How My Style & Wardrobe Have Evolved in 2020

by | Jan 22, 2021 | Shopping Tips | 4 comments

Well it’s been quite a year hasn’t it. Now that we are through 2020, I’ve been able to sit back and do some evaluation of what I purchased, how I wore my clothes and what are my goals for 2021. This unusual year has also affected how I work with my clients. I converted almost everything from in-person to Zoom and it worked surprisingly well. But I found myself rephrasing my questions and asking new clients to think of what things were like BEFORE the pandemic and then answer it for present day. It took some adjusting for all of us. I also worked with a number of clients who had to adjust to working at home and how that looked. Whether you are back at work in an office, still working from home or doing some of each, I think it will be helpful to go through a similar process as I’ve done here.

In fact, I’m planning to take this post and use the bullet points for future content so stay tuned. I’ll also follow up with my Goals for 2021 to give you ideas for that.

In the fall I did a post/video encouraging you not to OVER edit your closets based on what you haven’t worn in 2020.

  1. I Look and Feel BETTER when I get dressed for the day. I have been “preaching” this since the beginning of the pandemic because so many of us stayed in Pajamas or work-out clothes the entire day (myself included) After a few weeks of being very unproductive, I decided enough was enough. I actually did some research and found so many articles that support the productivity theory. For me the structure and a routine worked well. Life seemed more normal even if I simply walked downstairs to my office every day and worked. There is a great deal of psychology involved here and I even learned a term called Enclothed Cognition which is the psychological effect clothing has on a way a person feels, thinks and functions. Who knew?
  2. Casual Shoes with a focus on Slip on or Lace up Sneakers. I’m still really enamored with this style and all the options. Once the weather turned colder I also wore my slippers. I wear them so much I really have had to rotate a couple of pairs as they seem to wear out more quickly than shoes. The various booties I own hardly got any wear this year.
  3. Denim/ Joggers vs Yoga Pants. I have really comfortable jeans so I wore jeans almost every day. I have lots of denim and I really like it all. I also added a couple of pairs of jogger pants by Vuori which are absolutely THE BEST in my opinion. I have them in black and gray. I wore them a lot.
  4. Skin. I paid more attention to my skin than even before. I would put some of my regular night time treatments on during the day when I knew I wasn’t going anywhere. And many days I went through my routine and put on makeup which leads back to Number #1. I simply felt better. Since skincare is one of the legs of my business, I was surprised how many women told me. “I don’t need skincare because I’m not wearing makeup right now”. Sorry to be blunt, but even if you’re not wearing makeup or going anywhere your skin needs to be cleansed and treated daily if you want to fight the signs of aging!!If you are interested in learning more about Clean Beauty and starting a new routine or perfecting the one you presently have, you can sign up for a FREE BEAUTY CONSULT.
  5. Coats and jackets. This is a favorite part of my wardrobe. I love a casual jacket as a 3rd piece and it completes the outfit. Yet, at home I didn’t wear my jackets. And since I wasn’t going out and about my Outwear Capsule certainly didn’t need any updating. Because I love coats and toppers, I bought several at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. They all went back. It just wasn’t practical for me to add these this year. I have plenty. I found that sweaters were a better option at home. It was the brainstorm for the the layout below.
  6. Hair. Many of you decided it was a great time to let your natural color shine through. Hats off to you! Pun intended. Some of you grew out your style when the hair salons closed for months. With short dark hair, this was probably my biggest challenge. I snipped at my hair and eventually received some extra help from my hair stylist so I was fortunate. I didn’t grow it into a new style. I was starting to think about growing out my bangs until I took a nasty fall before Christmas and now am sporting a scar on my forehead. My new hair style will likely just be parting it on the other side! I’m curious to know if you have a new color or grew yours into a different style this past year. Let me know in the comments!
  7. Manicure/Pedicures. I don’t do anything to my nails. I’ve gone in streaks over the years, but it’s just not something that has been a priority the last couple of years. I didn’t miss that, but I know many of you did. I did miss the pedicures. It’s one of my favorite things. I’m managed to have a couple pedicures again lately. It’s still a treat every time. If you get your nails done on a regular basis was it hard to give it up for a few months?
  8. Jewelry. It’s another leg of my business. I wore jewelry every day. As I said. Why not? Necklaces and earrings were my go-to and sometimes it was fun to create a bracelet stack for a photos. But I really tend to wear more bracelets when I go out vs working at home. At any rate, I liked coming up with new jewelry and outfit combinations on a daily basis and found the right mix that was practical.
  9. Handbags/Totes/Travel Bags My handbags have definitely gotten smaller and that trend continues. My totes didn’t get as much use as I often took my work on the go. That didn’t happen this year, but it will again. And even though our trips by airplane were cut dramatically, many of us traveled by car for a quick weekend or longer. I re-worked some of my packing techniques this year and that came in handy and will be useful in the future as well. This will be a separate post for sure down the road.
  10. Lip Color. I’m sure you’ve all read how lipstick sales dropped in 2020 because more lip color got on our masks that stayed on the lips. I soon got in the habit of putting a clear lip moisturizer on before going somewhere, but I did wear lip color for my photos and videos.

I hope you enjoy giving this some thought. Note the word enjoy. Thinking about all of this is not meant to be stressful. You will likely have different thoughts and your categories may be different. I just chose 10 categories that stood out to me because of how they had changed this year. Next post I’ll cover my goals.

One of the goals for the blog specifically this year is featuring more layouts. I have decided to start with a theme of formulas. I’ve seen formulas used different ways. But when I think of a formula I think of it as taking some basic wardrobe elements, repeating them but adding other components to make it look different.

Most of us have a black cardigan of some kind, denim, and a chambray denim shirt. I would refer to this as a basic formula. Then you change it up with accessories. In this case I chose animal print: Leopard or snakeskin. These prints provide interest –often texture and color. I gave options below. I wouldn’t necessarily do ALL at the same time, but change it up. Various colors could be added to this formula instead of the animal print if you’re not a fan. I also added a metal referred to as “pale gold”. It isn’t the bright gold and in some light can look silver. It’s the perfect option for all of you silver lovers not ready to branch out into traditional gold.

Black cardigan// Chambray shirt//Shoes//Belt//Denim//Cross-body//Earrings//Necklace//