5 Inspirational Autumn Outfits

I used to love writing posts like this, but in the last year, it has become increasingly difficult. Why? Because Polyvore shut down! I feel like Polyvore was such a unique, early-to-mid 2000s blogging resource and now, it’s simply gone. I’ve turned to Instagram instead to gather outfits to inspire us in these Autumn todays.

Today is the first legitimately rainy day of Autumn here in Oregon. It makes me want to snuggle up and read, or watch movies. But instead, I have to work (of course). For that reason, the outfits I’ve chosen are appropriate for both the weekend and casual workplaces. In a testament to how much I’ve changed in the last few years, all of these outfits include jeans!

Let me know in the comments your favorite outfit (and what your favorite rainy day movie is!).

1. Burnt Orange

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A post shared by Ashley (@twentiesgirlstyle) on Oct 29, 2017 at 6:43pm PDT

I have always been a little obsessed with this slightly burnt orange color. And lately, I’ve been feeling bell sleeves and (dare I say it?) peplums. I used to be heartily anti peplum, but then I had a baby, and well… a peplum hides a lot doesn’t it? I love this outfit, complete with sensible boots, dark jeans, and a cozy scarf. 

2. Pretty in Pink

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A post shared by Ashleigh Hopping (@by.ashleigh) on May 14, 2018 at 3:08pm PDT

If you’re in a colder climate, this is a great outfit. As well, not all autumnal outfits have to be warm-toned! A dusty pink sweater, a thick cozy beanie, and jeans is perfect for a busy weekend. Pop on a coat over the top and it can transition to winter really easily. 

3. Monotone

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A post shared by d e b | sunsets and stilettos (@sunsetsandstilettos) on Dec 11, 2017 at 6:42pm PST

I love gray. I wear gray more than any other color. This pale sweater with a thick scarf and beanie is great for the weekend when it is particularly blustery. 

4. Striped

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A post shared by Ashley (@twentiesgirlstyle) on Jan 2, 2018 at 8:42am PST

Another peplum top! I told you, they are growing on me a bit! I love this simple, comfy looking striped peplum top. Paired with a simple cardigan and boots, this is a great outfit for the pumpkin patch or a work meeting. 

5. Grandpa Sweater

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A post shared by Ashley (@twentiesgirlstyle) on Oct 1, 2018 at 6:30pm PDT

I unabashedly love grandpa sweaters. You know the ones: the thick, homey sweaters that are perfect for tucking tissues into the pockets. (Yes, you heard me. Tissue pockets.) I love this sweater because it is so ornate and yet, so cozy looking. Add a striped top and your favorite jeans and you’re ready to go. 

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One last note! Do you have a Blogtober post you want shared? Send me a tweet on Twitter with a link; I’m putting together my first Best of Blogtober post this week!

4 Outfits Perfect for Rainy Fall Days

I love rainy days. It’s not everyone’s favorite thing, but nothing makes me happier when it starts to rain after a long, dry summer. (This may be because of my hyperawareness of forest fires.) The air smells fresh; everything gets dewy; the sound is beautiful. I love rain Sundays spent with a candle burning, watching my favorite movies. I love rainy days in the office getting work done. I love rainy days! 

For blogtober, I thought a post about rainy day outfits would be perfect, especially as we get further into October and the rain really starts to set in. Here are 4 I put together recently that are perfect for every different occasion. 

1. A Rainy Day with Friends 

Rainy Day 1 by wiredphosphenes featuring a cross-body handbag

Do you ever see something (like, say, this dress) that makes you just want to stop everything and buy it? Immediately? This dress is one of those things for me. It’s absolutely so cute—if you have access to New Look and can get this dress, please do so and tell me it if it is absolutely as perfect as I imagine. I love the color. I love the interesting cut. And I love how cute it will look with some plain tights and some knee-high rain boots. I completely imagine this outfit for a day spent out with friends—when it’s rainy, but not too cold yet. Pair with this cute cross body bag with rose gold jewelry, a simple shimmery eye look, and a neutral lip color. 

2. When You Just Stay Inside

Rainy Day 2 by wiredphosphenes featuring a white mug

How realistic is this for a rainy day outfit!? One of the things I miss about my pre-parenthood life is, honestly, rainy days spent at home by myself. Drinking too much coffee, wearing sweatpants, cleaning the house, and watching terrible movies on TV. This outfit was made with that nostalgia in mind. I love these sweatpants from Madewell—I may be asking for a pair for my birthday. Paired with a cute-and-funny sweatshirt, some cozy socks, and your favorite coffee mug… yeah, the perfect rainy Sunday, can we agree? 

3. Casual Workplace

Rainy Day 3 by wiredphosphenes featuring a mac cosmetics lipstick

This isn’t necessarily realistic for everyone in terms of work appropriate attire—but at my workplace, this would be downright fancy. (And I have some substitutions for if you work in a stricter office, don’t worry!) I love the trend of simple, warm sweatshirts; it’s never warm enough in my office. Paired with high waisted jeans rolled up over some cute boots (like these maroon velvet ones), it’s perfect for a simple day look. Add in this amazing coat from Romwe, a messenger bag, and some simple, pink make up and you’re ready for all that rain outside. 

Want to make it a little more office appropriate? Swap the jeans and sweatshirt for a simple white sweater and black skinny trousers. See? It works just as well! 

4. Date Night

Rainy Day 4 by wiredphosphenes featuring a butter london nail lacquer

Is this the most 90s outfit I’ve ever put together? Yes. Yes, it is. Actually, the trend of square-shaped corduroy skirts is giving me major flashbacks to the mid-2000s. I think I wore a gray, corduroy skirt that was three sizes too big to my first date with my now-husband. Yikes. 

