Fashionably late for Valentine's Day

Not being much of a fashion blogger any more, when I do wear an outfit so nice that someone else volunteers to take a picture of it—well, I'm not sure quite what to do!

And that's why this post about my Valentine's Day Dress of 2023 is only making it out into the world four days after Valentine's Day. But it made it! And that's what counts!

I've had this dress since well before Valentine's Day of last year. I optimistically bought it in early fall, thinking I could wear it on a second or third date (too revealing for a first date!) with someone special. Or maybe even on Valentine's Day! Well, if you don't recall, Valentine's Day last year was a total disaster, definitely unworthy of a sexy dress, but I never lost hope! 

A year later, I finally got to wear it on a so-many-I've-lost-counth date with someone special! That's my boyfriend (official as of sometime last spring)! He is so special, that he appreciated my efforts enough to – without even being asked (without my even considering asking because I'd basically given up on self-promotional photography in any form) – offer to take pictures of my outfit!

How could I refuse? And once said pictures were in my possession, how could I refuse to share them in the one place where self-promotional photos go? No, not Instagram—that's for my dog. I shared them in my old, neglected but still beloved, fashion blog!

And now on to the outfit. Beyond its backstory, the dress is relatively simple for the Unfashionista. When I got it last year, rib-knit dresses and chest cutouts were having a moment. Admittedly, at that point they were on the downswing of their moment, and time is not kind to any trend, but I feel the silhouette of this dress is basically timeless. The dark maroon color is a subtler take on the vibrant reds and pinks I favor on V-Day.

So to punch things up, I got out the fuzzy heeled booties I made in 2020 and probably haven't worn since then. And probably won't wear again—so look out, eBay! They're coming your way!

And that was that! An entire outfit in two pieces. With the vibrant red hair that has been my signature color for almost a year now, I was a picture in romantic monochrome. I also wore tiny heart-shaped earrings, but who would have noticed that? 

National Secondhand Wardrobe Day

Yesterday was a special day for The Unfashionista—National Secondhand Wardrobe Day!

Pretty much all my wardrobe is secondhand, barring the occasional piece that I received or bought myself as a gift (more on that later?), but today I challenged myself to wear the most secondhand of the secondhand—featuring a reincarnated top and a resuscitated skirt.

The top, originally sourced from Swap.com, you may recognize from previous posts. I converted it from a long-sleeved dress to an open-shoulder dress (back when that was still somewhat trendy) in 2017, and then the next summer, hacked off the sleeves and turned them into a belt. The garment achieved its fourth and final form in 2020, when I dramatically raised the bottom hem and made it into a blouse with a waist tie. Four lives for one piece of clothing? That might be a new personal record!

And now, because I've worn the dickens out of this shirt and am tired of it, I think I'm going to donate it, making it assuredly not just a secondhand, but a thirdhand wardrobe piece.

Meanwhile, the skirt that I chose for this occasion had held a long and rich life of its own, a portion of which was spent waiting unworn in my closet. I no longer remember how or when I got this skirt, but I realized it was completely unwearable when I got it out of storage this summer to find that the smocked waistband had lost all its elasticity and wouldn't stay up. Never one to let a good skirt be kept down, I flipped it inside out and stitched an elastic waistband (undoubtedly salvaged from some elder pair of pants or skirt) to the inside. It's a quick and dirty fix, but no one looks inside the waistband of your skirt!

The final piece to this masterpiece is the shoes, which I also purchased on Swap.com. Do you know how hard it is to find green shoes? Hard! But after months of searching, I finally managed to drop these green ballet flats in my cart for only $12.50. They are an almost-perfect color match for the green skirt, and they're even real suede leather. A true steal and source of secondhand celebration!

Split front pants

After almost 39 years of wearing pants that fully cover my shins, I was ready for a change. How convenient that split-front trousers began appearing sometime early last spring, just in time to lift me out of the rut that I didn't even know I was in! I was instantly drawn to the style, but it took me until just now to actually try it out for myself.

