Shipwrecked & Comatose

I came across a prompt recently: Describe your style I do occasional posts about style and makeup here on S&C, but I don't think I have ever tried to describe what my style is and how I express it. Style is a tricky subject.  Many women wrongly feel style is something you have or you don't.  Style sense is something one is born with, rather than something one develops over time.  Some women view style as something static, rather than something that evolves as their lives and needs change.  Women can feel trapped in a look, or feel hopeless they can't do better when their outfits no longer look good or reflect their personality.  One phrase I feel hinders most women when it comes to finding their own best look is the phrase, "Effortless Style."  It implies that some women can put together outfits without thinking.  Again, it gives the illusion of style being innate rather than learned.   That is a lie.  Style takes effort - and we sho...

How I dress is pretty important to me. Clothes aren't just what I wear to avoid being naked.  Clothes are fun.  They are a form of self expression. They help me look my best. I might even go as far to say they are form of art that also conveniently prevent me from being naked. Dressing isn't always easy.  I have a body that's hard to fit.  I don't have a million spare hours to browse every store and website to find pieces I love.  I also don't have unlimited funds for buying the right clothes when I do find them.  Sometimes I need help trying to find out what's out there and how to put it together into the perfect outfit.  This is what makes style bloggers so useful.  They are out there finding the trends and making the purchases and putting the outfits together.  I can look at an outfit post and see if I can replicate it with something I already have in my closet, or I can use it to determine if I want to buy something new.  They pr...

Anyone who has read style posts on this blog knows I love to shop in theory, but find it frustrating in practice.  That's why I am often pursuing online services that have stylists pick out clothes for me.  I have done multiple posts on StitchFix (I have ordered a few boxes since my last review post with varying levels of success) and the now-defunct Keaton Row (I think they ruined their own business model). My most difficult problem with buying clothes in the past three years has been weight fluctuations.  I joined StitchFix after a major weight loss, but a year later I was gaining again.  Fit issues continued to be an issue with Keaton Row.  I went from a size 8-10 to a size 6-8 to a size 10-12 in a short period of time.  I'm back down to a fairly steady size 10 now, but I'm working on going back to the 6-8 days.  I have had to buy multiple sizes of clothes to accommodate all of these weight fluctuations.  It means I have assorted...

Athleisure is the new business casual.  Your gym clothes aren't merely what you wear to the gym.  You now wear them out shopping (and I don't just mean a quick trip to the grocery store).  You wear them out to dinner.  You may even wear them to work.  A typical athleisure outfit isn't the pair of leggings and the oversized souvenir t-shirt I wore to the gym this morning.  In fact, an athleisure outfit may never see the inside of a gym.  On a typical morning I  roll out of bed and stumble into some sweatpants and steel-cage sports bra.  That's not athleisure.  Let's imagine for a moment that I took the athleisure route when I got dressed this morning.  There would be no random pulling of tops and pants from a drawer in the dark.  I would carefully put together today's exercise-inspired outfit ahead of time.  I will pull a pair of leggings over my legs from a massive collection of colors and prints   I put on a m...

Out with the old, in with the new. Wait.  That's not quite right.  Old does not have to go out if it's still useful and still looks good.  New doesn't have to take over the old.  Do I have too much old?  Did I buy too much new? I am following several fashion bloggers who talk about creating a "capsule wardrobe".  This is a wardrobe of fairly timeless pieces that best capture your style. At first I thought these sites were going to help me dress perfectly with every piece mixable and into a signature style that screams "Rachel."  No item would be superfluous and everything would work together harmoniously. I have learned in the past few weeks as I transition my wardrobe from the fall/winter closet to the spring/summer closet that trying to get yourself into this mindset can drive you crazy. It is definitely helpful to evaluate your wardrobe periodically.  Sometimes there is a reason why something has been sitting in the back of the closet...

Do any of my readers share my love of fashion/personal style blogs?  I take a lot of inspiration from them.  I love seeing what stylish women wear and how they incorporate seemingly ordinary pieces of clothing into cute outfits, and how they make outrageous pieces of clothing respectable.  My favorite bloggers include Jessica of What I Wore (although she seems to be moving away from fashion blogging), Jean of Extra Petite , and Kendi of Kendi Everyday .  They are my go-to blogs to help me understand how I can best edit my wardrobe and coordinate  many separate pieces into a whole.  I also enjoy women with a slightly edgier sense of style such as Wendy of Wendy's Lookbook and Blair at Atlantic Pacific . I also recently discovered Hallie of Hallie Daily Fashion blogs do present some dangers though.  They tend to make me covet.  Kendi has convinced me I must have a pink Rebecca Minkhoff bag (I received the plum one for Christmas).  I may hav...

Note:  I am not endorsed or renumerated by Stitch Fix in any way.  This post is only for me to express my opinion and share my experience for those who are interested.  However, if you are interested in trying Stitch Fix yourself, I do request that you use this link , which will give me a 25% referral discount on future orders. Stitch Fix did not provide me with this link in exchange for posting about them on this blog.  All customers receive a referral link when signing on and if you decide to use the service, they will provide you with one as well. If you are reading this post, then you are either a regular reader of my blog or else you found this post while searching online for Stitch Fix reviews.  That means that I probably don't need to explain what Stitch Fix is.  Just in case you still don't know, here is the capsule summary. It's an online personal shopping service.  Like most subscription boxes, you don't know what they are going to...

Note:  I am not endorsed or renumerated by Stitch Fix in any way.  This post is only for me to express my opinion and share my experience.  However, if you are interested in trying Stitch Fix yourself, I do request that you use this link , which will give me a 25% referral discount on future orders. Stitch Fix did not provide me with this link in exchange for posting about them on this blog.  All customers receive a referral link when signing on and if you decide to use the service, they will provide you with one as well. Previous Stitch Fix review can be found here , here , and here . I hadn't meant to do a Stitch Fix box this spring.  I had been considering doing one this summer to help them outfit my cruise vacation in July, but I thought I had the essentials of my spring wardrobe covered. At first I planned to rely on Rebecca at Keaton Row .  She did such a great job last fall.  I knew she'd pick some winners for me. Unfortunately, ...