It hasn’t been that long since I’ve talked about my avatars, but I think my system is up for an overhaul. None of it should be a surprise to those who have been following along lately, but it’s quite different from where it started back in 2018. Quick recap: avatars are characters that represent some facet of my personality that I want to express through my clothing (at different times, and in different situations). You know how some people pick 3 words to describe their style? I use avatars to embody my style. I find it easier to visualize everything through this process – and by “everything” I mean everything from shopping, to finding style inspo, to putting outfits together. This post from 2021 does a good job of summarizing my original avatars and their early evolution. So what’s in store for 2024 and beyond?

As long-time followers know, the Prince and Artist have been retired, first one then the other. This makes sense when you consider that they were both avatars geared towards my professional life, which has changed a LOT since 2018. The Adventurer avatar morphed into the Historian. While the Bohemian is the last remaining original avatar, its character has changed a fair bit in the interim. For 2024, I am sticking with the Historian and the Bohemian – in new incarnations – and adding a brand new avatar, the Trailblazer. I struggled a lot with the name of that one, because I always just think of it as Jo-March-on-the-Prairie, but needed a one-word name in the same vein as the others. Ahem. I’m sort of giving it away, but here goes:

The Historian

The character is still Diana Bishop – history professor by day, super powerful witch by night, who loves classic tweeds all the time. While I am not a powerful witch (to the best of my knowledge), I sometimes like to think that, all evidence to the contrary, I’m a bit of a badass despite being a middle-aged suburban mom with a nerdy desk job.

This is some of the inspo I have saved for this avatar.

And here are some of my own outfits which I feel best capture this avatar.

The Bohemian

The character is now Tilda Swinton as a Scottish aristocrat who lives in a crumbling country pile (à la We Capture the Castle) set in a wild, atmospheric landscape.

I feel like the Bohemian needs a bit more explanation so here’s a mood board to go with it:

She wears whatever bits and bobs she feels like; traipsing up and down big staircases with a moth-eathen cape fluttering behind her, but also traipsing up and down the countryside in huge sweaters and sensible shoes, but also hiding in an old nook to read her books in peace. This version of the Bohemian is my best attempt at reconciling my Leo Sun and Taurus Rising signs: I love nice expensive things, but prefer them to be a bit shabby; I like drama but mostly other people’s; and I like a bit of fresh air, but not as much as the smell of books.

Here is some of the inspo for the Bohemian:

And some of my own Bohemian-themed outfits:

The Trailblazer

The character is, well, exactly as I described it above: Jo March (2019 adaptation version) meets the prairies.

The Trailblazer is a lot of the things I love and appreciate combined in one: writing, arts & crafts, Ralph Lauren’s Americana, wide open spaces. Mind you, I prefer to enjoy the latter from an air-conditioned car but that’s just a footnote. I also appreciate Jo’s sense of independence and her love of waistcoats.

Some Trailblazer inspo:

And some previous Trailblazer-themed outfits:

Like I said: I don’t think much of this will come as a surprise. But it’s been very helpful for me to synthesize and summarize all these ideas in one place, particularly as I work on my goal of being more intentional and strategic with my purchases.

Details: J. Crew shirt, Everlane sweater, Babaton pnats, Fossil belt, Frye boots (all thrifted), Ralph Lauren blazer (Poshmark), Coach bag (Poshmark)

Thoughts: In case you couldn’t quite tell, I score another vintage wool LRL blazer on Poshmark recently; in fact, it was my last Posh purchase of 2023. I adore these plaid blazers, and now have 3 patterns in different colour palettes. This one is a beautiful mix of green and dark blues, along with some yellow/tan. It’s a slightly different vintage than my other two, hence the much stronger shoulder line thanks to built-in shoulder pads. That isn’t my favourite detail, but I can make it work. I borrowed the colour palette for the rest of the outfit focusing on navy and green, with pops of mahogany as grounding neutral. I am not a fan of dark navy, which is a common shade, so I’ve avoided the entire category of “navy” for years. But recently, I’ve come around to it because I’ve discovered I do enjoy a lighter, more purple/blue navy — and it goes really well with brown!

Details: Glamorous top (gift), Gap jacket, Brave belt, Chelsea Crew shoes (all thrifted), Halogen x Atlantic Pacific skirt (Poshmark)

Thoughts: A friend gave me this top, and because it’s so cropped, I decided to pair it with a high waisted skirt. The colours sent me in the direction of this skirt. It was the start of a good outfit, but needed something extra to make it come alive. A wave of inspiration pushed me towards my belt drawer, and I decided to try something more “out there”. I was surprised by how much I loved what this Brave belt added to the outfit — it changed up the vibe, taking the tulle fully towards the prairie aesthetic of the top. I added a brown velvet jacket (and brown shoes) to tone down the pink, without dulling it too much. The cropped silhouette works well with this fuller skirt.

Details: Lord & Taylor sweater, Nanette Lepore jacket, no label skirt, Lulu Frost necklace, J. Crew shoes

Thoughts: This outfit was all about the colour story! I love this shade of yellow paired with this shade of blue; the colours have a similar softness. I added the jacket (which is actually chartreuse and purple) for a “twist” and I think it works really well as part of this palette.

