How to Dress City in the Country and Country in the City
I was born in the East, but destined for the West. When I started traveling West, I brought my Eastern fashion sense with me. Now, when I travel back East, I bring with me my Western approach to living. The styles of both the East and West live within me.
The Looks.
In this carousel, I wear a Zara denim jumpsuit re-fashioned with vintage gold buttons that feature the zodiac wheel and were found at a local (western) antique store. (They were meant for me.) Do not be afraid of a few easy tweaks like this to customize your pieces. Sometimes, I will add vintage, indigenous-symbol etched, silver button covers to the buttons on my crisp white button-ups to bring forth a creative energy in what might otherwise be a boring uniform look. I like button covers because they do not require you to permanently change the buttons on a shirt. It’s a quick hack to switch up the outfit, and there is an endless variety of button covers to choose from. Ebay offers some spectacular finds - especially large gold and jeweled pieces from the 80’s.
The jumpsuit is then paired with knee-high, supple leather boots and leather sandals I have had since 2011-13. The purse I hold in my hands is from around 2015 or 16. Often, I have thought about selling these pieces because I no longer value their brand, and there is not much need for them within my current lifestyle, but they are in reliable colors and shapes and have been pulled many times for my portrait shoots. They stay in my collection because they work for me.
Your clothing should work for you, not the other way around. If you find yourself trying to convince your heart (intuition) with justifications as to why a piece will work, why you should keep it, how you’ll use it, and so on…you’ve already lost the battle. You are now emotionally working to buy or keep the piece. Give yourself permission to release it and feel relief.
The second outfit is my go-to uniform of a jean, T, and boot (or sandal) during the warmer months. When I am working at school, I add a belt to this uniform and keep the shaft of any knee-high boot hidden under my pants. A pair of earrings then finishes the look.
I don’t wear much more than earrings…and maybe a ring or bracelet that matches, but it’s just not me to wear much jewelry, even if stacking and layering is trending. Though I wouldn’t be opposed to owning a few more pieces for when dressing up (which is never, but for these styling carousels, ha!), in the day-to-day, I don’t want to be encumbered. I don’t want my jewelry to be damaged during my going-abouts at school either.
Your Personal Style, Your Rules.
Something I’ve been reflecting on much this summer is my internal programming to follow the rules and perform an activity in the way that has been shown to me. Now, this can be helpful if I am trying to achieve a specific result, like following the step-by-step tutorial for some fancy gastronomic recipe, or sticking to a precise training plan so that I can reach a personal best in a running time. But for the stuff that brings me true joy, that I’m not looking to be the best at (I could care less about 'competition’), and that I do for me — no one else — I don’t have to do the thing like anyone tells me to do it. I don’t have to follow trends, algorithms, influencers, and popular approaches to work, life, art, and business. Rather, I can play, explore, experiment, follow my intuition, make it up as I go along... For example, if I want to wear a fitted cardigan with skinny jeans and a ballet flat (how very 2010’s) in 2025, I damn well can. There is a way to make it look chic. Try me.
In these summer carousels, I’m not aiming to make the best of the best outfits in the most enviable of locations. I’m practicing putting clothes together in a space around my house that has exceptional light so that I can see what I like and what I don’t, refine my personal style, and challenge my creative eye. Big brands and the media outlets/influencers they do business with tell us we need more and more and more to be stylish. Rarely do we need more. (There are always exceptions.) For those of us who have our basic needs met and then some, what we need is to be content, confident, and creative with what we own right now.
