe blind spots? Questions for me about travel, fashion, or any of the products I mentioned in this post? Comment below!

Deep Dive: Taylor Swift

Published on by jamielanelleLeave a comment

Say what you will about her music, her career choices, or her love life, Taylor Swift has been iconic in each of her fashion eras. Each new album brings about a new style and fans and fashionistas alike enjoy looking forward to what will be next. In fact, if we think about it, Taylor Swift has shown us exactly what a style evolution can be like and how different our style can be throughout the years. Maybe your style eras are not as defined but if you look back you will see the slow evolution into your current style today.

I have — put nicely — a lot of clothes. Some of them are costume elements for our amazing Halloween parties but at the end of the day, I just have a large wardrobe of items. I also know that I have a lot of items hiding, barely used, at the depths of drawers. As I scrolled through yet another iteration of Taylor fashion, I wondered if I could recreate a look of hers from each era using only the clothes that I owned.

This post takes you through a deep dive into Taylor Swifts style, starting with her Red album (as I feel that’s really when she started to come into her own) all the way through the most recent evolution of folklore. I will showcase a look from my own closet (no new for this pieces) that encompasses the concept of each era, as well as providing some guidelines for recreating these styles at home.

— RED ERA —

Red was Taylor’s album that really started to bridge the gap between country and pop, and holds some of the classics that fans of “old” and “new” Taylor love. Her fashion made this leap with her – losing the “girly dresses and cowboy boots” look of her previous few albums and moving into what I’ve dubbed pretty but approachable hipster. Her basics focused around comfortable classics such as the white t-shirts or button down blouses and cigarette style pants. It was this base layer that made her showy pieces stand out. Think of those red glitter oxfords? The top hats? Those band jackets?

Her look is definitely one that’s easy to filter into everyday wear: if you take out the clearly-meant-for-the-stage pieces that bring it out of classic office wear and into costume, it’s a really clean office look done with flair.

When she stepped out of her white top/black pant uniform that showed up several times, she was wearing clean retro looks that hearkened to a modern 50’s style. Think fit and flare dresses or simple graphic prints filled with Peter Pan collars. And we would be remiss to ignore the bold red lip paired with natural looking makeup that dominated her style.

Red Era Taylor was all about being clean and manicured from top to bottom, while playing with familiar silhouettes.

Image Links: red dress ; Red album art ; band jacket look ; white top/black pants

For my version of Red era Swift, I played with her basic uniform – black on bottom, white on top, showy elements. I was thinking of the character that would move seamlessly between the songs “22,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” and “I Knew You Were Trouble” during her perfect night out with friends.

My top hat and band jacket are not something I usually combine as it feels a bit costumey, but I had this in mind as a stage look for Taylor, and thus the more the better. However, the rest of the outfit (sans hat, if you will) is just a nice classic look. I honestly could wear this to the office.

I chose a simple white t-shirt and these skinny pants with the leather accents, because they felt luxurious, and Taylor’s style always has these smart little details that elevate the look. Finished with my black and white leather sneakers for the completed concept of pretty but approachable hipster.

TAKE HOME TAKE AWAY: If you really love Red era Taylor, then here are a few things that will help you achieve this look in your own style.

  • Look for classic, timeless pieces (a white t-shirt and black pants will work in almost any era; the fit and flare shaped dresses are the same)
  • Keep prints simple (polka dots, stripes, etc.) If you do want a busy print, make it a small and delicate.
  • Find a really solid color story and roll with it (red, white, and black). This is also a great way to make sure that everything in your closet has a lot of re-wearability. If you can pair every item with something else you own, the combinations are endless and you get more mileage out of less clothing.
  • Focus on small details (cute buttons on a blouse; leather edges on pants; unique necklines/collars) and let the rest of the clothing stay clean.
  • Find one showpiece and let it shine (a hat, a jacket, a cute scarf, etc.)

— 1989 ERA —

1989 was a huge year for Taylor as she fully transitioned into an 80’s synth fueled pop sound. Many original fans lamented the death of “old” Taylor, while she gained other fans anew. With the transition of her sound, her fashion transitioned as well. I’ve dubbed 1989 Swift as colorful, shiny, 80s. We really start to see less safe choices from Taylor here, as far as fashion goes. She was stepping out of the box with both her music, and her style. Honestly, I think this era of fashion is where Taylor is having the most fun. Her looks all read as though she picked them from a cart while doing a mad dash shopping trip with friends.

There are a LOT of sequins and shimmering fabrics in this era, enough that I honestly had a hard time creating a look that was shiny enough. This was also the first era where Taylor settled on what still remains her silhouette of choice: high-waisted bottoms and crop top. If you think I’m kidding, there’s a whole pile of these pieces in her 1989 tour looks here. She played a lot with color, and pattern, and matchy-matchy styles in opposition to the stark contrasts of all her pieces throughout Red.

1989 is a lot less exaggerated office classics and a lot more party clothes. To sum it all up: the 1989 era was bold and confident.

