PhD in Clothes

Now that weddings are back in action, I’ve been enjoying the peace of mind of having a fancy dress capsule. What is a fancy dress capsule? It’s a few dresses and accessories that are all ready to go so that parties don’t cause you stress: frantic mall trip the week of the event stress, frantic morning of the event stress when you realize you don’t have a bra that works…all of that is a thing of the past! Here are my dress and accessory must-haves and a reflection on how my fancy items have changed in recent years.

I’ve been thinking more lately about aligning with my ideal style with my very real wardrobe. I mean I think I’ve been thinking about this since I started shopping more intentionally and keeping a capsule wardrobe 5+ years ago. And yet….why do I still have a closet full of so many things that are almost-right?

I recently started watching a series of videos about styling outfits and got to thinking about how to make my own outfits, well, more interesting. I tend to accessorize in ways that are safe: pick the shoes that match. Pair gold with white, silver with gray. But this stylist was telling me to create outfits with more “friction,” or pieces that aren’t quite matchy matchy, for more interest. Let’s try it out!