Details: Babaton top (swap), Talbots skirt, Icone blazer (both thrifted), J. Crew shoes (retail, old), selfmade necklace

Thoughts: I’ve mentioned before how purple and green are my “villain colours” — it’s a combo that makes me feel cool and badass. But I realize that I should have been more specific; it’s plum and dark green that evoke those feelings. I realized that when I tried a different combo: teal green and royal purple. As a colour pairing, I think this look amazing; but it doesn’t make me feel badass. It feels a lot more chill, almost soothing (despite the intensity of the purple). It was a good experiment in colour theory and colour blocking.

Details: Nine West jacket, no name sweater, Cotton Ginny belt, BDG pants (all thrifted), Laredo boots

Thoughts: Still obsessed with this jacket, and I love how it “completes” this outfit. This sweater is another piece I absolutely love, and find to be very versatile. This whole fit just has a cool vibe to it, IDK.

The title of this post is misleading. I don’t believe in New Year Resolutions. If I feel that I need to make changes in my life, want to adopt a new habit, or achieve some specific goal, I will start working on that as soon as I feel I have the resources (emotional, mental, financial) to do so as successfully as possible. Why wait for some arbitrary day? And why January of all times? It’s already such a tough month from a well-being perspective; a better month, in my opinion, for giving yourself a break than pursuing new ambitions.

That being said, I suppose that “new year resolutions” is a handy shorthand for the topic I wanted to chat about today, which is setting intentions for my shopping and wardrobe curation moving forward. These are not rules per se, but rather guidelines to help me make more mindful decisions. They arise from a lot of self-reflection I’ve done over the past year — noticing trends in my purchases and outfits, what I like to wear and how I like to wear it, what things are most meaningful and bring me the most joy, etc. A list began to organically coalesce in my mind towards the end of last year; between you and me, I have already started to put most of them into practice. But I think it’s good to write these things down, to crystallize the intentions and create a greater sense of accountability.

Focus on natural fibers

Going forward, I want to focus on purchasing natural fibers. For certain wardrobe categories like knitwear (tops and sweaters) and blazers, my intention is to look exclusively at natural fibers (linings not included because sigh). For skirts, dresses and pants, I know that some level of compromise may be required, but the ideal would be cotton, linen, and wool. I have a love-hate relationship with silk — I love it, but it hates my propensity to spill on myself — so it’s something I buy only if I feel that I can handle the likely laundering requirements (which can depend on the type of silk, category of garment, etc.).

Think twice thrice about thrift purchases

A good chunk of thrift purchases are impulse buys; that’s the nature of the game — you never know what you’re going to fall in love with until you find it. I’ve talked before about how it’s a great way to build a closet … but, in my case, the closet has been built. It has also been elevated, over and over, so at this point it doesn’t contain many “filler” or “meh” pieces. I have so many fabulous clothes, I often feel guilty for not having time to wear them all enough. I don’t want to add more stuff to the mix unless they are things as good or even better than what I have — things that add true value to my closet. That’s a very high threshold, and I need to exercise an equally high amount of discernment when I make decisions at the thrift store.

Closet future-proofing

My focus at the thrift store will be on good quality basics as future replacements. By “basics” I mean primarily base layer staples, like plain tees, tank tops, turtlenecks, etc. These are important “bricks” in my closet and I enjoy having good quality pieces — hello, natural fibers, again — to work with. Replacing them once the actual need arises can be difficult; retail doesn’t generally offer the quality I want, and thrifting doesn’t deliver things on demand. Plus, I am concerned that, as time goes on, the quality available in thrift stores will also decline as their inventory gets taken over, more and more, by fast fashion. Hedging for my future needs seems like a good strategy at this point, as vintage goods are becoming increasingly scarce. I don’t plan on buying a dozen of the same item (I don’t replace them every week, after all), but having at least one good backup seems wise.

Strategic value purchases

Buying fewer things at the thrift store will mean spending less money on thrifting, which means that I will have more discretionary funds at my disposal with which to make strategic buying decisions. By that I mean buying special pieces that most align with my style values — those pieces that bring me the most joy. These are generally things that aren’t very easy to find at the thrift stores, so acquiring them involves paying a premium on other resale platforms like Poshmark and eBay. I will always try to hunt down the best deal I can, but I like having the margin to stretch the definition of a “good deal” if needed. Many of the items I would consider in this category are currently experiencing a surge in secondhand pricing. For example, a good deal for a vintage Ralph Lauren skirt is not what I would consider a good deal for most other brands’ vintage skirts.

I’m still working to outline an overall plan for my strategic purchases for 2024, but I think my focus will be on, among other things:

• Vintage Ralph Lauren items which, to me, are representative of the brand’s ethos and align with my aesthetic. I like to think of it as having my own capsule collection. My focus will be on the categories that speak to me the most: skirts, blazers, sweaters, and coats.
• Vintage heritage brand leather bags — primarily Coach and Dooney. I have 2 or 3 specific bags in mind that I would like to add to my closet, to complement my current bag line-up.
• Classic jewelry that will eventually become part of a legacy for my daughter. I am not necessarily thinking about fine jewelry, but rather items of unique design that are meaningful to me. Some examples would include Canadian brutalist designers like Rafael Alfandary, Robert Larin, and Guy Vidal; Scandinavian design studios like Lapponia; other mid-century and contemporary designers (e.g. Elsa Peretti).

If you are in the process of setting some style- or shopping-related intentions or goals for 2024, I would love to hear about them!