Warning! Long and navel-gazey.

I'm feeling incredibly stale, style-wise. Maybe a bit life-wise, too. Since 2020, I've been feeling cursed in the housing department. I've been fortunate to have safe homes (and it could be so much worse!), but an upstairs neighbor's toilet flood led to a long and expensive involuntary bathroom/kitchen renovation at the height of the early pandemic, then the neighbor next to my bedroom wall started throwing loud parties in the middle of the night on random weekdays and didn't care that I had to get up for work, then I decided I needed to sell the place to keep my sanity, then I was there for most of a year while it was on the market (keeping it constantly showing-ready... while sleeping on the couch to get as far away as possible from the noisy neighbor), then buying a (blessedly quiet) place a year ago, and then dealing with a string of unanticipated house projects --major mold under the living room floor, leaky exterior doors, HVAC issues, a moth infestation in the attic, and more-- that have kept me from moving my furniture in yet. Whew! I think that sums it up.

I didn't keep track of my wardrobe purchases in 2020-2021, but it wasn't much (maybe ~5 non-gear purchases total). Last year I bought 15 items, a lot of which was replacing essentials due to weight changes, and this year I've bought 3 items. So maybe 25 things over 3.25 years, I think.

So, in short, my housing situation has been chaotic and unsettled, the world situation has been what it's been, and my wardrobe has been largely stagnant since early 2020. Probably no wonder things are feeling stale and off-kilter.

I'm also realizing that my wardrobe is a sea of black and gray, and black makes me look wan and pale(r), and not in a cool goth-rocker way. I used to think I was cool-toned, but now I think that's probably wrong, and a lot of my clothing colors aren't doing me any favors.

So... what now? I have a color analysis appointment with a pro in about a week. I know that isn't the end-all be-all, and I don't plan to dump *all* my black, but I'd like some help figuring out what's flattering. Also, it sounds fun, and I would like some fun.

I've also been Pinteresting, and I'll see what themes emerge as I hit critical mass. It's probably past time to evolve my style moniker/avatar, do a closet cleanout, and fill some of the resulting holes.

Has anyone else had a big style evolution over the last few years? I imagine I'm far from alone. If so, did you have a deliberate process or did it just kind of happen organically?