Only sexy didn’t come easy to me. I love layering. I love neck scarves. I also really dislike being cold, which I ultimately realized standing in line at a club, nearly-naked, in the dead of Winter. “You can’t bring your coat,” my ex warned me, as I stared at it, longingly, in the back seat of the car. “No one’s wearing a coat.”
I was constantly struggling to find a balance between what was acceptable, excusing myself to the bathroom to take off tights (like I did with the outfit pictured) or borrowing items from my roommate when my own clothes seemed too covered-up. I just couldn’t stick to the basics. I had to add more — a blazer or a headband — which would later garner curious looks and jokes from my ex and his friends.
What likely ended my sad style saga was a combination of things. One, my relationship was totally unstable — full of fights and constant breakups — that my ex’s opinion began to matter less and less. It was also at a time when fashion blogs began getting popular, so I started my own small Wordpress and felt inspired to pull together quirky looks that, once again, expressed my personal taste. Lastly, I started interning in fashion and saw zero cutout, chain-connected shirts sitting on the racks and more of the fun (but probably less sexy) pieces I was into, like drop-crotch pants and desert boots. (Admittedly, 2010 wasn’t exactly the most stylish time).
