Delighting in the mess
An outfit formula for easeful dressing
Mess. It’s something I’ve been thinking about, my perceived sloppiness in appearance—a feeling of unkemptness, can’t be bothered with polished nails, don’t feel like getting dressed, let it all hang out-ness—and in my space, home, the places I’ve stayed at over the past six weeks of travel.
Clothes piled on top of the brown vintage suitcase that decorates the left corner of my apartment, clothes moved back and forth between my white wooden chair and the foot of my bed, clothes exploding from my suitcase, making me wonder how something so contained, the garments I so carefully folded up into pouches and meticulously placed into my green rolling bag, have taken over the space.
The juxtaposition of the contained and not fascinates me—I take photos of it, the clothes hanging neatly in my closet, then later sprawled across the room. I let myself be in the dishevelment, a state I’m finding delight in.
From this mess springs ideas.
At the beginning of June, I did a Wardrobe Styling with my friend Adrian. I went through her entire closet, clothes piling up on every surface of her living room, and from it, styled over 20 outfits. This one being a favorite.
It’s minimal, cool, sexy. I want that.
The Wardrobe Styling of Adrian got me dressing again. A few days later, I put together the first outfit that excited me in weeks for an event my friend
hosted for .
It’s an outfit inspired by a woman I’d seen the day before, slinking by a coffee shop in Clinton Hill, that I later realized was referencing a memory of an InStyle editorial I’d saved from December 2017.
I like it because of the ease, the garments oozing over the body. I can be hot, I can be sweaty, and it adds to the look because the “mess” balances out what would make me feel a little too precious, done. This outfit becoming a guide for the rest of my June, looks for sun-kissed skin, hair that in it’s natural state.
They’re made with a simple formula, looks you can make your own with things already hanging in your closet. Enjoy x
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