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!

2020 Hindsight

At the beginning of every year, I reflect back on the previous one and the sartorial styling that gave it flavor. Last year gave me more time than ever for reflection, but fewer actual resultant observations.

During the Great Quarantine of 2020, while the wheels of fashion still kept turning (as evidenced by the continued existence of fashion publications and the #OOTD hashtag), I hopped off the ride. I paid only passing attention to the articles telling me what to stock up on for next season; I certainly didn't get to observe any other fashionistas in real life!

So the pickings are slim, but I'll do what I can to report on a trend or two before returning to my cozy and carefree existence where leggings really are pants.

Sweatpants

Speaking of pants, let's start this post off with something you all knew was coming—sweatpants! The darling of athleisure that translated all too easily into stay-at-home everything, sweatpants were the topic of every Zoom joke that wasn't about putting wine in your coffee mug. For me (and presumably for many others), these cozy pants were not just a trend but a necessity, as a COVID winter loomed. I went all-in on sweatpants in the fall, buying as many bargain pairs as I could get my thrifty hands on (it ended up being 3), and even making a token effort at staying relevant by converting a straight-leg pair into the slouchy cuffed type.

Ultra-cropped tops

The other trend I noted in my sweatpants post was this specific type of very short, very baggy shirt. It seems impractical to me in a thermoregulatory sense, but it seemed almost mandatory to pair little cropped sweatshirts with your big baggy sweatpants, as long as you were young and/or in possession of abs of steel. I am neither (and rather committed to keeping my midriff warm!) so I am happily letting this trend pass me by.

Cardigans

I suppose in a year where everyone seeks out the comfy and cozy, a topper that reminds you of your grandmother makes perfect sense! To be honest, though, the short, large-button cardigan is the first trend I noticed this year, way before coronavirus was even a gleam in the CDC's eye. It has popped up pretty consistently in my halfhearted fashion scrolling, and cardigans are one of the specific items that my local consignment shop was requesting this winter. If I were ever to seek a sign to let me know what's trendy, it would be whatever the professional buyers are trying to obtain. Cardigans it is!

Boots with lug soles (and knee high shafts)

I always put a shoe trend on my list, but to be honest, I've hardly paid attention to shoes at all this year, since the only ones I can wear are soft flat ones for walking quietly on my hardwood floors and biking to the grocery store. I've totally let practicality supersede trendiness in my recent shoe shopping. But there's one thing I couldn't help but notice every time I read a missive from my Internet fashion advisors. It's the lug-sole boot. Although my sample pictures are exclusively of the above-the-ankle variety, I've been told that knee-high boots are coming back. After years of learning to loathe thigh-high boots (they always slide down!) and reluctant adoption of ankle boots, I'm excited for the return of knee-highs—my first boot love. Of course, time will tell if it really becomes a trend, but here's hoping anyway!

 

Predictions

Speaking of hoping, it's time to talk predictions. My forecasting game was way off last year – I haven't seen even a hint of lace gloves! Seeing as I was such a poor guesser for 2020, I hesitate to imagine what 2021 will bring, but yes, I'm going to make the attempt anyway.

Assuming we beat the coronavirus and can start strutting our stuff before the year's too far gone, I'm banking on a flood of maximalism. After a year of being confined to our homes, choosing comfort over fashion, and few opportunities for dressing to impress even if we were so inclined, I think we're all going to want to cut loose! Bring on the sequins! The sparkle! Every impractical but oh-so-interesting statement garment we've stuffed into the backs of our closets and are now going to wear all at once! If this vision comes true, I can't wait to see what it looks like!

Ultimate Gray and Illuminating

Since I started my tradition of wearing the Pantone Color of the Year on New Year's Day (or the day after!), this will be the first year that there have been two colors for the price of one! Every once in a while, Pantone chooses a two-tone combination to be its "color" of the year. Is it cheating? Perhaps, but it's not my place to critique their color selections—it's my place to wear them.

I was initially unenthused by this year's choice of "Ultimate Gray and Illuminating"—after all, I unwittingly wore Ultimate Gray for my Pantone outfit in 2018, and would never find it an interesting color even if it hadn't been done before. The other half – "Illuminating" – variously described as a "bright," "vibrant," "cheerful," "warming" yellow, sounded a lot more fun, except for the fact that I don't really have anything yellow in my wardrobe.

Well, anything, really, except that one sweater I've been wearing and rewearing since at least 2016. The thought of my best option being a tired-out old shirt with a boring pair of gray slacks sent me into a funk...until I realized this was the perfect excuse to shop for something new! I am forever trying to get more warm colors into my collection. Though lately my sights have been set on goldenrod, 2021 seemed as good a time as any to shift to an even more sunshiney shade!

