I’ve decided to make In Heavy Rotation a reoccurring thing here on the blog. You can find my fall post here: In Heavy Rotation: Current Casual Favorites. As I previously mentioned, my weekend outfits tend to be less remixing and more re-wearing. I typically have a favorite look that I grab time and time again and wear the items on repeat until I get sick of them and move on.
Here’s my current favorite:
I apologize for the crappy photo. I didn’t realize it wasn’t super crisp and clear until I was working on this post and I’m too lazy to change out of sweatpants to take a new photo when the sunroom is 20 degrees today…
The Flannel
In the past, I’ve had issues with every flannel shirt I’ve tried. The buttons would pull at the bust or it would be super boxy and I’d look like a lumberjack. You guys, I’m obsessed with this flannel shirt. I bought it secondhand for $10 and its Chaps brand. It’s a couple sizes up from what I typically wear, super thin, very soft AND a rainbow of colors!
The Jeans
I thrifted these Chico’s boyfriend jeans a few years ago and LOVE them so much. They’re the perfect amount of fitted in the waist and thighs, but more of a straight leg once you hit the knees. With that being said, these are totally an anomaly. They are my ‘wrong’ size according to Chico’s and when I ordered a pair of their current boyfriend jeans, they fit totally different. So, I’ll just have to love this pair for as long as they last. I like them with a little cuff at the ankle and I’ve been wearing them super often.
The Boots
I’ve shared my Taos Crave combat boots before – I bought them secondhand for $65 (retail price $220) – and I’ve been wearing them pretty much daily since I made that purchase. I have a black pair and a burgundy/eggplant colored pair (that I also bought secondhand) and they are both in heavy rotation. They are a perfect combo of hearty for cold weather and stylish enough to go with everything from jeans to skirts. I even wore them to work with a pair of black tights last week (proof here).
Now that we are past the holidays and into a new year, I thought it would be fun to put together a Winter Style Inspiration post similar to the one I did for the fall (you can find it here: My Fall Style Inspiration).
Some things that are inspiring me right now:
Sources: Anthropologie.com and BananaRepublic.com
With the chilly weather I’m embracing luxe fabrics like velvet, corduroy and comfy knits. I’m also really feeling the jewel colors like burgundy, hunter green and deep blue right now. I plan to try to shop my closet and create some different combos, including some more interesting layering options.
Here’s my first crack at it from yesterday’s outfit:
I started with my pleated velvet skirt and added on an abstract knit linen sweater. I also pulled this leather wrap belt from the back of my closet to add a little cinching. It was only 18 degrees outside in the morning, so I’m also wearing fleece-lined tights, wool socks and my Taos combat boots to keep my toes warm. It’s kind of got a ‘kooky art teacher’ vibe and I’m cool with it. As an added bonus, everything other than the unders is secondhand!
Shopping my closet: As much as I love that sequin skirt in the inspiration photo, it’s $150 at Banana Republic and full price… so nope. Instead, I’m planning to pull out some items from my closet that haven’t seen the light of day in a while:
Velvet: I have a few different velvet items, including a black velvet dress, brown velvet tank top, black velvet midi skirt (seen above), floral velvet midi skirt and a dark green velvet blazer. I want to do some more mix-and-match looks with knits, tights and boots for cozy, but luxe, office looks.
Corduroy: I have three pairs of straight legged corduroy pants in my closet that I’ve accumulated over the years: burgundy, dark blue and dark gray. They all are super comfortable and fit well, I just tend to reach for dresses and skirts more often than pants. I want to grab these a little more often this winter before they get packed away again in the spring.
Comfy knits: I recently purchased a camel-colored cashmere v-neck sweater from Quince (not FROM Quince, but from Poshmark for less than half the price, naturally) and I’m excited to try it with my wardrobe. I also have a variety of other sweaters that I’ve thrifted over the years ranging from cardigans to v-necks to crew necks. They don’t get enough love, so I plan to work through them this winter to determine which ones get to stay and which will be donated/sold.
Surprise blog post! I was planning to take the whole week off, but then decided to throw together a post on my trip to Anthropologie yesterday.
I had a return to make, so obviously I had to check out their “Sale on Sale” section! Right now, ANYTHING on sale at Anthropologie is an extra 40% off the sale price.
With that being said, the in-store sale selection is nowhere near as robust as the online sale section. One of my Instagram friends said that when they checked out their store, there was basically tumbleweed blowing through. So, if you’re in the mood to sale shop, you may want to do it online and then just return what doesn’t work for you.
Also, I didn’t include any item links because all three items I tried are sold out and gone from the website. However, they are adding items daily, so it’s possible they may pop back up at some point!
Here’s what I found on my in-person store stop:
Smocked Maxi Dress
Size worn: large
Price: $325 marked down to $180 and another 40% off for $108
So, I’m calling this dress the “nap dress” because it is very obviously Anthro’s copy of the super popular nap dresses from Hill House. Much more expensive though… because Anthropologie. {sigh} I hadn’t tried on a nap dress though and heard that they were universally flattering, so I gave this one a try. I have to admit, the smocking around the bust made the top fit very well before releasing into a billowing tiered skirt (my favorite kind!). However, the fluffy sleeves were a little odd when trying to layer a sweater over them.
Pros: This would look super cute with a denim jacket over it and I love that it had pockets. The fit was also nice and the fabric was very soft.
Cons: I would have to wear a different bra so that my straps fit better under the sleeves. Also, nap dresses had SUCH a moment and were so trendy that this may seem super outdated next summer. I prefer more ‘timeless’ clothes.
Somerset Maxi Dress
Size worn: large
Price: $180 marked down to $100 and another 40% of for $60
I lied, they actually do have this in black in both large and XL online right now and here is the link. Anyways, I grabbed this in both an XL and a Large because they had both sizes on the rack and it’s nice to have options when you’re half naked in a dressing room. The large ended up being the better fit for me and I’d guess that it’s consistent with a 10/12 size. The XL seemed closer to a 16 and had plenty of room for curves. The velvet is just the right amount of weight and would look nice with flats/heels if you were being more dressy or boots/tights for a more day-to-day styling.
Pros: Yes, I know it’s burgundy/wine colored crushed velvet, but I’m thinking this would be so cute styled for the office. I can see it with a denim jacket (of course), but also with a v-neck sweater over it tucked into a belt so that it looked more like a skirt than a dress. I like that you can stick leggings and knee-high boots underneath to keep you warm and nobody would be the wiser. In fact, in the photo I’m still wearing my straight legged jeans and boots under the dress…
Cons: If you don’t style it right, it will end up looking very Christmassy. However, I think by mixing in other pieces from my closet I can nudge it more towards ‘winter’ than Christmas.
Criss-cross sweater
Size worn: XL
Price: $80 marked down to $50 and another 40% of for $30
I wish I could find this online, because I really liked it but all they had was an XL in the store. I’ve been calling this the criss-cross sweater because the front wraps around and you can adjust it to be as low or high as you’d like. It’s super soft and the texture of the weave was very nice. I tried it over both the dresses, as well as my t-shirt I wore that day (not pictured). I liked the way it looked with the dresses, but needed to size down so that it was less bulky. A medium probably would have been perfect.
Pros: Super soft with an interesting drape. Would go well over dresses and also looks nice paired with jeans.
Cons: The oversized look was super cute with jeans, but just looked kind of frumpy with the dresses. Too bad they didn’t have it in a smaller size because it would have come home with me!
I put up a poll on my Instagram stories and the majority guessed right… I bought the velvet maxi dress! I will absolutely be wearing this to work sometime in January, so you’ll be seeing it styled soon.
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