Vintage Inspired

There’s nothing I love more than standing in my closet and creating new outfit combos. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon putting together looks for upcoming blog posts and arranging them on the floor of my bedroom. I haven’t tried any of them on yet (so half of them might not be nearly as cute as they are in my head—that happens a lot), but I’ve been so excited about my closet and styling holiday outfits lately. Today’s look is a new combo I’ve never tried before!

In the past, I’ve worn this skirt casually with a striped tee, paired with red for a holiday outfit, styled with white and maroon for a preppy fall look, and dressed up for an event. But surprisingly enough, I’ve never worn this skirt with a sweater. Chocolate brown is a very popular color this season, so I opted to pair this skirt with my brown cableknit sweater from Banana Republic. As for accessories, the outfit quickly became very vintage inspired when I added a hair scarf and gold button earrings that belonged to my grandma. To top it off, I removed the straps from my maroon pom pom bag and carried it as a small circle purse. I felt very much like a 60s secretary in this outfit.

My only complaint was the shoes—I didn’t have the right footwear to complete this look. The only viable options I had were these beige booties, which are the wrong style, or these beige flats, which looked a little funny with the outfit as well. I’m not sure what the ideal shoe would be to complete this look, but I think maybe some heels or saddle shoes would do the trick.

I also don’t think this outfit photographed very well. It seemed so cute in person and felt amazing on, but looking at these pics, the clothes and colors seem rather lackluster. What do you think?

Aside from the fashion itself, blogging is constantly on my mind—what I could be doing better, why I blog in the first place, and what I want to get out of this experience. When I look at some of my favorite and most successful fashion bloggers, they are constantly being sent free clothing for reviews, sponsored posts, etc. Would I want free clothes sent to me all the time? Of course! What fashionista wouldn’t?!

But at the same time, several of these bloggers only wear pieces once—just once. They have so many clothes that they can’t possibly keep them all, so they wear an item one time before adding it to the donation pile. I’m not disparaging these bloggers at all (and I completely respect them), but I can’t imagine doing that myself. More and more, I’ve realized that what I love about fashion is the mixing and matching—constantly trying to find new ways to style the same pieces. It’s so fun for me to look back through all my old blog photos and see how I styled this exact plaid skirt over the years. Plus, for all of us normal gals, re-wearing pieces over and over again is our reality. So yes, as much as I would love to receive free clothes, I wouldn’t ever want it to take away from the reason I love fashion and created this blog in the first place—to showcase versatile and practical style.

Thanks for stopping by today! Would you wear this vintage inspired look? I would have worn this outfit in a heartbeat when I was in high school (we had a “business casual” dress code), but I don’t dress as fancily in college, especially now with the pandemic. Yet still, I would wear this look if only I had a place to go, and maybe next time I’d swap the accessories with a chunky scarf and tall boots. To me, rearranging and restyling is all the fun of fashion!

Hope you have a great Monday and start to your week.

Miles of smiles,
Grace

Brown Sweater: Banana Republic, $40, last worn here | Plaid Skirt: Cabi, $89, last worn here | Beige Booties: Sam Edelman via DSW, $90, last worn here | Circle Purse: Nordstrom Rack, $50, last worn here