Approaching Spring/Summer Style

Starting with intuitive dressing and ending with what's on my mind for spring.

This past week I started off by thinking I want to talk about recreating runway looks and wearing them in real life, with pieces I already own- BUT I soon began to feel a little fatigued about mimicking another look. These runway looks are still great outfits, they have a cool ease (why I picked them) and are from designers I very much appreciate and whose work I admire. Alas, trying to each morning recreate a look wasn't giving me the steam and inspiration it sometimes does! I began thinking more about what I was really wanting from my wardrobe- a more intuitive approach to getting dressed.

I love scouring pinterest for inspiration as much as the next person, but sometimes I have found my limit and need to just start playing dress-up with what I own! So often when I’m looking at modern street style inspiration I feel a little urge to shop and get what that person is wearing, I’m sure many of you can relate. What truly gives me there manageable and wearable inspiration is taking out my clothes and trying them all on. I felt that way the other week when I was recreating some of my favorite influencers outfits. All of them were a little more creative and colorful and textural, things that inspire me about clothing. So when I was putting together the outfit my brain was branching out into other ideas and outfit possibilities! It all just starts with playing dressing up in your closet.

I have spoken before about my outfit documentation journey last year, 52 weeks of outfit pictures to help me look back at what I actually wore and what I felt the best wearing. Well the journey doesn't end after that one year, for one I definitely still take outfit pictures, and two- I’m still playing with my clothes to see what I feel best in (every day is a little different). As a stylist, throughout the week it is my job to try and be creative with clothing, I hear myself often convincing clients “let’s just try this, it may not work OR it may be amazing, but let’s just try it out!” - talking them into experimentation and playing dress up with me. I have to convince myself of the same thing often because for some reason (and you may all relate or not), but I will hit a wall and just stare at my closet and not actually try things on for fear of them looking bad. I guess this would be closely related to a little fear of rejection, that the outfit looking back at me in the mirror will say “absolutely not” and I will be sad. In reality, if it’s not good, it helps my creativity progress- putting something bad on leads me to something good, something better!

There is no stylists recipe to intuitive dressing because it’s all about a gut-feeling. When I was playing with that feeling this week it was focusing more about what I had in front of me combined with what I was feeling like and making the most of that.

Now that I’ve talked about intuitive dressing and working with what you have, I have also been contemplating what my spring “mood” is this year. I love making a mood board, as a very visual person it helps me translate my ideas and thoughts better than anything else. The thing about this mood board, and most of my mood boards, is that I do not try to use them so literally (i.e. outfit replicating). It’s more of a broader point of view and inspiration, using the images to jog something creative in my brain.

Below I give you my Spring mood.

For this spring and early summer I’ll be pulling out all of my colorful beads and jewelry, trying out my swim cover-up crochet shorts IRL, cropped white pants, nightgowns for around town, and lots of coastal stripes and gingham.

In creating this mood board, I was inspired by spring/summer pieces and accessories I already own. I want this board to be a great reference point for creativity and to keep me inspired within my wardrobe!

Cheers xx

Taylor