Image Links: blue shorts ; turquoise bomber jacket ; sunglasses and multicolored jacket ; street style

My take on 1989 played off of the character that would be taking the train to her New York job (maybe at a fashion magazine?) later to head out with friends a la “Welcome to New York” and “New Romantics.” It’s definitely bold and colorful, and while I don’t have a closet filled with skater skirts, I kept to the heart of the silhouette with high-waisted on bottom and cropped on top. To get the shine factor up, I added my silver oxfords and one of my few pieces of actual jewelry – this Swarovski crystal music note necklace.

This outfit is far and away outside of my comfort zone, so bold is definitely an understatement, but I will say it was the most fun outfit I crafted for this post. I really enjoyed pulling together elements that I normally wouldn’t pair, and playing with a flirty concept like this bralet/blazer combination.

TAKE HOME TAKE AWAY: If you really love 1989 era Taylor, then here are a few things that will help you achieve this look in your own style.

  • Play with color, but keep it relatively monochromatic and matching. This lets you really mess around with brighter colors without risking clash, as well as fun patterns and textures.
  • Add sparkle and shine – a little bit in each piece will do the trick.
  • Find a silhouette you like and stick with it. Similar to the color scheme rule above, this will help make it so all your crazy colors, patterns, and textures will be easier to pair.
  • Be bold in your outfits – 1989 era looks are all about confidence and standing out.

— REPUTATION ERA —

The lyrics from “Call it What You Want” really sum up Reputation era Swift:

My castle crumbled over night

I brought a gun to a knife fight

They took the crown but it’s alright

– Call it What you Want, Taylor Swift

Due to scandals and the chaos that is super stardom, Taylor really went through an evolution as a person, and her fashion rightly reflected that. Do you remember that year where you got over your worst break up ever? Imagine a whole era defined by that. It’s the year Taylor really gave up on her good girl image diving deep into what she felt like a bad girl would be. While 1989 was definitely Taylor dressing to have fun, every outfit in Reputation is making a statement. Succinctly, Reputation fashion is edgy with oversized comfort.

It’s our first real look at Taylor in sweats, though rarely an entire sweat suit at once. Her clothing pieces are a lot of plays on hard vs. soft – think a latex jacket paired with sweatpants. She didn’t lose her love for the high-waisted/crop top combination but was not as sold on the concept as she had been through 1989. Here we see new takes on leisure and sport pieces combined with high end fabrics and colors. It’s our first glimpse of what Taylor would dress like as a rap star too. All in all, she just went more street with everything.

I find it most interesting that while some of the strides from 1989 still show up (playing with more bold combinations and interesting patterns) we have a return the the comfortable color scheme from Red. It feels very much like all of the glamour with none of the fun. And the SNAKES. Man when she picks a theme, she goes hard.

Image Links: bejeweled hoodie ; snake skin top ; street style ; yet another hoodie

For my Reputation era look, I decided to roll with the oversized hoodie and knee high boot concept that really sums up Taylor’s feelings during this time. I felt very much like I was dealing with high school stress again, and lashing out at my e m o t i o n s. Plus this Sunless Sea hoodie had the right message.

It’s always a good look when I pull out these boots that Oliver has to lace up for me – isn’t that just so fashionable? (He doesn’t mind btw, but I feel bad, so I rarely wear them). This look was again, quite out there for me. I really wanted to put on tights, or just something? else on my legs? But oversized hoodies are my jam. I think that precise combination of comfort vs. uncomfortable is a real crux of Taylor’s fashion in this time period. She was hurting, and it’s so obviously translated into her fashion.

TAKE HOME TAKE AWAY: If you really love Reputation era Taylor, then here are a few things that will help you achieve this look in your own style.

  • Play with shape, but keep it balanced. If you have an oversized jacket, for example, wear a fitted top. If you have short shorts, wear them with thigh high boots.
  • Play with edgy details (in place of the pretty ones from earlier looks) like studs, laces, and leather. These looks are very classic rockstar – think studded leather boots and ripped denim.
  • Don’t be afraid to combine sporty pieces with high fashion items to create a #lewk.
  • Find a color scheme and roll with it – this makes it easier to play around with the crazier points of fashion without looking like a walking Hot Topic store.

— LOVER ERA —

Ah, the return to manic pixie dream girl Taylor. With the release of the Lover album, Taylor left several dark caves behind. She is healed from the hurt of Reputation scandals, she has left behind the good girl aesthetic from the Red era, and she has started speaking up about issues that are important to her. Lover saw a Taylor that spoke out on politics and came out in support of the LGBTQ community. Lover era Taylor wanted everyone to both have and give love. She talks a lot about loving yourself (“Me!”), accepting the love that others have (“You Need to Calm Down”), and recognizing a good romantic love when you have it (“Lover”). Lover era Taylor is ethereal; she’s unapologetically lost in the clouds and never coming back down.

This made the Lover era fashion really hard to pin down. There’s color – for sure – and shine, two leftover pieces from 1989 that are now written on the hard drive of Taylor fashion. But the colors are softer pastels, and the patterns are interesting. The whole look is very Coachella: girly, smart, and wistful. There are a lot of feather and butterfly motifs at play and a lot of tye-dye. Each outfit reads as it’s own breathy gasp; at once a statement and immediately dissipating.

