Along with holiday cheer, endless shopping and family gatherings galore, December often brings with it a lot of stress. Though merry and bright, the holiday season culminates with a fresh new year, and for many of us, it’s a time to reflect on the past as well as look forward to the future. I’ve often fallen into the December trap of high, highs and low, lows, as a new year can be a reminder of every goal I did and did not accomplish. This year brings with it a triple whammy of reflection—not only is a new year on the horizon, but a new decade as well, and to top it off, this year I’ll turn 30. If I’m being honest I’ve been in sort of a tizzy the last few weeks about all of these coming changes, and where I am at in my life. I’ve been trying to remind myself that it really is just another year. I’ll very well be just the same when the calendar switches over to 1/1/2020. One thing that has evolved very much though is my style and fashion sense, and that’s a very fun (and much less heavy) topic to discuss!
10 years ago I was just 19 years old and a student in college, so you can imagine that my sense of fashion was very different than it is now. You might think that my daily carry was a sturdy backpack that took me from class to class, but you’d be very wrong! I attended a fashion college, which as you’d expect is very different from a ‘regular’ college campus. Our campus was the city streets of NYC and rolling out of bed and rushing to class in my pajamas was not an option. I paid a lot of attention to my outfits, but in a much different way than I do now. While I’ll always pay attention to the details of an outfit as well as the outfit’s overall look, back then my style was completely different. I was very into classic pieces like tailored blazers, girly dresses, knee-high boots and turtleneck sweaters. It was the age of Gossip Girl and despite my long blonde hair and tall stature, I identified more as a Blair than a Serena. I was younger and more impressionable back then, and I wore more of what I saw in the media than what I put together in my head. My daily bag was either a Louis Vuitton Speedy or my Dior Saddle Bag, which by that time was out of style (how ironic!), plus a tote for my school books.
Though my style has done a complete 180, I still own some of the same pieces that I owned 10 years ago, but the way I wear them has changed a lot. Most of that comes from how I finish off my look—my bags, shoes, and coats are what complete my style these days. I dress simpler and more minimal, basic jeans, bodysuits, and sweaters and then finalize my look from there. These days I’m way more casual and I never imagined that I would own so many sneakers!
Bag wise my collection has grown immensely in the last ten years, and I’m sure many bag lovers can relate when I say that 20-30 are pivotal years for handbag lovers, although you can correct me if I’m wrong. It’s possible I’ll say the same thing about my thirties. What I mean though, is that it was during these years where I transitioned from relying on my parents for almost everything to relying completely on my own finances. I learned early on that I had to work for what I wanted, and the only premium designer bag I was ever gifted was my Speedy, which I got for my high school graduation. Over the last decade I’ve added bags from Chloé, Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton, Mansur Gavriel, Gucci and more to my closet. I love the way I dress now and I truly feel the most confident I’ve ever felt in my skin. Though a lot of that comes from the inside, loving what you wear and how you wear it is a big part of that too.
Style is such a personal and intimate thing, which is what makes it so interesting and fun. If I’ve learned anything about fashion in the last decade it’s that it’s often ever-changing and when it comes to trends one should never say never. As I look forward to the 2020s and my thirties I hope I continue to grow into my own, which to me means wearing what I want to wear and how I want to wear it, regardless of what trends or others say. And though of course I wish for the health and happiness of my family and friends above all else this decade, I also see some vintage Chanel in my future, and maybe, just maybe, a Mini Kelly by the time I turn 40.
How has your style evolved over the last ten years, and where do you see it going in the next ten?
