In which I, the queen of overthinking it, try something new…
This week, I got some new shoes. It’s my birthday and I am not above buying myself a present (or, ahem, two). This year I had a slide sandal in a fun color on my list and I happened to find the perfect pair at Nordstrom Rack. But just because you know you want something doesn’t mean you have the confidence to wear it out the door, right?
So: why these sandals? I know Birkenstocks are a bit of a divisive style, but I love being comfortable, and lately I’ve been looking for a few items that are just slightly out there. I’ve realized that when I started a capsule wardrobe I pretty much bought things that would go with everything, which is all well and good but that means that your clothes end up being very middle of the road agreeable.
This summer I have started of thinking about how to dress up those classic items. And shoes are, in my opinion, the rudder of the outfit (yes my outfits are boats now just go with it). They totally steer the vibe of the outfit ship and having a few that scream “fancy!” and a few that scream “weird casual vibes!” is already going a long way.
When I got home I went through the ritual of destroying my entire closet playing dress up. Here are a few outfits I made…
Really loved both of these, which read casual-casual to me with the joggers and the big tee dress. But then I got nervous: are shoes that are such a statement only going to go with black and white?? So I started to push myself a little.
This isn’t my perfect outfit but I liked the pink and earthy green so I think I was onto something here…
This outfit was a lot for me–maybe the vertical lines of the skirt and shirt together are too much? But I really liked the contrast with tailored items and it did give me some ideas…
Now we’re onto something! I love practicing making outfits with new clothes–not everything works out but pictures really help me to see what I like.
I’m still a little “whoa these are a lot” about the shoes. It’s hard for me to buy something that doesn’t go with everything. But I wore them to dinner this weekend and felt so cool and also not like an asshole (which for me is the worst feeling when putting fun clothes on!).
These are my sandals: I tried proper birkenstocks first but with a narrow foot they did not work for me.
Some other outfit links:
Faux leather skirt (thrifted, similar)
White button up (thrifted, this year’s version)
Striped button up (tall size!!)
Tan pants (I let the inseam out on these as far as they would go)
Green shorts (hemmed 3 inches)
Do you have any slightly out-there clothes that just work for you?
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PhD in Clothes 
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