Chilly weather fashion

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know I have a love of fashion going way back to my formative years. I do try to look cool every day, with the occasional exception of "work days", when my only plan is to park myself in front of my computer, put my head down, and chug through hours of dreck. Friday was one of those days. Man, I really did look bad -- I wasn't even wearing regular shoes, I was wearing these "soccer slides" with white socks (yikes!), a gigantic surfer hoodie, and my hair was about as bad as it gets. And as I made a quick stop at Starbucks I ran into this adorable young lady, who was so stylish that I begged her for a picture. Standing next to her, I looked pretty schlumpy! I explained to her that I like to blog photos of stylish people, and that I struggle to find stylish people to blog about in Colorado Springs. And she told me that her name is Phoebe and that she's a college student, and that a lot of college students have a strong style signature. I responded with, "Yes, I went to college too," which probably either sounded incredibly condescending or just plain silly! So Phoebe, if you're reading this, what I meant to say is that I understood where you were coming from, because in college I majored in art, and I was definitely a style maverick during those years. It's a great time to discover your own style and express it boldly. When you're in high school, you're too timid to step too far out of the box with your fashion sense (though a few brave souls do), but college is when people really start to explore their individuality. In college I swung wildly, daily, from punk to goth to Coco Chanel to mod to hippie chick. I wore vintage clothing from the '50s and '60s most days, down to my shoes. I was such a style radical that my photography professor lugged a giant 8x10" view camera to school one day and took a portrait of me, not even knowing in advance what I would be wearing -- he just knew it would be interesting! (I remember exactly what I was wearing, actually: skin tight green paisley pants, beat up, red Converse high tops, dangly peace sign earrings that touched my collarbone, and an enormous mint green sweater that I had knit myself.) I never did see that portrait, so Jim if you're out there, you owe me a peek!

Anyway, I love what Phoebe's wearing in this picture. I have a very similar skirt, and actually I was wearing an almost identical scarf to hers that day, so she and I obviously have some things in common! I think her boots are an inspired touch, and they are what bring the outfit to a different level. And that purse is awesome. She doesn't look like she's trying too hard, she just looks cute and put-together. So brava, girl! You look great! Thanks for letting me blog about you!