As soon as I saw this yellow zippered hoodie on Swap.com, instantly my spirits soared and my imagination went into overdrive, calculating all the fashiony fun that could be had with such a lively layering piece (you know I'm in a good mood when I start piling on the alliteration and inventing new words!).

Most importantly, it was a velour hoodie! I missed the velour tracksuit trend the first time around. Though I had a coworker at the grocery store who wore her Juicy Couture almost every day (and was, although she never knew it, the one who gave me the courage to trade in my jeans for yoga pants and start donning knitwear for work), I myself never got to  jump on the tracksuit bandwagon.

But better late than never, as the Unfashionista always says (since last month!), and I've been hearing from reliable sources that velour is cool again! So yes, I had to buy the hoodie. At 9 dollars, it was more than I pay for a shirt, but within my price range for a jacket (maximum 10), so I felt I'd be excused for overspending, especially for such a worthy occasion.

I paired the hoodie with a grey camisole and some Ultimate Gray workout leggings that I recently retired from actually working out. Poorly designed for athletics, they are neither very flexible nor very breathable. About the only thing they're good for is anchoring an athleisure outfit while just happening to be the Pantone Color of the Year.

The icing on the bottom was a brand new pair of light grey sneakers with metallic racing stripes, which were neither Ultimate Gray nor Illuminating, but complemented the colors in a way that I liked.

In this very loungey ensemble, I am at perhaps my finest representation of Quarantine Chic. Now that I've hit the pinnacle, there's nowhere to go but down. You hear that, COVID? Time to get lost. 2021 (and its promise of real pants) awaits!

Tie Dye Time!

If the Unfashionista were to have a personal motto (other than "Fun with Colors"), it would have to be "Never Say Never."

Though I claimed last year that one dip in the tie dye bath would be enough for me, I was wrong. Tie dye continued to flourish in the world of fashion and even home furnishings, and it was said to have experienced a huge wave of popularity during the spring and summer. I didn't observe this personally because I pretty much took a break from fashion in favor of social distancing, but that's what they say. I did feel personally that it was one of the most trendy things I own, so my single tie-dye shirt became pretty much my go-to tee over the past year, whenever I wanted to seem a little bit more with the times. (Self-congratulation alert: I even got a compliment on its bright and happy colors during a hike despite our noticeably less friendly times!)

But this post isn't about my tie-dye tee, it's about my tie-dye blouse!

Once I had gotten over my initial aversion to the idea of tie dye, I continued to see examples of "tasteful tie dye" in my news feeds and shopping haunts, and decided I wouldn't mind having more of a good thing. Late this summer, I bought two tie-dye tops at Swap.com for a total of 5 dollars, one of them being this one!

 

This one took a little work to get into a wearable condition. It was very short and very wide and very unflattering on my frame. 

 

I reduced the size of the sleeve openings and took in the sides, then added waist ties to give it a more body-conforming shape.

It's still shorter than I prefer a loose shirt to be—I thought about extending the length with the offcuts from the sides and sleeves, but decided that wouldn't work. So it's finished!

I had the opportunity to wear it out into the big wide world today because I had a dentist appointment. If you ever want to feel better about having two teeth drilled, just wear a new fashionable top for the procedure!

"Fashionable" is relative, of course—the same sources who informed me of the tie-dye wave this summer also tell me it's on the wane. But if the Unfashionista were to have a third personal motto, it would have to be "Better late than never!"

Sweatpants: a DIY

Once it became clear, in late summer, that I was going to be confined mostly to home for the foreseeable future, I invested heavily in comfy pants. Tunics and leggings had their moment last spring, but I wanted, once in a while, to be able to wear a shirt of a normal length while lounging around the house. So a shopping spree ensued. I ended up with 5 secondhand pairs of sweat/lounge pants, which, being secondhand, were mostly of a somewhat dated straight-leg cut. Something had to be done.

It seems like it was only yesterday that I converted my first pair of straight-leg sweatpants into what was, at that time, a trendy pair of joggers.

These days, it only takes a quick perusal of Tik Tok or Instagram to show that joggers are no longer trendy. If you're going to be wearing sweats, they had better be the baggy kind with elastic cuffs—the very kind I loathed as a youngster and hoped never to wear again.

Alas, even an Unfashionista cannot resist the siren song of cultural relevance, so I had to bite the bullet and commit to the trendiest ugly silhouette of 2020.

And thus, I began the conversion of my too-short straight-leg pink pair of sweats into the bottom-cuff kind.

