Style is adaptable, fashion is disposable

Two trusted friends and I were talking at the beginning of the year about our creative goals - all of us are artists and have maintained some sort of online presence over the years. We made our bones on Xanga and Livejournal, watched MySpace come and go, did our time on Tumblr, and have had varying levels of virality over the years. We had the same consesus about 2026 - we didn’t want to play the game anymore. We were all tired of trying to trick the algorithym, stressing about hashtags, being disappinted with our clickthrough rates... it’s just not worth it anymore. The world is on fire, AI Chatbots are causing pyschosis, and I’m done being concerned with what niche my content caters to. The following sentence was part of our text exchange, and I’ve let it become my North Star for what I create this year, “I just wanna talk about music and books and media and the fashion I like and that’s what I’m gonna do in 2026”.

Friends have been after me for years to start a fashion blog and I never did for two reasons - I was concerned about being overwhelmed with “tasks”, and I didn’t know what my “hook” was going to be - I didn’t want to sell people things. I still don’t. And I’m not going to. I’m going to talk about what I’m wearing and how I build an outfit, and what’s interesting to me. I believe fashion is art, I believe it tells a story, and I think it can be pivotal in one’s personal story. Well, style can, anyway. This is not a fashion blog. This is a style blog.

These posts are going to be less about “fashion”, and moreso about my personal “style”. Styling a piece is more important than how much it costs, or where it came from, or who deemed it cool. Because fashion trends come and go, but your personal style is always a thing you have. I always look at trends through the lens of my own style when adapting them - just because something is trendy doesn’t make it cute to me or make me want to wear it. I generally only gravitate towards trends that I can see fitting into my own style.

I’m trying to figure out who to define my style for those that are new here...and I’m having a real hard time. It’s like if Stevie Nicks and Rochelle from
The Craft had a baby. Or if The Olsen Twins were both one person and their mom was Black. If Prince was an early 2000’s mall goth. If Cree Summer were back in her early twenties and playing an emo kid on a CW show. If Clawdeen from Monster High was a real person. If Cher and Dionne from Clueless were in a band. I draw a lot of inspiration from my mom’s closet. Idk, man... I’ve been at this so long, I just...kind of know now. I still struggle a lot and put things together that work in my head and not in real life, but I just...buy pieces that I think really fit the vibe I want to express and then mix and match them together.

I started a new job at the end of last month (I’ll make a post about that here, eventually), and here’s what I’ve been wearing. This office is pretty small and rather casual, so I’m trying to stay true to my own vibe, without displaying a complete lack of awareness.

OUTFIT 1 - My former SVP Robin wore these jeans one day and I immediately asked her where they were from (American Eagle). The top is just a black bodysuit tank. It’s pretty cold in my office, so I pulled this long plaid shacket, because it’s warm. White docs to pull it all together and give it a little “pop”.

OUTFIT 2 - I was already tired by my third day on the job, because I wasn’t used to waking up in the morning and hitting a commute. Dresses are my secret for lazy days. I call this cardigan my Disney Channel Original Movie cardigan, because this is absolutely something the quirky best friend would be in. These clogs are wild (Azalea Wang) and are comfortable, but make it seem like I tried.

OUTFIT 3 - I was definitely feeling the lazy vibes after a long weekend. These trousers are SUPER oversized and long enough that they hid my crocs ;). I’m a huge fan of a graphic tee - you can’t go wrong with Sailor Moon. The denim shrug makes it seem like I tried, when really I was exhausted and didn’t want to be cold in my office. I was still cold.

OUTFIT 4 - Remembering how cold I had been the day before, I grabbed a knitted shrug on this day. This black little cropped cardi is one of my favorite pieces. It works with a lot of different things. Like this SICK Lord of the Rings tee I got at WonderCon, these button fly black flares, and my favorite platform Marc Jacobs sneakers. Oh, I found this hat in the Lost and Found at my first job and washed it in the world’s hottest water eleventeen times, and now it’s mine.

OUTFIT 5 - Another dress to hide how lazy I actually am. Dresses/skirts with tights and Doc Martens are one of my favorite looks. Oversized denim trucker jacket for warmth and to drive home the grunge vibes.

OUTFIT 6 - Here comes that cropped cardi again. I own this black square neck tank in several colors, because it’s a great layering piece and really comfortable. These plaid pants had been in my closet for YEARS, before I started wearing them. They were a great piece that I couldn’t quite figure out and I was slightly ahead on the wider leg pants trend. Lastly, as a goth, I love a good pair of creepers more than anything. These have a ridiculous platform, which is perfect for me, because I’m only 5’3” and my pants are always too long.

OUTFIT 7 - It rained the day before I wore this and I was concerned about more rain - knew it would be colder and I’d want to be cozy. This oversized sweater falls off one of my shoulders and has a fun bottom hem. I can do a pair of wide leg jeans - they make me feel like I’m back in high school. Camo is another trend moment that I’ve figure out how to make work for me. And Chuck Taylors are classic staple shoe.

OUTFIT 8 - What did I say about skirts, tights, and docs? I like the monochromatic situation I thought up with the grey graphic tee, the cardigan, and the hat. It takes the outfit from something really simple into more a colorblocked and put together zone.

That’s been the last few weeks. I’ll do another OOTD round up in a few weeks. Try to keep your head on and find your glimmers. <3