what i'm wearing, browsing and buying
fit kits & visual diary 001
One of the downsides of putting your life on the internet is that every version of past you is also on the internet. TikTok has this new, unfortunate feature that shows you what you were posting “one year ago today!” Watching back some of the old outfits I’ve posted makes me want to immediately delete my entire online presence and pull a henry david thoreau.
But I am reminded that if I had never posted those bad outfits in 2021, 2022 (and even) 2023, then I definitely wouldn’t be writing a substack on personal style/growth in 2024. Lately I’ve been reading about creativity and realizing that a lot of starting a creative endeavor requires pushing through the period where your tastes are more refined than your abilities. It’s the same way with starting any new skill for the first time — we subconsciously know what “good” sounds/looks/feels like but we haven’t had enough practice to produce those results for ourselves.
On the other hand, the messy process of discovering what you love, putting together bad outfits and experimenting with what you have is what makes getting dressed so fun. Documenting your outfits in real time is a good visual representation of the person you are at that point in time and there’s something about consistently capturing the ephemeral that I find magic.
Today’s post is a snapshot of what I’m wearing, browsing and ordering right now — a balance sheet of my current personal tastes if you will :)
WHAT I’M WEARING
to a coffee shop
Frankly it was too cold this day to be wearing a skirt, and I could’ve really done with some tights especially in the wind. Regardless, I find that protecting your head is key to staying warm so have been switching off between a beanie, hood or even a scarf tied as a balaclava on cold days.
to a birthday party
It was raining today and the aforementioned balaclava scarf served me well. I had never played paintball before and I learned that 1/ getting hit with a paintball hurts and 2/ tbh next time I’m sticking to sweats. This was a cute outfit that got certifiably less cute smeared with green paintball mush (even underneath a layer of camo)
to the office
On days I go into the office, I’m usually rushing around in the morning so I typically opt for office "uniforms”. Dark denim is a great way to look polished (if you’re able to get away with wearing jeans to work) — and goes well with black (the majority of my closet). I was gifted this shearling jacket last season, but it’s quickly become a close staple for slightly warmer winter days.
to work from home
I went to a thom browne lecture earlier this year and absolutely loved hearing his story and creative vision — I particularly relate to designers that don’t have traditional/formal fashion education (side note: if you haven’t seen thom browne’s fashion sketches, they are worth a peek). I was working from home today so had a bit more room to experiment with a preppier look.
WHAT I’M BROWSING
reading: i love starting the new year by tapping into new skillsets that I want to hone in on. creativity is a big one for this year (and taking risks) — so I’m currently slowly making my way through rick rubin’s the creative act and the tiktok famous conversations on love.
IRL vision boards: i’ve been making vision boards for a few years now, but always digitally on pinterest, illustrator, etc that I inevitably forget about a few weeks later. I’ve been seeing a few people make physical vision boards and want to clear a weekend to work on one before the month’s over.
screenshots of the week! A few things in my saves: john galliano @ dior, morning pages (tried it this morning — love it conceptually but very time consuming), girlhood memes, and a dewey makeup look to try.
WHAT I’M BUYING
loungewear: loungewear has never been an area that I’ve been compelled to invest in (I already have sooo many sweatshirts) but one of my new years resolutions was to do a closet edit. I’m currently embarking on an exercise of documenting what occasions I’m actually dressing for in a month — the preliminary findings are that most of the time, I’m lounging around the house or WFH so there’s a case to be made to invest in “better” loungewear. I picked up a few basics from brandy over the weekend and basically haven’t taken them off.
furniture: I’m hosting a dinner party this weekend, and embarrassingly still don’t have dining chairs! I finally snagged a west elm pair off facebook marketplace and am kicking myself for not doing it sooner.
accessories: With the cold weather lately, I’ve been reconsidering my winging it strategy of dressing for the cold. I’ve been loving contrast stitching, and picked up this scarf from zara on a whim that is heavily featured in this post. I also bought gloves for the first time in years, which I’m now grateful for on my cold morning commutes.
As always, thank you for reading! This was my first “what I’m wearing” post and would love to hear feedback + what everyone else is wearing/browsing/ordering! Stay warm out there and talk soon:)
xx tina
this is so fun! love this!
I loved the insight into what you’re currently wearing/wanting! please do more of these! <3