Your Mom's Closet

Now that I think about it, the title for this post sort of sounds like a cringe-worthy mom joke, which is the opposite of my intentions (love you, Mom.) Mothers are too good to make fun of, which is why I want to instead appreciate them for what they are and what they have in their closets. I can go on about the now stylish "mom jeans" and tacky sweaters every mother should have stowed away in the hidden depths of her wardrobe (except for mine, because she's too cool for that), but that's not my point exactly. I drew inspiration from those days we had as children where we dressed up in our mother's clothes and her mini-dresses would go past our miniature feet and touch the floor and practically slide off our shoulders because we were, like, tiny humans. I've never been a fan of children, but I think this may be the one factor I still find adorable in them. I oddly wanted to recreate that nostalgia in a cool, fashionable way, and I did just what my seven-year-old self would do -- steal from my mom's closet.

This concept doesn't really work the way it used to because I have now outgrown my mom, so clothes that would fit her normally would be too small on me (this is another depressing fact of growing up). Instead of literally wearing something from my mom's closet to get that oversized look, I just wore an item that is meant to be oversized on everyone, including the person of its size. I also happened to steal this from my mother's wardrobe, so it adds to the #tbt (throwback Tuesday is now a thing, I guess) effect. However, this dress that I'm already in love with would fit her the same as it would fit me. Not exactly the same as it was ten years ago, but that would just look creepy.

The term "oversized" now seems like an overused term in fashion. Oversized coats, jeans, sweaters, etcetera. Practically every clothing item can, or at least will, have an oversized version, and now I can check off "dress" on that list. Oversized dresses are intimidating, kind of similar to the look of fear in our younger selves when we first tried on our mom's heels. Looking at them is frightening, but actually wearing them is the opposite. This oversized midi from Anthropologie (which is no longer available, but this one from ASOS works too) almost resembles the oversized-practical/utilitarian style we saw during the SS16 shows (Public School SS16, anyone?). I turned a fashion week trend into a more wearable, casual version with the dress's vertical stripes, beachy-linen fabric, and flowing nature. And to add a spark of flavor to the dress, I tied a gold belt around it, like cinnamon on apples, and it also adds a touch of maturity to the "I'm just a kid wearing my mother's clothing" look. Instead of rocking my mother's pumps, I slipped on my Stan Smiths to prove that I'm only 17 and not a mom who works a 9-to-5 job (let's ignore the fact that my mom owns a pair...).

I'm not 100% sure that fashion brands have begun to create this oversized trend just based on that childhood memory with our mothers. Maybe it has to do with your dad's huge shirts (dad sweaters are more common than tacky mom ones) or your significant other (obviously boyfriend jeans), but I'd rather look back to the times with my mom. And I might be the only one who still wears her mother's clothes, but I'm lucky to have a mom who knows how to dress. Fashion goals: when all else fails and you run out of clothes to wear, just steal from your mom. It's always worked for me.

Dress by Anthropologie. Shoes by Adidas. 

Photos shot by yours truly

What are your thoughts on the oversized trend (or mom trend, as I like to call it)? Comment below!!

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Blogger Inspo pt. II

It's that time of the month! Well, er, I've only done this once and it was three months ago so... just ignore that first sentence. But it is that time where I look for other fashion bloggers to see what they're doing to get some inspo for my posts. Not copying, but observing that tiny detail that they put in that one post that got them 10 times (more like 1,000 times) as much traffic as I get, but more importantly, gain more interest because it's, well, more interesting. You got the whole spiel in the first infamous "Blogger Inspo™"  where I basically fangirled over the amazing Leandra Medine, or Man Repeller. If you've been reading my posts for the past three months, it's fairly obvious that she's my main source of inspiration (next to my own creative mind); I practically mention her name in every single one of my posts. It's been three months, Natalie. Get over her. Since that's never going to happen, it won't hurt to add an extra dose of inspiration from someone else, someone who is not on every fashion lover's list of favorite bloggers, probably because she's only 23 and doesn't live anywhere close to a fashion city. I give you...

Alyssa Lau. Ordinary People. The next it-girl from the sleepy town of Edmonton, Canada. 

