That's Just Like, Your Opinion, Man.

another mildly spicy take on the personal-style-buzz-word-discourse and vintage shopping your way to self discovery

Apr 17, 2024

Me to the insufferable fashion podcast I listened to this week.

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Happy Wednesday, friends!

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and I am in a big mood to *add to cart* this week.

I listened to (absolutely struggled to get through) a “fashion” podcast last week where both the hosts and guest spent a decent amount of time griping about how “personal style” is the SEO catchphrase of the moment and that those centering Substacks around the topic are really just pushing their personal algorithmic agenda on everyone else, promoting more sameness through the pressure to purchase through their affiliate links and subscribe to the newest of new arrivals dropping multiple times a week, every week. It felt deeply ironic to me as everyone involved in the interview seemingly does exactly that - nothing about their style feels personal, but rather an accumulation of viral trends and opulent hotness that spirals around the social media-sphere, touting the promise of acceptance through being seen in key luxury pieces that those deeply online will deem as the holy grail of “stylish.”

There’s a lot of rhetoric, especially in this era of trendy buzz words, that the internet killed personal style. And while I am acutely conscious of the fatigue in furthering the discourse, it did make me want to drive home the purpose of this corner of the internet.

Where Everything Is Made Up Whose Line Is It Anyway GIF - Where Everything Is Made Up Whose Line Is It Anyway Dont Matter GIFs — life, in a nutshell.

This space is less about telling you what to buy, but rather opening up the infinite possibilities of who you could be through the lenses of what you consume, the things you put on your body and the objects you keep in your space. The human experience feels so ridiculously deeply complex while also being quite literally very ridiculous— that whole floating on a rock hurdling through space, everything-is-made-up-and-the-points-don’t-matter kind of ridiculous. I don’t think we’d be having all this parley about style if most of us weren’t feeling the lethargy of being severely “online” while also wanting to throw our phone into oblivion and cry at the inexplicable exquisiteness of nature à la Drew-Barrymore-frolicking-in-the-rain.

It’s deep but it’s like, also not that deep.

Not only am I *trying* to be a teeny tiny voice in your space reminding you of the Trash Panic of it all, but I’d like to be a big booming voice guiding you to the magical portal that opens up to a Wondrous Technicolor Dimension called vintage and secondhand. The further you dive into the treasure hunting of antiques, the more likely you are to truly discover what you’re attracted to outside the sponsored ads, influencer culture, and the “I want what she has” feels.

Finding the glimmering diamond needle treasure in the haystack junk pile of found and collected crap is telling of who you are. The more I exercise the muscles of sifting and rummaging, the more clarity, I find, in discovering the things in life that make my cold dead heart go pitter pat. And more importantly, the more I realize that being understood as a human doesn’t just revolve around the buying and keeping of stuff. We aren’t taking any of this shit with us and that feels a whole heck of a lot more real when you’re walking through an estate sale of someone’s left behind prized possessions, tchotchkes and curios.

I’ll wrap this up with the disclaimer that there is nothing wrong with participating in trends!! They have existed since the dawn of time and though the invention of the internet has made them pump through the digital atmosphere at 50000x the speed, they aren’t earth shattering in newness. Humans like participating in things that other humans also participate in and by now I think we can agree its almost all been done and reinvented and repackaged decade after decade and that will carry on until the end of time.

Style that feels intimately you takes years to collect/acquire/evolve and it happens through living life away from a fcking screen — experimenting with newness, the unknownness and embracing the uncomfortable feeling of being staunchly, squarely, painfully in “the middle.” So that means, read my newsletter (like, comment, subscribe, share with your pals, obviously) and then gtfo the world wide web and do something or nothing and just be.

I lied — one! more! thing! It is worth repeating, as I do in this space a lot, that wearing designer clothes does not somehow improve your worth or make you superior to other humans. There’s an intense sniffs-their-own-farts type of energy that I find is becoming more potent by the day in the world of luxury. Just because something has a designer label does not make it quality or an investment. High end, lavish designer fashion will never be what it was before social media. So many people are chasing the high of a golden era that is long gone and buying $850 mostly Lycra Highsport pants will not make your worthmeter skyrocket.

I want this space to feel like a jumping off point for you to ponder all the possibilities of who you could be, and while I hope you trust my curations and collections of crazy cool fun stuff, I also hope they prompt you to fall down a rabbit hole of other things to discover that completely rock your goddamn world.

There’s a thrill in the hunt! I promise you. Take the time to discover it on your own before you go asking in the comment section where something is from (I beg of you.) You never know what you might find!

That was the meat and potatoes of it all, so now, onto dessert.

. . . . . . . . .

As I settle in after yet another season of transition (2 moves, 3 states in 4ish years), I’ve been carefully curating what’s on my *add to cart* list for spring and summer. I usually think in outfits— looks I can’t get out of my head, things I’ve seen on strangers while people watching, or screenshots from looks I like on the internet.

So here are some ‘fits I’m planning to attempt to throw together with mostly thrifted, vintage, and secondhand treasures. Some of these things 100% fall into the category of “things. that. might. currently. be. trending.” but that’s ok!!! I know most of these things are pieces I will consistently reach for six days, six months, and six years from now because they’re always top of mind when I venture out shopping.

Now snatch all these up before I do!!

I’ve been on the hunt for a vintage bomber jacket for years. My mom worked for multiple sports arenas in the Bay Area when I was a kid and I’ve always thought about how she would throw on a team varsity jacket over even the most formal of looks. There’s nothing quite like a DKNY skirt suit and Raiders leather jacket combo…

suede fringe jacket | reversible (!!!!) bias cut dress | bow earrings | straw bucket bag | bass weejun loafers

A dress + loafers is a summer recipe for me. I have had my Weejuns penny loafers for almost 5 years now and after a trip to the cobbler, they’re good as new. Also, someone buy this dress - it’s literally a two for one deal!!

Spring is trench coat season and this puff sleeve one is so good. I think navy gets overlooked, especially in the coat department. The 1950’s sweater guard would be a nice little unexpected eye candy clipped to the collar of it!

There’s a lot more floating around my head so maybe I’ll do a part two next week…

Until next time,
Xo,
G

PS - From what I can tell, I have a decent amount of male identifying subscribers. While I am firmly in the camp that clothes have no gender, I would love to hear what y’all would like to see more of in this space, whether it be home goods or more masculine sized fits and finds. Tell me: