u/lexi_ladonna

Sending in a kit this weekend, is it too early for fall and winter things? Or maybe too late for summer things? I know my local consignment store won’t take any more summer stuff, but at the same time sending in a cold weather stuff seems a bit premature seeing as it’s only just the beginning of July. I always do premium kits so I know it’ll get processed in about three-ish weeks.
The people really start buying fall stuff in August? Are you people going to be buying thick winter coats before the end of October?

My neighbor is offering to sell me her Louboutins she doesn’t wear anymore. She’s taken them to the cobbler over the years to care for them and besides the bottom having a rubber protector placed on it and the heel caps being replaced, she also had the insole replaced at some point. First of all, is this suspicious? They seem legit otherwise and I have no reason to think that she would be trying to do me. She’s a lawyer and has a lot of luxury goods. But is this something that people actually do? Or does it ruin the integrity of the shoe? I guess I don’t know. The price is super fair ($50)

I’m kind of confused by coach outlets. I went in one this week for the first time in almost 20 years (just because it’s the first time I’ve been near one and had the time) and it raised some questions in my mind.

I know in the outlet world in general (not just coach) things have changed from when the concept was originally established. They were established as a place to offload clearance items to get them out of the regular stores, and has slowly evolved into basically being diffusion lines for nice brands. However, when I go into other outlet stores even if they have outlet specific items, there are usually a few main retail line items that are in the outlet store and they tend to be discounted. For instance at that outlet mall I also went into a Marc Jacob store, and most of the bags were on sale from the retail price. I went in the coach store and they have a decent selection of retail bags but at no discount. When did that change? I’m positive the last time I was in a coach outlet in the 2000s all of the main retail line bags were discounted. I was a little disappointed because I thought maybe I was going to find some bag on sale. I don’t expect it to be super trendy stuff, but off-season stuff, returns, etc. Am I misremembering that this was the case back in the day? If that was the case, when did it change?

Also I was really not impressed with the store. It felt really junky. Everything was on these white shelves that were really beat up and were full of gouges and scratches. I have nothing against Coach outlet and I own some outlet bags that I like. But the actual store cheapened the experience and made it feel gross. It felt like a rundown forever 21. In fact it looked better than the forever 21 when it was closing in my local mall. I’ve heard they’re trying to fade out the outlets or combine it into one brand. Are they skipping maintenance because they’re planning on not being there much longer?

Just some musings.

I’ll preface this by saying I have no problem with more masculine presenting clothing, I myself often dress in a more masculine way, I just want options.

But is it just me or is the ideal aesthetic that is pushed primarily older women always menswear inspired clothing? Lots of trousers and buttondowns and blazers. Searching mature fashion or grown-up feminine style yields a lot of menswear stuff. I guess I don’t even know what I’m looking for, but whenever I try to dress in a more feminine but grown-up way, it ends up looking I’m trying to do some sort of 1950s/retro look.

Even some of the more artsy trending styles like lagenlook seem to be primarily layering menswear adjacent pieces like button ups although this seems to be the closest I can find to a more feminine style. At least there I see some more variety, but it’s really not my style. I have a large chest so what looks artfully undone and casual on some people just looks kinda sloppy on me? Regardless of your thoughts on how that looks on people with a large chest, it’s just not my style so I’m looking for something maybe slightly different.

Help? Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places for inspiration. Right now I primarily am wearing the same clothes I’ve worn for the last 20 years but sometimes I just want to dress like the mature grown person that I am while not defaulting to button ups and trousers. Also there’s a whole side of this about why we feel women looking mature and powerful has to mean they wear men’s clothing but I digress.