I checked to see whether I'd like the alteration by safety-pinning one leg in an approximation of the altered effect. It was a go!

 

Then I opened up a hole in the side seam at the bottom hem, threaded in a strip of elastic about the circumference of the bottom of my calf, and sewed it all back up! 

 

Instant modernity!

A second perusal of Instagram or Tik Tok quickly reveals that the preferred pairings with this type of sweatpants are either a matching sweatshirt or an ultra-cropped top of almost any sort. I made a valiant effort to follow the trend, wearing my new sweats for the first time with a cute crop top that I've had for almost 2 years and never worn.

The reason for the delay, of course, is that whenever it's cold enough to wear long sleeves, it's too cold to be showing one's midriff! I'll sacrifice my taste in the name of fashion, but never my body heat! I'd originally thought I might be able to wear the top to some event where crowds of humans would render the air warm enough that I'd be able to get away with uncovering my most thermally critical body part. But as crowds are out of the question for at least the remainder of this winter, I finally decided to give up on the impractical top.

After the hurried photo shoot (the brrr explains the blur!), I relegated it to the to-sell pile and traded it in for a less fashionable but more comfortable long-sleeved tee that completely covered me in blessed warmth.

Stay-at-home mom jeans

It had to happen sometime. After a month and a half of working from home, I finally ventured into denim territory.

I've been very firm in my adherence to soft clothes during the extent of my quarantine—I've basically lived in stretch leggings, flowy wide-leg trousers, and the occasional skirt. But not only am I bored sick of those options (side note: this fall, I was just beginning a love affair with leggings and tunics, never imagining that they'd be my uniform for the entirety of April. The affair was probably the most short-lived of all my fashion fixations. Now if I never have to wear another tunic, I think I'll do a jig), but they're also very limited in their pairing potential.

Leggings can only be worn with tops that cover my crotch; wide-leg pants can only be worn with short, tight shirts (I mean, unless you want to appear slovenly, which you're certainly entitled to do while sheltering in place, but it's not my first choice of look). If you want to wear a moderately fitted and mid-length top, neither of those options are a great choice. If said top happens to be red-and-white striped, your options are even fewer, because there aren't many colors or patterns that won't clash. The best option by far is blue jeans.

But what about the lack of flexibility? The pinching and constricting and all the other downsides to wearing denim? Was I willing to take on those hazards? Yes, with the greatest compromise ever: mom jeans!

Mom jeans: what are they? Generally high-waisted, roomy pants with plenty of room for child-bearing hips, famous for their popularity among busy mothers who can't be bothered with fashion. To contrast them from "boyfriend jeans," which are straight-legged and baggy all around, mom jeans tend to be tapered toward the bottom to emphasize a more feminine figure. Most importantly, they have a relaxed fit, perfect for retaining the leg mobility I prize so much in my WFH outfits.

This is my first pair of mom jeans, and the first time I've worn them in this blog. I'm a little late to the party (who's surprised?). Mom jeans first took off around 2014, much to my initial dislike. They fast became a favorite among fashion bloggers, but it took several years before they really went mainstream, or before I was willing to invest in a pair. I finally decided to try and bring some into my collection early last year.

These mom jeans are the real thing—purchased at the thrift store at my "I'm not sure if I'll ever wear it, so I'm not paying more than 4 dollars for it" price point, and proudly bearing the Sonoma brand name. No high-street knockoffs for me!

I never found many occasions to wear them. When I did, I always felt frumpy and not at all like the trend-setting fashionista I wanted to be. Eventually I realized it was because the cut was wrong. At the time, above-the-ankle was the only fit worth sporting, and these jeans reached as far as my foot. I tried cuffing them, but they still didn't look right, so eventually I cut a few inches off the bottom, leaving what I hoped was an edgy raw edge. Just in time for hemlines to start creeping downwards, I'll have you know—I'll always be behind the curve!

Though I don't think mom jeans will ever be my first choice of legwear, I do think they work with this outfit. The top is new to me, and I couldn't love it more (it's almost a fair substitute for the much-missed black-and-white top that even its replacement could never quite match); the Chinese slippers are the ideal addition to the outfit, perfectly comfy indoor shoes, and yet another first wear since quarantine times.

After a whole day of wearing the mom jeans, I feel neither confined nor constrained nor uncomfortable (I'm sure the added Spandex helps). Sure, they're not as loungey as leggings, but the freedom of having a whole new silhouette to explore almost makes up for it. I'd consider these again for another day at the home office.

Hiked up boots

You know what's a silly idea? Taking a traditional utilitarian shoe and sticking a high heel on it.

