Spring weather made a tiny appearance this past month here in Minnesota and I jumped at the chance to wear some of my spring shoes. I’d forgotten how much I love the look of mary janes and loafers! The power of swapping around your shoes and accessories with tried-and-true outfit uniforms never ceases to amaze me. It literally breathes new life into my closet. Minnesota winters are loooonnnnng and I really get bored of wearing the same outfit formula of pants and a sweater for months on end. Spring and summer can’t come soon enough, but alas, it’s snowing today here and it’s April. Boo.
Enough complaining about the weather, let’s get into my March outfits. I feel like I’m really starting to understand why my outfits fall flat and it’s usually because I’m missing one of my three style words. If you aren’t familiar with that concept it’s from Allison Bornstein and it a way to define your personal style and help you create outfits comprised of the specific words. This approach to personal style has really simplified to the process of translating my personal style into actual outfits!
Here are my three style words if you missed them from my February Wardrobe Recap post:
Relaxed - I need my outfits to fit my lifestyle as a mom with three little kids. I want my outfits to feel effortless, comfortable and a bit minimal.
Polished - In an effort to balance out the casualness of my life, polished adds that elevated and tailored touch to my looks. I’m only 5-feet tall, so I need to be mindful of fit and proportions.
Playful - This word is where I can inject some personality and “me” into my looks. I define this word as whimsical, feminine with a little weird thrown in there. I like to joke it’s my 2% Ms. Frizzle vibe.
Behind this paywall you’ll find:
My top 3 looks from the month and why I liked them the most.
My bottom 3 looks and the same reason they all looked off.
One big personal style “ah-ha!” moment I had last month!
Number of items I added and how much I spent on my closet last month. I did better staying on budget this month. Yay!
One category I think I need to add more to wardrobe and one I should stop buying—it’s big one.
Is there anything left on my spring wish list??
One item in my wardrobe I’m taking a break from and putting in storage.
Starting with my top three looks. This month it was hard to pick only three, which feels like a success! I liked a lot of my looks last month. One of my biggest ah-ha! personal style moments last month was realizing when my outfits feels blah it’s because its missing my third style word: playful. Understanding what constitutes playful in my outfit has really helped too. There are the more obvious elements like ruffles, prints, unique accessories and fun shoes, but it’s also texture and more color. I’m learning I really like my outfits to have texture in them, wether it’s the texture of a sweater, ruffled trim or a woven bag. Finding little ways to add texture, color instantly adds playfulness to my look, which makes the look feel complete.
Another mini ah-ha! moment I had last month was giving my jeans a break and working in more trousers. I’ve lived in jeans for years. They’re my comfort zone, but my trousers are literally more comfortable, but I’m not as versed with styling them. Cold weather where I live stretchs from September to April, my winter outfit formulas feel very redundant—jeans, sweater/cardigan and sneakers/boot. Adding 2 new made-by-me linen trousers in a scarlet red and deep plum color, along with hand-me-down floral trousers from my sister has unlocked a plethora of new outfit formulas for me!
Let’s chat about my top three looks (left to right):
I’m still obsessed with these ruffle bottom pants I made using the Lane pants pattern by Sydney Graham. I used a deep red linen fabric and added the ruffle bottom for Sydney’s video pattern hack. The pattern is super beginner friendly. I love the pants paired with my leopard mary janes* I got at the beginning of the year, but weather hasn’t been in my favor to wear them until last month. This outfit just feels like “me” with the pop of leopard, relaxed pants and, of course—a cardigan.
I forgot to take a photo with my shoes on, but I wore this look with a pair of snakeskin print Chelsea boots from Sezane*. I’ve always struggled finding a way to wear Chelsea boots as they are often visually heavy and very masculine with the thick soles, but paired with the feminine, flowy pants and cardigan really did the trick. I’ve actually been debating selling them, but I’m going to hold onto them to work into outfits again next fall and winter with the same principles.