Lover also brought the first foray into colored hair on Taylor (albeit just extensions, but I’ll take what I can get) and I am very much a fan. It’s doubtful, but perhaps in the future we’ll see Taylor’s hair fully dyed some other color.

Image Links: pink and black look ; rainbow fringe ; casual crop top ; butterfly mural

Alright so anyone who knows me knows that pink does not play heavily into my wardrobe, and I will openly admit that Lover era fashion was a real struggle for me. I tried a lot of combinations of florals and pastels, but none of them were really airy enough. I finally settled on a look using some favorites of mine, as well as including these awesome rainbow fishnet tights because if there was ANY time to wear them, it’s for this outfit.

There are so many elements in this outfit to talk about. Those rainbow butterfly earrings might has well have been Lover era merch. I added my shiny star sneakers because any person at a music festival will be walking around a bunch, right? I added the Peter Pan collar of my pink lace tank, under this perfect gold velvet t-shirt dress. Maybe the look is still a little grounded for the era but I feel like I landed some of the basic concepts. It’s shiny; it’s girly; it’s colorful.

TAKE HOME TAKE AWAY: If you really love Lover era Taylor, then here are a few things that will help you achieve this look in your own style.

  • Pastels are key. You don’t necessarily have to roll as hard into Eastery feeling pink and yellow like Taylor does, but pick three major players of pastel colors and find new interesting ways to combine them. You could pull off the same concept with cream, turqouise, and violet.
  • More is more. Don’t be afraid of fringe or fishnets or rosettes on gauzy fabrics. Add tulle and leather. As long as they are all telling the same story, keep adding.
  • Play with gauzy princess fabrics like tulle, organza, and chiffon. Play with cloud motifs. You want to give the impression of being otherworldly a bit, and fabric choice is a great start.
  • This style is all about your inner unicorn – find something shiny, find something colorful, and keep it comfortable.
  • Statement sleeves are in – look for princess bell sleeves, elastic rouching in layers, or fringe. If you’re going a lot of top, keep it simpler on bottom with lighter denim.

— FOLKLORE ERA —

Yes, yes. I know that this album just came out (a surprise to pretty much everyone) and I know it’s been a global pandemic with stay at home orders, so there are no tour looks to pull from and few street style looks. However, Taylor did give us a pile of saucy pictures and some fun filtered video snippets for Spotify and I’m going to to roll with it because I have to!

folklore (all lower case for #reasons) was a complete 180 from the heady high of Lover. This album was a return to nature, a return to the tall tales that we keep telling, and a real storybook adventure. Far from the fairytales being told in her earlier albums (looking at you Speak Now and Fearless) it’s a more earthy and real concept of being lost in the woods but enjoying it. The album is very much stripped back and the opposite of ostentatious. Lots of feelings of cozy sweaters, and cabin books. This new sound (or lack thereof) allows the real high point of Taylor’s music to shine: lyrics.

Her fashion for this album was very much down-to-earth, and very me. Moody florals, and plaids, and dresses just meant for running through meadows. There are some schoolgirl elements here, but played off in more collegiate age. If Reputation was a contrast between hard vs. soft, then folklore is all about mature vs. young. ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT CARDIGAN? I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a piece of merch from a band as much as I wanted this. I would sum up this era as cozy, indie, and collegiate. The “You Belong to Me” Taylor finally went to college. She has finals soon. Her parents have property nearby. She probably has a working record player, and a lake house.

Image Links: striped shirt and tweed trousers ; plaid coat ; cardigan ; flower dress

Fully inspired, I landed on a floral skirt and oversized cozy sweater. I even got a good frolicking picture because folklore outfits are meant to be frolicked in. I imagined a version of me that lived in a little cabin, off the coast of Ireland, drinking tea. This is what the folklore storybook character of me would wear.

The sweater – cozy. It’s a beautiful waffle sweater that feels very ivy league.

The boots – leather.

The skirt – floral.

What more can I say?

TAKE HOME TAKE AWAY: If you really love folklore era Taylor, then here are a few things that will help you achieve this look in your own style.

  • Oversized is back – but more understated. Instead of baggy, it’s more fitted.
  • Collegiate style is easier to narrow down than you think. Leather shoes are a good start; smart looking sweaters; well placed stripes.
  • Keep the colors muted and earthy for this look. Notice that Taylor plays with creams and browns, whereas I stick with moodier burgundy and black.
  • Pattern mixing is encouraged. Once you’ve identified your color story, play a lot with pattern and texture to get the right vibe. Plaid, stripes, dainty flowers, and lace are all good places to start.
  • Not too shiny! For the first time, you really don’t want to introduce too many shiny elements to this one. Keep the fabrics natural, and the jewelry understated.

This is it for my first deep dive into fashion! In this instance, I stuck with one person who had an evolving style, but these posts might take a lot of different forms. Maybe I deep dive into blazers throughout the year, or look at the evolution of punk fashion. Is there an element of fashion you would like to see me take a deep dive into? Let me know in the comments!