You know something I love? Wearing a traditional utilitarian shoe with a high heel on it! Over the years, I've found plenty of stylish ways to wear sneakers with heels (Peep my "Sporty Stripes" post for a recap!), and now it's time (finally!) to expand my reach to hiking boots.

Heeled hiking boots (or should I say, "hiked up" hiking boots?) are no new thing under the sun—as long as I've been a shoe collector, there's almost always been at least one pair for sale at my favorite shoe-shopping outlets. However, when faced with the option to buy a pair, I've always declined, my reasoning being that the excessively rugged look would clash with my excessively feminine tastes—at least for the significant proportion of outfits which I'd normally pair with heels.

That finally changed when I found this green pair at the thrift store for a little under 4 dollars. At that price point, I was a lot more comfortable taking a chance on them than I would have been with a higher-priced pair of new ones. Plus, the green color – muted though it may be – was a major selling point in a field saturated with browns and blacks. I'd been wanting a pair of green ankle boots; why not these?

For the boots' first wear, I paired them with some dark skinny jeans in the same colorway, a beige layered tunic, and my eminently useful green heart jewelry set.

Taken as a whole, the outfit is not particularly memorable, but in addition to being my first foray into heeled hiking boots, it also demonstrates a new styling technique I've been enjoying of late: letting your pants bunch up at the bottom.

Ever since ankle boots surpassed knee-highs as the shoe of choice to wear with skinny jeans, I've been having a problem: my jeans are never quite skinny enough to fit neatly into the boot! More often than not, they ride up slightly and then pooch out just a tad, right above the top of the boot shaft (Here's a good example). It's not a dramatic effect; it's not enough to make me swear off tucking my jeans into my low boots; just enough to really, really grate on me once I started noticing it.

One solution is to roll up the hem of your pants so that they completely clear the top of the boots. This is a popular technique, but it only works on certain styles of pants. They have to have the right height, width, and amount of taper, or else the cuff will look stupid. Many times, I've attempted a cuffed hem and given up in utter despair.

But then, I learned from trusted fashion publications that it has become stylish to wear your pants long and let them bunch up at the bottom—without even attempting to stuff them into your boots. What a game-changer this has turned out to be!

For today's outfit, I tried both the rolled cuff and the bottom-bunch and decided the latter was infinitely preferable. While the rolled cuff competed too much with the sweater cuff already on the boot, the bunched pants fit right in...and they completely covered my leg (no chilly ankles!) Generally, I think this styling is more effective with straight-leg jeans (another up-and-comer, they say!), but it worked just well enough with my slightly loose skinny jeans to meet my approval.

Just for reference, below the picture below shows what these pants would have looked like if I tucked them into my boots, vs. how I wore them today. For me, even though the scrunching looks sloppy, it looks artfully sloppy, which I prefer to the unintentional "wasp-waist" effect I tend to get when tucking the pants in.

Big ol' boots

 

Wide-shaft boots are one of the fashion trends I've been informed are bubbling up this year. I don't know if these gargantuan white foldover boots fit the category, but whether they do or not, I'm glad I got them.

Ever since my last two pairs of white dressy boots bit the dust, I've been craving a replacement. In an attempt to keep my shoe collection under control, I tried to make various other shoes stand in their stead, but eventually I accepted that there is no comparison to a sophisticated, high-heeled, pure white boot.

They are surprisingly hard to find, though. When I searched online, my findings were almost totally limited to ankle and mid-calf boots. There were a few taller options, but they were mostly described as "bone," which is not the optic white my aesthetic sense required. I hesitated long and hard before investing in this oversized, rather oddly shaped boot I found on Shoedazzle...but the actual name of the style is "No Regrets," and it proved to be true.

I love these boots. They are just the kind of maximalist footwear I live for, but even with their over-the-top silhouette, they are solid in color and texture, so they go with pretty much everything (except midi skirts—too chunky for that!).

Today I wore them with my Friday uniform of late: skinny jeans and a sweater (now that skinny jeans are on the "classic" end of the fashion spectrum, I've been finding them the perfect choice for casual days at work). This outfit is almost a reproduction of "Lavender Fields" from 2 years ago, except I'm wearing purple pants instead of pink and these new white boots instead of the older ones. What can I say? When it works, it works!

Trends of the teens

Since I started insisting that all the trends in my year-in-review fashion post had to have been actually witnessed by me somewhere other than someone else's trend report, the list has grown a lot shorter...which is fine, because that means I have more space to dig way back into previous years! I'm pretty excited, since, as long as I've been doing my annual trend reports, this is the first one that will mark the turn of not only the year, but a decade!

