I was listening to popular radio the other day on a quick errand in the car1 when a new song from an enormously popular singer came on. As I listened I recalled that when she released the album this song was on, I wasn’t much impressed with the music, like I usually am by this artist. (Am I being vague enough to not get doxxed by fans? I hope so).
I thought about how this artist has 11 albums and is dropping new music at a rapid pace but my favorite music were on albums 4, 5 and 6 and I never even listen to those anymore because there is just.so.much.music.
I realized that if we aren’t careful, our closets can end up like this too. We can continue to buy new items (drop new music) but in doing so we are distracting from past favorites that get shoved to the bottom of the pile.
For whatever reason, in my minds’ eye, I had this image of A. E. Dougglas, the pioneer of tree-ring dating, standing in front of a cross-section of a giant sequoia.
Our closet is a little bit like tree-rings where each item might mark a piece of our past. It happens like this; I found a scarf I wore circa 2014 on my first trip to Paris. Imagine me in skinny jeans, Sam Edelman booties, a trapeze top from Madewell, an obligatory utility jacket and this scarf, I am THE picture of the times.
Just like the singer I mentioned, I have gone through some style eras.
I had an Anthropologie era after graduating college. There was my J.Crew era packed full of cardigans and statement necklaces. I spent time in a Piperlime era (anyone remember that?) before landing HARD in a Madewell era. This evolution took place in 10 or so years before I started having kids and my personal style journey didn’t even really begin until that was done.
What follows is photographic evidence for which I need everyone to be kind to me.
And while some of these pictures make me cringe a little, mostly I see them and I’m transported back to the exact time and place I was when they were taken. I’ve always loved clothes and I’ve always expressed myself through what I’m wearing. I like dressing with what is popular at the time because I believe wearing what is trending speaks to my knowledge of fashion. My kids probably won’t be saying that had timeless style but hopefully they will clock that I was always participating in the thing I love (fashion).
In most of these pictures I had much, MUCH, less money to spend on clothes so I shopped VERY carefully and then, everything I did buy, I wore threadbare. In fact, I still have the Madewell leather tote from the above pictures and it is worn to shit but I will never, ever get rid of it because it went all over the world with me and I have a thousand memories of it on my shoulder (plus it’s a great bag).
All that being said, the singer who I’m referring to has also evolved in musical tastes. What started out country moved into pop, experimented with electro-pop and indie/alternative pop. With each album shift the singer also changes her personal persona, dressing in the same vibe of her albums.
Just like no one is holding her to a specific musical genre, we don’t have to keep ourselves from evolving out of something. I love this quote from Jonah Weiner in his piece “Why Are Pants So Big (Again)?” from The New York Times which I found via
.Trousers that struck me as audaciously large yesterday looked correct today. By tomorrow I would wonder if they weren’t actually a bit close-clinging.
The reality is that our tastes are evolving (with the help of brands/social media/etc.) telling us what is “in” and what is “out.” I wouldn’t want someone holding me to my tastes of 10 years ago. However, there is a respect for our past that shouldn’t be sacrificed at the altar of trends. And when I looked back to pull these pictures I realized that I did a pretty good job buying pieces that I might still wear today if I hadn’t covered them up with so.many.other.clothes. I’ve got to track down that utility jacket.
The encouragement here is to let yourself grow and evolve through your style-eras but also, perhaps, to enjoy each era and thoughtfully shop so that when you add a ring to your tree, you are also buying for the future.2
On another note; one year ago I created my Substack (regretfully called Any Given Day). I was on a subpar vacation with my in-laws3 and decided that I would take my love of the Khaite Benny Belt to the internet posting about my search for a dupe. Hilariously my content has evolved so much AND I bought THE belt (no regrets!).
I have told the story in bits and pieces across this platform, but I went to journalism school in 2007 hoping to work for a fashion magazine in New York City after graduating. In my Journalism 101 class, the professor told the room how traditional media was dying so we’d better be prepared to pivot to digital platforms. Unfortunately so much of journalism school did not actually know what the future of journalism would look like therefore the blind were leading the blind.
Needless to say, I changed my degree tract to public relations and worked in PR (and adjacent) until I had my first kid in 2017. Starting a Substack newsletter felt cathartic for the 18 year old me who always wanted to get to write.
I am so, so thankful to all the people who have subscribed as readers and for the fellow substackers who have supported my writing and helped my newsletter grow. A massive thanks to
(who was the first person who REALLY championed me), (whose style I admire deeply), , , and for tagging me or recommending my newsletter to your readers. I’m thankful for the internet friends I’ve made and I hope that this newsletter can continue to be as fun to read as it is for me to write.WHO listens to the radio these days?!
Especially since we all know time is a flat circle and the trends that leave us will return too
And I’m sitting in the space spot now that I was when I hit publish the first time
I AM SO MOVED! I can’t believe that’s true and I just was (and am) so grateful to find you. But this means so much to me! Congratulations, and here’s to many more — more writing, joy, whatever you want, and even eating the whole damn baguette 😘
Piperlime, the ubiquitous army jacket, going out tops and more — there is nothing that has not shaped who we are from what we wore. And letting it pile up in the closet, as you beautifully captured here, is like staying the same. We evolve as we edit what we wear ... and vice versa. And we are thankful for the memories along the way.