Orange

It isn’t a big secret that I really like myself a fashion challenge, whether it’s an officially hosted one or a self imposed one…

For my next, self imposed challenge, I will be wearing outfits with a touch of orange for at least a week or three and probably a bit longer.

Where I got that crazy idea?
Well, I regularly share an outfit of the day with one of my partners. In return he started sending me his own version of an OOTD pictures: a picture of him in his bright orange work uniform.

Since he will be at home for post-op rehabilitation for a while, I remarked that i would really miss his OOTD’s. And as soon as I had uttered that, i proposed to pick up his habit and wear orange at least for the original foreseen rehabilitation period.

Sad news from the Frockery

February is know on this blog for the The Frockery February eco-fashion challenge.

Even though they haven’t run the challenge this and last year, i still hold on to the habit of wearing (mostly) pre-loved outfits.
Since I started volunteering at a socially engaged second hand store, that has only become more easy.

But this week I read some very sad news from The Frockery.
As a result of Brexit and Royal Mail strikes, they are no longer able to accept overseas orders after being 18 years in business.

It’s sad to see so many small businesses suffer under the administrative hassle, not being able to assure correct delivery despite providing all necessary documents.

27 years and counting

This morning, while making a crappy mirror selfie of my #OOTD to send to one of my partners (because that just happens to be a thing between us), I realised what a history I have with the turtleneck I’m wearing today.

I bought it 27 years ago next month.
On a shopping trip with my then best friend from Uni, while we were out looking for a party outfit for New Year’s Eve.

It lived with a former boyfriend for a while, since I loved to see him in a turtleneck and, although he liked to wear this one, he didn’t really feel the need to own them.

Curious to see how long this beloved item of clothing will still be with me.

Portable comfort zone or battle armour

I talked about how my clothes are my portable comfort zone when I break unspoken dresscodes.

Last week, I went to an event where I wanted to reclaim my space.
And while I was getting ready, carefully choosing what dress to wear and applying my makeup, I came to the realisation that I was turning my outfit into my battle armour.

I had been attending this event in the past and it really felt like coming home for while.
However due to circumstances that I couldn’t influence and I don’t want to address at this point, somewhere along the way I started to feel like a social pariah in a place where I had once felt at home.
Not a great feeling.

Somewhere during the last few months, I started to miss my tribe.
Strengthened by the fact that I have already proven that I can feel at home in places where, on paper, I don’t belong, I bit the bullet and decided to go back.

I’m not sure which battle was the hardest though:
– the one to convince myself to go
– the one to actually enter the event
– the one with the perceived prejudices and judgments

Needles to say I had a great time and will be attending this event again in the future.

Skirtember 2022

Going through a rough patch and a long winding recovery process haven’t changed my love for a good challenge.
Over the years skirtember has been a fixed value and that isn’t going to change in 2022.

I won’t commit to wearing a skirt every day, but rather to wearing a skirt every day I leave the house.
In order to make sure that happens I have already worked out some disneybound outfits to cover the month of September.

An update on how this went, can be expected somewhere in the beginning of October.

My favourite form of pattern mixing

Pattern and print mixing is essentially the coordination of clothes or textiles with different patterns, prints, colours and textures to form one beautiful outfit or whole.

In daily fashion it is often considered as a bold move and it took me a while before I even dared to make an attempt at it.

When I did, I started small, by mixing either the same or a similar pattern in different sizes or different colors.
These days I dare to be a bit bolder and I regularly mix a multicolour pattern with a monochrome pattern that features the same colour.

However, my favourite form of pattern mixing, is wearing a graphic t-shirt with a patterned skirt or a pair of patterned trousers.
Since I started doing that I got a lot more wear out of some of my favourite items.

Disneybounding

A few years back, after I learned that (apart from on certain special occasions) adults are not allowed to wear costumes in the Disney parks, I learned about Disneybounding.

Essentially, Disneybounding is dressing up as beloved Disney characters… without wearing a costume.
Emulating the characters through accessories and color blocking with close attention to detail.

I first gave it a real try during my 2020 Disneyworld visit, when every outfit I took along was basically a Disneybound outfit.

And I must have done something right… Since on our last night I endend up waltzing with The Beast, during our meet and greet after dinner at his castle.
Which is by far my most magical Disney moment! 💜💜💜

This experience gave me such a taste for Disneybounding that I tried to Disneybound for a whole month in October, to celebrate Disneyworld’s 50th aniversary and continued throughout 2022 on Tuesdays, because my ideas weren’t exhausted.
But that is worth a blog post of its own.

Breaking the unspoken dresscode

One of the easiest ways to fit into a larger group is to adapt their unspoken dresscode, like wearing black and combat boots at a metal festival or a jeans and graphic t-shirt at a tech conference.

I did both and although, at first glance, you might think that I fitted in perfectly, too me it only emphasised my impostor syndrome. In stead of feeling like I fitted in, I felt like I was being a fake who tried too hard to fit in.

That is basically when I discovered that what I wear (mostly pretty dresses), is my portable comfort zone, even when I stand out. Maybe even especially when I stand out.

And that is why in July I packed only gothy outfits for an unconference and chose a gold threaded dress and golden scarf to attend the Rammstein concert in Ostend earlier this week.

Although it might be debatable whether I actualy broke the dresscode since gold is a precious metal after all.

Back in unfashion business

It’s been quite a while since I last posted here.
The past few years have been quite tumultuous and the first thing that flies out of the window (and the last thing that’s welcomed back into the house) when I’m not feeling well is blogging.

Without wanting to elaborate on the past 6 years or so, I do think it’s important to touch upon how I am still on the mend from the unexpected side effects of a routine operation, which resulted in:
– an ongoing revalidation of +2 years
– having to completely restart said revalidation after the 2 month COVID lockdown and the closing of the physical therapy practices (about 9 months after the initial operation).
– quite some weight gain (meds, not being able to excercise, eating my feelings,…)
– not being able to work for 2 years and starting up progressively since October
– the mental strain from all of the above

I am once again doing fine, some good stuff has been thrown my way too and I have learned to appreciate what I CAN do even more than I did before.

And since I haven’t lost my love for all things (un)fashion, it’s time for me to start rambling again!

Back to work

After nine months out, I returned to work on Monday.
Such a massive event obviously required a new outfit, so as soon as I knew I would officially be starting again I planned a trip to Lola&Liza.

The result of my shopping trip: a dark blue dress with a pattern including many of autumn type approved colours and a gorgeous orange blazer that will work with a lot of the dresses I have in my wardrobe.

On the day I wore the outfit with a pair of navy tights and my denim court shoes.