My Brief Style Evolution Story

New Wardrobe Wish List and Ideas #wardrobe

1. Leather Biker Jacket* – Madewell | 2. Cuyana Cape* – Cuyana
3. Skinny Jeans* – Citizens of Humanity | 4. Vintage Looking Band Tee – Urban Outfitters
5. Purse** – Elliot Lucca | 6. Bralettes – Hanky Panky | 7. Loafers – Yosi Samra (sale)
8. Boyfriend Jeans – Banana Republic | 9. Faux Fur Collar Coat – Modcloth
10. Oversized Alpaca Sweater* – Cuyana | 11. Sneakers – New Balance | 11. Wool Hat – Nordstrom
*Denotes items that I consider luxury since they are out of my price comfort zone (and reality zone).
**Not necessarily looking for this purse. It’s just a general idea of what I want, black, leather, satchel style.

This is the brief story of my style evolution. For as long as I can remember clothing/fashion/style has been an important part of my life. I always put a lot of thought in to what I was wearing. Even back in the Grunge days when clothing consisted of  worn in Levi’s, vintage t-shirts, plaid shirts, and thrift store cardigans, putting in a lot of thought was to make it look like you didn’t put in a lot of thought. One thing I did regularly was to slit the side of my jeans up to my knee and then sew in a triangle of fabric making them in to flares. That way I never had to get them hemmed, and they were original. The only problem was that the back dragged and got stepped on and they ended up wearing really bad.

Next came college where I wore animal print pants, camisoles as shirts, platform shoes, and bleached and cut my hair to look like Drew Barrymore in the movie Mad Love. A year or two into college I got a job at a Skateboard shop in the mall. This was a forced evolution since I had to wear clothes from there/that style and they gave me a great discount. I switched to really low riding pants, studded belts, fitted t-shirts, tanks, and hoodies and sneakers of varying brands and styles. My favourites were a pair of old school Vans that were bright blue with red laces.

During each of these stages they all had one thing in common. That was that I didn’t give a f*ck what people thought about what I wore. In fact, the more people didn’t like what I wore the more I enjoyed it. My favourite coat during this time was a vintage camel coloured knee-length belted trench, with a large faux fur shawl collar very much like this one but a bit shorter. It was amazing and I wore that thing until the fur was completed matted and unsalvageable. I miss it.

Fast forward to 2004 and I became pregnant with Roo. It was a weird time with a lot of life adjustments taking place. Not only was I pregnant, I was also getting married and living with boyfriend/fiancé for the first time in my life. Big adjustments. A lot of this time period is a blur, some of it I just want to forget. What should have been a wonderful experience was overwhelming, with all kinds of emotions (a lot of negative) that forced another evolution. This time I thought that I needed to start dressing as a mother should. In other words I completely lost myself. I bought things and wore things because I thought that I should not because I wanted to. There was an image I thought I had to project and sadly this carried on for years. It wasn’t until recently that I decided I needed to find that carefree college student again. The one who wore what she wanted, enjoyed every minute of it, and knew who she was without a doubt.

That brings me to today. Trying to find that satisfaction and joy when you find something that is distinctly you. While you won’t find me wearing shirts that are actually handkerchiefs anymore 😉 I would really like to find a vintage or vintage looking band t-shirt in a soft, worn in cotton. A black, leather, large satchel purse is on my list but I haven’t found one I love yet. In the more luxury items I want a Cuyana Cape and Cuyana pullover (I have been saying this for a while now but I think I am finally ready to do it). I am having serious issues deciding what colour though. I want the pullover in black and I think I narrowed the cape down to camel or grey. Your opinions would be greatly appreciated to help me decide when the time comes. I am always on the hunt for a leather jacket that will be my lifelong friend, and I kind of want to find one of those 70’s style vintage trenches with the big fur collars like I had an eternity ago (I love this one but sadly it is sold out). For shoes I think I need some sort of flat in a colour or leopard print, and some new casual sneakers like New Balance in a colour. Red maybe. I want a pair of boyfriend jeans which I am having trouble finding, and a more expensive pair of skinnies that fit like a dream. I also need a new bra (that needs to be ordered online due to my obscure sizing that they don’t sell in stores here) and a bralette or two to wear under my more sheer tees. A new hat is on my list because the black wool one I have is slightly too big. I also wouldn’t mind a pair of Spanx because? You can figure out why 😉

This journey of evolving my wardrobe to match myself will probably be a slow process but I am looking forward to it. I just wish that I could go shopping and into a change room without having an audience of one.

How do you decide what pieces are a must for you? Do you look around for inspiration before shopping or do you go with your gut and know when you see it?

Follow me on
INSTAGRAM || PINTEREST || BLOGLOVIN’

Sharing is caring!

Sara

Sara is the founder and creative behind livelovesara. A George Brown College Fashion Styling Graduate, she provides advice on finding your personal style regardless of age and budget. She is always on the hunt for the perfect wardrobe piece and is a vintage and thrifting enthusiast who can't wait to share her newest finds. She is also trying to learn French.

3 Comments

  1. Kudos to you and your style evolution, Sara, and for finding your way back to what makes you happy…and stylish. I love the moto jacket and boyfriend jeans you have pictured. I also like the bras, as I have come to hate regular versions. I really don’t want to feel like I’m wearing one, and I no longer like wired contraptions. Come to think of it, I like all of pieces you selected.

    For me, I keep a folder on my computer of inspirational images. I’ve edited it rarely over the past three years. Plus, I troll Pinterest and follow a few bloggers like you. Now that I have my happy style, I just want to be able to upgrade some items. Lately, and sadly, tops that I bought from H&M and Target are beginning to pill. Nothing shouts cheap like pills on tops and sweaters (oddly this hasn’t happened with the Forever 21 tops). Yikes. It bugs me because I really like the style, fit, and feel of these pieces. Ah, the thrill of budget constraints.

    Anyway, have a great Friday and thank you for this fashion break. I needed it.

    Cheers,

    Ardith

    • The pills on shirts suck. I get them mostly in the area where my purse or bag rubs when I walk. A razor helps to get rid of them, not entirely but a significant improvement. It’s just a pain in the ass to do it. That is one of the reasons why I have been wanting to update my stuff. My logic says that if I pay a lot more money, but get a lot more years out of something then in balances. It’s just saving to do so, I have no patience and look for instant gratification.

      I use Pinterest as my aspiration, and inspiration boards. I too have a folder on my desktop that I use to keep images in the same way that I used to pull out inspiration pictures in magazines and keep them in a note book when I was a teenager. I found one of those notebooks when I was moving stuff around and it was fun to look through what inspired my 15 year old self.

      Sara

  2. Love the post!

    I would recommend you to check out RAGDOLL LA and ANINE BING (quite expensive though). One can always dream!

    Cheers,

    Kajsa

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.