The Adventurer is my tomboy side, coming back to life after a thirty-year dormancy. (Can you believe I used to be a tomboy? True story.) To be fair, this has been my go-to vibe for casual weekend wear for ages now – I’m just refining and fully embracing it. The Adventurer, as the name suggests, likes to roam and hunt for treasure – which is one way of looking at weekend errands, mom duties, and thrifting. There is a hint of safari in the Adventurer’s aesthetic, but he is rather more at home in the urban jungle than the wilderness. He is the Prince, incognito, gone on a modern day Grand Tour – metaphorically speaking, of course; most of my roaming is of the literary sort. In spirit, if not in sartorial matters, there is more than a dash of this guy:
As I mentioned, this is one persona whose style I have been perfecting for a while, but in browsing online for inspo, I realized there a couple of new directions I might explore here. Some ideas:
And some of my past outfits that fit this aesthetic/avatar:
The Artist and the Prince (see previous post here) share a lot of DNA; the Muse is a more relaxed, softer version – one that reads as more “femme”. The silhouettes are still architectural, but they are created through the use of volume (softness) rather than angles (sharpness). The colour palette is also lighter. The Artist wears skirts and dresses, instead of trousers, but in non-expected pairings. Like the Prince, the Artist is an analytical creature; she is more Alien Goddess than Earth Goddess, if that makes sense.
My inspiration/icon here is the divine Tilda Swinton. I adore her aesthetic, and actually I think she would look amazing wearing any one of my 4 styles. (She would make a phenomenal Prince, for example.)
And here’s some more inspo:
And some of my past outfits that sorta, maybe fit this vibe (it’s a work in progress, folks):
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.