How To: Thrift vs. Consignment

Published on by jamielanelleLeave a comment

As sustainable fashion becomes trendy, secondhand clothing is having a major moment! Rifling through clothes previously owned by others and finding the perfect thing at the perfect price is such a rush! Leaving the store with a bag of new goodies and knowing that you haven’t fed more money into fast fashion certainly helps as well.

A while back, I was bonding with an acquaintance over our love for thrift shopping. We decided that we must go together!

So she picked a couple of stores, and we headed out on our thrifting adventure. Boy was I surprised when we walked into a consignment boutique instead of a thrift store like I was expecting. When we’d talked, I thought we were on the same page! After attempting to explain the error to Oliver, I realized that a lot of people aren’t fully aware of the differences.

While for the most part, it’s not a big deal, there are some key differences which could cause a problem for your shopping or donation adventure!

THE BASICS

Thrift Stores:

  • get their clothes and other items as donations for free
  • often have cheaper pricing
  • quality of clothing is not guaranteed
  • styles are dependent on location/clientele
  • offer a wide variety of items in one location (clothes, furniture, home goods, etc.)
Thrifted pieces: the sweater and the jeans.
Basics, not particularly interesting brands, and purchased for under $20.

Consignment Shops:

  • pay compensation for their donations
  • usually have higher pricing (though still far below market for new items)
  • quality of clothing tends to be higher
  • styles dependent on curator and current market demands
  • often specialize in one type of item (clothes or furniture or home goods, etc.)
Consignment item: this lovely dress.
Quality fabric (100% silk), designer brand, purchased for $45.

It’s helpful to think of consignment shops as more like a museum and thrift stores as a gift shop: museums are curated quality items while gift shops can vary widely in price and quality. 

Thrift stores and consignment shops serve different purposes for different shoppers, so keeping in mind the key differences listed above can help you find exactly what you’re looking for. Some good guiding questions:

  • Are you looking to find a good price on a designer item?
  • Are you looking to save as much money as possible?
  • Are you expecting monetary compensation for in style pieces from brands?
  • Are you trying to get rid of as many things as you can?

When shopping, I tend to prefer consignment for fancier things like event dresses because they will have higher quality and often more modern or in style items.  I also look here for coats and shoes which I consider investment items – items in my wardrobe that I want to last a long time or survive a lot of wear and tear.

On the other hand, I tend to prefer the thrift store for general clothing (sweaters, t-shirts, jeans) as they will have a larger selection that isn’t limited by modernity, trend, or brand. I also find that thrift stores are better for costumes – you’ll be able to see a much wider variety of things and won’t spend as much money on something you will likely only wear once.

That being said – you can’t go wrong with secondhand clothing – especially gifts!

Coat: gift from a friend! (though this would have likely been consignment if I’d purchased it)
Pants: thrifted for $5
Joy of Looking Fabulous: priceless 🙂

Have you ever gotten mixed up in the wrong type of store? Do you have any other questions or information about the differences between thrift and consignment? Comment below!

The Struggle: Leggings as Pants

Published on by jamielanelleLeave a comment
These pants are basically leggings – and that’s why I LOVE them.

I had never been on board the leggings as pants train.  It started pretty young, when leggings first resurfaced.  My mother (who had been around for the first legging adventure) would tut tut about how no one wore shirts that covered their butts, and how you could see their underwear!  In the beginning, this was certainly true.  Leggings were initially made from the same material as tights so they were frequently see through, and not meant for #pantslife. 

But as more women wore them as pants, the industry followed.  Leggings quickly became an athleisure staple – they were stretchy, bendable, and didn’t fall down like classic workout pants.  They were also a lot more flattering than sweats of the past, and made workouts like yoga, pilates, and running easier than other athleisure could.  The problem: athletic leggings looked just that.  Athletic.  They were thicker, sure, to solve the problems that come with a lot of bending, stretching, and wear and tear, but they weren’t necessarily cute.  And cute leggings, like much else that is cute, were still not good enough. 

So I staunchly held out on the “leggings can’t be pants” hill, convinced I would die on it.  For many, many years, I hoped along with articles in fashion magazines and op-ed pieces alike, that the legging trend would die.  Even as I started wearing them more with outfits (always like tights with a skirt or shorts over them) and they grew to be a staple in my own wardrobe, I continued to tut tut those who wore them as pants. 

Another pair of pants that are definitely just leggings!

The realization was a slow one – I’ve always been stubborn about my fashion choices – but it came in drips.  I would read an article here and there, extolling the brilliance of leggings as pants.  I started to recognize the problems with telling women what they can and can’t wear, especially in the face of men being allowed pretty much whatever.  I realized that I honestly envied women who were out at Target or casually walking through the airport in the comfortable stretchy fabrics of leggings alone, without the extra constraints of a skirt or dress. 

