Category: Fashion

My Style: February 2025

Whew, February flew past in a haze of cold and snow and ice. When it comes to style, I had mostly casual outfits again this month where my main goal was to keep warm. However, with daylight’s savings time right around the corner and potentially warmer weather on the horizon, I’m feeling hope that I’ll find my spark again soon.

Office outfits:

You guys, I LOVE my new job. And one of the most wonderful perks is that they are enthusiastic about remote work, so I really only have to go into the office if I have a REASON to go into the office. The first outfit (on the right) was warm and comfortable for a lunch meeting with my boss. The second outfit (on the left) was winter fabulous for a morning meeting, followed by an office visit. I typically don’t wear blazers (unless I’m interviewing), but I loved the black fitted blazer paired with the tulle skirt so much!

And here are a bunch of my more casual looks from the month:

Apparently I was loving my berry colored v-neck this month… or it was on top of the drawer, so I kept reaching for it!

I actually have three NEW items this month that I bought at actual stores and not secondhand. I shared the black wide-leg jeans in the top middle photo here and I wore them a couple times this month. I also bought the cropped plaid shacket (bottom middle photo) and the red sneakers (bottom right photo) on a TJ Maxx trip. The shacket was only $6 and that outfit is totally a 2025 version of 1995 Joules. As for the red sneakers, in addition to being super cute, they are surprisingly comfortable! They will get plenty of wear between my casual outfits and our neighborhood walks.

New vs Secondhand Tally

It’s another upset this month with more retail items than thrifted. I count 11 items that I purchased retail and 10 items I purchased secondhand.

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February Thrift Haul

Yay, it’s thrift haul time again and this time I’m asking for your help! But before we get to that, let’s start with the haul. This month, I had two opportunities to go thrifting – the first time I found one sweater, and the second haul was a little more exciting. Let’s check them out.

Land’s End Drifter cardigan, $5.99

Here’s the first sweater I thrifted. It’s a Land’s End Drifter sweater, which my research led me to believe that “Drifter” is their brand that is specifically 100% cotton sweaters. Which is exactly why I picked this up! I’ve been trying to add more natural fiber sweaters to my closet and this 100% cotton version is the perfect amount of chunky, but not super oversized. I’ve already worn this a few times and I LOVE it!

Smokey Bear Bandana, $1

This vintage bandana was too adorable to pass by. Based on internet research and hand-feel, it appears to be cotton/linen and could have been printed anywhere from the 1960’s – 1990’s. I just think it’s awfully cute, so I had to have it. I’m not sure if I’m going to wear it in my hair/around my neck, tie it on the handle of a purse, or just put it somewhere and admire it. But it’s much more than $1 of happiness, so I’m calling it a win.

MCM California Pottery 2-tier tray, $4.49

You guys, I am OBSESSED with this yellow swirly tray. It has the makers mark “MH 73 USA” on the bottom and rather than meaning 1973, it appears that this is a California Pottery MCM tray from the 1950’s or 1960’s. Which is no surprise, because I LOVE MCM pottery and décor. My initial thought was that this will end up in my office, because it looks so cute with my wallpaper, but it may move around the house a bit before it finds it’s home.

Okay, now the fun part – I picked up both of these dresses over the weekend, which means I have 7 days to decide if I’m keeping them or if they will be returned. I did a little styling video here that you can check out if you’d like to help me decide:

Nordstrom Rack linen dress, $14.99

The first is this linen dress with a drawstring waist from Nordstrom Rack. It still has the Nordstrom Rack tags attached (with the price ripped off), so it’s brand new. I found it on their website and it looks like it was sold the summer of 2022. Anyways, It’s super soft linen and I really like the drawstring waist. I’m thinking this can be a good addition to my closet for summer weekend wear and for work with a cardigan. So, leaning towards keeper for this one.

Soft Surroundings wrap dress, $19.99

This one I need your help with! It’s a wrap dress from Soft Surroundings and it is nice and swishy with pockets. I don’t love the beading on the neckline, but I’m thinking if I keep the dress I may just remove it. I also styled this one in the video. Let me know if you think I should keep it or return it for someone else to enjoy!

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Lucky Brand “The Baggy” Jeans: Website vs Reality

I’ve been looking for a specific pair of jeans for quite a while on my thrifting expeditions. I wanted them to be black, but not too black. More of a ‘washed’ black’ rather than the solid color black, if you know what I mean. They could have a little distressing, but no holes. And I wanted more of a straight, or baggy cut. No skinny jeans. No flares.

I had been content to just keep looking, but then I randomly found an amazing jumpsuit that happened to check a lot of those boxes – perfect shade of black, no distressing/holes, and a baggier leg. They were EXACTLY what I was looking for, if the jeans detached from the top half. And no, I’m not chopping my jumpsuit. So, I decided to zero in with some internet searching to try and find my magical jeans.

Which led me to the Lucky Brand website. Lately I tend to prefer STS Blue Jeans, but couldn’t find what I was looking for from them. I’ve previously had Lucky Brand jeans in the past and they have a good return policy, so I figured I’d give them a try.

I found these: “The Baggy” Jeans

Source: LuckyBrand.com

And yes, they look ridiculous on the model. And it takes me right back to high school when the skater boys would wear this kind of jeans. BUT… check out the jeans in blue on a different model:

Source: LuckyBrand.com

These are CUTE. And totally give the ‘boyfriend jeans’ look on a curvier body. So, I took a chance and I ordered them in two different sizes.

They came to my house and I was SO EXCITED to try them on. And neither pair fit. So, I ordered a third size and waited.

And here they are:

Yes, the legs are baggier than a standard ‘straight leg’ cut, but they don’t have as much volume as the first website photo. The fabric content is 56% Cotton, 44% Lyocell, which you would think would have some stretch to it… but it feels more like a softer version of rigid denim with NO stretch.

As I mentioned, I tried on three different sizes: 30, 31 and 32. Depending on the brand/day of the week/magical computation that they use to make women’s clothes sizes, I wear a 10, 12, 14, medium, large, extra large. You know, as you do. My last couple pairs of jeans that I’ve liked are a size 31 from STS Blue. For these Lucky Brand “The Baggy” jeans there was pretty much no stretch. The size 31 could fit, but I enjoy breathing and eating carbs regularly, so the 32 was much more comfortable. As for length, I’m 5’7” and the ‘regular’ length fits well with my boots.

Website vs Reality:

I actually really like the baggier shape of the jeans and its fun playing with a new silhouette in my closet. I don’t think I’m going to donate all my straight legged jeans any time soon, but this ‘The Baggy’ pair is a nice change!

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