Rubric musings with season change

With the change of seasons, I have decided to revisit my rubric. My rubric consists of the following elements:

- structure
- colour
- urban
- retro/vintage
- classic

I have found a few of these elements difficult to implement during the warm/hot months of summer since I tend to wear my flowy and less structured items when it's hot.

As we head into the fall months (my favourite time of year), I'm looking forward to breaking out my new NAS stuff, my blazers and leather jackets, boots and booties. I guess what I'm asking is do you see my rubric as still being valid? Any changes you've noticed in my style? Would love your feedback.

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11 Comments

  • Isabel replied 11 years ago

    I have liked your more relaxed style over the summer. IMO, a "rubric" or any strategy really, cannot be static. We are not static. We move and breathe and adjust...so our wardrobe must too. I think that it is kind interesting to have seasonal basics based on needs and just "whimsy". My summer style is vastly different from the other 3 seasons.

    So to answer your question, yes. It is much more your Fall/WInter rubric. It works really well for you. You can have structure with interesting lines and detail. You are great with color and accessories. And as you wear your stuff, you will tweak and adjust.

    ( I am decluttering and culling this weekend. Can't wait to see my blazers and boots again...I have missed them...but not in 100 degree weather ! )

  • jayne replied 11 years ago

    I think it is still valid..I see though that the masculine part of my rubric gets lost in the summer and it sometimes makes me less happy with the outfit actually. How does it feel when a part is missing for you?

  • replied 11 years ago

    I think your rubric is still pretty valid. The only thing I have not perceived as strongly in your style is the urban aspect, but it is still there, in my opinion.

  • Transcona Shannon replied 11 years ago

    I agree Zap that some of the urban aspect is missing - I normally get that through my boots or chunky Docs shoes and those are items that I can't wear in the heat.

    Jayne - if I have at least 3-4 of my elements in an outfit it can still feel right but sometimes feels less like "me".

    I think maybe my rubric slightly flexes with the seasons and maybe that's how it's supposed to work.

  • Isabel replied 11 years ago

    Shannon, I completely agree with your last assessment. I think that your shoes add a lot of urban edge to your outfits. Maybe you should consider some edgy linen pieces. Like a linen moto jacket or that great linen ( Zara ? ) utility jacket that Angie once posted about. But I am with you, when it is searing hot out, I want THE lightest, flowiest dress that I can find.

    In the end, do you like how you look in the Summer despite not fitting to your rubric exactly ?

  • Transcona Shannon replied 11 years ago

    I like how I look in the summer, particularly some of my dresses, but will confess I much prefer my fall/winter wardrobe. I like the idea of an edgy linen piece or light jacket though and will have to look into that for next spring/summer.

  • Isabel replied 11 years ago

    I feel the same way about myself. I prefer Fall/WInter clothing by a mile ( or a couple of kilometers.....).

  • Suz replied 11 years ago

    Shannon, this still sounds like you to me. But the proof will be in the wearing, in the actual outfits you put together from your beautiful new (and older) things. In the summer your style has often been more casual and at other times more feminine (except for the BF, that is...) but that is largely due to the impossibility of wearing the more rugged items in the heat. I SO understand this!

  • Aida replied 11 years ago

    Shannon, the good thing about those rubrics is that they are on sliding scales; sometimes you'll have more of one element, sometimes less. Yours still sounds like you to me, you may just skew more heavily in some directions than you do over summer. For example, my "vintage" side comes out MUCH more strongly in the summer (lots of 70s boho breeziness), and my urban side more strongly in the winter. Still me, still my style, just further down one line or another :)

  • Transcona Shannon replied 11 years ago

    Great thoughts Suz and Aida - thank you!

    It really surprised me this year how much seasonal/weather changes altered my style - I guess because I never had a rubric before and understood my style as much as I do now (not that I completely know what I'm doing by any means!), I had never noticed that I dress stylistically different in warm weather as opposed to cold weather. I missed the structure part of my rubric in the heat because I couldn't wear many of my blazers. Although I substituted denim jackets for blazers, to me it's not quite the same type of structure. I also really missed my more urban footwear - booties, Docs, etc. But at the same time, I introduced some my flowy garments and did enjoy them, but makes me feel more casual. In fact I noticed that our entire office dresses more casual in summer.

  • rae replied 11 years ago

    I think the fall wardrobe is still A-ok, because it sounds like these changes were mostly because of the weather and not really because your preferences changed. You missed the elements you left off, so to me that says you should keep 'em!

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