But let's start simple, with some of the stuff I've seen in 2019!

Square toes 

My favorite trend of the year has to be square-toed shoes. I rhapsodized about my excitement for the style all the way back in May, and I'm thrilled to announce that the boxy toe has stayed strong right into boot season! I suppose I (and the rest of the world) will get tired of it just like the last time it was in fashion, but I hope that takes a good long while!

Chunky acrylic jewelry

Here's one trend I had plenty of opportunities to shop in 2019—fat geometric acrylic hoops seemed to dominate the earring selection this year. In a similar vein, huge barrettes also cropped up everywhere—frequently covered in pearls. While usually bigger is better, somehow I just can't get on board with the strange merging of hard shapes with soft edges, and natural colors in unnatural plastic, and just, so much bigness! It's like ... a baby's toy, but fashion!

Totally tubular shoulders

I've been cringing and hoping it wasn't true, but there is no longer any denying it: 80's shoulders are back and as big as ever! These aren't the cute little puffed sleeves of circa 2005—no, these are monstrous legs-of-mutton and shoulder pads that need their own area code. I personally haven't seen anyone rocking the voluminous styles, but I chalk that up to never getting invited to holiday parties. It seemed that there were plenty of them available to buy, and formalwear was where the trend really blew up (like a balloon!).

Questionable Mentionables

That's only three trends this year, but honestly, I think that's it. I saw "shield" sunglasses everywhere during Paris Fashion Week, but I never see them in stores, so it must have been an insiders-only thing. Something in September prompted me to say that "eclipse" motifs were big, but I haven't seen a single such image since then, so I think it was my imagination. The style publications tell me that heeled flip flops are having a moment, and much as I want that to be true – after all, I called it – I haven't seen any evidence of it IRL. Huge puffy headbands à la the Renaissance are all over fashion and shopping websites but don't seem to be on anyone's actual head. Clearly this has been a slow year for actual developments in fashion.

The Decade in Review

So let's move on back into the past, when things were a lot more interesting, and talk about what made the 2010's the 2010's. For starters, definitely skinny jeans. And leggings. 10 years from now, all the kids attending "10's parties" will be giggling uncontrollably at their sausage-casing calves, but for now, it is still totally normal, and has been that way for so long I almost forget that everyone used to wear nothing but flares. While sticking your Spandex-clad legs into knee-high boots seems to have become passé by now, it was ubiquitous for enough of the decade that I think it qualifies as iconic. As far as shirts go... You know how in the 90's we had tiny spaghetti strap camisoles, and then in the 2000's, it was all about the wife beaters? Well, in the 2010's, the top pick for tops was the loose, flowy tank—bonus points if you wore it in a half-tuck. Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the advancements in technology that allowed pretty much anything to be digitally printed on pretty much anything. While everyone is by no means walking around in custom graphics 24-7, I think we will look back on the past decade as the dawn of a new era in printed apparel.

Do I have predictions for the decade ahead? Well, though I was wrong about tall socks taking over in 2019 (not saying they didn't; just saying I didn't notice if they did!), I'm still going to take a stab at the forecasting game...and this year, I'm looking at my hands—specifically, hands that I hope will soon be rocking totally non-functional lace gloves. If 80's shoulders have returned, surely their counterparts the mesh gloves can do it too!

Lastly, I'm thinking that it's been a long time since fitted shirts were truly trendy. Sure, we've got some really skimpy clubbing outfits that cling like a second skin, but in general, the last decade has been far too focused on boxy, top-heavy, figure-hiding tops. They're great for shoulder mobility, but not at all flattering on me. After 10 years, it's probably about time for the pendulum of fashion to swing back towards the slim-fitting end of things. My hope and wish for the 2020's is that I'm right!

The embroidered velvet slip dress

 

Have you ever had a piece of special-occasion clothing so special, that you waited so long to wear it, that it just plain went out of style? I have!

It all started with the slip dress wave of 2015. I wanted so bad to hop on that bandwagon, but my budget kept me away until the next year and beyond. I took so long to adopt the slip dress trend, in fact, that several other big trends had a chance to surge in the meantime. Beginning late 2016, it was velvet.  I mention this because, when I finally succeeded in acquiring a slip dress, it was made of crushed velvet. 

 

 

However, that was in May of 2018. By that time, velvet had already reached the end of its trajectory (which probably explains why I was finally able to buy a tags-on velvet dress at my cheapskate price point).