I love this dusty pink skirt though; it brings those squarish skirts into the 2010s, at least. Add some tights, a cute t-shirt, and your favorite pinky boots to make sure your date knows you’re absolutely the toughest girly-girl on the block. 

My Favorite Blogs

I've been reading blogs longer than I've been maintaining a blog--and considering I started writing, seriously, on the internet in 2007, that's a long time! I've found lots of wonderful blogs over the years, but I always have my favorites. 

1. Girl Next Door (Charlotte) 

I feel like I’ve been reading Charlotte’s blog approximately forever... but I think I actually started in December 2009. Which is a really long time! I have this really embarrassing ability to track Charlotte's life from what outfits I remember her wearing. 

We’ve both changed our blogs so much since then, but we’ve remained blog friends through it. I still love her outfit posts, but I think I especially love her posts about running and lifestyle. I’m always jealous of how good her food looks on Instagram! (When I try to take pictures of food, it ends up looking like mush. Why is that?!) 

2. Rebel Angel and Big Cup Little Cup

Sian is another blog friend that I’ve been reading for what feels like ages. I actually think I found her through Charlotte’s blog! She has great outfit posts and I love reading about her life. She travels so much and I love her vacation posts... because I live vicariously through them! Sian also runs a lingerie blog that I love: I’ve learned more about bras from reading Sian than from anywhere else. 

3. A Beautiful Mess 

This is one blog that I read (and love) without actually knowing the people behind it. Emma and Elsie are insanely good at what they do... and what they do is create gorgeous content that people just want to share. I bought and am currently reading their Blog Life e-course and I’ve learned so much about marketing, blogging, and photography already. 

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hat are your favorite blogs? Share with me on Twitter! 

Can We Still Call It Fashion Blogging When All You Write About is Shopping?

Back when I maintained what I tentatively referred to as a fashion blog--was I always lifestyle or something? I don't know--I prided myself on the fact that, most of the time, I wore the same items over and over. To me, that's true of anyone who is fashionable or stylish in a real day-to-day setting. My outfits often featured the same belts, scarves, dresses, and shoes worn in interchangeable ways, which was easy for me and my budget.

As I scroll through my feedly or Bloglovin these days (why do I have two readers?), I notice more and more that all fashion bloggers seem to have one thing in common: they almost never wear something twice. And often, a series of blogs will feature the exact same dress on the exact same day--and of course, they received it for free.

And even if the same bloggers have received the same item at the same time (and inexplicably all posted about it on the same day), none of them style it any differently. A dress paired with nude heels and a white clutch... over and over and over as I scroll through blogs. It's not even aspirational. A cheap dress from ModCloth or Nordstrom is still just a cheap dress if you don't show me how to, I don't know, dress it up for work or dress it down for a BBQ or how to transition it to cooler months. What's the point? 

The element of personal style seems to have been removed from fashion blogging as it becomes more monetized. I'm not one of those people to say that "blogging is dying," but the monetization of more personality-based niche blogs seems to be harming the creativity and ingenuity of those blogs. As well, more and more people seem to be getting into blogging as an "easy fix"--a ready-made career where you can get free clothes with minimal effort. 

The more I thought about this, the more I realized it really bothered me how homogenous and boring the "big" blogs had become. At the same time, the blogs I'd loved (and that had stayed unique through the years) were floundering: they received less and less good deals and all seemed to be embarking on a personal crisis (which, Lord knows, I'd been there too). Then, one day, Danny said something that made me realize what was going on. He said, "It's not really fashion blogging though, is it? It's just a shopping blog for all the stuff they buy." And... he's not wrong, really. 

Sadly, fashion blogging has become more about acquisition.

I've written about this in regards to scrapbooking. The community seems to more about constantly buying, buying, buying new (admittedly cute) stuff, and less about tutorials or demonstrations to use said stuff. This is seen in haul videos and posts, in empties videos and posts, and outfit posts. 

If your blog is mostly just about shopping (no matter what you're shopping for), isn't it just a shopping blog, a blog to write about all the things you constantly acquire? If you don't write or demonstrate how to use them, how to remix them, how to implement anything in a way beyond simply having it... really, what's the point of labeling a fashion blog or a scrapbooking blog or a beauty blog anything other than a shopping blog? 

I think this is a frustration that lots of blog readers are having. You see this mostly in communities like Get Off My Internets. Whether you agree with the premise of an anonymous community where people can complain about bloggers or not, GOMI represents some of the common critiques and attitudes about blogs: who cares about one woman buying a bunch of crap she simply doesn't really need and never doing anything with it? The number of fashion, beauty, and lifestyle bloggers that ultimately get labeled with "shopping addict" is astounding. Truth be told, it's most of them... and I don't think that label is necessarily wrong in a vast majority of cases. 

Blogging isn't an art that is dying. There are lots of interesting blogs not related to fashion, beauty, or lifestyle that don't get pulled into the consumerist obsession with constant shopping. And obviously, those types of blogs are still very profitable: the number of women earning a decent living (or at least enough to supplement another income) off a fashion, beauty, or lifestyle blog is still very high. And really, that's one of the coolest parts of niche blogging, the fact that so many women have made careers for themselves out of it. 

I do wonder, however, what the answer is. Will niche lifestyle blogs ever snap back into what they once were? As long as interest from big brands exists (and there is an outlet for them to promote using sponsored blog posts and courtesy-of clothing), many blogs will remain in the rut of "shopping exclusively." But I hope that someday the blogs of the past will emerge: great outfit posts, great make up tutorials, and great DIY posts that are only about sharing great content and advice, not appeasing a sponsor.