The big turn came one busy Saturday filled with social engagements. Our first event was mostly walking around so I’d worn a beautiful skirt that fits perfect when standing, but quickly grows uncomfortable while sitting since it has an unforgiving waistband. When we got home, and prepared for our next activity (board games – sitting only) I realized I didn’t want to fully change clothes. So I wrestled and wrought in my mind, looking in the mirror and bending over and asking my husband “can you see my underwear” and finally laid on the bed extolling my fears to my helpless lover. 

“I can’t just wear them as pants, can I?  I don’t understand why it’s fine if other people do it, but I just can’t!” 

Me, lying on the bed, wallowing

Oliver, being the man that he is, quickly assessed the root of my fears. We discussed how initially they were meant to be tights, but they’ve evolved from that. And if the leggings themselves can evolve, can’t my opinion of them, and my use for them?  So, bravely, for games that evening I wore my leggings as pants for the first time. Admittedly in the comfort of my own home, among friends who I knew wouldn’t care (or likely wouldn’t notice), but you’ve got to start somewhere, right?

Now that you have the background – we can get to the heart of the issue.  Should leggings be worn as pants?  And I have to say, yes.  Not only are the standards in the industry different (now even cheap Amazon or Old Navy leggings call out “full coverage” and “thick, not see through fabric”).  Not to mention the comfort: quality leggings that fit right are second to none on comfort levels.  In bleak winter mornings, I’m much more liable to reach for a pair of cozy leggings than any of my jeans.  Throughout the day I find my whole body is more comfortable wearing the stretch fabric instead of unforgiving denim, plus I’m not nearly as sweaty or smelly or chafed… 
That’s the thing about leggings – they’re just so damn functional.  

They are also extremely accessible: now that they are in the lexicon of style for good, there are plenty of cute, reliable options out there for anyone, on any budget.  I’m even seeing more and more curvy and larger sizes from regular brands, and brands that cater to larger sizing jumping into the market. 

These were actually sold as leggings but here they are being pants!

Leggings are workhorses without being inconvenient.  They are breathable, they are soft, and they are warm.  They allow freedom of movement while creating a cute silhouette that is almost ubiquitously flattering.

Naysayers be naysaying, but I’m going to work on getting over my own fears and hangups because at the end of the day, they make me feel better, and isn’t that what fashion is all about? 

Review: Seasalt Raincoats

Published on by jamielanelle2 Comments

This post is probably going to read more like a goodbye letter to a best friend than it will a review, but that’s exactly how I feel about the raincoats I have gotten from Seasalt. It should be noted up front that I am by no way affiliated or sponsored – I really just love these raincoats with all my heart.

The first year after we moved to Seattle, I realized that rain – and mostly just damp – weather was going to be a real problem. Unlike in Colorado, where my flimsy thrifted raincoat did just fine, I needed a real coat here that could really withstand cold, wet air.

Me, slowly realizing this coat would not work.

After some frantic googling, I landed on the Seasalt website. Their rain section proudly exclaims,

“Fully waterproof raincoats, expertly crafted from the finest fabrics for style & performance, & tested against the Cornish elements. “

Seasalt Rain Section

The Cornish elements refers to Cornwall, England (duh) which is a lovely little coastal town that also happens to be cold and damp most of the year. On top of that, they had cute coats in multiple colors, styles, and patterns. Digging a bit deeper, I saw they worked with local artists and worked to be sustainable. Add a Black Friday sale and I couldn’t click buy fast enough.

All that was left was the waiting to see if my lovely new raincoat would live up to the extremely high standards the website had sold to me.

Spoiler: it most definitely would.

Me, enjoying the chilly beach a lot more now that I’m actually warm??

When the coat arrived, I was already elated. The shipping from UK was extremely fast – not only with this coat, but the next one I would purchase (more on that later). I expected weeks, and the whole package arrived in mere days. On top of that, the packaging is adorable – you really feel the love and care in every detail from the recyclable packaging they use, to the little card, to the tags inside the coat.

I tried it on and had a perfect fit, and I dare say it was love at first sight.

This coat went through everything – five years of near constant wear, often being drenched through.

Definitely not visiting the same place a year later with different hair. Definitely not that.

The hood fit just right, and for the first four years, the rain just slid off. And, like I’ve said in previous years, clothing that I love takes a beating. This coat had been thrown up on, had suffered food spills galore, had been through the washer and dryer multiple times, and only in year five did I really start to see any wear and tear.

I did have complaints throughout the years – complaints so minor, however, that they were almost negligible. I always wished the pockets had snaps to keep them closed. I wished the coat was a bit longer (for those really wet, windy days). The cute front closures were super cute, but not necessarily practical.

Me, running around in a sudden spring downpour.

And yet, none of these complaints could lessen my love for this coat. I had paid a tailor to replace the zipper. I had repaired the pockets. I had noticed, and then promptly ignored, growing holes in the elbows and fraying at the end of the sleeves. I wanted to believe so badly that this coat would last forever more.

Enter last Thanksgiving, when Oliver and I decided that nothing would be more fun than galumphing about in the ocean during pouring rain (otherwise known as water from every direction).

Me, drenched to the bone, questioning all of my life choices.

For the first time since I had purchased this coat, it had ceased to complete it’s true function – being waterproof. Mere minutes into our soaking adventure, I was wet through to my underwear. This was when I knew it would soon be the end for this lovely coat.