Fortunately, slip dresses were still a stylish option, and another, newer trend was going strong: embroidery. I had a collection of patches that I'd bought as soon as I realized embroidery was going to be big, so I figured I'd use the largest and most ornate of them to embellish the plain pink frock, and help give it a more up-to-the-moment look.

The hardest part of the project was deciding where to put the patch. It was originally one large piece, but it didn't look quite balanced just floating on the side, so I decided to cut it into two parts. To help me decide what to cut and where to paste,  I photographed the patch and the dress, and played around with them in Photoshop so I could experiment with placement without actually making any irreversible cuts.

Design by Photoshop

That done, I went ahead with the cutting in real life, and attached the patches to the dress with water-soluble glue—the idea being, as always, that after I was done with the decorated dress, I could separate the patches from the dress and reuse them (and then resell the dress!)

My original thought had been to wear the dress to a wedding, but the only weddings I attended after the completion of the dress were in the summer—entirely the wrong weather for velvet. No semiformal occasions presented themselves over the next few months, and I decided that the colors and floral motif lent themselves better to spring than the winter holiday season. Valentine's Day was a good contender, but by that point, my relationship with my boyfriend was on the rocks, and we did not celebrate Valentine's Day in our usual style.

Before I knew it, spring had come and gone, then another hot summer, and by the time fall rolled around and events worthy of a velvet slip dress started occurring again, I realized that, by now, even the embroidery patches were passé, and there was no way I was going to wear this dress to a function without feeling behind the times.

So, I did what I always do with special-occasion clothes that are no longer so special: I wore it to work.

The outfit is, if nothing else, a masterpiece of layering. It's too cold to wear bare shoulders this time of year (and spaghetti straps are inappropriate for the office anyway!) but I couldn't wear anything over it, because that would obscure the lovely flower detailing on the neckline! So I took a page from the Fashion Girl Playbook, and put a long-sleeve shirt underneath. This had the effect of toning down my dress from cocktail attire to something more casual.

Unfortunately, the pale pink fabric is quite translucent, and the demarcation between where the deep purple shirt ended and my underwear/legs began was obvious. So I added a pair of burgundy leggings, which I folded up to stop just below my knees, providing a consistent undertone the entire length of the dress.

Observe, the secret leggings revealed!

Honestly, layering ingenuity aside, I'm none too proud of this outfit, and am happy to have checked it off my list! Now I'll just remove the patches and save them for something better! Anyone in the market for a used velvet slip dress?

Tie Dye Trial

 

Since I'm pretty much obsessed with bright colors and hippie fashions, it's kind of a surprise that I'm actually not a fan of tie dye...but I'm not! So how did I come to be wearing a tie-dyed top for my OOTD? Well, that's why I have a blog and not an Instagram: a long story!

Let's start this one somewhere from six to nine months ago, when I was first informed that tie-dye was a trend to watch out for. As with all purported "trends," I don't recall exactly when it started, because initially I felt (being rather unattracted to tie dye, after all) that I'd probably just pass it by. But also as with many trends, after some time, the frequent reporting on it by fashion publications got me to thinking: could I maybe, just maybe, find some room in my life for some tie-dye-dabbling?

The question was answered when I came across this tie-dye T-shirt at the thrift shop a couple weeks ago. At $1.99, it would have been a steal any day, but at 25% off, it was an even better bargain! If I were ever to take the plunge with a trend I wasn't certain of, I couldn't do better than at a price of only $1.50. And as far as tie dye goes, this particular shirt wasn't half bad.

I can't say I'd ever wondered at the reason I'm not into tie-dye, but if I were to do so, I would probably conclude that I don't appreciate the haphazardness inherent to the technique—the blotchy shapes, the murky, bleeding colors, the sometimes-overwhelming garishness of it all. This shirt, however, belied my preconceived notions. Its two analogous colors, purple and blue, were subdued and pale, and interspersed with almost more white space than actual color. If ever there was a tasteful tie dye, this was it!

I bought the shirt.

When I wore it, we had just experienced a heat spell that had put to the test even my capacious tolerance for high temperatures. After a week and a half of highs in the upper 80's to 90's, the heat finally broke with a series of thunderstorms that brought the thermometer down into the lower 70's.

This first cold day coincided with the first day of the annual Drupal GovCon conference, which worked in my favor, since I usually struggle to find outfits that accommodate both the excessively warm outdoor temperatures of summer in DC, and the (usually) excessively cold temperatures of a conference center. With it being chilly outside as well as in, it was much easier for me to pick an outfit!

I went with darker purple pants to reflect the purple in the top, and some similarly hued ballet flats (which turned out much redder in the picture!). Simple!  So simple it almost makes me wonder why I was so afraid of tie dye to begin with! Do I see another fashion obsession coming my way?

