A Reality Check

The Winds of Change

Tomorrow, I turn 29.

I’ve been thinking about all the things I’d like to accomplish before I turn 30 next year: publish a novel, reach my health goals, see more of Washington, make healthier habits… and one thing that came to the forefront of my mind today was blogging. How I want to change blogging, what I’m trying to do with it, how it’s been going in the last year or so.

Ever since re-branding last year, I’ve noticed myself changing the way I blog. I went from daily outfits, everyday style, and practicality to super glam, super vintage, and super made up. I started to feel like every outfit had to be perfect, every hair had to be in place, my makeup had to be done to the max… and it got a bit stressful. I struggle now to even post twice a week, with a three year old and a 1.5 year old in tow, trying to get hair and makeup done in time for the light to be good, wondering whether I should find a location outside of my yard.

As I blogged, I was trying to climb some ladder to put myself up there with vintage blogs I admire, like Nora Finds, Southern California Belle, Junebugs and Georgia Peaches, and more. I was trying to be another one of those really glamorous vintage/pinup gals, because… that’s what I felt I needed to be in order for blogging to be a satisfying experience and a successful one. I got caught up in the perfect blogging formulas – SEO and good titles and flawless photography — and got overwhelmed.

And I noticed that as I strove to post perfect outfits, I began to sink into wearing yoga pants even more from day-to-day. I started to dread “having” to do a photoshoot, “having” to put on makeup and do my hair, “having” to put a high-vintage-fashion outfit together.

Then yesterday, I made a video tour of my vintage wardrobe. In my closet I have upwards of 80 vintage dresses, from the 1940’s to the 1970’s (and two 80’s.) I watched that video over and just thought… wow. I have my dream wardrobe right now. I could go nearly 3 full months without repeating a single outfit just wearing dresses. Ten years ago, I thought that vintage was totally out of my reach, yet here I am now with the majority of my closet being beautiful 1950’s day dresses.

And as I watched them, and felt happiness swell at all the pretty prints and precise cuts, I realized I’m not blogging the way I really want to blog.

When I started blogging, I blogged every day. I didn’t worry about how perfect my outfit was, I didn’t always have the best hairstyles or perfect makeup; I just shared what I wore every day. And what I wore for the blog, I wore in real life, too. It certainly wasn’t the most polished blog, but it was fun. I had fun, because I got to share my daily style, get inspiration from others, and just show how I dressed cute while still being practical.

I didn’t take myself too seriously. And I think in the aspiration to grow my blog as a part-time job — something I’d still love to happen — I forgot that blogging was just for fun.

So going forward, I may start blogging daily, or at least as often as I can when I have photos to share. My outfits may not be as polished, I’ll probably blog more days with my hair in a bun or tied up in a scarf than down in a perfect pinup coiffure, but that’s what I want to do. It’s what I have always loved: sharing how to dress vintage (or vintage inspired) while still being practical.

I’m a mother of two small children. I spill coffee on myself daily. I’ve got smudgy fingers touching me all the time. While I also go full-glam on occasion and I love creating that glamorous look and the story behind it, it’s not the everyday me. It’s not the me who started this blog solely on her love for experimenting with fashion. It’s not the me who often spills on herself, laughs at herself, and purposefully buys machine-washable vintage because she doesn’t have the time to hand-wash everything.

I’m the blogger who can’t even keep her nails painted after 29 years of living.

I hope you all will enjoy the more relaxed blogging; I know many of you really love it when I’m more “natural” and not quite so done up. And I do, too. I love being glam, but I also want to share how everyday vintage and everyday glam don’t have to be all fake eyelashes and perfectly curled hair.

So here’s to taking a chill pill, to putting less pressure on myself to get it perfect all the time, and to just enjoying fashion with abandon.

Skirt, thrifted fabric, self-made | top, 50’s vintage, thrifted | collar pins, idealbookshelf | shoes, Modcloth Stylish Surprise

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