It did eventually dry, and trust me, it continued to be my favorite coat through the next 7 months, but I knew the end was nigh. I heard the tolling of the bells. I saw the holes in the sleeves get bigger, and the edges more frayed.

Me, begging the waves not to splash too high.

A quick note on the company itself. Seasalt doesn’t just sell raincoats, but a whole line of clothing meant to be sustainable, warm, and cozy. Everything on their website is built with chilly, rocky beaches and stormy weather in mind. They work hard to source materials locally and sustainably. They work with local artists to create all the lovely designs. They are a small company that truly cares from top to bottom – they make returns easy. They give back to their local community. The company alone is worth the buy in.

They also make their coats with the intention of them being long lasting, everyday wear pieces. This can be seen in all parts of construction, and if I were a bit more diligent about repairing clothing, I am sure I could get another three years of wear from this coat. The honest truth is I probably will still wear it in the warmer, drier months. Seasalt also makes a set of re-waterproofing washes that you use in your washing machine to keep the coat looking like new and waterproof through the years. These products are, unfortunately, not sold in the United States at this time (though perhaps, in the future? One can hope…)

Alas, I am wary of trying out any old “waterproofing system” that can be bought in the US (I am sure there are plenty of products out there that would do the same, but I decided in this instance it was not worth the effort.) I calculated my cost per wear, and decided that five years of being a year round coat was plenty of life. Plus, another saleeeeee…. And a new coat was in the mail.

Me, enjoying the fresh new raincoat!

These pictures do not even do proper justice to how lovely this new coat is. The pattern is a cute berry pattern that reads in real life as more of a turquoise color – check out the pictures in the link for a more true to life color.

I went into this purchase a more informed shopper – I did, after all, have complaints to be addressed, and this coat addresses all of them. The pockets have snaps! The coat is longer in the back! The front closures are a two-way zipper with snaps over it – super practical! The hood, again, fits perfect but is this time lined with the softest fleece I have ever felt for true warmth. There’s a neat inner pocket too, for my phone!

The package arrived, yet again, within the week, and was just as beautiful as it was the first time.

If any pacific northwest people are looking for a good, lasting raincoat – look no further. I can highly recommend a coat from the Seasalt rain collection. They have warmer coats and lighter coats; coats in different patterns and colors; coats of short length or long length… I wholeheartedly believe they have a coat for everyone.

I can’t wait to see what amazing adventures the new coat and I get up to.

Me, knowing this will be my new love.

Update – 2025

I came back to this post to edit a few things and provide an update: I’m still a firm believer in the Seasalt brand of coat! I did end up replacing the one above with a larger size (this one’s on me – I forgot how little butt room the longer styles have) but my new coat is still a staple in my wardrobe come rainy weather. A couple years ago, my Seasalt coat even came with me to Istanbul. This coat continues to be well made, reliable, and highly complimented.

And while I have branched out a bit – I thrifted a wool coat a while back that’s a staple for me when the weather is dry; when the weather is wet I find myself reaching for (and loving) this coat again and again and again.

Have you purchased something from Seasalt before? Had your own love affair with an item of clothing? Have questions? Have you tried some of their other clothing? I would love to hear about it! Post in the comments below.

The Struggle: Eowyn’s 10×10 Challenge

Published on by jamielanelleLeave a comment

Those of you following this blog probably remember that I started this 10 x 10 Challenge because of a friend who reached out to me. My friend, Eowyn, also did the challenge with me throughout those two weeks.

A quick note about Eowyn: she came to me about a year ago saying that it was impossible for her to find professional clothes she liked and could afford. We went to the thrift store, and found her a whole wardrobe that day. Since then I’ve seen her make many fashion choices that are brave and inspiring. When she reached out to me to do this challenge I was so nervous – but also very excited. I wanted to see what she calls “Closet by Carley” in action. I wanted to see how she wore all the lovely pieces we painstakingly chose together. But mostly I wanted to see her in the clothes that had been making her so happy.

What follows are Eowyn’s thoughts on the challenge, edited only for clarity.

“Generally speaking, I identify as a minimalist. I find that limited items prevents me from getting overwhelmed, keeps my budget generally managed, and also I see minimalism as a way to reduce waste. So when I first stumbled across the 10 x 10 Challenge and the idea of capsule wardrobes, this seemed a natural fit for me.

In the past 10 years, I’ve tended toward mix and match clothing featuring solids and simplicity. This has been a huge advantage when traveling as well, as I usually only need what appears to be an overnight bag even for two to three weeks of travelling – except that one time that customs was suspicious of my limited baggage.

