Hello there.
I’ve been getting the urge to overhaul my entire wardrobe lately. Looking back at it, I get this urge every few years. This happens every time I enter a new life stage, move, or get a new job. So here I am again. But this time, it’s way worse. Working from home has definitely been the biggest adjustment my closet has had to make. I need more comfortable professional attire. But I’m also hesitant about excessive shopping due to shopping mistakes I’ve made in the past and have been sort of paralyzed in making the necessary changes, fearing regret and waste. There’s that. But I’m also not all that excited about the clothes that’s out there right now. Sometimes I’ll get really excited about an item of clothing, then end up seeing it on Instagram repeatedly and lose all interest. I can’t quite put my finger on it but Instagram will simultaneously get me to want something really badly and then completely turn me off. For example, I really wanted those Rudy Jude jeans the first time I saw them in navy, but when I saw the same jeans in various colors all over my feed on multiple different influencers, I no longer wanted them. I don’t want to be walking down the street with recognizable pants like that, and in this neighborhood, I’m sure to run into someone else wearing the same exact thing. It goes against my desire for my clothes to be simultaneously unique/special and invisible/under the radar.
Businesses are starting to open up a little more in my neighborhood. I was walking to the grocery store the other day and saw a sign with the words “Beatrice Valenzuela” on the sidewalk. I was delighted to find out that this shoe designer’s head quarters was tucked away inside a cute little house nearby. I’ve actually been stalking her slide sandals for a couple years now and took the opportunity to go in and actually try them on! Apparently the store had always been there but it closed up since the start of the pandemic. This week, they reopened the shop on the weekends. The slides were beautiful in person. My biggest concern prior to seeing them in person was that they would not have enough arch support, but they actually have more arch support than your average sandal, but definitely not as much as Birkenstocks for example. I’d say it’s maybe 50% of the support you’d get from Birks. I liked that the slides fit snugly onto narrow feet and are supposed to stretch out over time for a custom fit (probably not a great option if you have extra wide feet, but for most I think its fine). Ultimately I decided to hold off on purchasing, mainly because I couldn’t decide on a color but secondly because I was concerned that the leather wrapped sole would scuff a lot over time. The sales associate assured me they hold up pretty well, but I’m pretty sure they’d scuff with heavy use because it is leather after all. It’s not a deal breaker and once I decide on the color, I’ll purchase them with the idea that I’d use them gently. On my way out, I picked up this oversized silk scrunchie that I had also been stalking on their online store for a while. It has a strong hold and looks like a pretty tulip when wrapped around a ponytail twice like this. I think it would also make for a nice dressed-up top knot for a summer special occasion.
Speaking of special occasions, the HB and I are planning a trip to Hawaii in about a month. Flights are pretty affordable right now and covid cases there has remained at zero. It was sort of a no brainer. The outfit above is definitely one that I’ll be packing. I’m really loving this stripe top from Alex Mill. I wished it came in more colors though. The loose cut, fabric, and hemming details are just perfect. I already have several stripe tops but this is my new favorite.
Anywho, how are you doing? If you have any recommendations for quality clothes or things to do in Oahu, Hawaii, please drop me a line! =)
Dr. it girl 
I 100% relate to New Life Stage = New Wardrobe feeling. And to the feeling of not wanting to look like all the name brands you see on everyone else around you – let alone wanting to remotely look like anyone around. I’ll play devil’s advocate here though and ask: Do you really think others will be looking at your clothes and say, “ugh, she’s wearing X like everyone else”? Will you be the only one noticing because you pay more attention to those kinds of details? In the end, if those clothes you see everywhere look comfortable and you find them to be comfortable – will it really matter how many others have those clothes too? I’m not advocating being part of the herd, because it’s good to question why something is making the rounds on social media. Is it just a passing trend or has marketing really upped their budget and managed a win from that brand?
Hawaii seems to be quite the hot spot now that vaccines are rolling out! I know of several others who have booked trips there. I’m a little envious tbh, but I hope you and HB have a wonderful trip! Z and I booked ours for September (Olympic Nat’l Park). It really is amazing how cheap flights are right now in general. It’s nice to take advantage of that.
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Good point. It all doesn’t really matter. It’s a privilege to even have these choices. I don’t mind looking “normal” actually, and in fact most of my outfits are just like everybody elses. But when I’m looking to buy something seemingly special, and then everyone wears it, it no longer seems worth it anymore. I hope you have a nice trip to Olympic. I’m embarrassed at how few national parks I’ve visited.
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I also bought an oversized silk scrunchie during the pandemic. It’s a really fun accessory!
I can’t quite believe that so many parts of the US are starting to get so much closer to something resembling pre-COVID normal. K and I just had our second shots this week. (It’s not my favorite thing to be almost fully back in the office soon – I’d prefer to maintain some work from home flexibility, though I know my employers aren’t into that – but I do miss a lot of things about working in the office.) We’re starting to think about travel again: My sister will visit me in DC in June, she’ll be more than two weeks out from her second shot by then, and K and I will probably go to Colorado in mid-August to attend his close friend’s wedding.
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I remember your silk scrunchie. Thanks for inspiring me! This week was particularly pre-pandemic esque in our neighborhood. I actually saw a line outside of a bar! I’ve started to walk outside without a mask on. It felt a little weird. I worried people would judge me for being anti-masking rather than a fully vaccinated person following CDC guideline, LOL. Anywho, I hope you enjoy your travels. I don’t envy your requirements to go back into the office but hope you can make the best of it. WFH is definitely a privilege that I won’t take for granted.
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The idea of travel is glorious right now. Living in a tiny, highly urbanised place like Singapore, things get old fast. But with community spread creeping up again, I am not holding my breath till my next overseas vacation.
I have been window-shopping more than usual, thanks to WFH weight gain. I thought I was imagining it when I couldn’t seem to zip up my trousers, but the weighing scales confirmed it. I still fit into most of my clothes but jeans are so unforgiving so I’ve been a bit obsessive with stalking men’s vintage jeans on Etsy. Buying pricey denim new feels wasteful now that I can never tell how my body might change.
I think it helps that most of the people I follow on IG don’t live in the tropics…I would not last in any of the looks I like for 5 minutes here. I’m also never going to be the type of person to get dressed up just to sit in my own living room, so I keep getting excited by clothes and then losing interest when I realise they’ll just sit in my closet for a few months.
My last big life change was quitting my job and taking a break for nearly a year, and I lived out of a backpack while travelling. It made me very bored, but also very relieved to be unburdened. Since then, my goal has been to exist somewhere between the two.
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That life change sounds likes a dream. Very few people get to do that in their lifetime. I often wonder what it would be like to travel regularly. I hope to get all my traveling in in the next decade or so. I hope these travel restrictions end at some point. Its funny, whenever it gets harder to zip up my jeans I wonder if they’ve shrunk in the dryer. It takes several days and multiple struggles to zip up for me to fully realize its me, not the jeans, lol.
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