Back to the Future Day

Happy Back to the Future Day! In true nerd form, I gathered up my Back to the Future paraphernalia — which, right now, is only two things but hey — and incorporated them into my outfit. If we were doing a Doctor Who day, I could present you with many more nerdy items, but as it is so far I’ve only ever found this tee shirt (you can see the full shirt here) and painted this coffee mug for my husband, so I am sadly lacking in other things from this franchise. I should rectify that soon.

Lately I have been thinking more about my style and overall aesthetic, and more specifically what I feel most “me” while wearing — as you know, my style can be all over the place, from hippie to grandma to modern to retro — and I decided to clear out my closet. I recently discovered the blog Finding Femme, and just fell in love with Liana’s overall vibe. While reading her post on posing for photos, something she wrote at the very beginning of the post struck me — in speaking of knowing your blog’s style, she said she likes hers to “reflect elegance and a depth of character”, and that all of her photos are chosen to hit that goal.

And it made me wonder: what is my blog’s style? What do I want to reflect not only in posing and choosing photos, but also how I am dressing my body? I absolutely adore emulating very era-specific looks, those don’t always make me feel 100% myself. The artist part of me loves the drama and flow of wearing flutter sleeves and creating an earth-mother goddess photoshoot, but the everyday part of me knows that’s just for fun. So at the beginning of this week, I pulled every last stitch of clothing from my closet and dresser drawers, tossed it all on my bed, and took a hard look at it all. I asked myself what five words best described what I wanted from my wardrobe, and I set to work putting anything that didn’t emulate those five words (more or less) into a pile to sell or donate.

It’s always been hard for me to give someone five words that best describe my style, because I love so many different eras and things that it used to be hard to narrow it down. But thanks to Liana and, I think, a sense of growing more into myself as I get older, I can finally give a solid answer to that question. My five words are:

Elegant, quirky, feminine, retro/vintage, practical.

It wasn’t until Liana mentioned she likes her photos to evoke elegance that I realized that was my missing piece. I love to bring a fun, quirky flare to my outfits, but I still want them to retain a sense of elegance — of being grown up without being too stuffy, of simplicity without being minimalistic, of ease without being lazy. I don’t want the elements of femininity, quirkiness, and retro appeal to come across as little-girl or twee; I want it to reflect the grown-up, married, mother-of-two woman that I am. And while there’s nothing wrong with looking twee if that’s what you want, it’s just not me. I love being feminine as much as the next girl, but I don’t want to look like a child.

But even in elegance, I want to keep my outfits fun, a bit nerdy, definitely vintage or retro, and most of all practical. See the aforementioned two kids: being a stay-at-home mom means my daily fashion posts have to stand up against peanut butter sandwiches, spit-up, dirt, bending over, getting pulled on, being slept on, and all sorts of other things.

So I’ve cleared out my closet, and I am planning to have an Instagram sale because there’s a lot of vintage and retro-inspired stuff that I’ve finally decided to let go. And, some of it is stuff that I held onto hoping I’d lose just one more inch around the waist or five more pounds from the hips… and that never happened. If you want to take a peek at my closet and see if there’s anything you want, follow @eccentricowlcloset on Instagram — I’m hoping to start posting sometime this week. Today, if I can get to it before the kids wake up from their naps.  And that account may eventually turn into an account solely for selling items that I find or own that I can’t sell in my Etsy store — vintage and gently used but slightly damaged/in need of easy repairs, or items I’ve curated that are vintage-inspired that I’m not wearing any more.

Shirt and tights, Target | heels, skirt, headscarf, and belt, Thrifted | ring, c/o Rocksbox| mug, painted myself at Java and Clay Cafe

I feel quite a bit happier knowing that now when I peer into my closet every day, the items are more cohesive towards how I want to look. I will probably still do photoshoots in clothes that are not 100% me simply because I love doing those things, but those items will now go up to my Etsy shop for someone who will wear them on a regular basis. Versus sitting in my closet for five years because I couldn’t bear to part with pretty things.

What five words describe your style, or how you want to look eventually?

Happy Wednesday!

P.S. Have you tried out Rocksbox yet? Rocksbox is a subscription service that provides you with your own personal stylist who will grant wishes from a wishlist of gorgeous designer jewelry that you choose yourself. Every month, you receive a boxes that contain 3 pretty pieces chosen specifically for you, and when you’re done trying them out you can send them back to try more (as many times in a month as you want!) or buy them at an insider’s price! It’s the perfect way to incorporate new jewelry into your look without breaking the bank if it doesn’t end up working for you. And you can get a free month by using the code eccentricowlblogxoxo! So what are you waiting for? Give it a try!

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