Playing Dress up with Urban Outfitters

Everyone has “an age” – the age that they will always feel and sometimes you even feel this age before you reach it. My 68 year old mom is 16. My 38 year old friend Scott has always been 40 (even when we were in our early 20’s). I am 27. When I was 23 I felt 27 and now that I’m 38 with 2 kids, a house, and a staff of employees I still feel 27, and Lord knows I act like it. I’ve recently been through a mid-blog crisis, probably because I spent a few years birthing kids and then feeding them with my body, and generally being boring. I was in such a rut with my fashion and beauty, possibly because the style the last couple years was more subdued with less bright colors and fewer big patterns. Hair and makeup was more natural. Normcore took over hard and while I never fully subscribed to it, I was wearing a LOT of chambray tent dresses and camel leather booties. Until recently I wore mostly blue, with brighter pieces in my closet reserved for on-camera jobs. Don’t get me wrong, I liked what I wore and it did look like ‘me’ but I was certainly shying away from anything too risky or trendy.

I found that I was saying this phrase over and over ‘that’s awesome and crazy but I can’t pull that off’ and my friend Jen Gotch, founder of the perpetually youthful brand Ban.do, was like ‘Of course you can, that’s ridiculous.’ She is actually a huge inspiration to me because girlfriend doesn’t care. She expresses her creativity through her fashion, and in fact has built a million dollar brand out of it. She and her brand are both so exciting. She’s always ahead of the trend, taking risks and has a huge sense of humor about what she wears and who she is.

I recently started following Lyn Slater, The Accidental Icon (@iconaccidental) and I’m so inspired by her. She is in her 80’s, and dresses dope AF.

And I’ve always loved Leandra Medine (ManRepeller) because she has proven over and over to wear whatever she wants, and despite being one of the most successful people in fashion, she doesn’t take it seriously. She’ll wear her $450 banana embroidered pumps and makes no apologies.

So now – I’ve got my shorter french model hair,  my messy bangs, and my fashion is shifting to be more trendy, risky, and to have more fun. Because that’s the thing… you can take WAY more risks in fashion than you can in home. There is no equivalent to a custom-made, built-in bookshelf for your body, that you can mess up and regret forever. Nothing is permanent in fashion and unless you are spending thousands on couture, then the risk is low.

Urban Outfitters reached out asking to partner on a post and while that brand is rather young, with 90’s inspired clothes riddling the store, I knew that I could find a lot that I’m into. And I did.

Last week I grabbed a ton of clothes from the store and online, went to the top of Griffith Park in Los Feliz, and power-modeled 4 different Urban Outfitters looks. We were fighting the sunset (early nights really screw up a bloggers shooting schedule) and the hikers on the other side of the hill were VERY curious about what was happening.

While what you are about to see isn’t breaking any sort of risk-taking fashion reports, it is more trendy and forward than I have been the last couple years, and I’m really digging it.

First up is some extremely high-waisted, wide leg, distressed pants that I’m pretty into (figuratively and literally), with a crazy yellow floral-ruffle sleeved top. When I showed Brian this outfit I asked him if I could wear it and he said, ‘I mean you can model it but you can’t WEAR it’… I think he’s wrong. I think that he needs a dose of what I got – some mental youth serum.

I also tried out a very 27 year old pose, below, really trying to nail this whole ‘young fashion blogger’ (don’t worry, despite the amount of fashion lately, I am not shifting away from this being a predominantly home/design site – just getting more fashion clients lately, probably because I AM TWENTY-SEVEN!!).

Next up is that first outfit which might be my most versatile and the one that I will wear the most.

I LOVE getting into this big shouldered, oversized tweed blazer trend, and yet this one isn’t a fortune. I also liked this double breasted blazer, and didn’t need both, but I do recommend it. This is something you can wear with a graphic tee and dress up any outfit. I’m definitely a jacket person but when they aren’t cool enough I feel like I’m dressing for a presentation. This jacket is not your average Susie Orman style presentation jacket.

The black jeans are AWESOME – super flattering, great length, and comfortable. The boots are a really inexpensive version the Rachel Comey round heeled ones I bought.

This blouse might be my favorite:

It has that vintage secretary vibe, it’s kinda see-through, and it is the perfect length for a partial tuck, but great for the days that you want to let it be freeeeee…..

I love these two patterns together, and this could look great with some skinnies, too.

Next is a super easy-to-wear outfit that feels like pajamas, but looks a lot cooler.

The striped shirt is a really good loose cut, those pants are EXTREMELY comfortable and stretchy (but flattering), and a green brixton hat instantly makes you look like you care. Then I warmed it up with some camel booties that have a great fit in the ankle.

This next outfit is one that I was on the fence about but Sara, who is 27 and loves trendy fashion was like ‘Oh, I would DEFINITELY wear that … this post is absolutely geared towards me …’ And then I was like, wait if it’s geared towards you then it’s geared towards me because I’M TWENTY SEVEN, TOO!!

This shirt is a really cute, flirty victorian inspired cotton number.

The pants (similar here) are my Levi’s from Urban that I’ve had for a while – you know, the ones that I can’t wear after a meal or while sitting down. SIZE UP on those suckers because they have zero stretch, but the cut is just so good and I love the way that they look!!

I’m doing a lot of really large arm movements in this shoot, those limbs are SUPER into this shoot, apparently, but I was trying to show off the ruffly bottom of the shirt.

Now I was on the fence about the poppy red booties, but seeing them here really convinces me. They give the outfit so much more presence.

The shirt has embroidery and beading on it, and it’s really pretty and Doen-like.

This post/experience really reminded me that just because Urban Outfitters is geared toward younger people than myself, it has a lot of pieces that I love and are my twenty-seven-year-old style. While I’m not a fashion blogger, I do believe in expressing creativity through your personal style and what I love about these outfits is that they still look pulled together and like I care, but they are more exciting than my usual chambray shirt and skinny jeans.

They are having a HUGE sale… Buy One Get One 50% Off Entire Store/Site. Yes – that is correct. Which basically means you should grab one of everything and then get the next one 50% off. It’s too good not to.

Age is just a number, folks, and while your career or your lifestyle will inform how you dress I’ll go ahead and say to shoot for “your number”. There is no reason to dress like you are 55 if you feel 32. And there is no reason to dress like a 38 year old mom of two if you are a “27” year old style blogger.

In case you need it real spelled out, dress the age you feel, not the age you are. So folks, let me know – how old are you and then how old do you feel? Do you dress your actual age or the age you feel?