Gloomy Weekend Vibes
In a manner only fitting for the first weekend back in lockdown, it was gloomy and rainy much of Saturday and all of Sunday. I saw the empty streets and cloudy skies as an invitation to shoot a moody rainy day look consisting of all black. And because everyone else was spending the day inside, I didn’t even once have to fend off unwanted attention from weirdos!
To add a bit of visual interest while sticking within the same hue, I combined a range of materials and textures, pairing femininity with edginess to strike the right balance of both. I find I feel most like myself when dressing right at that intersection, teetering just between those two ends of the spectrum. In fact, this tightrope-walking is what inspired the slash symbol in ‘bird \ cityyy’. When asked to describe my personal style it’s always some sort of amalgam of adjectives or people with whom I identify anchored by that slash, e.g. elegant slash grunge or Rumi Neely slash Nancy Sinatra. It’s in that slash that I find the essence of what defines my sense of style.
Putting it into practice, it manifests in a signature look that’s largely comprised of the same rough formal: short skirt/dress/shorts + heels/boots + a hodgepodge of layered mixed metal jewelry/accessories + a statement/cool jacket. As you can see, that’s precisely what ensued on Saturday when I began to get dressed. Never mind that I had absolutely no where to go…
Anyway, I thought this lace-trimmed slip dress needed a little roughing up, so I added the black + silver belt and black + gold cutout booties (which I ordered over a month ago but was so excited when they finally came this week) + a tangle of necklaces et al and voila.
Outfit details: gifted non-labeled dress (from my friend Brenda!); ASOS belt; ASOS coat (mine is v. old but similar and similar; Jessica Buurman shoes; the usual stockpile of jewelry.
