My 2017 Style Journey

Around this time last year I wrote a post all about the evolution of my style over the previous 12 months. It was a great way of looking back through the year, and really reminded me of how the way you’re feeling influences your outfit choices. It was tough to write too, because I had a tough year that year and it really showed through my posts, but it also reminded me of the things I’d struggled through and overcome, so it was cathartic in ways, so I thought I’d do the same for 2017! This year, it’s all gone a lot more positively. Things had just started to get better in December and the year really went from strength to strength – but that hasn’t meant it’s been any less unsettled. I made some big life changes this year, moving from the city to the country and finally having a place of my own again. I’ve been the happiest and most content I’ve ever been, and yet I’m also ever conscious of the rate at which life seems to be whizzing by, with my 35th Birthday just around the corner and wondering whether or not marriage and babies and all the things I imagined life would bring will happen. I’m in a funny old state of limbo these days – feeling like I’ve achieved so much, but still wanting so much more that is just that little bit out of reach right now – and as always, I think it shows in the way I dress, with my style choices being as eclectic as ever! One thing is for sure though – I take A LOT more outfit photos when I’m happy (and have a patient partner who is willing to act as photographer) – there were so many pics to look through this time around! So brace yourself for a review of 2017 in outfits….

There were plenty of outfits that were not surprising all. Just like last year, little dresses  with tights and boots featured heavily again:

Original posts: The Trouble With Tights // Schoolgirl Chic // Wearing White in Winter // Leather & Lace 

As did the 50’s style frocks and skirts – in fact there were a couple of months when it seemed as though all I wore were Lindy Bop dresses…!

Original posts: Vivacious Vivi // Going For the Hat-trick // The Cherry on Top // A Frock in the Fog // Tara, Remixed // Ice Cream Sunday

My old favourite prints were back with a vengeance. Polka dots in all varieties anyone?

Original posts: Polka Dot Pleats // The All Weather Skirt // Green Flash // Polka Dot Pants

And dressing like a sailor remained one of my favourite pastimes – that one isn’t going away any time soon methinks..!

Original posts: The Dilemma Dress // Accidental Roleplay 3 – Extreme Sailor

And of course, when getting all glammed up, the big skirt was queen, as always (as well as the old favourite ‘one leg out to one side’ pose it seems…):

Original posts: Reverting to Type // If It Aint Broke // Never Save For Best // Contradicting Myself Again

The skirts weren’t always big, though. 2017 seems to have been the year I really fell in love with a floaty midi:

Original posts: Life Before Denim // Bare Legs & Baby Blue // Vintage Merlot // Christmas Day // Think Pink

Particularly, it seems, if it came in the form of a floral wrap dress:

Original posts: Feeling Flamenco // It’s a Wrap

And I managed to trot out a whole array of frocks on holiday this year that didn’t make me look like a 50’s housewife…

Original posts: Last of the Summer Dresses // The Power of the Twirl // The Unexpected Dress of My Dreams

Though one or two did of course. I’m still me…!

Original posts: Collectif Janie Seashell Dress // Louche Kiah Lemon Dress

The biggest changes though? I found myself turning to trousers more and more for a more dressed up look. I’ve always gone with trousers and courts at work, but I was surprised to see that so many of my nights out featuring skinny jeans and killer heels!

Original posts: Dressy Dressed Down // Blue on Blue // 50 Shades of Purple // Blending In // Festive Red // NYE // Boxing Day // Subtle Sequins

And how did I do at that whole ‘getting better at casual dressing’ thing? Well, pretty good, actually! I found it was actually pretty easy to look smart yet dressed down with a nice pair of trousers or a pretty blouse. Or, you know, a nice scarf and the best wellies ever invented!

Original posts: The Day to Night Blouse // And Then the Rains Came // Spring Trousers // Not Quite Neon // Breaking the Myth

You can even look casual while rocking heels:

Original post: Surprise Colour Combos

Or even a dress:

Original post: Beautiful Birds

No – I have no idea why it took me so long to learn this, either!

But of course, the main thing that this year will be remembered for, style wise, is that embraced trainers. Not just in that I owned some – I’ve always owned a pair of trainers. But that I actually started to enjoy wearing them – just look at the range of different outfits I wore them with!

Original posts: The Perfect Autumn Cover Up // Down With the Kids (Or Not…) // Fickle Festival Fashion

So I guess if I learned anything this year, it’s probably that whether I’m down and restless or happy and carefree, my style is ever changing, and most importantly – that I’m ok with that. I used to think that having a signature style was something to aspire to – but while I still look at those effortlessly glamorous girls who can seemingly create a hundred gorgeous outfits from a tiny capsule of cleverly selected items – I kind of like that I’m a bit of a chameleon. I might not be the most together of girls, but what I wear really says something about how I’m feeling. Which takes me onto my favourite outfit of the year:

Original post: Overdressed As Usual

This was so much more than just an outfit to me. It was a dress I adored, and my new favourite shoes which, in case you hadn’t noticed, cropped up an awful lot this year – all the ingredients of an outfit that makes you feel great. But most of all, it’s the memories of the day which make me smile the most when I look at this picture. I wore it on one of our trips away, a few days in Somerset with Dan and the dog. We’d been there before in the days before we’d broken up, so it has always been a special place to me, but going back there after all we’d been through made it really special. The weather had just started to warm up and it had been a while since we had a break and we had the most wonderful time. I just love that you can see the happiness beaming from the photos in that post, and it’s something I’ll feel every time I wear this dress in the future. The whole post was about how the outfit was far fancier than a schlep through the countryside called for, but that I didn’t care, because the mood felt special anyway.

And with that, I seem to have unwittingly ended the post on the same point as last year, which is that part of the reason I love fashion so much is that it evokes such emotion – whether it’s a pair of shoes that give you the confidence to take on the day, or a dress that holds a special memory that you can feel like it were yesterday each time you pull it out of the wardrobe. Here’s to another year of outfits, and hopefully another year of special memories. May my fickle fashion tastes long continue!

Love,