Seasonal Change Denier

photo: Joshua Franzos

As soon as the calendar flips up to September, I plug my fingers in my ears, pinch my eyes shut, and yell LA LA LA LA LA at the top of my lungs. I don't want to hear, think, or acknowledge that summer is over, not even when it's officially over when the autumnal equinox lands in our laps (September 23). NOPE NOPE NOPE. It's still 86 degrees, NOPE.

Even though I don't hate fall: changing leaves, fall fashion, and steamy crock pot goodness do make it quite tolerable after all. However, the sheer busyness of the season makes it harder to live in the moment which makes it just a steep, slippery ski slope into the miser's purse of winter. Therefore I must be dragged, kicking, and screaming from summer every year. It is tradition. You got your pumpkin spice, I throw summer time and livin's easy tantrums.

This year, however, as the mornings grow darker, clouds of my breath grow visible, and my 5am walks to the gym start requiring a jacket...I've found myself wondering how my big spring and summer personal style renaissance and subsequent closet overhaul will evolve into the cooler, wetter seasons. So I guess in some way that makes me kind of excited for Fall...for the first time ever.

Oh snap.

We never discussed my personal style renaissance on here did we? *begins sucking teeth.* I wasn't gonna go there today, but ok. Yeah...I guess that needs to be spilled.

photo: Joshua Franzos

Um. It was February. I was trying to lose some weight for my physical and mental health, and it was going well until I injured my lower back when I tried to do some box jumps. Evil explosive movements! So I returned to physical therapy and did a lot of slow cardio on the treadmill. It was stupid slow at first. 1 1/2 hours of slow walking will drive you bonkers unless you entertain yourself, so I started doing a lot of busy work on myself. A couple years ago, I'd flirted with understanding what my personal style was, but that got put on the back burner. So, with phone in hand and the treadmill speed set to a zippy 2.0,  I fell down that rabbit hole.

photo: Joshua Franzos

One of my Pittsburgh blog pals, Sarah (@sawissinger) of the Surznick Common Room wrote this really great post on fashion industry waste and introduced me to the online second hand store thredUP in 2018, but I did not check it out until ASOS royally screwed me on a lost package this February/March. I talked in circles with ASOS's customer service and I'm not convinced I ever "spoke" to a human. There is no hotline option, only chat and email. I did a lot of business with ASOS over the years and they would not give me, a valued customer, credit for the lost package. So. Like a scorned lover, I started researching other fashion forward companies that might appreciate my business more. I unfortunately couldn't find very many retailers in my style with affordable prices and good customer service policies. So I turned my eyes to thredUP.

photo: Joshua Franzos

I used to love vintage and second hand shopping. But when I started my closet overhauling a couple years ago, I found that vintage shopping or thrifting weren't good for my closet. 
I used to go to Goodwill and spend hours sorting through stuff until I found a "treasure." Then I'd buy it, whether I needed it or not, whether it went with anything I already owned or not. Finding a cheap "treasure" in a sea of cast-offs fired off some pleasurable dopamine process in my brain but it also came down to me buying the "treasure" simply because of the time I'd invested in looking for it. Stupid, right? Once I realized this and how badly it cluttered my closet and muddied my personal style, I stopped thrifting.ThredUP is second hand clothing, but it's online (and a convenient app) so you can search for things you are looking for/need, instead of searching endlessly through racks only to find a tepidly cool thing you don't need.

photo: Joshua Franzos

I approached thredUP convinced I only needed a handful of tops to zhuzh up my work wardrobe, but I was extremely wary about finding myself back in Closet Clutterville. I really tapped into the filters on thredUP to help me limit my endless wading. I really liked that I could search for clothing by color or material on thredUP, because I have this new-ish policy. I'm seriously limiting my Dry Clean Only clothing purchases, and nothing I buy will be rayon, modal, viscose (et all Rayon aliases) anymore because I cannot stand it when I shrink clothing, and Rayon ALWAYS shrinks. whhhhyyy. I'm also limiting my color palette so more things can be worn with each other. However, being spoiled with free shipping and returns on ASOS, I was not thrilled with thredUP's $1.99 re-stocking fees, so I also downloaded a closet app, used screenshots of any prospective online purchases and things similar to articles of clothing I already own and love, and played around creating outfits for hours (maybe even days at this point) while I was on the treadmill. You know, to make sure whatever I was interested in buying off of thredUp worked with what I already owned. The closet app consumed me like the most thrilling game. 

