Willow’s World

Pre-pandemic Willow was exceedingly average in her sense of style. I did make an effort to dress well, but I ran into the small problem that I did not own many pieces of clothing that I actually enjoyed wearing. A lot of what I owned was handed down to me by my older sister, whose style was very different to mine, or purchased during the lovely developmental years of junior high. Needless to say, the pandemic was the kick in the behind I needed to upgrade my personal style. 

A few blogs ago I wrote about my favorite Youtubers. They have been a source of inspiration in both finding my personal style and convincing me to dive into the world of thrifting. I highly recommend thrifting over traditional retail shopping for many reasons. Thrifting is affordable, sustainable, and differentiates one from the sea of other people wearing the same sweater from Brandy Melville. I began thrifting in the spring of last year, at an event called Illinois Vintage Fest. 100+ vendors gathered in a muddy field in the middle of New Lenox and sold wannabe hipster teenagers like me vintage clothing. 

That event kickstarted my self-labeled style upgrade. Over the past year, I have realized that attempting to adhere perfectly to trends is exhausting and costly. What I find works best for me is to cherry-pick elements from popular trends and make them my own. This is the method I have used to solidify my closet staples. 

My first closet staple is bandannas, which started out as a bit of a happy accident. The cool Pinterest girls of the internet inspired me to take the plunge and try out my hand at styling them. I absolutely loved them. Other than their superb functionality on bad hair days, they are basically another accessory I can use to give some visual interest to my outfit. I have received SO many compliments on them too. My personal favorite bandanna experience though is definitely the number of different names people have called them. From head scarf, head wrap, doily, and head napkin, bandannas have both shielded my greasy hair from the world and given me a chuckle. 

My second closet staple is corduroy. Again influenced by the Pinterest algorithm, I caved in and bought my first pair of corduroy pants at the opening of a new vintage store. They were purple AND flared, I couldn’t say no, obviously. Thus, my corduroy obsession began. Corduroy in itself is a trendy fabric, but the larger “funky pant” movement has really carried the pants into a new era. No longer are just jeans, sweats, and leggings the norm. Corduroy is both a more comfortable and interesting option to good old blue jeans and looks just as put together. Since the purple pair, I have acquired 3 new cords in all different colors. My closet has never been more colorful, and I love it. 

Years ago when the only shopping I did was at normal stores, I was often scared to try out new colors because I didn’t want to feel like I wasted my money if I bought a forty or fifty dollar item and never wore it because I didn’t like the color. Thrifting allowed me to try out new colors without worrying about wasting my money. I began incorporating green into my wardrobe because it was trendy and I thought it would go with a lot of my existing pieces. Green has become a new core color in my closet, I am never looking back! 

Looking back at freshman year me admiring all the cool outfits the seniors were wearing, I think she would be proud 🙂