That being said, I wanted to try this challenge for different reasons. I wanted to stretch outside my comfort zone in some big ways:

  • Patterns
  • Modern and more “trendy” fashion
  • Brighter colours
  • Using layering as more than just temperature regulation

With all this in mind, I set to my choices (pictured above):

  • orange jumper (Amazon)
  • lavender tank dress (Amazon)
  • red leather jacket (Thrifted; added week two when I realized the relentless nature of the rain and unlikely use of a sheer mauve top)
  • high-waisted white pants with leopard and cactus print (Thrifted)
  • coral and navy striped tan cardigan (hand me down from Carley)
  • turqoise velvet jeans (Thrifted; added week two when it was apparent that I wasn’t going to wear those cute strappy sandals I just bought)
  • black and white crop top (Thrifted)
  • light blue denim tank (Thrifted)
  • navy blue ruffled tank (Thrifted)
  • black lace-less oxford heels (Thrifted)

Thus my weekly wardrobe choices were significantly simplified to the following:

Week One of the Challenge
Week Two of the Challenge
*red jacket added with black and white top but not pictured*

— What I Learned —

  • Fashion is something I have always thought of as unnecessary and beyond me a little, but I really appreciated dressing intentionally.
  • The last day (bottom left, second picture set) I wore things that layered pretty much for pragmatism only and I found this to be my least favorite outfit. I discovered my go-to fashion is frankly quite boring.
  • Layers! I truly enjoyed layering with the jumper and dress (such as with the jeans) over the articles to shape them into a top or bottom instead of a whole outfit piece, even adding depth to the jumper by layering items beneath the jumper. I will definitely be doing this more.
  • Accessories – you can reach change a #lewk by having a cute hat, belt, or scarf. I do this well in the winter when it’s cold, but I should do it more in other seasons.
  • Sensory issues – I have sensory issues with clothing. The length, the feel, the weight can all be problems. Layering items definitely allowed me to compensate for some of those things in new ways.
  • Minimalism doesn’t have to be boring. When wearing my typical tank/jeans/shawl, I was bored by cozy. Yet I was able to make new outfits every other day that honestly piqued my mood and made me excited.
  • Pattern mixing – this is still hard for me. I really wanted to wear the leopard pants with the black and white top, but I just didn’t have it in me to be so loud. I settled for the panted under the dress to act as leggings and still this was a lot for me. But I would do it again. I found that patterns really spiced up an outfit to create interesting ensembles.

— Some Additional Thoughts Worth Considering —

  • Fashion is a privilege – I think it is worth noting that everything in my wardrobe was thrifted, gifted, or less than $15. A long history of limited funds is a large portion of why I have always felt fashion unattainable and thus not worth exploring. This challenge really highlighted the ways in which income affected my fashion and I suddenly understand how certain brands can deeply alter a person’s sense of self. That being said, I think it’s important to note that it can be done. Knowing how to look for brands in the thrift store (and show a lot of patience) has single-handedly provided me with a professional wardrobe I wouldn’t otherwise have had access to.
  • Minimalism still works for me – I am all about the minimalist wardrobe. I love having a few items that I can blend together into interesting combinations. It’s practical, cheap, and requires a certain problem solving attitude.”

A big thanks to Eowyn for taking the time to write up all these thoughts, and for allowing me to share them here with you.

Have you tried a 10 x 10 challenge yourself? Wanting to try one? Leave a comment below, I would love to hear about it.

The Struggle: 10 x 10 Challenge – Week 2

Published on by jamielanelleLeave a comment

This is a follow up post to this post I made last week. If you haven’t read that post, you should definitely do so.

This week really started to highlight my greatest struggle with the concept behind the 10 x 10 Challenge: I wear so many articles of clothing every single time I wear clothes. For each of these days I’m wearing at least 5-6 items out of 10, making it so that you can only combine them into new outfits so many times.

Don’t worry – I actually had Oliver do the math – and apparently even with all the restrictions I can technically make 100’s of “different” outfits with the items I had. But did they really all feel different and unique?

While these limitations are usually fine on vacation, and even then I allow myself a clothing purchase while on vacation just to throw something new in the mix, it just feels bad when I’m looking at a whole closet filled with interesting clothes and here I am, wearing these same uninspiring items. There are definitely benefits to this challenge, though, and I’ll get into those at the end.

The Sunday before week two was spent lovingly in all grey sweats. We didn’t go out much – made a quick excursion to the beach for some exercise, and found some free stuff (hooray!) but somehow spending the entire day in cozy, colorless clothing felt right. Laying in bed Sunday night, thinking on the week ahead, I worried that I would be able to find new and interesting combinations wearing these same clothes yet again…

— DAY SIX —

Waking up this morning, I did not want to wear these clothes again, for a couple of reasons:

  1. Today I am starting to mix and match the same outfits again
  2. It’s been pretty chilly lately and will continue to be chilly this week which opens up new wardrobe options I didn’t previously have (and because of the challenge, still cannot wear).
  3. I recently got two new dresses in fall colors that I wanted to wear.

Plus I forgot to fix my shoes over the weekend, so the cheat black boots stay! Somehow it made it better to keep cheating a little bit.

Also learned this day that chair posing is not my strong suit, and definitely needs some work.

— DAY SEVEN —

I didn’t take any notes on Day Seven, partially because I had a crazy awful day at work this day, but also partially because this outfit wasn’t super notable.