photo: Joshua Franzos

At first I downloaded the ClosetSpace app, (don't download this, I'll explain later). This app was so user friendly and really made me think about outfits in a weather context. Hot-Warm-Mild-Cool-Frigid and Dry-Rainy-Snowy. I quickly discovered the closet MVPs and the gaping holes. For instance, I learned that I had 35 pairs of shoes, but only one pair of shoes that I'd wear in the rain, which drastically limited my outfit choices. I grew so fascinated by the closet app and what it showed me, that I created a digital facsimile of everything in my possession, just so I could see how it all played (and if it played), or, if I didn't want to take the trouble to upload something into the app (that meant it should be donated.) I added things I was considering buying to see if I should buy it. I began asking myself so many questions whenever I had a tickle to own something cool that I saw, but mostly it always came down to these two questions: Does it go with anything I currently own? How many other ways can this be worn? -- I wanted everything in my closet to be loved and used and in circulation. Turns out I needed to "zhuhz" a lot more than I thought, alot more than a handful of new tops anyway. I also needed to get rid of the stuff that didn't work with much and buy more shoes that could be worn in the rain. Once I started posting my daily outfits on my Instagram stories, in part to share, but also in part to keep me accountable to this personal style project, I became hooked. Not only did I get great feedback on Instagram and from my  real life friends, acquaintances, colleagues (and certainly my husband), but I could also see myself beginning to grasp a unique personal style through this documentation process. 

photo: Joshua Franzos

Then the unthinkable happened. The ClosetSpace app stoppped working. It had become my daily ritual on the treadmill, to create or re-work outfits for the variety of weather Pittsburgh was throwing at us. I reached out to the app makers for support and heard nothing. I could see outfits I'd already created, but I couldn't make any more. And I needed to make so many more. I could not do it without this app. The thought of living without it brought me to tears. So I did the unthinkable. I bought The StyleBook app (another closet app) and re-created my digital closet ALL OVER AGAIN. 

photo: Joshua Franzos

As if it wasn't enough to do it once. Ugh. you guys. I was some kind of combination of crazy, motivated, and bored on that treadmill. I have to say there was more of a learning curve with Stylebook, but I basically kept the same weather centric outfit categories that helped me so much from the other app (the app that betrayed me). So in summation, getting dressed in the morning is a breeze, I haven't re-worn the same outfit twice all spring, summer, and now...fall...goddammit. I'm also happy to report that I've walked myself fit, walked myself recovered from my back injuries, and I daresay walked myself into a much more stylish me. The most unbelievable result out of all of this is I don't feel the need or desire to shop. I'm happy and content with my closet and myself right now. It's such a weird feeling that I've never before experienced. I hope it lasts as the weather changes, but if it doesn't, I know I'll be stopping at thredUP first. Thursday was the last 90 degree day we'll have in Pittsburgh for awhile. It's finally cooling off. Now please excuse me while I go throw a temper tantrum. It's tradition after all. 

 What I Wore: 

Hat: Jack & Lucy (defunct brand) bought on thredUP

Whiskey Muscle shirt: Express, old sorry!

Jeans: Citizens of Humanity, via thredUP

Platform sandals: Gap, via thredUP

Bag: vintage Carlos Falchi via The RealReal

Cuff bracelet: Chanel, gift from my sister-in-law

Sunnies: Chanel, "half-tint" as made famous by the Olsen twins. Scored on eBay for a bargain.

P.S. Here's a link to a personal style interview I did with Christina Imberlina, of Style by Christina.

Your Bosom Friend in Pittsburgh,

 

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