I was on the verge of donating the pants that I had used so many years ago to try out the "stepped hem" look, when it occurred to me that they might as well be put to good use as another experiment in alternative hem styles!

I re-sewed the side seams, bravely cut a slit right up the center, about 1/3 the way up to my knee, and finished the edges so they wouldn't fray.

Inside view

This was a super-simple project, but one that gave me great joy! One of my coworkers even noticed them!

And that nearly upended my neat little world. Since the past year or so, I've pretty much given up on "doing fashion" at work. My long stretch of working from home made me realize how little I actually interact with people at the office, how little need there is to dress to impress, and how little value there is in spending all my time planning, executing, photographing, and commentating outfits. Which explains why I've gone from writing two to ten blog posts a month, to, uh, so far, closer to two a year.

But, this was a creative crafty project that attracted comment! So, for old times' sake, I decided to share it. Is this the beginning of my triumphant return to prolific blogging? Stay tuned til September to find out!

 

2021 Fashion Recap

Another tradition I just can't give up, no matter how small my audience, is the year-end trend report. Hey, maybe I should actually start doing it at the end of the year instead of the beginning of the next one—what do you in my small audience say?

Whatever you say about that, here's what I have to say about the fashion of 2021, beginning with what some even more knowledgeable folks had to say about it.

Rib knit pants

Every fashion publication in my inbox (Who What Wear, PureWow, and Vogue) all spent the early part of 2021 forecasting that rib knits in various forms would blow up over the course of the year. I was most captivated by the idea of rib knit pants, which I'd never seen before, but which sounded comfy and stylish and right up my unconfining-pants alley. Now, a forecast trend doesn't necessarily mean an actual trend, but during my journey through the year, I saw my fair share of the legwear style, even trying on a pair at Uptown Cheapskate (you know a trend has gone mainstream if you're already finding versions of it at the consignment store!). Unfortunately, they didn't look great on me, so I passed, but I still fancy that some day I'll be able to find some of my own...maybe even as part of a matched set (another 2021 trend) like this cute one I found while looking for images for this post!

I even featured a few split-hem and stirrup styles, which were additional pants trends that made an appearance last year.

Non-skinny Jeans

Early in 2021, supposedly some TikTok-ers of Gen Z decided to trash-talk Millennials for wearing skinny jeans even though they're out of fashion, and Millennials took offense. (Hey friends, welcome to the age when everything you do is uncool!) I wouldn't know, because I had to get all my information about this hullabaloo through old-people media like the New York Post and MSN. But nonetheless, the last holdouts still feeling trendy for rocking skinnies like it's 2009 can no longer pretend not to notice. It's official: skinny jeans are out. Here are some other denim styles that have a little more edge (although admittedly are not nearly as useful for showcasing a pair of statement boots).

Mom jeans took a backseat to other styles like slouchy straight-legs, wide-legs, and flares.

Flared heels

Besides jeans, another thing that got flared last year was the heels on shoes. Whether the flare was subtle or dramatic, angular or curvy, short and squat or elongated, heels that got bigger at the bottom were all the rage.

Gargantuan platforms

If big pyramids at the base of your stilettos didn't provide enough stability for you, you had another option: chunky platforms. These aren't the sleek, slim, lady-platforms that were trendy back when I first became shoe-nuts—no, I'm talking massive, splayed-out Spice Girls platforms so big they get their own Zip code (PS. Everything turn-of-the-millennium — or as it is more popularly called, Y2K—is all cool again, but big shoes were my favorite back then and probably will stay that way the second time around).

 

 

Other trends worth a passing mention

Tie dye was forecast to make a splash as early as 2019 (and I proudly claim to have been riding the crest of the wave!). But I never saw enough of it in the real world to give it a nod in my trend report. The following year, it apparently blew up during quarantine and the summer following, but I somehow didn't notice. Do I blame my debarkation from the fashion bandwagon? Most definitely. In 2021, though, tie dye was on its downswing but still unmistakably popular, possibly even peaking for late adopters this year (my employer had us tie-dye T-shirts at an early fall social event). Better late than never, the Unfashionista always says! Tie dye happened. I talked about it.