Nah, I think one trial run was enough for me.

I can be a rainbow

Usually the first day of a new dye job, I wear an outfit specifically to highlight my hair. But, the outfit I planned for my first day with this green-yellow gradient was such a disaster that I scuttled home in shame and spent the next few days hiding behind dark neutrals. We all love a good disaster story, so naturally I'll tell you how it went down: I wore a yellow T-shirt to match the bottom half of my hair and an aqua cardigan to complement the top. I wore pink shoes to make it a real explosion of spring colors. Then I forgot the cardigan at home, and had to spend the whole day skulking around in my biking hoodie, which now has had the patches removed and is nothing more than a grungy brown jacket with some white flecks near the top. I felt hideous.

After a few days to regroup (and let the intensity of the hair color settle a bit), I was ready to try again. This time I decided to continue the gradient of my hair down the entire length of my body. Green hair fades to yellow, which transitions to some gold-hued earrings, which just brush the collar of my orange shirt, which tops my red pants, all worn over some maroon shoes. I could have gone with brighter purple shoes, but I already felt like a striped flag, so I decided to tone it down. This way, if you ignore the color of my hair, my clothing choices look like nothing more than one of those tonal color schemes I love so much—and not a silly, overly thought-out rainbow.

But just between you and me, this outfit really is a silly overly thought-out rainbow, and it needs to be complete! The one color that was missing from the look is blue, so I integrated that into my ensemble in a subtle way...and coincidentally, effected the return of an accessory I don't think I've worn in the last 18 years: my high school class ring!

There's just one more topic of discussion regarding this outfit, and that's the pants. These pants are (finally!) the last of all the red things I had queued up to wear. I got them at Swap.com, and I had hoped for a crimson pair to replace my ever-fading red jeans. These were more of a brick red – and an undesired velvet texture to boot! – but I kept them because I'd paid so little for them. (So you see how red pants keep piling up in my collection!)

They were also really unflattering in a baggy, shapeless way. I made a few attempts at slimming them down, but it didn't result in improvement, so in the end I just hemmed them to achieve a more contemporary above-the-ankle fit and called it a day. Lately it seems like shapeless trousers are a fairly fashionable option, but I don't feel like I pull it off, so I doubt these pants will stay part of my wardrobe for long.

The Trends of 2018

If there's one thing certain in life, it's that my end-of-the-year trend report will get longer every year. That's likely because I am continually discovering more fashion publications and consequently spending more time reading them. In turn, that means I'm starting to get a skewed perception of what's actually trendy. One article telling me that something is "going to be in," doesn't necessarily mean it actually will be. Likewise, a lot of the styles that fashion geeks wear with pride never actually get seen outside the pages of blogs. This year, I'm going to focus my attention on trends that are actually observable in the real world. So either I must personally see people wearing them in public, or I must see them significantly represented in the shopping venues where real people shop. Got it? Good.

This year, my listing is ranked in order of how "important" each trend was, based on The Unfashionista's Special System. "Important" doesn't necessarily mean ubiquitous; it can also refer to something less common, but much more specific to this year. Don't think too hard; just enjoy!

10. Split overskirts and pants

As I mentioned in September, I felt like every awards show in the first half of the year had at least one person rocking the strange combination of a cape-like (dare I say "mullet?") skirt and pants. By summer, the look trickled down to the masses in the form of skirted rompers. This is a trend that I haven't seen much of since winter hit, but I'm hoping for a revival in the coming year!

9. Tropical leaf motifs

Over the entire last year (and much of the previous one), huge leafy designs dominated everything, not just clothing, but also decor! One specific type of leaf seemed particularly overrepresented. It took me until June before I learned its name was "monstera."

8. High-cut swimsuits

I enjoyed the (early 2000's) era of boy-short bikinis immensely, but it seems that over the past 18 years, the leg holes in swimwear have just been going up, up, and away! I myself am not a fan of the high-cut look, but who am I to control the tides of fashion? I just ride them out in my slightly dated swimsuits, and hope one day that the Baywatch look will go back out of favor.

7. Tie-back boots

 

It's a little detail that could easily be missed, but when you're shopping for boots and almost every pair that pops up has it, you start to pay attention. I'm talking about laces in the back. Nearly every boot I purchased in 2018 had this detail, even the vintage boots that were probably not of this millennium!

