Style Retrospective 2025 - Q2
April buds popping brings...a lot of May shopping. What comes after the flood of new acquisitions?
Echoing the lush expanse of green that has cropped up in recent months, this spring season has also brought transformation and abundance to my closet.
I found myself making some real breakthroughs in discerning my evolving wardrobe needs (practical summer shoes) and style interests (green and orange accents). However, along with the precipitous weather came the opening of shopping floodgates.
May, in particular, was a hedonistic month—and let’s not even get into the ice-cream-after-work habit that undoubtedly contributed to my usually large credit card statement. Following a pretty restrained first quarter to the year, my clothing acquisitions ramped up and, by the end of the month, I’d added nearly double-digit items.
Unlike some of my past clothing binges, this one felt less emotional or escapism-driven—more the result of being lucky and opportunistic in my low-key searches for desired pieces. There were strategic, thoroughly-considered adds that had been in the works for months. There were spontaneously-encountered gems that made my stomach flip with excitement. And there were some irresistible deals on coveted pieces I hadn’t imagined ever owning.
Here’s what went down.
Wardrobe Updates
Within the span of a few short months, I had somehow checked off everything on my warm weather wishlist—amassed through fruitful in-person runs and chance online finds.
Here’s a look at the 13 (!) new-to-me items that joined my closet over the past three months.
The Considered Purchases
White Everlane Tank - I’d been mulling over adding a white cotton base for months. After some in-person try-ons, I decided to veer away from buying a t-shirt or anything too expensive (because I ultimately don’t trust myself). I ended up ordering this boatneck style tank from Everlane, which is not how I envisioned making this very ubiquitous purchase. The result: a nice ribbed cotton tank just in time for summer—with the drawback of an ill-fitting bust due to my post-breastfeeding deflation. I still like the top and plan to take it to my tailor for adjustment, but another X for not trying before you buy.
Orange Jungmaven Tank - Looking for one more easy summer tank, I scored this cropped Jungmaven number at a ridiculous markdown (from $60+ to just $16.95). Fortunately, this online purchase fit as expected, and I’m thoroughly obsessed with the “mango mojito” shade which pairs surprisingly well with my wardrobe.
Vintage Black Denim Shorts - I’d been longing to add a pair of longline black denim shorts to my closet, and spent months scanning secondhand stores in the city for just the right pair. These vintage shorts from Wrangler are exactly what I was hoping to manifest; they are nicely worn in and fit me like a dream.
Pink Hunter Rubber Loafers - You may have read about my summer shoe dilemmas—and, boy, do I have some updates on this front. After struggling through most of the rainy months with inadequate footwear, a pair of rubber shoes was high on my priority list. I found these on Poshmark and thought they landed perfectly at the junction of practical need and personal style. However, after receiving them, I realized that the sizing was a bit big (have to wear thick socks with them—not ideal for the heat) and the loafer, while very city-chic, does not perform well in all settings where water repellent shoes would be a plus (like digging for worms in the woods). In hindsight, I should have just picked up a cheap pair of wellies from the thrift store, but I’m going to give these very adorable shoes a few more tries—though I’ll probably end up releasing them back into the Poshmarkverse.
Black Birkenstock Mary Janes - Okay, they may not keep out every grain of sand or pebble (impossible), but these Mary Janes come pretty close to my ideal summering-with-a-toddler shoe. I love the leather upper material and the wide toe box which supports hours and hours of blister-free walking. Of my two Poshmark shoe purchases in May, these are the clear winners.
The Spontaneous Purchases
Vintage Green Shirt - This pale olive green men’s shirt was originally purchased for my husband, but luckily—I mean, sadly—did not fit him in the shoulders. So into my closet it went. I feel like I practically lived in this shirt all through spring, the cotton-wool material being the perfect weight for those not-quite-warm days.
Vintage Blue Shirt - Poplin shirting is big every summer, but I’ve always struggled to find silhouettes that I like (i.e., not an Oxford or anything pouffy). As such, when I stumbled upon this boxy 3/4 sleeve number in powder blue, I couldn’t resist bringing it home—even though I have no shortage of button ups in my closet already.
Vintage Green Skirt - While I’ve yearned to get back into wearing skirts, it’s been difficult porting the dainty, silk ones I loved in the past into my new reality. An elastic cotton skirt in bold, jungle green—my accent colour of choice in 2025—had been simmering in the back of my mind. But I couldn’t quite justify spending a large sum on something so experimental, that I probably wouldn’t even wear all that often. Miraculously, an impromptu thrifting adventure landed this crisp, bright knee-length skirt. It’s been so fun exercising my skirt-styling muscle again—in addition to the ones in my thighs when I wear this to bike into work.
