Serving Looks & Reading Books: Thrifted outfits and a 90s chick lit novel
01: Using the Indyx app to catalogue my wardrob, a head-to-toe thrifted date night outfit in Palm Springs, JoJo's memoir, and A Desirable Residence.
What’s my motto? Serving looks and writing books, baby! Or in this case, reading. Here’s what I’ve been wearing day-to-night and devouring cover-to-cover lately.
Serving looks:
Cataloging my wardrobe
A few days ago, I started using Indyx to catalogue my closet. First, I downloaded Whering and while it was also very useful and easy to navigate, it wasn’t my style. And isn’t that what these apps are all about? Honing in on your personal style. Curating your closet. Wearing your wardrobe.
What do I mean by it wasn’t my style? Bright pink, lime green, a little too in-your-face aesthetic for me. And that’s not to say that it’s not a great app. Personally, I just found I resonated with the muted tones of Indyx’s app more: browns, beige, black, simple sans serif fonts. The only thing Indyx is missing is a shuffle option. I think I saw that on Whering. So, the app could build outfits for you.
For example, if I wanted to wear a head-to-toe thrifted outfit (like the one below) I could choose that tag and then the app would create outfits based on items in that category. I love styling outfits myself, but sometimes a little help is nice. I’d be curious to see what the app would pair together that I wouldn’t have thought of right away.
In the above photo, I’m wearing a thrifted DKNY sleeveless wool top, vintage Levi’s, a Jacquemus hat from their New York store opening, and carrying my half moon bag from The Row.
A thrifted date night outfit
When we fled to Palm Springs during the worst of the LA wildfires, my husband and I had the chance to go out for one toddler-free dinner. The catch? I had literally nothing to wear. Well, if we were heading out for a fast food date night, then I suppose my sweats and slides would’ve worked. But we were more in the mood for nachos and margaritas. So, I hit up the local thrift store on Indian Canyon and bought a head-to-toe outfit for $30. Read all the details here.
Butter yellow, baby
This colour is everywhere. If you’ve somehow missed it, then you need to buy a loaf of bread, put a slice in the toaster, and get ready to spread some smooth, pale-yellow butter on it. (Bonus if it’s salted.) I got this vest when I was out shopping at Goodwill with my mother-in-law a few weeks ago. The colour and leather sucked me in—but I wasn’t so sure about the little peplums. I might not go as far as to say I’m revolted by peplums, but they’re up there with my distaste of wedge sneakers. Putting that trend trauma behind me, I decided that for $10 it was a worthwhile “investment” for the season. See all of the spring trends I thrifted here.
Monochromatic denim to meet Big Sean
LA is crazy: one minute you’re aimlessly scrolling on social media and the next you’re stumbling upon a post about Big Sean’s book signing just down the street from you. Of course, we weren’t gonna pass up the opportunity to go. Once tickets were secured, an outfit needed to be procured. I went with dark denim and a thrifted leather moto jacket on top with The Row’s half moon bag and Coperni Bridge boots. Read more about my outfit here.
Reading books:
I currently have two books on-the-go: Over the Influence by JoJo and A Desirable Residence by Madeleine Wickham.
Over the Influence
I’ve been a fan of JoJo since I was dressing in Baby Phat and listening to Leave (Get Out) on my Discman. In other words: middle school. It was interesting to get a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes drama that surrounded JoJo after the release of her two hit albums. It was also heartbreaking to read about the trauma she’d been through. My mother was also an alcoholic (although she’d never admit it) and some scenarios that JoJo wrote about unfortunately reminded me a lot of my own upbringing.
One thing that really shocked me was JoJo talking about not loving—or even liking—a lot of the songs she released. It was up to the label, and what they said went. Up until reading that, I (perhaps naively) thought that artists would at least get to choose songs that resonated with them in some way. This revelation has me questioning every song I hear now: did this singer want to release this song? Do the lyrics mean something to them? Is it strictly strategy?
A Desirable Residence
I love reading books from the 90s. Especially ones that I’ve read before. Yes, I like discovering new books from that decade too, but did you know it’s actually good for your mental health to read books you love over again? A few months ago, I was at The Last Bookstore with one of my girlfriends and I wandered into the W section looking for old books by Sophie Kinsella—under her real name, Madeleine Wickam. I was in luck: A Desirable Residence and The Wedding Girl were sitting right there and they were only $5 each!
Of course, I scooped them up, swinging my bag of new-but-old books from the crook of my arm while I finished an iced latte and walked back to my car. Not only is it comforting to know that the book you’re about to read is one that you actually like, it’s extremely helpful to roughly know the story beforehand. Why? Well, as a busy mom of twin toddlers, I don’t have nearly enough spare time to read. Sometimes it’s days—maybe weeks—before I can grab a book and pick up where I left off. So, being familiar with the story helps me just right back in and not be going “huh?” the whole time.
Next up on my reading list: All the Rage by Darcy Lockman.