Friday ReBlog: When Your Style Starts to Change

The last few weeks I’ve featured new-to-me thrift blogs, but today I’m throwing it back to a  style blogger we’ve visited before: Caroline at Un-Fancy.  She penned a post recently about what to do when your style begins to shift and your current closet doesn’t quite fit your evolving aesthetic.

She gives some good tips on styling what you have in ways that feel fresh without chucking your entire wardrobe. Her approach is all about appreciating what you have and being content with enough, both of which are underdeveloped skills in our culture. Caroline’s concern also stems from her growing commitment to ethical consumption, which makes it pricey to decide you’re done with a good chunk of your US/fairly-made or eco-friendly clothing.

Thrifters don’t deal with the price issue in the same way, of course – in fact, the ability to be flexible with your style is a major selling point for thrifting. Nor does thrifting have as big of an impact on the environment as new purchases (and therefore increased demand) do – although as we discussed here LINK, thrifting obviously relies on other people purchasing new clothes, so it’s not entirely free of issues.

As we’ve talked about before, the principle of having enough, though, applies whether you shop retail or thrift. And even if you can afford to change over your repertoire when you decide you’re not feeling a certain pant silhouette, you may not have the time or the energy to go hunting for the newest expression of your style. Or you may not even be sure that a new style is what you need – maybe you just need a little break before returning to your regularly scheduled wardrobe.

So if you’ve been feeling the itch to switch it up sartorially, head on over to Un-Fancy to get her take on no-cost restyling.

 

Happy weekend, Thrifters!

 

 

three things to do when you feel your style start to change (but you want to honor what you already have)

Reader Question: How do I improve my wardrobe stylistic sense?

It’s Style Rehab week here on Thriftshop Chic.  Take a look back at how you can use fashion as a fun tool to help you feel your awesomest and look for a fall wardrobe tweak and a kid’s capsule wardrobe later in the week!

Ask me a question! (6)My sister (aww, she reads my blog and comments on every post!  I love you Sestra!) has a play/fun/home wardrobe with which she’s pretty happy—it’s comfy, it’s in colors she likes, and it’s a great expression of her artistic and geekgal sides.  (One of my favorite pieces? The CrashOctopus hat she designed.  Which reminds me—you should check out her blog because she is a stellar artist and she does commissions.  Christmas gift anyone??)

But her work wardrobe—corporate office in an Engineer-y field—is a tougher nut to crack.  She needs plus-sized business casual ensembles that are comfortable, not too form-hugging, work with closed-toe shoes, and, most of all, make her feel fab.  It’s hard being a woman in a field still dominated by men—on top of all the general cultural messages women get about appearance = values, she has to deal with male colleagues making sexist comments about female coworkers’ physical attributes (yech, misogyny).

In her own words:

What if you fail miserably in fashion sense and have no idea what cut works for you?  I’m so bad at fashion.  I base my wardrobe entirely on comfort; all my stuff that I love is not suitable for work. So I have a bunch of work clothes that work – ha – but I don’t love them.

Today, we will tackle her dilemma in 5 fun steps, sharing generally applicable style inspiration along the way!

Stylistic Sense (1)
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Should You Care about Fashion?

It’s Style Rehab week here on Thriftshop Chic.  Tune in later in the week to develop your own style sense, tweak your wardrobe, and build a kid’s capsule wardrobe later in the week!

Tomorrow we’re going to tackle my sister’s question about how to improve your wardrobe stylistic sense.  One of her recent comments: “What if you fail miserably in fashion sense and have no idea what cut works for you?  I’m so bad at fashion.”

But first.

I would like to clarify something.

Being “bad” at fashion or style is not something that makes one iota of difference about your value as a *person.*

Fashion is, in the great scheme of things, inconsequential.

 

SMASHION

Continue reading “Should You Care about Fashion?”