On the last day of the year, I’m looking back at the past three months and how my style has changed.

October

Hello, Fall

October was not an easy month.  I lost my kitty, who I’d had for seventeen years.  I struggled to accept my financial situation.  But there were plenty of bright spots.  The weather finally started to turn cooler.  I had my trip to California, which was fun and refreshing.  I ventured into a local boutique for the first time and bought an awesome dress.  And I decided to get bangs, and loved it.

November

Urban Bohemian

November was fun.  I began to play around with urban bohemian styles, and realized  having bohemian aspects in my look wasn’t so bad.  I realized that I adore pencil skirts when I dressed like a secretary from Mad Men and when I played around with current trends.  I bought beautiful, sweet pieces at garage sales and mixed them in with more expensive items.  And I started planning a new name for the blog.

December

Where the Wild Wind Whirled (post coming soon!)

December has been a fantastic month of layering, warm woolen knits, and boots.  I re-invented the blog with a new name.   I began experimenting with new photoshoot locations.  I played with color, and loved my yellow scarf.  I broke my ban to buy my beautiful Fluevog Heather boots.  Because I’m about a week behind on my outfit posts, my favorite December outfits won’t post until next week.  But I’ll give you a few quick Flickr previews here – click on the photos for more info about the outfits.

Lined up to buy his creations (post coming soon!)

Ah, the hot, sticky summer months in Florida.  Staying stylish while not sweating buckets is not easy, but I think I managed to get the hang of it this year.

July

Summer Lovin’

During July, I really began to fall in love with new colors.  Aqua, turquoise, teal and coral all became new staples.  I started playing around with mod looks by buying a white vinyl belt and pairing it with a cute dress and my Fiorenzas.  I mixed aqua and red and bought ridiculous amounts of Dansko wedge sandals.  I began to realize that having a bit of twee-ness in my posts was perfectly acceptable.

August

Dress v 4.0

This month had a lot of ups and downs.  I finished my master’s degree, I began to feel the pain of job insecurity.  I got my first pair of boots, and received an amazing Morelle purse for graduation.  I learned how to put together lazy, casual outfits.  I learned how to put together chic, casual outfits.  I tried accenting with summer white.

September

Let the sunshine in

September was a busy month for me.  I went on vacation.  I started a new job, which limited outfit shots.  I bought some rockin’ dresses, including my first Ella Moss piece.  It was pretty whirlwind.

Tomorrow I’ll wrap up the year with October, November and December.

Yesterday’s post reviewed my favorite outfits from January, February and March of last year.  Today will look at April, May and June.

April

Comfort Chic

This outfit was one of the first times that I began to incorporate a Euro-chic/ Francophile element into my outfits.  It was also the first time I allowed a bit more playfulness and whimsy into my posts, which I feel has now become a very important element of the blog.

Return of the Malibrans

I love, love, love this outfit so much.  It was the first time I realize that I didn’t need to be wearing tights in order to wear my Malibrans.   And it just feels so me.

May

School girl grows up

This outfit isn’t necessarily all that pivotal, but it’s certainly one of my favorites.  It was one of the first times I tried out one of my now favorite color combos, black, white and gray with red accents.  It also shows how I was continuing to experiment with layering.

June

Putting it Together

June was a pretty important month for me.  I really started to develop my style in this month.  Following Fab Finds Under $50 inspiration calendar helped to challenge me to use pieces in ways I wouldn’t have thought of before.  I experimented with menswear and pops of turquoise.  I tried wearing my goldenrod Malibrans with purple.  I learned how to dress chicly while riding a bicycle (and got an awesome hair cut).

And of course, I bought these shoes:

Debut of the Fiorenzas

I’m noticing that a lot of my favorite outfits from the past year involve Fluevogs.  Stay tuned for July, August and September tomorrow!

I thought it would be fun to spend the last four days of the year looking back at what I wore and how my style has evolved.  I feel like I’ve really grown a lot this year, both in my sense of style and as a person.  I’m going to be looking back three months at a time.  This post will look at the first three months of the year.

January

A Touch of Green

Wow, a lot has changed.  This is my favorite outfit from January, because it’s one of my first experiments with color combinations and textures.  The hair looks awful here, but it was right before I got this hair cut.  At this point, I remember feeling a lot of frustration at the fact that I really didn’t like much of my winter wardrobe.  I think I’ve improved this a bit, but I still need to knit some pullovers.

February

Is Fluevog a Religion?

It was so easy to choose a favorite outfit for February, because it was so pivotal.  That was when I purchased my first pair of Fluevogs, my goldenrod Malibrans.  That was the most I had ever spent on one item of clothing/ accessory at the time ($150, on sale).  It was a real stretch in my color spectrum for me too.  I can’t begin to measure how much of an impact these shoes have had on my personal style.

March

Bolero: Take 2

March was the first month where I really began to experiment with layering.  I began reading Academichic around this time, and was inspired by those lovely ladies to try belting cardigans over dresses.  Layering has been a key element of my style ever since.

Stay tuned for the rest of the year in review!