Your Sunglasses Are Crooked (A Walk Down Memory Lane)

10.21.10 – Thursday – Nowhere – Warning: Photos Circa 2005

Romeo + Juliet Couture shirt, scarf from an art museum in Charleston, Joe’s Jeans denim shorts, stockings…?, LOFT belt, Forever 21 sunglasses, Aldo shoes.  

This is really just a conceptual look, I actually didn’t go anywhere in it.  And I definitely would have pulled up the stockings and maybe switched shoes if I had gone somewhere.  Considering it was like 3 pm.  I’ve been pushing myself more lately, wearing some crazy things (to me these are things that I just wouldn’t normally wear) like shirts tucked in to slim skirts, open unbelted long cardigan (which I hated), a one shoulder dress, oxfords… I’ve been such a huge style chameleon for the past few years.  It’s just been… crazy.  I’ve been trying to pin down a style for me but I can’t to stick with anything.  I might want a vintage-y full skirt with a cardigan one day and some kind of frilly bohemian gothic getup the next.  

So in an effort to help me (maybe) settle down a little bit, I give you the edited past five years of my life in clothing.  And apologies for the quality of the photos, cameras only came in 7 megapixel or so back in the day.  And some of these were stolen from Facebook.  

June 2005.  Um.  A pink blazer with a pink and white striped shirt (J. Crew) underneath.  And jeans (Seven).  Because everyone else wore jeans all the time.  The designer denim wars were going on, and I remember that blazers were really big that year.  I had like five of them and my favorite was white.  

September 2006.  College.  Yes, that is a triple strand faux pearl necklace (Forever 21).  I really liked it a lot at the time.  But I have no words for the silver pinstripe tube top (Forever 21).  None at all.  

May 2007.  Yeah, look left.  All the way left in the corner.  White short sleeved shirt (J. Crew), AG jeans that were my absolute favorite with huge holes, Rainbows.  The only interesting thing is the bag, and that is because it’s Marc Jacobs Collection.  Really thrilling original look, self.  I mean, not that I wouldn’t wear that next summer or anything…

May 2007 again.  Actually I still have that dress (bought somewhere in LA) and I wanted to wear it over the summer but it is way too tight in the chest now.  I guess this one is an example of consistent style but that is a very standard sundress.  And wow I really had a lot of hair.  

April 2008.  Purple and white striped shirt (J. Crew) that I still have and also wish still fit.  I used to think buttons downs were totally fancy.  I was wearing grey jeans that I loved and black flats.  Flats.  And look at my sort of curly hair and bangs.  I had bangs for a really long time and am thinking of going back to them.  Also, I want my curly hair back.  That’s a folded up Burberry scarf in my hair.  I was really, really into headbands (and scarves).  I have loads from J. Crew that mostly collect dust in my room although I do bring one out every so often.  

March 2009.  Gossip Girl extra?  One of my first ever style blogger photos.  And one of the only photos I have taken by someone else — this was taken by my friend Shivani outside of the library.  Wearing uncomfortable but pretty stilettos (Luccia G. from the SoHo emerging designers collective), and LV bag from Japan.  That trench coat is from Japan (the tights are too) and the best $35 I ever spent on outerwear.  Those shorts are the last thing I ever bought at Abercrombie & Fitch, the sweater is Forever 21, and the yellow camisole is Old Navy.  I hardly ever do shorts over tights but I really like it and here it is twice in one post!  

July 2009.  I have a lot more photos of myself starting in 2009, which I suppose was the year I really started developing my personal style.  I was also extremely tan last year, now I wonder how I did that.  Anyway… snore. ZZZzzzzZZZZzzzzzzz.  A little bit rocker, but then again not quite.  Guess I couldn’t come up with anything better than a Forever 21 necklace and dress.  And Clarks (from the Tokyo flagship store) sandals.  

February 14, 2010.  Big pink shirt with pearl buttons (Ralph Lauren), crazy floral skirt (Forever 21), tights from Japan, tan suede boots (Arturo Chiang?).  And the green eyeshadow, I’ve been wearing green eyeshadow on and off since I was eighteen.  I liked this outfit a lot but I don’t know if I’d wear it now.  It seems like it’s not exactly me.  But honestly, sometimes I go from floral/pink/pastel monster…

February 20, 2010 (six days later).  …to black/liquid leggings/ribbons/idon’tevenknow (H&M and Francesca’s/Romeo + Juliet Couture/J. Crew/Anne Klein).  I love black and white photography and this photo makes me want to do more with it, maybe another series or something.  Maybe when it snows again I’ll revisit the idea.  My hair’s curly although I helped it, I can tell.  Can you tell that I want my curly hair back?  I really really really do.  

Well.  Almost five years of personal style right here.  That was really interesting.  And fun!  It’s good to go through some old memories and laugh a little bit.  I can see now that I was a serious prepster for a while (mid-2005 to early 2009 at least).  Some of that was college, I think, although I do love J. Crew and started filling my wardrobe with it at age 15.  And I’ve said before that in high school I had a lot of really punk/rocker/underground? clothing and I think I’ve been returning to that ever since I finished school.  Even in middle school I had a lot of really avant garde pieces and was always looking at emerging designers.  I’ve promised photos of those years (the horror…) and that is definitely my next project, although as cameras took film (what? film? what is that?) back then I have to physically find the albums, wherever they may be.  And then probably have Target put the images on disks for me.  

Things that I think have not changed about my style are my penchant for minimal and delicate accessories (I don’t tend to wear big jewelry and I never have, and I really mean I never have, at three months I had tiny little baby bracelets), quality handbags, white sunglasses, black shirts/dresses/shoes/everything, and somewhat unusual colors (who wears orange?  and no one wore purple in 2008 except for fashion magazine editors).  As for everything else… well, it all goes on different directions.  I think I’ll settle into something eventually, but I don’t want to force myself in just one direction.  These are the years for experimenting and taking chances, when any outfit is possible!  

Going Nowhere

6.21.2010 ~ Monday 

Not at all something that really belongs on the blog, but this is a good example of something I might wear during the summer when I literally have nothing to do… especially as I am still not gainfully employed.  Not that anyone I know actually likes their gainful employment, but I think I would really enjoy it :)  So I photographed this lazy nothing going nowhere outfit because I wear things like this often during the summer.  

This shirt is extremely old, and by extremely old I mean well over two years.  I think it was the Fall 07 Ella Moss for Barneys CO-OP collection.  It’s great for hot days because it’s very loose, although sometimes I add a belt.  It saw me through spring and summer in Japan and temperatures are out of control there!  This bracelet is also from Japan, from a cool build your own charm bracelet store in Roppongi Hills.  It was a birthday gift from friends of the family and their two five year-old daughters picked out all the charms.  All of them have significance: the peace sign because everyone flashes it in photos, the umbrella because it rains often in Japan, the dress and bag because I like fashion… there are a few others too but they aren’t visible in the photos. Only the shamrock is different, I bought it in Ireland last summer.  

I think I have to touch up the fake tan.  The hands are looking a little splotchy!  

Ella Moss for Barneys CO-OP, Joe’s Jeans denim shorts, J. Crew sandals.