Effortless.

Is there a more loaded term in fashion parlance?

If you feel triggered by it, don’t worry. I am not here to talk about what effortless style looks like. The reasons for that will become evident in a moment. I want to talk about what “effortless” means to me in the context of style, and I am going to use an art analogy to do it.

As an artist [and, disclaimer, an amateur one at that], that are certain ways of painting – or, more generally, creating – that feel natural to me. Take portraits, for example. At this time, I naturally gravitate towards realistic, though not necessarily photo- or hyper-realistic, portraiture in my own work. I enjoy looking at and appreciating more abstract portraiture, but it would be a challenge for me to do it. I would have to look at other artists’ work and try to figure out how to replicate it. It’s not that I am not capable of it; it just isn’t what comes naturally to me when I put a brush on canvas, so to speak.

And I have tried it – replicating others’ style of painting that is. There are some abstract landscape painters that I really admire, and I tried in the past to paint in a similar style. My results weren’t terrible per se, but I was never satisfied. It was obvious, to my own eye, how much better the originals were. I think my dissatisfaction came from the fact that they felt “inauthentic”. Those experiences convinced me that I needed to always stay true to whatever felt natural and unforced to me as an artist. The results might not always be the type of paintings that I wish I could produce, but they would be pleasing to me because they are my style, and what I do best.

The same, by the way, applies to my other craft pursuits too. I love metalwork and stone jewelry made by other designers, but that is not what I can create best as a jewelry maker. My métier, so to speak, is working with felt, beads and thread – not metal, plastics, and stone.

At least not at this time.

People evolve. We learn, we grow, we try new things. Who knows how my work will evolve?

Which brings me back to style.

Effortless style, to me, is a gut feeling – much as it is when it comes to art. When I wear an outfit, does it feel like a natural extension of (my concept of) myself in that moment? There are many outfits I admire on others, but know that, were I to recreate the outfit and wear it for myself, I would not feel “natural”.

One of the reasons I admire other people’s outfits even though I might not necessarily want to wear myself is because they are “effortless” for that person. I recognize a pure expression of self in them, and that is always a beautiful thing. I am seeing someone expressing and being their true self, and there is usually a confidence and a joy that radiates from that, which is very attractive.

So, to recap, effort (to me) relates to the nature of the expression. Getting dressed, whatever you choose to wear, requires more or less the same physical amount of effort. For me, putting together the outfit below is no more effort – mental or otherwise – than putting on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. For lack of a better word, it comes naturally:

You might wonder: ok, but show me something that doesn’t.

This did not feel effortless to me. I didn’t just “throw it together”. As I mentioned last week, this outfit is on the fringes of my personal style, so to speak, and it was an example of me experimenting with the boundaries of my style. I don’t consider it a bad outfit; on the contrary, I quite like how it turned out. But again, liking an outfit visually is divorced (to me) from the idea of effortlessness. And this outfit on someone else could very well be effortless by my definition.

Here is what, to me, effortless is not:

One, effortless is not a particular type of style. It bothers me a lot when the fashion industry uses this terminology to sell a specific aesthetic, especially one that is deeply rooted in classism, racism, and ableism. Think about all the images you see attached to the term “effortless”: chances are they all look very similar. If you’re seeing “effortless” crop up in fashion magazines, social media, or wherever, ask yourself: is this being used to sell me something? If so, ignore it. The subtext, at that point, is no longer about style at all; “effortless” is a code word used to create a perceived lack or need on the part of the audience, which can then be filled by capitalism.

Two, effortless is not a virtue. I am a person who views style as a form of self-expression, and as a Type 4, I value authenticity. When I am wearing something that feels like an authentic expression, that feels effortless, and that is a feeling that I personally enjoy. That being said, not everyone feels the same; nor do I think that my experience is the only valid one or the most valuable. Consider the concept of sprezzatura. It has nothing to do with effortlessness, in fact the opposite. At the end of the day, it is okay to care about clothes, to take time with your outfits, to put effort into it. Whatever that means or looks like to you.

