Why I Haven't Left When I Left

As you might remember, a while ago I decided to leave this blog - I felt I said all I could say, and the rest seemed like repeating myself, and that is the last thing I ever want to do. My romance with style did not end with leaving the blog, and for the first few weeks I felt fine - I continued playing dress-up and even felt a strange feeling of freedom not thinking about how my outfits would look on photos. 

Some time later, I started missing blogging. Do you know why? I only fully realized it today. Blogging to me is a good challenge, in the sense that it keeps my style fresh, does not let me go stale. I do not consider myself a style guru, an expert, a star or anything like it, not in the slightest. I am rather a student and experimenter. I know that the bicycles I invent have been invented many times before me, by real experts and gurus, a long long time ago. But it is fun for me to invent my bicycles over and over again, and even more than that - the whole point to me is in inventing. 

 And one huge part of blogging is keeping the creative/inventing juices going, learning and trying new things. Take this outfit as an example. I seriously doubt that I would even consider purchasing a romper for myself if I was not blogging now. I just never really even looked at them as a possibility for myself, I can't explain it, they just did not seem like my cup of tea, and I wouldn't think of it twice.

When I read other blogs of stylish women, I certainly learn a lot - and the information that I get is often not along the lines of "pair this and that" and "don't ever wear this or that", no. It is mostly an emotional journey that expresses in the form of clothes, outfits, style... and all these bits of emotional information accumulate over time, and have to find an outlet somehow - also in the form of clothes, outfits, style... often new to me, often unexpected to me. It might not seem like much to someone else, but to me it can be a whole new universe.

Sharing my finds (wardrobe-wise or style-wise) with you is a bit like having an exercise buddy for someone who is into fitness, or having a writer's group for a someone who loves words and whose experience otherwise can feel lonely. It's never about followers, fans or admirers... though never having a big following, I wouldn't know, it must feel pretty good too, but it is just not the goal for me. I'm rather looking for someone who can share my excitement when I have my little "Eureka!" moments - for someone who gets it. I suppose we can call it style friends, or friends-in-style.  

So here I am, my friends-in-style, wearing my very first romper at my 42 years of life, being considerably overweight and somewhat shy or self-conscious. If not for blogging, I'd probably pass. Blogging really helps me to open my mind about style. And that is probably the biggest reason why I haven't left, when I left. Another big one for me is just that it is a pure joy to share with people who are able to appreciate. You don't need to love rompers to get what it means to me, do you? But you kind of need to be in the zone yourself to understand that it is a new experience in the style universe for me. It is what I cherish about our blogging community so much. It is a community which truly treasures individuality, and it's a unique one. We help one another grow. And this is another reason why I haven't left when I left. I can think of one more reason to keep on, but this post is getting too long already - I will share it with you some other time.

I wanted to show both my jewelry and make-up in this close-up photo. This kind of make-up I use forever, since I first started getting into cosmetics. I like brownish tones for my eyes and a very natural lipstick (this tone is called Rosewood, by Max Factor, and it used to be my everyday lipstick for many years when I was young, then I moved to the US and, oddly enough lost track of it, until just recently - I found out that this legendary brand does not sell cosmetics in US stores any longer, but it is still big in Europe, and you can order online). 

My jewelry are mismatched pieces, old and well loved. The necklace is leather string and hand carved wooden pendant that depicts a couple, connected with each other. I brought it from Siberia many years ago.

I love the retro feel of my outfit! I wore this long cardigan many times for almost 10 years, and showed it here to, but I don't think it met its best friend until just now.

Romper - Lane Bryant 

(I do love it, but tell me please, you romper lovers, do they all bunch up between legs when you walk? how do you deal with this?)

Suede boots - Lane Bryant as well, bought on a crazy sale for only $25 (the back side is made of elastic fabric) 

(I am typically not a fan of LB shoes, but these boots are surprisingly comfortable.)

Long wool cardigan, earrings, ring - Chico's (bought many years ago)

Hat - Charlotte Russe

Purse - J. Jill (old)

PS - Just a reminder that Write and Link has been open during the whole month of February, and we still have a couple of days to go. I will do my best to add my writing this weekend, and read your posts as well!

Linking up with Hat Attack,

Visible Monday, #iwillwearwhatilike

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