You’ve made some great outfits remixing pieces you have. You know I love that kind of creativity and can probably guess my response to your post. It’s clear that you intend to return to the gym with the same discipline and dedication as before, so why not keep things you’ve shrunken out of as a promise to yourself that you will rebuild the muscle? When they fit again, you will be delighted. As for shopping strategy, what could you realistically do that is different, given the selection available to you in those stores? Shop the juniors and men’s departments? Radical alterations on things from the outfitter? This is a sincere question; I quite agree with you that “safe” gets boring pretty fast, but don’t see what other options you have.
RL, i don’t understand how trying new things and picking up pretty things are not ways to develop your style. You can’t make pastries or build lats with a random, whimsical approach to baking or working out, it’s true, but look at Katerina’s run at tube skirts for an example of how necessary the spark is in building a wardrobe and expanding a style. She knows she wants something different, but the rules of the old can’t lead you to the new, or else it wouldn’t be new. Applying a style might require discipline, but coming up with new directions? I don’t think so.
ETA rethinking a little. Carla, your recent forays into small florals suggests to me a prairie style skirt, which is likely to be available locally. It’d be a leap, but hear me out: bending this trend to your will would be a real workout for your styling chops and it would work very well with what you already have in your closet. I guess I got there kinda cerebrally. Hm.
I say a skirt instead of a dress because then you could avoid the flounce and pouffyness that the dress bodices in this style tend to have. (Maybe that’s why I like the maternity dresses that go in this direction—they’re not so “fluffy” on top, presumably because many women are dismayed at their growing size in pregnancy, so the makers probably intentionally focused on keeping things more fitted where possible). If you could find a non-maternity prairie dress without the “poof” up top, that would be great, but I bet a skirt would be easier to find. Style it with your trucker jacket and combat boots. To take a walk on the maximalist wild side, make sure there is lilac/orchid in the print, and then wear your l/s mesh shirt, or even pair with a plaid shirt. Otherwise, you have plenty of non-patterned tops that would work.
ETalsoA an example of suggested direction, but the exact skirt is sold out. https://www.asos.com/topshop/t.....d/14685397
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