Brown Rockport Loafers - I really didn’t need to add a third pair of shoes this quarter. But when the thrifting Gods bless you with ultra-comfortable genuine leather shoes in good condition, you have to gobble up that manna (I did, however, leave behind a pair of Merrell Jungle Mocs on the same trip). I’d been wanting to find another pair of orthopedic grandma shoes like the Clarks that served me so well in my early-twenties; while these are definitely more grandpa in flavour, I think I’ll enjoy them just the same.
The Dream Purchases
Loden Shaina Mote Trousers - I can’t remember when I first saw these gorgeous pleated trousers online, but they became deeply seared into my brain as an aspirational, but unattainable garment—well outside of my price range at over $400 CAD. I don’t know what prompted me to click on an email from Ad Hoc Penticton on that fortuitous day in May, alerting me of their extra 50% off birthday sale (I hardly ever open my promotions folder), but as I idly clicked through the sale pages, my pulse immediately skyrocketed when I saw that these Boy Trousers were amongst the deeply discounted items—and there was just a single pair left, in my size. While I usually don’t practice sale-stalking and would never promote impulsively buying $160 pants, I’m so glad I was able to finally the own the capacious, structured pants of my dreams.
Vintage Black Shirt Dress - It’s been a minute since I’ve owned a shirt dress, but these used to be staple garments for me—the perfect uniform piece for a young-professional-by-day-cum-underground-swing-dancer-by-night. Over time, I stopped reaching for dresses and fully embraced being a wearer of separates. Yet, deep in my heart, I continued to hold a soft spot for vintage button up dresses—open to giving them another twirl should the right one come across my path. I randomly tried on this 80’s linen dress while shopping for shorts at a great local vintage spot and fell in LOVE. It makes me feel so confident, so elegant—like I need cat eye sunglasses, espadrilles, and a stay at an outrageously lavish villa in Noto to complete the vibe.
Antique White Shorts - June was supposed to be (and nearly was) a “no buy” month. Despite the constant little wants that can surface with great passion before fizzling out, I was (and still am) feeling good about the current state of my wardrobe. I was doing a decent job at avoiding temptation, but when a local vintage store that I follow on social media previewed a release of antique undershirts and bloomers sourced from Puglia, I was hooked. Underwear from the early 1900’s is a category of garments I’ve always appreciated—and I can’t deny that they’ve been on my mind lately with the trendiness of pillowcase-y white skirts and little lace-trimmed shorts—but rarely have I ever come across pieces I could actually see myself wearing. Enter this pair of knee-length Italian bloomer shorts with beautiful handcrafted details. I thought about them for a few days and hesitated before adding them to cart, but I saw a vision of deep regret in passing up this rare, historical garment that so spoke to me.
One More (Spontaneous) Purchases
Vintage Tiered Skirt - While picking up the aforementioned shorts order, I decided to take advantage of my daughter napping in the stroller to take a quick browse. Rifling through the racks for no more than 45 seconds turned up this wonderfully textured beige and cream tiered skirt. I tried it on, loved the way it fit and moved, and bought it without second guessing.
It’s truly been a long time since I’ve added so many items to my closet in such a compressed span of time. This laundry list of items may be slightly dizzying, but aside from the questionable rain loafers, I’m into them all. Time will tell which are true winners, though.
Nearly all of my Q2 purchases were made in-person or online from Canadian sellers: an intentional choice on my part to both limit the scope of my “shopping zone” and support local, in response to the certain tariffs.
The torrent of new additions in this update brings my yearly total to 17—edging close to the totality of what I purchased in 2024 and we’re only halfway through. While this rate of acquisition feels a bit haywire, like I’ve failed some kind of moralistic low-buy that I didn’t even sign up for, I’m reminding myself that I didn’t want to make “numbers” a focus this year. Instead, I want to lead with curiosity and thoughtfulness—in the way I engage with new clothes, as well as how I steward what I already own.
In 2025, I am open to exploring the depths and edges of my style through thoughtful acquisitions, as long as it’s enjoyable and creatively stimulating—not bringing upon shame or making me overwhelmed.
What I Wore
The combo of nicer weather and a less clingy child has allowed me to engage in more diverse activities, branching out from the childcare/work binary. Along with the interesting new pieces I’d added to my arsenal, I began dipping more into my stash of pre-parenthood clothes that were NSFB (not safe for baby). Stylistically, it was like two bodies of water meeting; the brackish mix of old and new led to combinations that felt fresh, yet familiar.
In addition to revisiting old favourites, some style themes of the past season include:
A continued love for pops of bold colour. Red is still a go-to statement shade for me, but a verdant green and tangy yellow-orange are climbing up the ranks.