It was comfortable, and I felt good wearing it. Honestly, I’d probably wear this again outside of the context of the challenge. I like the way the colors and patterns play in the outfit; I liked the layered options keeping me the right temperature throughout the day.

My friends called this my “Ted Talk” outfit, and I feel like it’s the perfect name for this one – but also kind of describes the entire vibe of my 10 x 10 wardrobe: the weird mixture of cool/casual/professional.

— DAY EIGHT —

I honestly really liked this outfit, and it was one of the highlights. I started the day as that cool new headmistress at the private school that teaches everyone deep lessons and probably plays in a jazz band… and ended the day as weird-vacation-bro on top and princess on the bottom. Still loved it.

This day highlighted what one of my friends pointed out as an interesting problem I have through this 10 x 10: my pattern maximalism makes it hard for outfits to feel fresh without being able to easily change out details. Because I lean so hard into patterns, I want them to be front and center of the outfit. This makes it even more obvious when I’m wearing the same ones over and over again, and then they slowly start to fade as background noise instead of being the stars of the show I want them to be.

— DAY NINE —

Hit full ambivalence on this day. I have to wear clothes, and I have to wear these clothes, so just put some on. It was helpful that I’d taken pictures for all of the days, so I could scroll through and see which combinations I hadn’t done yet, and this was one of them.

Honestly, not my favorite outfit. I struggled with the button down – I preferred it buttoned all the way to the top under the blazer, but preferred it open a bit at the top without the blazer. The amount of times I went back and forth between blazer and not blazer throughout the day is why the buttons are just unbuttoned in the picture.

Throughout the week, but especially this day, I found it interesting how much longer it took me to get dressed when I wasn’t fully invested in the outfit. It takes longer to get the details just right – this day I went through several pairs of earrings and three or four different hairstyles before I felt good enough to go to work.

— DAY TEN —

I’ll admit that I phoned the final look in a bit, but at the end of a very long week of work, that was filled with after work social events, and the end of the challenge, I really just wanted to wear the most comfortable outfit I could, and so I did.

My head was in the clouds this day – cloud themed socks, the t-shirt I lovingly call “Sky Whale” shirt, my sunshine earrings… head in the clouds but heart and body firmly grounded. Also pardon my hair – it went from up to down several times throughout the day. I tried to give it a bit of life before the photo session.

— FINAL THOUGHTS —

On the final day of the challenge, a friend asked if I would do it again to which I replied:

“No. Well… maybe. I think I need some distance from it. Some time. And maybe in a warmer season – summer? Where I don’t have to wear as many layers. Maybe.”

Here’s what I learned:

  • The blue shirt with the black pattern is underrated as an under layer in my closet, and I should wear it a lot more
  • The tulle skirt always makes me feel magical and elegant, but is quite warm when I’m moving around a lot. Better as a winter layer than I originally thought.
  • Short sleeve or no sleeve button downs should be a basic in my wardrobe, and I should own more of them. They make an easy addition to any outfit.
  • It is definitely worth investing in a few solid pairs of shoes that are of good make and quality and can be worn in the rain.
  • There’s a really nice feeling to wearing a clean black blazer. Even if I don’t work in a super professional environment, it’s nice to feel a little professional.
  • Jeans that fit well are CLUTCH and worth the time it takes to find them
  • My accessorizing game is lacking, as are my accessories in general. Throughout the challenge, accessories were an easy way to change the feel of the entire outfit – I should work to both get better at using the ones I have, and adding accessories that I can use.

What I think this challenge does really well:

  • Pushed me out of several comfort zones – I was forced to wear clothes I wouldn’t normally wear together during times or for events when I wouldn’t normally wear them. Through this, I learned several outfit recipes of sorts that I can lean on when I’m feeling uninspired or don’t know what to wear.
  • Reminded me how much I love the clothes I have – the classic “don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” is definitely simulated in this challenge. I was so excited to have my full wardrobe again when all was said and done, and haven’t had any issues getting dressed this week.
  • Forced me to re-evaluate my constant shopping, and gave me some clarity on what clothes I should shop for, and what clothes I really don’t need.

What this challenge did not do:

  • Jump start me into a capsule wardrobe or “less is more” lifestyle – going in, I half expected to come out of the challenge ready to get rid of all my clothes and live only the small wardrobe life! But, as anticipated, I really do enjoy having a wealth of options to create the look and feel I’m trying to create each time I get dressed.
  • Make getting dressed every morning super easy/less stressful/less time consuming – in my research prior to the challenge, of looking through other people who had done the challenge before and their thoughts, a common theme was that it helped reduce their anxiety of what to wear in the morning. I did not find any reduced time or anxiety, and near the end, actually had increased struggles getting dressed in the morning. I think, personally, lack of inspiration is just as problematic as decision paralysis, and it’s important to find a good balance between the two.

Overall, my feelings about this challenge were similar to my thoughts on college: I’m glad I did it, I learned a lot, I’m glad it’s done, and I don’t think it’s for everyone.

Inspired to try the 10 x 10 Challenge yourself? Or have you done one of these challenges before? I would love to hear about it!

Like what you read? Have more thoughts? Feel free to comment below!