2025 was a year for comfortably settling into my style. I stress enormously about all sorts of things, but wardrobe management, shopping, outfit creation, editing and my beauty routine, are not among them. Fashion and style continues to be a guaranteed source of enjoyment and fun in my life. It’s an effective de-stressor, and I hope to keep it that way. I feel great about my style, and my wardrobe is in superb nick. I love my stuff, feel fabulous in my outfits, and am relaxed about all of it.
We moved back into our newly remodeled loft, compete with my dream walk-in-wardrobe. Our new dressing area has a window, a gorgeous view, and incredible light. We finally have a coat closet. That’s very handy when you live in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, which demands a large outerwear capsule.
There is nothing that makes me more cognizant of the contents of my wardrobe than when I have to pack up, and unpack it, in a short space of time. Because of the remodel, my wardrobe is particularly well edited, curated, organized, and stored at this point. The best it has ever been.
After growing out my hair from pixie to shoulder length, I can confidently say that I am not a long hair person. The longer my hair got, the harder it was to maintain and style daily, which I found frustrating. Turns out I dislike the feeling of hair on my neck. I cut my hair in stages, and settled on a bixie at the end of last year. After leaving my hair naturally dark blonde for years, I added highlights in front to change things up. My hair is much easier to manage at this length, which I wear wavy and straight. I’ve satisfied my curiosity, and will be keeping my hair short from now on.
Slowly, surely, and in just the right items, I added warm browns to my wardrobe simply because I was in the mood for it. Shades of toffee and whiskey complement my honey blonde hair so they integrate easily into my style. This is the most significant way my style has evolved. Shades of white, navy, and blue denim have been the core neutrals of my wardrobe for years. Toffee and whiskey have become the next layer of core neutrals. I leave black, grey and olive to those who enjoy wearing them.
It was easy to find the right brown items because brown is the biggest colour trend of them all. Chocolate brown has to be patterned or colour blocked with cream for it to be as enjoyable to wear as toffee and whiskey. I added three brown items of outerwear, a brown bag, belt, wide jeans, and three pairs of brown shoes to my brown capsule last year. Apart from the mules, every new brown item became an instant wardrobe workhorse. Remarkable.
The addition of the browns-for-me is unexpected. One of my friends suggested that I’m “in my brown phase” and I agreed with her. I didn’t think I would like wearing these brown items as much as I do. I find them easy to combine with my brights and neutrals, and a refreshing change. They also fondly remind me of my late earth-tone-loving Mama, who I keep close to my heart.
I recently modeled some brown-rich outfits and my new brown boots in the forum. I like wearing browns with brights, or navy and white.
I diligently set out to replace my old and well worn loungewear, which like all wardrobe basics are workhorses. I appropriately covered all seasons, and am pleased with the results. This year, I’ll tackle other wardrobe basics that need replenishment and replacement.
As for the rest, I view trends as optional accents rather than directives. The trends I pay closest attention to are how the silhouettes of bottoms change (or stay the same). If a trend tickled my fancy and complemented my style, I explored it. I leaned into my established preferences and honed my signature style. Dramatic bottoms, modern classic tops, some retro, white footwear, flats instead of heels, white pearls, gold as my metal, gold footwear, modest silhouettes, high necklines, dressy rather than casual, statement bag and eyewear, and high contrast combinations. Lots of whites and sour brights. Navy, not black. Clear nail polish. Remixing old with new. And my favourite American designer is Ralph Lauren, particularly their Polo label.
Here are more casual and dressy outfits. Some golden oldies. And the various outfits I can create with my holiday capsule, many of which I wear season after season because I do not tire of the items. I also wear many of the items throughout the year.
Style evolution doesn’t require upheaval or reinvention. It’s about honesty, adaptation, and following your feelings. When your wardrobe and style reflect your current values, lifestyle, personality, and sartorial preferences, getting dressed becomes an act of alignment and satisfaction, rather than effort. Here’s to another year of comfortably settling into my style.