An outfit is an outfit whether the person feels authentic/effortless wearing it or not. If you’re not a person for whom that added dimension is important – and, again, it’s not a universal value so it’s okay if it’s not important to you – then whatever amount of effort went into putting together that outfit doesn’t matter. You’re wearing something appropriate to the occasion, or something you think looks nice: mission accomplished. Don’t let anyone tell you that anything (that elusive “effortlessness” element) is missing. They’re probably trying to sell you something.

Alright, that’s enough blathering from me. I would love to hear your thoughts on “effortless” – see you in the comment section!

The Favourite

Umm, what the title says. There are a few pieces in my closet that I consider truly special, and this is one at the top of that short list. I cannot tell you how much I adore this skirt, and how wonderful it feels to wear it. Yes, even working from home. There is something so decadent and luxurious about wearing something so beautiful even if no one else but you can see it. I like to think it makes me more confident for important meetings too, hah!

The construction is fantastic, and I appreciate how much thought went into the design details. I am thinking of doing a whole separate post to show you everything with close-ups because it’s a good study in quality-spotting. But beyond all that, it just speaks to my (sartorial) soul. The length, the draping, the colours and prints — if we went back to the idea of a Platonic skirt, for me this would be it.

Short Story, pt. 2

These shorts are really pushing me to test the boundaries of my personal style. They make me a little uncomfortable, for lack of a better word, but I think they are on the border of the Venn diagram of my style influences, so it’s just a matter of exploring those edges and seeing how I can incorporate them into outfits that feel like “me”. This effort is not a bad attempt; I feel like the shorts rein in the top combo – which I love, but which could easily go into the opposite direction from where I currently want to be, style-wise. It’s “boho” with a dash of “grandma”, but the shorts stop it from going all the way into “kooky-ville”.

Minimally Sporty Spice

Y’all know that “sporty” in no way, shape or form describes yours truly, but I like to flirty with sportwear-adjacent looks. Fashion sneakers and an Adidas bag is my flirtation here. The rest of the outfit — “cool mom” jeans and a graphic sweater — is much more my usual speed. Well, apart from the cool part. I’m still not sure how I really feel about there high waist Madewell jeans — or all jeans, to be honest — but they’re super popular with the Millennial crowd, and I am not immune to some social influencing. Millennial “cool” still feels attainable to this cusp-Gen Xer; Gen Z cool – forget about it! And get off my lawn, too!

I know I am late to the Poshmark game, even for a Canadian, but lets start with what may be an obvious confession: I was a skeptic. I’ve been an off-and-on eBay user for the better part of 2 decades, but as my thrifting has taken off, I have used online resale platforms less and less as a means of purchasing clothing. Online resale cannot compete with thrifting on price, and I am fortunate to live in an area where thrifting offers excellent choice for my size and style preferences. I did look at Poshmark when the app was first launched in Canada, since I had heard American friends extolling its values, but was not immediately impressed. Price-wise, it was no better than eBay while the selection was worse. Months passed, and I ignored the app despite the fact that friends like Sherry (from Save Spend Splurge) continue to rave about the great deals they were finding through it.

Well, I am ready to change my tune.

I am not sure what prompted me to open the app again recently, but I was immediately struck by how many more listings were suddenly available – even for my more niche designers of interest. The app took some getting used to – it’s not as intuitive for me as eBay, and has a worse search function – but it has features that I do like a lot. My favourite is the option to “like” a listing; it’s equivalent to placing it on your eBay “watch list” with the added bonus that the seller will often extend you a “special offer” (i.e. discount) within a short time frame later to entice you into buying the item. Personally, I prefer responding to an offer versus making one first, so this system works well for me. Moreover, I like the offer process as a whole better on Poshmark than eBay (even when I am the one making the first move). It’s so easy, in fact, that I have often made lowballs offers not expecting them to be accepted and … oops, they were. [Sidenote: always bid responsibly, of course.]

