Written last week, Jennine from TheCoveted.com wrote a post about shopping her closet– particularly in light of her being in Germany and returning to the US– hopefully San Francisco which was original home base.
The point that Jennine makes is that while she was only able to take 2 suitcases of clothing and personal items, her personal editing of her closet sometimes meant digging into things she has found and see if they work for the move back to the US.
The Coveted’s Jennine
Here’s her commentary (formatting is mine- to make it easier to trendspot)
I miss my old clothes. So now I’m going to wear the clothes I never wear and see if they are really transcontinental move worthy. Here I’m wearing a few things I’ll never part with,
a 1940’s handmade blouse in the perfect color for me, a nice rust.
My favorite white Ferragamo belt (and continuing with the matchy-matchy theme)
my white Jeffery Campbell 3 strap Mary Janes.
The non-favorite and soon to be a new regular in my wardrobe line up (it’s the second time I wore these this week) is a pair of vintage stirrup gingham trousers. I didn’t utilize the stirrups and instead rolled them up as I felt it would be more summery. I love the way they fit so perfectly and I also love the exposed zippers. They came from the flea market last year… who knows why it’s taken so long for me to bring them out. Maybe they just landed in the back of the closet, just waiting to be rediscovered.
Here’s what I love about this outfit:
1) the blouse rocks and it’s so very vintage yet spare enough in detail that it is really timeless in style. The color works with her skin too. (Uh Jennine, can I get a copy of that blouse pattern?). It’s universal in style and could be redone in a myriad of colors (forest green would be pretty)
2) the belt and the shoes match but not so perfectly and they actually tie everything together particularly since the Campbell shoes sport that retro strappy vibe. (I have a couple of similar pairs– one by Ferragamo which are vintage, and a couple of other brands in a variety of colors including an old barn red, black)
3) here’s the kicker: anyone would have bought the trousers and left them in the back of the closet as a mistaken impulse. Jennine gets creative by rolling them up (a la boyfriend jeans) and makes them work perfectly and while still retaining the stirrups for winter wear with boots or booties that would give these pants an adaptation to another season.
Think of a boyfriend blazer or pea coat topper with a different — or even same– top. Add in a pin or hat (beret?) and an interesting bracelet and voila, instant fall/winter>
Fashion points:
1) you can find and work stuff already in your closet to your best effect by testing them in front of a full length mirror and get creative about how it’s worn. (just did that with many things– some which are heading to donation, some sticking around because they so rock my current world)
2) add in belts, mix up shoes and see what you can do to mix up your color scheme to give it a bit more edge. Jennine’s edge is three-fold: she matched shoes & belt; rolled up otherwise too-warm a trouser : and didn’t match the blouse to the pants.
3) vintage is worth the time and trouble. You don’t have to hit flea markets if you haven’t the patience, but hitting a thrift store or even American Rag for their curated vintage and willingness to push that fashion envelope is worth the effort.
Stay tuned for more on vintage shopping. I have some video and a podcast with photos on how to put it together courtesy of American Rag stores.
Stevie Wilson
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