Style Diary: Valentine's Day Haul & Look Book
Updated: Feb 7, 2022
St. Valentine's Day. The day we first came to know in primary school where we traced and cut out paper hearts and created handmade cards and artwork for our parents or classmates. Sweetheart candies stamped with "Be Mine" and "Love you" shared and enjoyed between friends. It's also a day to bring out your red fashion items, although for some, the color can be pink or a combo of red and pink together. Recently, I've been noticing touches of purple or lilac added to the mix. Whatever your palette preference, it's another opportunity at the start of the year to dress festively.
To create a few holiday looks I went through my closet to pull a few pieces and realized my stash of pink and red has dwindled, significantly. This is the result of several clear-outs in 2021, where every three months or season change I became more comfortable letting go of items in my wardrobe that no longer brought me joy, no longer fit, or I finally made peace in parting with. The consequence is a wardrobe that's not as abundant as it used to be, but consists of items I absolutely love and will wear in 2022. It's also given me an excuse, opportunity, and space to acquire new pieces.
For this mini spree, I went to my trusty affordable sites in search of various items. It was a bit more difficult because, being older, wiser and more discriminatory in what I wear, I was determined to purchase classic items that could live beyond Valentine's Day. This is typically how I shop, but for a holiday as this, I could easily fill my cart with things adorned in hearts or with the word "LOVE" emblazoned all over it; kitschy things. And I truly wanted to stay away from too many of those types of items, which I will leave to the young and hipsters from now on. My personal style is becoming more mature, so I wanted to create looks to reflect that, while still exhibiting a touch of fun, sexiness, and holiday spirit. At my core, I'm a festive beast and could easily turn myself into a walking V-Day billboard, but subtle is where I want to be and am happy to see how my holiday style, overall, has evolved over the past year. Of course, there were a couple of items where I couldn't resist a "heart" or two, but they're items I don't consider kitschy, but fun.
In any case, the two places I discovered items that spoke to my style aesthetic without breaking the bank turned out to be SHEIN and The RealReal. I DID get two items with hearts from SHEIN (a tee and pair of PJs), but feel I can seamlessly work them into my everyday style.
SHEIN V-DAY HAUL
Not everyone is all about red for the holiday and a color like pink is more of the vibe. That's where this feminine and romantic top comes in. I contrasted it with a black faux leather skirt to give it a leather and lace look. What do think?
I purchased this belt to add a sparkly element of red to an all black outfit (the Sandro dress, below, from TheRealReal), but it didn't work as I planned. It did, however, work with another outfit I was able to put together in case it's a cold and chilly day where you are during the holiday. The hot pink purse was just a little something to break up the red and white theme with another bold pop of color. I wasn't sure it would work, but I like the way it photographed. What say you?
This is one of the two festive items I picked up and I can totally see myself wearing these all year long because it just fits in with my personality.
This is my second festive item and it replaces another tee I had in my wardrobe that was ready for the donation pile. It's simple, but FUN and I can wear this during Spring and Summer for casual outings or around the house. A shirt like this is a great pick-me-up. How can you not feel lighthearted and loving while wearing a shirt like this?
THE REALREAL V-DAY HAUL
The RealReal is a consignment shop that resells branded items, typically super expensive, for discounted prices. This was my first time shopping on the site and, although I'd heard about it from influencers who purchased pricey clothing, shoes and bags from the site, I initially wasn't interested. What changed my mind is during my hunt for sparkly items for a New Year's fashion haul, a skirt from The RealReal turned up in my search results. The price on the item was less than $40 and I honestly didn't think one could find anything for less than hundreds of dollars on there. I wasn't interested in the item in my search results, but I clicked on it out of curiosity and found myself in a section of the site I would describe as affordable heaven. Great looking branded items, if you're into that sort of thing, for reasonable prices. I decided I'd check back at a later date for a deeper dive and when I did, I found 4 items that would have retailed for $300 for the bargain price of $125 (one dress isn't holiday related and will be featured in another post). My only gripe about the site is that you get a generic photo of the item as it were new. They don't show you the actual item you're going to get. There may be a note that there's minor wear, or pulls or discoloration on the items, but they don't show that to you to gauge if you want to take the risk of purchasing. On Ebay, when buying pre-owned items, I always purchase from sellers who included photos of any defects, so I could decide if the defect is a big deal or not. Also items on The RealReal are non-refundable. Yes, they curate the best items and authenticate branding, but if you want to see the defect before buying you might be out of luck. I picked items that were mostly "like new", but would have added a few other faves if able to see photos of the noted "flaws". Below, are the three items I scored.
* I purchased this Sandro dress and didn't pay close attention to what size S entailed (size 1; I'm a size 4/6), so it didn't fit. However, I styled a similar dress already in my wardrobe (below) the way I had planned to style this one.
If you're into more festive looks full of hearts and LOVE signs, I've linked some of my affordable favorites at the end of this post. I didn't purchase them, but if I was still heavy into that vibe, I would have added them to my wardrobe.
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