Hi, all! I've had a difficult autumn with health, family health, work, and other challenges, and haven't been able to post much in a while. But I did want to report on my experience with the "persona plus theme" experiment I tried in the spring. You may remember that, taking inspiration from Brooklyn and Tanya, who over the past few years have concentrated on a specific theme each season in their dressing, I decided to do the same, with the twist (which I think Tanya also employs) of thinking also in terms of my fashion persona and some current trends I want to incorporate. The "this character does that" idea.

Mine for the spring/ summer was "Laid-back luminous garçonne does off-kilter ultility pretty."

My accident in late spring put a bit of a dent in this plan, so to speak, in the sense that I didn't really go out much or even leave the couch for a few weeks. Apart from a short trip to San Francisco in late summer, and a very casual working retreat in July, I didn't get out much.

But I did enjoy playing with the theme and thinking in those terms did help me compose outfits that made me happy. The photos are all poor quality but maybe you can get the idea.

A few notes: Winner workhorse items in this capsule proved to be the Zara asymmetrical skirt, the Scotch & Soda denim jacket, the Dries van Noten thrifted plaid pants, the Sandwich spotted/ striped modal top (alas -- it is toast!! -- ripped beyond repair after so many wears), the Cole Haan oxfords. The linen utility skirt didn't get many outings. I liked it -- just didn't wear it a lot.

In pic 4 you see my very old J. Crew 2 piece dress. I had the hem let down as much as I possibly could because I was finding the dress as it was felt too short for my current tastes. It's still a bit shorter than I'd like, but the extra inch in length made me like it much more, and as usual it was a workhorse.

In Finds I've included other much worn items not pictured.

Overall, I'd say this was a valuable experiment and I would like to try it again. I wore skirts/ dresses at more opportunities, remixed older items with new in different ways, made a few new brand discoveries, and had fun composing outfits.