Full-On Summer

I wore this outfit for Mother’s Day which, now that my kids are older, is an actual thing at my house. I got serenaded with a song, and got lots of hugs and art projects (which, to be fair, is also what I gave my mom this year), and it was pretty great. The weather didn’t hurt; it was a beautiful weekend, very much like the best of summer (here in Edmonton, anyway). Warm, sunny days that go on forever and make you feel like you’re living your very best life. Kinda like this (Bohemian) outfit, too.

Vaguely Mod, Vaguely New

I consider this an(other) outfit for the Bohemian, but I think it looks vaguely mod. I love this (thrifted) Marni top so very much, but it’s not necessarily an easy piece to mix up in different ways. In fact, it’s the opposite of versatile; it simply is, and the rest of the outfit has to arrange itself around it. I realize now that my reservation towards pieces like that stems from an old mindset; I used to be obsessed with the idea of endlessly remixing pieces so that I never wore the exact same outfit twice. I think that started partly as an exercise in creativity, and partly as blog fodder, but at some point in the last couple of years, it became divorced from my reality, so to speak. I have other outlets for creativity, and the kind of stuff I like to wear now is much more uniform-driven. While I enjoy wearing only very slightly different iterations of the same outfits all the time, I still used to worry about the impact of that on the blog. How silly of me! I think part of my past unhappiness with blogging came from the fact that I didn’t know what I really wanted out of it; on one hand, I knew I was supposed to strive to attract as much traffic as possible (which required having fresh “content”, i.e. outfits, all the time), but on the other hand, I didn’t care about monetizing, which begged several questions. Why did traffic really matter? Why did I feel the pressure to approach my dressing in a certain way? Ultimately, the whole point of this blog is to share my real-life experiences with style and clothing as a regular person.

TL;DR – look, a new outfit, sort of.

The Most Basic

I mean, right? It doesn’t get more basic than this blazer-jeans combo, but it’s also a fool-proof classic. I recently thrifted a couple of these boyfriend-style Club Monaco blazers recently – this striped version and one in a classic check print – which is a bit of a coincidence that makes me wonder (again) about the history of the clothes that wind up in my closet.

Bland As Oatmeal

In all my musings about new style horizons and what not, one thing I never really considered was what other people might think about it all. Like, it never even occurred to me to do so, which is actually strange because I’m generally a very self-conscious person. But then a reader asked me last week how people had reacted to my new style, which put the question squarely in front of me. (The answer, by the way, is that no one has really reacted in any particular way. I’m not sure if anyone has noticed and/or cares.) Later, I was talking to my BFF about it, and she described my current aesthetic thusly: bland as oatmeal.

This outfit, I feel, is a perfect representation of that blandness. Like, she’s not wrong, you know? But I love it. One person’s bland is another person’s understated classic.

I told my BFF I was seriously considering re-branding as Oatmeal & Red Lipstick. You have been warned.

(For those playing along at home, this was an Artist outfit.)

Fringe Benefits

Spring has finally arrived. Except that it’s not sure if it wants to be spring or summer. Temperatures are all over the place. I’m not complaining, mind you; at this point, if it’s above zero and non-snowing, I don’t complain. It’s just a wee bit difficult to know what to wear. After 6 long months of winter, I have no idea what “transitional dressing” even means. This was a recent attempt to break away from coats – knit fringe vest, anyone? I was driving down to Calgary to surprise a friend for her birthday, so I needed an outfit that was comfortable for the road-trip, but also suitable for a celebratory dinner. Call it Adventurer with a dash of bling.

Corporate Witch

I rarely do black-on-black, but when I do, I go all out. If the Prince and the Artist had a baby, and that baby was a Ravenclaw who ended up working in a Muggle office (wouldn’t happen but just go with it), this is what she would wear. This obi-style belt continues to be a real winner, even though it’s a bit too close to a corset for my comfort – pun intended. Still, we suffer for fashion, yes? The Rick Owens turtleneck dress is comfortable AF though, which counts for a lot.

It`s the last Friday of the month, so it`s time to talk shop. Or swap. or trade. If there is something you`re looking to buy, or something you`d like to sell or trade, here is your chance to reach out to your fellow BCRL readers.

A reminder of the disclaimers/ground rules for Community Trading:

One, while I believe in the BCRL community, I do not know each of you personally, so I cannot vouch for any person or item. Please use your best discretion, both when buying and trading. While I think this idea has great potential, its success is premised on trust and the honour system – please be fair and respectful of others. If anyone becomes aware of concerns over another poster/reader’s actions, please let me know. I do not have time to police people, but I also don’t want anyone to be using my site to rip others off, so should something of that nature happen, I will shut down these posts immediately.

Two, I would ask that people at least consider international shipping, provided the other party is willing to assume the costs. I say this as a Canadian who often feels shut out of trading sites where the members are predominantly from the US. Of course, I can’t and wouldn’t force anyone to do something they feel comfortable with, but I know there are BCRL readers all over North America (and the world), and I think it would be nice if everyone had the option to participate.

Three, please feel free to include links to specific items you are selling/seeking as long as they are not affiliate ones.

Four, please be clear about the specifics of what you are looking for and/or are offering, including payment, shipping, etc. Alternately, you can include an email address for inquiries, but please note that this would be visible to the public/anyone visiting the blog.

See you in the comments!