This was fun outfit. I’ve never worn a sweater vest before, but found it thrifting earlier this year. It’s real vintage, was in excellent condition and a color I love—red. It’s sadly been sitting in my closet for months unworn because I was stumped as to how to wear it. I paired it with another thrifted top that I altered that has specs of dark blue and red in the gingham pattern. It was such a playful, happy outfit to wear. When I walked downstairs that morning in my outfit, my husband jokingly told me I looked like a substitute teacher and I said, “thank you very much” (lol). I laughed and then was like, heck yes, I’ll be Ms. Frizzle’s sub any day!
Onto the bottom three looks, which all had a similar theme of why they didn’t work (left to right):
Too many layers. I’ve been wanting to wear this thrifted faux leather coat since I found it a few months ago, but a leather coat can often make me feel very sleek and more badass than I am—haha. I think if I’d swapped the cream cardigan and brown tank top for just a simple crew neck cream sweater (which I don’t own, so many I should jot that onto my wishlist) the outfit would’ve felt less bulky and busy.
I’ve had this coat in my wardrobe for a few years and I like it, but I often think of donating it because it feels too big for my petite frame. The top part of the outfit feels too big and Converse to slim so the outfit lacks balance. I’m also not sure why I went with a brown belt and black shoes. Just not an outfit I loved on myself. It would’ve been better to swap the green coat for a cropped one and Converse for chocolate brown loafers (again not something I own, but should probably be on my wishlist cause I think I’d get a lot of mileage out of them).
I liked this outfit without the gray cardigan layer. We were going to the zoo that day and the weather was all over the place so I grabbed it last minute for added warmth. I ended up not needing it and think the look would’ve felt like bulky without it. Otherwise the look had a fun color combo I want to try again—bright red, deep brown and blues.
March Spending Report:
March I didn’t add too much to my wardrobe compared to February. I’ve been trying to aim for clothing spend around $200 each month, so in that way I was successful. My favorite addition to my closet was the Betty cardigan from Sezane* from their spring drop and the free navy gingham tote the came with it.
Sezane released this Betty cardigan several months ago with the embroidered trim, but it was black and cream. As a warm autumn color palette gal, black just isn’t my best color, so I didn’t buy it despite absolutely loving the piece. I went against my own purchasing rules of waiting 24 hours before buying the brown one. It was love at first sight. I have zero regrets and have worn it a few times already since it arrived. It’s perfection.
I’m also not one for free totes with purchase, but this one is a perfect navy gingham I’ll be using all year round. I actually love Sezane tote bags because they come in the best prints. I’m in my tote bag era with three little kids and my mini collection of Sezane’s free totes get a surprising amount of wear.
Spring Wishlist:
Reflecting on my spring wishlist there isn’t much I’m looking to buy, but I’m still thinking about those rose gold sneakers* and this Madewell bag*. I was smitten with it in green, but sadly it sold out in that color way. I have a semi-similar bag to it in brown, so I’ll let it sit on my wishlist a little longer and see if the green comes back.
I think until it’s actually summer weather, I’m going to focus purchases on accessories—shoes and jewelry. My wardrobe feels like it has a lot of clothes in it that I need to spend some time styling before adding new ones. Only clothing piece I could see adding is a basic boxy cropped ivory tee shirt I’m still on the hunt for.
Accessories I’m eyeing for warmer weather:
Freda Salvador cream and gold stud fisherman sandals*—I own the Jada flats and there are one of my most worn warm weather shoes that are insanely comfortable.
Margaux ecru woven leather The Demi ballerina flat*—I love everything about these, but not sure I would need these and cream fisherman sandals. I need to give it some thought.
A pair of flat back earrings* for my second ear piercing. I want something I can wear all day and night.
I love this red bead necklace* Anna shared, but its a bit out of my budget. I’m thinking I’ll try and make my own version after a stop at Michael’s.
The one accessory I’m putting in storage for awhile:
I have worn my navy Adidas Gazelles* multiple days a week for over a year now. These shoes definitely lived up to the hype, but I think I need to give them a rest and work in my lesser worn sneakers.
Overall, March feels a month where I’ve made a lot of progress learning to create outfits that feel like “me” and style a few lesser worn pieces in my closet. While I impatiently wait for spring to arrive I’ll style my beloved mary janes with some quirky Ms. Frizzle approved socks. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next week!
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