Well, I had a very experimental year, so I had LOTS of surprises! The intention was to update and colourise as well as remix to more modern ways of wearing old things. But there was also...
... unexpected love for bright RED skinnies (colour I used to be super leery of! and a 'suspect' silhouette too)
... unexpected comfort in boyfriend jeans (style I thought was never for me, but defaulted to in maternity for lack of other viable options)
... surprising comfort with tucking and belting, and even semi-tucking, despite apple-y tendencies and later a bona fide belly
... a day clutch! (a tech case that found its way home for repurposing...)
... some very un-starchy and practical buttondowns that feel fabulous!
... a floral-print summer bag! (a gift I would NOT have chosen)
Those are specific elements. As style and shopping/dressing goes, my biggest and very slow-to-creep-up realization was that I often enjoy playing 'roles' or default to them for confidence when in doubt, so I can dress up to project certain style formulae pretty well --- and yet, while I'm comfortable there, they aren't *me*.
Examples: A ladylike pencil skirt and pumps comes to mind --- it would be more me with boots or oxfords. The white shirt, jeans and Cons look fine as formula and it's a versatile one, too, but it would be more me with a patterned or coloured shirt, or better still, an ethnic Indian tunic. Very traditional Indian silhouettes would feel more like me with a tweak that subverts either or both convention and femininity.
The problem is I can do and feel reasonably comfortable in the classic version too. It's become habit to fit the formula. It's unexpectedly hard to push for that extra mile of me-ness! (Confidence issues?)
