2012/09/12

The Style Quest - How to get started?


This post is a little bit different from the mostly craftsy projects I usually share with you on a day to day basis. Elsie from A Beautiful Mess recently wrote about a shift in her personal style and when I read that post I felt it really resonated with my own struggles in style at the moment. 

I feel that I've grown so much over the past year on a personal level - I changed my career path, I decided to go after my dreams, and I started to find happiness in the moment. I'm finally happy with where I am at the moment, and I'm even beginning to embrace my age and the positive side of being older than most of my schoolmates. This all has affected my perception of myself and therefor also my style.

I feel I don't quite dress according to what I feel inside, and where I am in life. I feel strongly that style is one way to express who we are, it's part of our identity. So, our outside should match our inside. It's as simple as that. Or is it?

I've come to realize that finding my voice when it comes to style is not as easy as I'd hope. My closet is full of clothing dating from my middle school years to the present. I have NO money to spend on new clothing right now. And, I've gotten used to dressing a certain way. So, how do I even begin to reshape my style without actually buying new clothing, and losing a sense of who I am?

When I started the Wardrobe reinvention series, my main goal was to make better use of my clothing, but it has led me on a quest for my own style. It's helped me see not only the potential of different garments I own, but also what I do and don't like on me and what I feel good in. But, it has also raised a lot of questions in me about my style. I feel that although I dress well most of the time, I'm stuck somewhere in my late teens/early twenties and can't get out of this style rut. 

So, in order to find my new style direction, I've designed a little program for myself, which will help me 

1) Get reacquainted with myself.
What are my signature traits? What do I want to express in my style?

2) Find out what I like and what looks good on me. 
Every trend is not to be followed by everybody, but I can find things I like from the current trends, and that look good on me.

3) Reinvent my wardrobe
What works for me and what doesn't? 

4) Create my ultimate shopping list
A list of things I need to add to my wardrobe to make it complete. And by shopping I mean sewing, refashioning from thrift-store finds and so on.

I hope to keep you in the loop and share my experiences here on the blog. 

Have you struggled with finding your personal style or with changing it? What helped you find it? Are any of you struggling with this at the moment? Please tell me all about it in the comments! I'd love to hear about your experiences with this.

2012/09/11

A little shoe makeover


This is my first ever shoe makeover. I have seen some great shoe transformations around the blogosphere and on Pinterest, but haven't tackled a single project thus far. Well, that's all about to change. Because once you take on that first project, you're hooked. And, it was pretty simple. Just some scissors and a few stitches. Now I'm thinking of new ways to make over the shoes I'm not wearing for one reason or another.

The problem with these flats was that they were super uncomfortable. I mean, they looked cute and all with the straps, very medieval/folksy/milkmaid style, but the straps just didn't stay where they were supposed to, and you couldn't tie it tight enough without cutting off your bloodstream. So, a fix was absolutely necessary to make them wearable. Here's the process real quick:


So, if you have a pair of shoes you just don't wear, take them out, put your thinking cap on and fix the problem.

(I also fixed the remote control of our building gate yesterday, so it seems I'm a fixer)

2012/09/10

Because You're Awesome!


I just wanted to let you all know that you are awesome! And that's why I'm giving you all 15% off of all orders from the Pearls & Scissors shop (the offer is good through the week, until Sunday night). Treat yourself to something pretty. Because you deserve it. Thanks for being here to enjoy the creative spirit, for reading this little blog, and for being you!

I know there's been way too much business talk here lately, but I promise there will be more fun projects to make, too.

xo Hanna
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