Inspired By:

I find inspiration for my style from almost everything I come in contact with. The most tangible and easily accessible way for me to reinterpret this inspiration is through clothing. It would be fantastic if I were also able to apply my ideas to the space I live in, but unfortunately it's just not feasible. (ie: furniture etc. is expensive, thrift store finds risk beg-bugs in NYC, I'm not the only one living here, and there's the small issue of the 5 story walk-up.)

So for the time being, I stick to clothes.

I just attended an awesome Housing Works event called Buy the Bag, to which I was invited by NLP (one of my friends and old Managers from The Palm). Housing Works, apparently, has a warehouse full of donated clothing that never has a chance to make it to one of their brick and mortar locations. So, for this aptly named event, you go into the warehouse, rifle though thousands of items of clothing in what is similar to a sample sale on crack, fill up as many of the provided paper bags as you wish, and then buy the bags. Each bag cost $25, and I walked with two of them, stuffed to the brim with label and non-label clothing.

My favorite item, albeit slightly difficult to find a wearable purpose for, is this amazing sweater:

Sure, it's a little juvenile/ christmas-esque/ welcome to the 80's, but I love everything about it. From the sparkly bows, to the princess shoulders, it is perfect. Actually, I almost put this gem back because of it's impracticality, but NLP encouraged me to take it. Good call, NLP, good call.

Another great find were a pair of flared Citizens of Humanity jeans that I also have on in that sweater photo, although you can't see very much of them. I love the jeans, but I've been having a hard time figuring out how to wear them in a casual outfit. I haven't purchased a pair of bell bottom jeans since...let's see...my first year of college, seven years ago. I think it's safe to say that my style aesthetic has evolved since then, as has fashion itself (Skinny jeans?). So, not wanting to look like a high school version of myself, I needed a little inspiration on how to wear these. But where to find it? 

I was perusing What I Wore this morning, and came across this fantastically wearable outfit:

YAHOO! I'm not intimidated by these jeans anymore! And I'm also not in high school! I can totally reproduce this outfit in a way that is my own, and I am muy excited about it. I don't love every little thing about the look, but it feels accessible and, overall, looks good. Mission accomplished.

Now I just need to figure out a way to wear that sweater...