Guys, I can’t believe we are talking about 2015 … in 2025. Already. How!? No, but, like: HOW?!? 2015 was 6 years ago, and I refuse to believe otherwise. Mind you, I look at my son now, who is just about ready to get his learner’s permit, and then time becomes more or less meaningless. Also, there have been a few times recently when one or another of my kids said “mom, do you remember that time when …” and I had to admit, sheepishly, that, no, I did not. Sigh. I’ve joked about how I’m currently in my Grumpy (Bearded) Old Dad Era when it comes to my fictional crushes (coincidentally while also being married to someone who more or less answers that description) but I am starting to think that I am turning into a grumpy (non-bearded, fingers crossed) old man myself. As my angsty 90s teenager is also alive and kicking and taking up a good chunk of headspace, I guess that makes me a walking, talking ‘odd pair’ buddy comedy. Fun!
ANYway.
2015: it was an okay year. I remember ages 35-37 being a difficult period for me, both at the personal and professional level, and 2015 was the start of that. At work, I began to ramp up and transition into a new, more demanding role — all the while hating private practice more and more. I won’t get into the details of that here, but suffice it to say that it simply wasn’t a good fit for me, and I tried to make it be a fit for much longer than I should have. But, lots of lessons learned and all that. Style-wise, 2015 was the start of my ‘settling’ into my own personal style. Or, to put it differently, the start of my developing a personal point of view. Don’t get too excited; it was a very slow start. Took years to get anywhere. But, looking back on it now, I can see the early stirrings of something recognizably “me”. 2015 was also the year when I began to pivot more towards thrifting, though I was still shopping retail a fair bit, and consignment remained my main secondhand shopping outlet. I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that my style became increasingly more experimental (which is not to say ‘avant-garde’ or anything) as my thrifting increased. Thrifting made it possible for me to experiment with fashion in a sustainable way, and in the process helped me to hone my eye. But that was later on; in 2015, I was still mostly taking my styling cues from J. Crew and Anthro.
Let’s take a look!
As always, I tried to pick 3 outfits that are representative of that era. Two were work outfits, and one (middle) was a casual look. I had to include the outfit on the left because the original post featuring it remains my most popular post of all time (in terms of site traffic and such). I think it even got re-posted on some bigger blog, and for half a nanosecond, I was almost internet famous, LOL! Anyway: those cigarette pants, wow. They were a look. I was OBSSESSED with them at the time. Now, they look so strange to me. Funny how the eye gets used to things — and unused to other things — over time.
Okay, let’s see how I’d wear these outfits now.
Again, I tried to find the closest version of the original in my recent photos folder, and I think this is actually a pretty good comparison. I recently thrifted these pants and they are a much slimmer cut than most of my other pairs — though, obviously, still a far cry from the cigarette pants of old. I like them a lot as an alternative to the wider leg pants I’ve been wearing in recent years. I’m not sure my personal pendulum is ready to swing all the way back to skinny pants, but there’s a tiny bit of pull happening, for sure. Definitely more so when it comes to pants than jeans; I do not miss skinny jeans, AT ALL. As for the rest of the outfit, a sweater is more my current speed than a cardigan — though I have added a few cardigans back into my wardrobe lately. They’re def a different style than the one from 2015, though; shorter/more cropped and chunkier.
The other thing to note is the pant rise and resulting proportions. I have a long torso and short legs, but I don’t think I knew that in 2015. Not that it would have made a lot of difference, because ‘high rise’ was not a thing back then. That’s one trend I am never, ever moving on from. Low rise pants are not kind to folks with long torsos, ok?
Full disclosure: I would probably still wear this 2015 outfit today. Like, it’s not something I’d intentionally put together now, but if I had to go back and re-wear something from that era, this would be an outfit that wouldn’t make me feel uncomfortable in my own skin, you know? But you can also see how the 2025 version is different. While I still love and wear the 2015 dress silhouette, I love a full, voluminous dress these days. Also: colours and layers. One thing I’ve done a full 360 degree turn on, however, is big bags. I used to wear them almost exclusively up until 2020, then switched to small crossbody bags, and now I’ve reintroduced some larger ones again.
This before/after was a little trickier. Since I’ve been rediscovering short skirts again recently, I thought about picking an outfit with a mini skirt to showcase against the 2015 version. However, I only wear mini skirts in casual outfits, and I thought it was important to try to match the vibe of original, which was a work outfit. So, I decided to put aside silhouette and go with something that would be a good example of a skirt outfit I’d wear to the office now. On the plus side, it’s still on theme with the green. I also thought it was neat to contrast these outfits because they are both pretty minimalist — no pattern mixing, bold colour combos, etc. — but in different ways. I do think the 2025 version is a lot more interesting, despite being simpler in some ways (no patterns at all). That’s all down to texture and colour layering, something 2015 Adina hadn’t yet figured out.