A preference for dark darks and light lights over in-between neutral shades. I gravitate towards outfits with sharp contrast over an assemblage of closely related tones.
Embracing cotton, silk, hemp, and linen inner layers over wool. I’d had quite enough of those lightweight merino tanks I wore nearly every day during 18 months of nursing and was ready for my breasts to touch new textiles.
Relishing third (and fourth) layers. The plus side to an exceptionally cool and rainy spring season was the opportunity to wear my carousel of lightweight jackets and heavyweight shirts for longer than two weeks.
Some of the outfit formulas I relied on:
For office: trousers or nice jeans + interesting belt + silk top + leather loafers or flats
For biking into the office: knee-length skirt + dark top (to disguise sweat marks) + loafers or may janes + helmet
For mom duty: casual jeans, pull on pants, or shorts + colourful, washable top + sporty shoes
For date night: slinky silk dress + statement jewelry + leather slides
Solo time: anything goes! An opportunity to experiment with more precious vintage pieces and less practical styling choices (perhaps a scarf tied around the waist is in my future…)
While much of my style philosophy is about shifting your attention inwards to notice and appreciate the clothes you own and have built relationships with, I can’t deny that having a smattering of new made getting dressed all the more exciting. I genuinely loved almost every outfit I wore, only a tiny fraction of them captured on camera.
If you’re interested in seeing more outfits, my Indyx is now open! (Also, please style me like your paper doll.)
Looking Ahead
“Shopping begets more shopping”. This quote from Lin’s post has stuck with me since I’ve read it and this Q2 update is a convincing demonstration of this phenomenon. While I don’t see the acquisition of primarily secondhand clothing as a “problem” on its own (Janelle Abbott’s More Clothes Manifesto has reframed some of my thinking), I do believe that having too much of a good thing can actually take away creative possibilities. Some constraints and stillness can go a long way in showing you who you really are.
I’m a big fan of revisiting goals and intentions when the data shows that the track you’re on isn’t taking you to where you want to be. Here are the revised shopping guidelines I’m hoping to adopt for the second half of this year:
Limit seeking out shopping. I love to “just take a peek” at what’s available in my favourite physical and online marketplaces, but my divining rod for style gems has been too on point lately, so I need to cool it. This means pausing the try-on dates I’ve been enjoying as “me time”. I plan to use these freed up chunks to pursue other activities: sewing workshops, dance classes, urban sketching meetups, arts and cultural events, cafe writing dates, maybe even a solo trip to the cinema. There are so many possibilities for R&R that don’t involve tempting myself with clothes that I’ll probably want to buy.
Ideally purchase nothing from new or online (secondhand online from within the country is a maybe—but only for priority pieces). I’ve already shot past my target of 5 online purchases in 2025, but I’d like to re-challenge myself to treat online shopping as an off-limits zone.
As for my wardrobe priorities in the months ahead:
Figure out how to reinterpret pieces from my past that I still like, but struggle to wear (looking at you dresses, courtesy of Angela Jones’s post).
Take a trip to the tailor (my white tank and vintage blue trousers could use a better fit; also considering having my dream trousers hemmed just a touch).
Saving vintage/thrift shopping for later summer or fall—when I’ll hopefully land my holy grail wool coat and textured sweater.
Continue making and altering my own clothes. I almost concluded this update without sharing my most successful me-made piece. The ribbed linen tank that was still in the early stages at the time of my last check-in is now complete. I love it so much! I’m now working on my second knit tank—the Sabai top in golden “quince” silk. It’s been a minute since I’ve done any real sewing, but there are a few other potential projects in the works, including a thrifted gingham silk dupion dress and blue linen maxi skirt that I’d like to reconstruct into pieces that are more my speed.
Here’s to the summer ahead: to park hangs in airy tops, skirt-clad bike rides by the water, sticky evening strolls in sun-faded leather shoes, and keeping my summer whites (mostly) stain-free.
Omg those old fashioned white shorts! The green skirt! So many goodies here. Fun post, thank you!
Interestingly, I did a lot of shopping in May myself. All very decisive, in-person purchases so no regrets, but I did just make a biggish secondhand purchase via TRR that I won't see till late July probably, so that's making me a bit nervous. It's not been much of a low-buy year in number of purchases at all (7 items so far), although I am doing well by my budget. I am finding hard to resist nice basics in good condition when I chance upon them secondhand (some kind of scarcity mentality at play here) and in the case of the TRR buy, one-off things marked down so tantalisingly within my reach that it feels like it was meant for me and me only.
I love those antique shorts and the way you wear them feels aligned and cohesive with your style!