Instead of discovering her through the masses, I discovered her while reading an article from the UO blog, which I hardly ever read but should start doing so more often because they discuss a lot of up-and-coming bloggers, musicians, etc. who would not be known otherwise. I started reading the article and fell in love in that weird blogger-crush way because Lau is probably the coolest fashion-girl I've read about in a while. She somehow was able to become relevant in the middle-of-nowhere Edmonton (I promise I'm not making fun of Canada, my dad was born and raised there) and even created her own shop called New Classics Studios, which is all about the ethical production of its clothing. She's only 23 years old, has a successful blog, and somehow created her own shop that promotes fair trade and all that social/environmental awareness that we don't see in other shops. I've only touched the surface, but based on these general facts, Alyssa Lau is a name the fashion industry should start to get familiar with. 

For starters, she has one of the coolest styles, like, ever. She's able to make the most out of the practically year-long-winter that she has to deal with in Edmonton by using her eccentric fashion sense to keep her warm while looking the lowest temperature of cool. She was even able to make sweats and converse look fashionable, which is definitely not included on my list of talents. She brings this mix of femininity and androgyny to her looks by pairing items like baseball caps or cool-girl sneakers with dresses and that chic bob of hers. Plus, she has a post dedicated to turtlenecks, so of course I have to love her. But it's not just the style that makes me want to be her, it's how she presents herself. Instead of being that robot-fashion-blogger (kinda like how I used to be) that spews out trends, she's relatable. She's unique. She's.... refreshing (I'm pretty sure I described Leandra Medine in my other post this way. Oops.). She's able to make herself like-able in about a paragraph or less, which I'm obviously unable to do (another talent of mine: the inability to stop typing). Instead of filling her posts with thousands of words, she fills them with dozens of quality photos that are arranged in a way that creates this unique aesthetic for herself. I didn't know it was even possible to make posts more interesting just based on the composition of photos, but she proves it to be. Maybe it's because she has her own personal photographer/boyfriend (goals, am I right??), but her strategies definitely seem to be working, at least for me. 

And finally, in the least offensive way, she makes herself ordinary, just like her blog-title states. Ordinary is meant in a positive way in this situation, because instead of being this hot-shot fashion blogger, she admits that she's just like the rest of us (but maybe a little cooler). Instead of being "tough" and wearing bare legs in the cold, she admits that she despises it, even though she lives in what seems like the arctic tundra. She even thinks that what she does [fashion-blogging] is really unusual, because even though it's getting more popular, it's still strange to say in your your resumé "career: fashion blogger". Instead of making her posts more formal than they should be, she brings this friendly, relatable tone to her writing that shows how she's always being herself. And I guess that's reassuring, because it proves how blogging is what she loves to do, not what she does to make a living. I guess we're pretty similar in that sense.

All photos are from her blog or lookbook

Also, I'm a year late to sign up with Bloglovin', but I finally got an account. Follow me  for updates on all my posts (or click on the new button on my sidebar, right below the follow on google+ button)!!

Another note: I'm also a year late to get a Twitter for this account. Follow here!!

Feeling Myself

Happy 10,000 views!! Well, happy 10,042 views, not including the the three months where this blog was exclusively on my tumblr. But due to this achievement, this new step toward greatness, I decided to celebrate today with self-love. And what better way to self-love than through fashion?

As I sip from my homemade London Fog and listen to Daughter's new album (remember how it's my day of self-love?), I write this post realizing I had not planned any of this until about two hours ago, when I connected my "feeling myself" outfit (there's nothing wrong with referencing a Beyoncé and Nicki song to describe your look) I put together in under two minutes with the news of the 10,000 views. But I realize that it works perfectly -- an outfit that is the embodiment of what I need right now. I'm in that awkward phase of wanting spring weather but still craving to wear a turtleneck every day of the week (Turtleneck Tuesday? More like Turtleneck January), so combine those two needs, and voila, my favorite summer tank turns into a winter accessory for my simple white turtleneck. I'd go for the black one if I wanted a more edgy look, but I wanted to try the white one because I haven't worn much white since I dyed my hair. Pair that with my favorite velvet mini  for a look that Jackie Burkhart from That '70s Show would probably wear circa 2016. And I say that I finished the look with red thigh highs to add to the color scheme, but my secret is that I'm only wearing them because I haven't shaved in God knows how long. I mean, it's January, who has?