6. Leopard Print

Animal print has never been so much a trend as a perennial favorite. I'll be honest, I haven't seen any more people wearing it this year than any other time, but the fashion mags just couldn't stop gushing about it (leopard in particular), and I found enough of it online to concede that they just may be onto something. I have never been much into the stuff (I think it's overly sexualized and don't much fancy the idea of wearing animal skin), but after months of being bombarded with claims that it's the next big thing, I weakened enough to buy both a leopard- and a zebra-print sweater. So even if the trend never really takes off elsewhere, it at least made it into my closet.

5. Ankle boots

Ankle boots have reigned supreme as fall and winter footwear for more years than I can count. They made their way up the list so insidiously that I never even thought to mention them as a trend until this year. While over-the-knee boots have held their own for a few years, I hear they're now on the way out. The ankle-high variety, on the other foot (har har), proves a lot more practical, and people are wearing them with everything. When the girls in my college town go out at night, I never see them wearing pumps—it's black mid-heeled ankle boots all the way!

4. Cropped Pants

What better way to show off your ankle boots than with a pair of high-cut pants? Since I first observed culottes making headway into the world of everyday fashion, the above-the-ankle length for trousers has continued to grow in popularity. We're now at a point where "cropped" is pretty much the de facto choice for anyone who wants to wear pants—including men. Men's fashion moves slowly relative to women's, but I recently read one article claiming that cropped pants are the norm for males right now as well. That's how you know a trend has fully taken hold.
 

3. "Guillotoe" Sandals

"Guillotoe" is a word I made up to describe the type of sandals with hardly anything holding them on except for a lone toe strap so skinny, it might as well be the blade of a guillotine, ready to slice your toes off at a moment's notice! This style has been the reigning champion of the available options at all my favorite shoe-shopping websites over the past year. Pair them with the already ubiquitous around-the-ankle straps (which are, if possible, even more prevalent than they were last year!), and you have a shoe that is quintessentially 2018.

2. Leggings as pants

 

Among the fashion publications I read, a debate rages: are leggings pants? The old-school among us still say no (I assert that anything that runs the risk of revealing panty lines and camel toe in one fell swoop is a little too chancy!), but it's clear that popular opinion is not on our side. Around my campus, almost all the female students head to class in a veritable uniform of leggings and a short loose top. Supermodels get photographed running errands (or whatever it is that rich people do) in skin-tight pants and crop tops. No one bothers to cover their butt. It's a new world out there.

1. Wearing a fanny pack as a cross-body bag

And now, my pick for top trend of 2018! It's bizarre, unflattering, highly impractical, and strongly features an accessory that was the butt of many jokes over much of the last two decades. It is one of the top identifying characteristics of the mythical "hypebae," but I have actually seen it on real people on the street and in the airport! It's a fanny pack! When I first heard that fanny packs were coming back (early 2018), I made a beeline to my thrift store and purchased the first one I found. 

I hate carrying things on my shoulders (makes my whole arm ache after just a few minutes no matter how light the load, so I generally try to distribute all the weight-bearing work to my hips. When I go hiking, I suspend so much stuff from my belt, I look like a dancing hippo!), so I was thrilled when I found out fanny packs were expected to become a socially acceptable alternative to the backpack!

Unfortunately, it never really panned out that way. Instead, everyone who wore fanny packs wore them slung over their chest and shoulder, totally defeating the purpose! I still have my fanny pack, unworn. Maybe people will come to their senses and start wearing them the way they were meant to be, in which case I'm standing ready with my stash of embellishments!

Predictions

Last year, I bet that fashion flip flops would make a big showing in the near future. I wasn't totally off-base—I did see one pair of wedge flip flops for sale on one shoe site, but that's hardly what I'd call a huge trend. A stronger indication that I was on the right track was the fact that, apparently, New York Fashion Week attendees turned out in droves wearing your standard-issue beach sandals with their avant-garde ensembles. Perhaps dressy flip flops are next! I already have one pair in reserve and I'm planning on buying more, if I find them at the right price!

As for this year's look into the future, I'm once again foreseeing a footwear trend. This time, I'm banking on tall socks. To wit, mid-calf, sporty crew socks! Partly this is wishful thinking, because that was always my favorite style, and I feel it looks much better with short shorts than the present ankle-high or no-show options. But also, I think it's a fair likelihood. Low-cut socks have been pretty much the only option for women's athletic outfits in many years, and it's about time for a change. With sock boots saturating the market last year, and ankle boots still going strong, I feel like people might be primed for the mid-calf silhouette. Also, I've been hearing that designers are pushing the socks-and-sandals aesthetic, which would lend itself well to a higher style of sock. I'm going all-in on this future trend—I have crew socks on my shopping list, and I'm just waiting until I find them in a cheap multi-pack!