of cold, clothes and cookies.

hey, guys. sorry i haven’t posted since last wednesday—my life has been super activity-filled recently, and while i wouldn’t have it any other way, it definitely means blogging has taken a back seat. but here i am today—well, tonight—on a chilly november evening, curled up in my apartment with oscar and thinking about the three c’s i mentioned in the title of this post.

“i want to throw out all my clothes and start over” was the declaration i made to my friend k. a week or two ago, and the declaration i’ve made to a few other friends since then. and while you might be raising an eyebrow while reading this—i know, times are tight; the holidays are approaching; my clothing budget is practically nil—i can’t help it. it’s just the way i feel. so please, indulge me for this one post, my dears.

the thing is, this desire to overhaul my wardrobe actually came while i was doing a clean sweep of my closet. i realized last summer that my little apartment was full of clothes that i hadn’t worn in years—you may remember me loathingly mentioning my goodwill pile and its home in the corner of my kitchen. well, i finally bagged up everything and hauled it over to the local drop-off—and i felt free. i was happy the clothes would go to someone who needed them, and happy that i finally had more space in my closet.

that is, until the weather turned cool this weekend and i realized that i’d given all but one of my sweaters to goodwill, and the one that’s left over has three-quarter-length sleeves—yes, i live in florida, but a morning temperature of 40 degrees is still just too cold for three-quarter-length sleeves. (seriously.) and as i was pawing through the rest of my items, i realized there’s not a lot of cohesion in my closet—i tend to shop in pieces, not outfits, and because of that i either repeat ensembles or rely heavily on a rotation of jeans and the tops that i just have to have, but that—again—don’t lend themselves to collaboration. thank god i work in a creative field, i’m not sure what i would do if i had to wear suits or actual professional attire.

(also, since writing that post about revamping the way i think about health, i’ve lost a couple pounds. in fact, i’ve actually gone down a pants size. baggy jeans also lend themselves to wanting to shop. and to wanting to keep up the healthiness.)

so, yes. i want new clothes. but i also want to evolve my style. for a long time—a couple of years, really—i gravitated toward a sort of boho-ish, nouveau hippie look. i like flowy, vintage-inspired tops and layers and long scarves. i always will. but as i become more aware of my body—and what looks good on it—i’ve started to admit to myself that my personal style is actually much more classic and tailored and clean-lined. think j.crew as opposed to urban outfitters. it’s been an interesting realization.

anyway, i strolled into the gap—purveyor of all things classic—and its sister store, banana republic, on friday night while on a frantic search for the perfect birthday-party top, and i was smitten with a lot of the items i saw there—cozy sweaters, dark-washed denim, pretty tops. above are a few of my favorite pieces from target, gap, banana and j.crew.

have you all seen your styles evolve as time goes by? how would you describe your fashion “personality”?

p.s. the cookies i mentioned in the title of this post refer to my excitement that the holidays are approaching—my little pink baker’s heart is so excited to make dozens of lovely confections in my stand mixer!