Having purchased a half dozen items over the past month – I know, I know – I feel like I’ve got enough experience under my belt to share my thoughts here with other potential fellow Poshmark newbs. [Are there any? LOL!] First up, let me reconfirm: Poshmark cannot compete with thrifting on price alone. Even with the shipping discount that the app offers ($12.99 flat rate shipping through Canada Post which is CHEAP, let me tell you, here in the Great White North, sigh), prices are inevitably higher. I have a concrete example of that: the Zara floral crop top I shared recently. I looked it up on Poshmark after experiencing regret over not thrifting when the opportunity first came up. There was one listing for $20; even had I been able to negotiate a discount, with shipping, it would have cost more than double than what I ended up paying at Value Village. That being said, there are other ways in which Poshmark is a valuable resource, which I am going to address below.

Second, as with any resale platform, you have to come in armed with knowledge. You have to know your measurements, and not be afraid to ask for more information from sellers, because you cannot rely on sizing alone. On the whole (and there are plenty of exceptions), Poshmark sellers tend not to be as consistent as eBayers about including measurements in their listings, but they seem to be promptly responsive to questions. I also check prior messages on an item to see if someone else has already asked for measurements – they usually have. You also have to know your brands and what they are worth – both in terms of retail, and how much you’re willing to spend. I’ve noticed that certain brands are more popular on Poshmark, in the sense that they resell for a higher percentage of retail value; it’s worth “shopping around” to other resale platforms to see if you can get a better deal or, indeed, wait for a sale at the retail store. As I mentioned, it’s super easy to get sucked into a offer/counteroffer scenario, and I find that it helps to have a firm bottom line in place so you avoid later buyer’s regrets.

I haven’t had quite enough experience yet to share tips and tricks for finding cool deals on Poshmark, but here is my general approach to using the app: (1) looking up listings for higher end designers that are hard to find in my local thrift stores; and (2) looking for very specific items that I haven’t had luck thrifting over a number of months.

Examples? Why, of course.

This Dries Van Noten skirt is my favourite Posh find to date. Stock photos don’t do it justice; just wait till you see my outfit later this week. I “paid up” for it a lot, if you use thrift prices as a benchmark, but this is a piece that I would likely never find in new condition at a thrift store. Mine came with the Nordstrom tags still attached, and I paid about 10% of the retail price – a bargain by consignment standards. DVN is my favourite designer, and this is a very “Dries” piece, if that makes sense. I adore it.

Similar story with this Marni top (another favourite designer):

Basically, I stalk all new listings regularly, and “like” the ones that are both appealing AND listed at a decent price. For my top designers, anything under $100 warrants further attention, but the number is flexible depending on the designer, the piece, and the likelihood of finding something similar at thrift. Then I either wait for the seller to make me an offer, or make an offer of my own. I ended up scoring this blouse for $30CAD plus shipping, which was a very nice surprise.

In terms of the second category of items I stalk on Posh, this Gap sweater is a good example:

This isn’t a pricey designer item, but I am personally obsessed with Gap novelty stripe sweaters, and this specific piece reminded me of Kenzo’s tiger designs. It’s not a style I have ever seen in thrift stores here, and while I may one day find it there, I was willing to pay a premium to get it NOW. Again, I was able to negotiate the price down to something I felt was reasonable (compared to what I would pay on eBay or local consignment) and I went for it.

Another example is this Target dress:

I wrote about this last week, but I have been wanting a star print dress for a long time and my first choice – by Valentino, sigh – has not been easy to track down (at thrift or otherwise). Nor, surprisingly, has a good alternative. So I pulled up a list of star print dresses on Poshmark, and looked for one that met as many of my requirements as possible, for the lowest price possible ($15CAD plus shipping). Voila. I am very happy with this piece, and while I may eventually upgrade it – should the elusive Valentino come across my path – I am quite content with it in the meantime.

If you’ve been a longer term Poshmark user, I would love to hear your thoughts on the app: how you use it, your best finds, etc. And please share tips and tricks with the rest of us in the comments too!