After hitting 10,000 views, I have come to realize that I dress the way I dress for that boost of confidence, and yeah, because I strive for the mood from the track that is my title for this post. And even though I was planning on wearing a band shirt and jeans, but decided to put this outfit together while rushing to get to school on time, it all counts the same. Self-love comes in many different forms, and I guess it's the easiest for me when I'm dressed to impress (or express??). If only I could have walked around the halls today carrying a boombox playing "Feeling Myself" on repeat.

Tank by Gap. Turtleneck, skirt, and shoes by Asos. 

Photos shot by me

Feel free to share how you self-love, whether it's through fashion or any other aspect of life.

Layering Just Got Real

When the weather drops and the only solution to your problems is to layer a thin collared shirt that hardly protects your skin from the fatal cold under a barely-there sweater with paper-thin jeans and maybe, just maybe you can survive without that heavy coat that is a pain in the ass to carry around -- mission failed. That's what we think winter layering is. But when it's almost freezing with icy pellets of rain falling from the sky with a high chance of snow coming in later tonight, in Georgia, of all places, and the indoors feel like a million degrees and that you just exited an icy hell into the true fiery pits of hell, real layering had to be done. I mean the real stuff where you're wearing more than five articles of clothing, and that's excluding underwear and shoes. The real stuff where a winter coat isn't even necessary because who wants to deal with the hassle of tugging around 10 pounds of down insulation? So I accepted the challenge of making myself comfortable and stylish in this icy abyss of winter, coat not included.

To be quite honest, this was a challenging task. It took me five days to plan this -- I bought the dress on Monday, and since then I've been mentally preparing how I could work the piece into a post about what I like to call the "updated version" of layering (thanks to Man Repeller's recent post, yes, just already hold an intervention for me because I am obsessed). I followed her rules: keep layering until it's impossible to add another piece of fabric on your body. However, I followed a different route -- who says you can't layer for the cold with dresses?  It's best to start with a thin (or thick, but not bulky) turtleneck, preferably colorful or patterned like my striped one above to add some fun to a dull winter day. Then top that with anything that includes a collar -- your favorite flannel, a simple peter-pan collared blouse, or even better, a denim button-up dress that's meant to be worn in the spring but can totally be worn year-round, at least in my book. Outfit complete, right? Nope. Not even close. Bring out those tights, because it's a myth that fashionistas never get cold. Then layer your legs even more by adding your favorite pair of thigh highs, black on black if you want to keep things neutral, or go for red if you're feeling spicy (cue the dearly missed Stefon from SNL saying spicy, we all know the reference). No, you're still not done. Put on your most layerable (I swear that's a word) sweater that matches with everything you've put on, or maybe doesn't, along with your favorite boots (chelsea rain boots for this dreary weather, anyone?) with a breath of relief, because you're done. That was a lot of work, right? 

I'm walking in the freezing rain, feeling my face turn a crimson red and my fingers becoming numb, then I walk inside and my face is still red, but that's because the depths of the frozen tundra became the depths of the blistering sun. I shrug off the problem, strip off my black sweater, and bam a denim dress appears. School girl chic turns into cool girl chic. Layering is definitely convenient, but it sure is fun to surprise people by changing your look with just one article of clothing. 

The first thing I heard today was when I walked into school and someone said "You really went overboard on the layering today." Well, my dear friend, that was exactly my goal. And it totally worked, no matter how "overboard" my layers were. I fought back with the cold, and a thin shirt and sweater would have never won that war. Thanks to the ol' faithful turtleneck, I survived the cold (I think it's fairly obvious that turtlenecks saved my life). Maybe I was in a mix of icy and literal hell, but eternal suffering is so much more enjoyable when you look cute.

Turtleneck by Aerie. Dress by Urban Outfitters. Sweater by Madewell. Shoes by Sam Edelman.

Photos shot by yours truly

Comment below how you cope with the cold, in regards to fashion, and how you prefer to layer.