Sometimes, a trend is so ubiquitous and pervasive, it's hard to nail down a single thing that defines it. Such is the case with the "official teen uniform" that changes subtly every year, but is always homogeneous among its adherents, because it is still social suicide to stand out too much. This year, that uniform was a pair of high-waisted shorts and a plain white camisole. Every girl on campus was wearing it this summer.

 

A look forward

About those shorts: they're growing longer inseams! Micro-shorts have been the go-to for most younger women as long as I can remember, but this year, I noticed fashion publications pushing Bermuda shorts, and even regular stores selling mid-length shorts to the masses. I couldn't find a lot of photographic evidence of this trend, but I think it might be gaining momentum in the upcoming year.

Another thing I'm excited about this year is the return of yoga pants (or as they're now being called, flared leggings. I always loved a good flare in my pants, and now I can finally be stylish for wearing them!

Very Peri

You might have noticed I've been gone for a while. I pumped the brakes on fashion blogging because, honestly, who's reading? However, I just can't give up my tradition of the New Year's Day Pantone-Color-of-the-Year-themed outfit!

The Color of the Year for 2022 is a newly invented color just for the occasion: Very Peri — or, as the less lyrical among us like to say, just plain periwinkle.

Pantone calls it a "blue hue," but it veers dangerously close to lavender. The only thing in my wardrobe that walks that fine line between purple and blue is a pair of sweatpants—convenient, since my only plan for New Year's Day was to not leave the house. Periwinkle sweatpants were just the ticket for a day of lounging, loafing, and laundry.

I really had no idea what I'd wear with these pants, but at the last moment, I peeked into my workout clothing drawer and found a pastel purple tank top that coordinated beautifully with the sweats.

The sporty tank top was sufficiently warm for doing chores, but I got chilly when I set about the proscribed loafing, so I topped off the outfit with a white zippered hoodie. And then I bottomed it with white sneakers.

A simple ensemble, hardly worth blogging about, but tradition is tradition!

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Birthday

All I wanted was some black and white striped pants. I can't say why I wanted them, but I'd been on the hunt for some for months. My requirements were very strict. All the stripes had to be the same width—none of that pinstripe nonsense for me—and I strongly preferred a dramatic, wide leg cut. 

I finally found what I was looking for on ThredUP, an online thrift store that I don't frequent often because their prices are rather steep (but if you want to give them a whirl, here's a referral code for 10 dollars off: https://www.thredup.com/r/Y4HCK2). However, desperation calls for desperate measures. I spent 15 dollars on these pants! They didn't even fit! 

I had to take two inches off the waistline before I could wear these trousers, but that was all for the better, because when you size down a pair of pants, the leg openings are proportionally wider. And that means an even more dramatic effect!

I figured I'd be saving these pants for a crisp fall day, but as luck would have it, the weather turned a little cool on the day of my (joint with a friend's!) birthday party, so the tropical getup I'd had planned for the occasion was going to have to wait.

I paired the eyecatching pants with a purple crop top and black platform sandals, and my party ensemble was made! A connection was made, too: apparently thought of Beetlejuice when they saw these pants. I guess I'd prefer if my lovely outfit did not remind people of a half-rotted corpse, but pop culture references always garner more views, so I'm gonna run with it!

Oh, and I'm also gonna drop a dog photo in here, and my shameless attempt at boosting my online popularity will be complete!

I went to a concert!

Finally, finally, the moment arrived when I could cast off my COVID caution, put on my colorful clothes, and go out dancing with few hundred of my closest friends!

I was going to see Vini Vici, and I thought the colorful embroidery on the pants was a good choice to evoke the kind of music they often play. Everything else was just black, so as not to clash! Easy peasy! And that's good, because I barely had time to snap a picture in my huge rush out the door. I didn't plan for bits of my hair to be standing out like that—really.

The outfit isn't really one of my best, if you ask me, but the point is, I got to dress myself up for a show for the first time in 2 years!

I also promptly caught a cold, but it was worth it.