Clothes Make the Woman, Redux

This time last year, I blogged about how the pandemic was changing both my style tastes and my size and how I was adapting. This year…well, my wardrobe is still mostly in stay-at-home pandemic mode (as am I), but it continues to evolve…

I’m still wearing a lot of athleisure, especially as the days heat up (here in Toronto we’ve had several heatwaves already). Reitmans has a wide size range and a variety of comfy leggings (and jeans); Icebreaker does the best merino t-shirts for both warm and cool weather; Tentree uses recycled polyester in their athletic line.

I’m also slowly adding other items to meet my non-athleisure style needs. Really digging loose flowy tops in natural fibres — especially since I’ve at last discovered where to get tunic-length tops that are cut to skim over my decidedly not-pregnant round belly. Shout-out to Blue Sky Clothing! They also have comfy bike shorts in extended sizing. Since I have a terrible time finding shorts that fit me well and don’t pull in weird ways, I’m quite liking this leggings-meets-shorts trend (at least in my own house…ahem).

To save my Northern European skin while gardening and walking, I’ve also picked up a couple of lightweight, oversized button-downs in organic cotton from MEC (last year) and hemp from Patagonia (this year). They go nicely with my straw hat. Coastal Grandma style, anyone?

And I’m leaning into the colours and prints I love, that bring out my colouring and make me feel great. (Blue Sky Clothing, again…they have a ton of gorgeous prints.) If I’m not careful, I will buy all blue all the time and then get sick of it, so I do try to get a variety. Teal, pink, yellow, or true red…if I can actually find shades I like, which is hard (thus the prevalence of blue). Multicoloured florals — this year’s summer dress purchase is a jersey-knit faux-wrap dress from Toad&Co that feels like wearing PJs. (Reitmans also does good summer dresses some years, but this year I strongly dislike all the trends.) And for neutrals, mostly charcoal and navy, since I find it tricky to get the right-for-me shades of summer neutrals like cream and khaki.

Most of the stores mentioned above are ethical, eco-friendly, fair-trade businesses, so I feel at least slightly better about my steady consumption.

So my journey to “artsy auntie” continues…

How about you? Where is your style journey taking you these days?