Follow Along:
 |  |  |  |
More Real Life on Instagram
Find Something Awesome:
Follow by email
Disclosure:
Peruse the Archives
Sarah's Real Life is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. All uses must be attributed to the full name of my blog, "Sarah's Real Life," and must link to my original post(s) from which you copied the material.
Latest & Greatest
When: late August // Weather: warm & sunny // Real life: work
When jumpsuits started popping up a couple years ago, I thought it wouldn’t last. Everyone will get tired of the associated bathroom challenges and decide it’s not worth it, right? As a dancer, I spent half my childhood in tights and leotards so I’m quite familiar with the concept of getting nearly naked just to pee, but I figured the general female public would call B.S. on this inconvenient trend.
But clearly I was wrong. I guess we decided that with all the crap we endure as women, we can put up with a jumpsuit no problem. In fact, maybe jumpsuits are a feminist statement. A jumpsuit says “I’m feminine but I also wear the pants…literally.” A jumpsuit says “I’m not afraid of a challenge, gentlemen. Come at me.”
similar Jacket (same in khaki) // similar Jumpsuit // Shoes // Sunglasses // similar Bag
When: Sept. 7 // Weather: low 70s and sunny // Real life: strolling around Broad Ripple and stopping for wine & gourmet popcorn (yes really)
^^This was when I spotted a couple cats sleeping in the brush nearby.
I will never not stop to look at cats.
Happy official first day of fall, the greatest season out of all seasons! This time of year I started to get SAD: Seasonal Affective DELIGHT.
I spent the beginning of the month in the Outer Banks with my family. We made it 4 days on the beach before we got evacuated thanks to Hurricane Dorian. If you’re keeping track, yes, that’s one day longer than we made it last year before Hurricane Florence. Sooooo yeah definitely a success. Shooting for 5 days next year.
On the bright side, coming home a little early meant we got to enjoy a remarkably kickass beautiful pre-fall day back in Indiana. I busted out some leopard print and long sleeves, soaked up some not-too-direct sunshine, and almost forgot about my bad vacation luck.
Jeans (c/o Mott & Bow) // Tee // Sunglasses // similar Shoes (on sale) // similar Bag (on sale) // similar Belt
When: August 24 // Weather: glorious // Real life: soaking up the weekend at every patio in Broad Ripple
In my quest for a more sustainable closet, I ordered several pieces from ADAY, including this top. (All it took was a couple Google searches for “sustainable fashion” and ADAY started popping up 5x a day as a sponsored post on my Instagram.)
The pros: You can wear it multiple ways thanks to strategically placed snaps (it can also be a wrap). It’s wrinkle resistant so good for traveling. The fabric is light and breathable. And, obvi, the company has very cool values and practices. Yay Earth!
The cons: It’s not exactly flattering, but don’t mind the slouchy look sometimes. A little pricey. It has to be washed on cold and can’t go in the dryer (but I guess that helps the Earth too).
The unknowns: Time will tell whether this fancy technical fabric stands up well to wearing and washing. If it does, that will help balance out the cost.
Have you guys ordered from ADAY before? What are your favorite sustainable fashion brands?
Top // Shoes // Necklace // similar Bag // similar Sunglasses
When: late August // Weather: warm // Real life: wine tasting event
^^Showing off how comfy flexible these shoes are! You can even bust out a tendu if you’re ballet-inclined.
I have a pretty amazing track record for wearing white to do potentially very messy activities (like eating Italian food or going anywhere there are children) and coming out unscathed. Take this look – I wore it to a wine tasting event which turned out to be all reds, and we were seated the whole time. I had a lap just begging to be dripped on, and check it out – no Tide Pen emergencies.
This can only mean one thing: one day, when my streak comes to an end, it will be in epic fashion. A flock of bird will all take a simultaneous dump while I’m eating on a patio. A PETA protester will mistake my faux fur for the real thing and throw red paint on me. My car will break down, the only available rental will be a convertible, and when I’m on the highway, and the truck in front of me will bust open, spilling its cargo of glue and tomatoes.
Whenever that happens, I’ll be sure to blog it.
Jacket // Pants // Shoes // similar Bag
When: August 13 // Weather: 80s and cloudy (but I wear sunglasses b/c I’m cool) // Real life: birthday dinner
I had a birthday last month, so I’ve now had enough time to get used to the new age I lie about being. I like to go with a 9-year deficit. Subtracting 10 is much easier, sure, but when I turned 30 I didn’t want to be too young for a cocktail because who deserves cocktails more than the 30-somethings of the world? We spent our best years surviving a recession, and now we have lame things like jobs and mortgages and kids, and when we go to the doctor, we hear things like “this is a common complaint at your age.” Meanwhile, we’re still young enough to worry about whether we might outlast the ozone layer.
So when I turned “25” a few weeks ago, you better believe I put on my finest adult onesie and ordered a cocktail called The Elder Witch. Happy birthday to me!
Jumpsuit // Shoes (on sale) // Sunglasses // Necklace // similar Bracelet // similar Clutch
When: early August // Weather: hot // Real life: work, then all the Mexican food
Can someone explain to me how a disposable razor can be sharp enough to slice my finger open, yet not sharp enough to efficiently remove hair from my legs? Is the razor offended that it’s being labeled as disposable, so the razor’s like “fine, I’ll give you a reason to dispose of me”?
Joke’s on you, razor, cuz I’m all stocked up on Band-Aids, and I’ll use the same disposable razor for months.
Dress // Bag // similar Shoes
When: a couple weeks ago // Weather: probably warm // Real life: work
Shirt // similar Skirt // Bag // Shoes // Earrings // similar Sunglasses
Guess what? My 30×30 Remix that I started on June 14 is finally over. If you’re going “what the fork is she talking about?” you can catch up here. But basically, a few weeks ago, I picked 30 items from my closet, and I wore 30 outfits using only those items. I didn’t count bags, jewelry, or sunglasses, but I did count shoes and other accessories – for example, I counted a belt and a headband in my 30. I also didn’t wear all 30 outfits consecutively, which is why it took me for-freaking-ever to finish. But now that I’m done, I can say I learned some valuable lessons:
- I have way more clothes than I need (or even want). During the challenge, it was nice to not be overwhelmed by choices. For the most part, it made life easier. You won’t see me joining the minimalist Marie Kondo lifestyle anytime soon, but I am definitely inspired to clean out a nice chunk of my closet in the near future (P.S. go ahead and find me on Poshmark @sarahsreallife and stay tuned)!
- Before buying something new, I need to think of at least 3 ways to wear it. When I was picking out my 30 items, I realized just how many things in my closet are not that versatile even though when I bought them I was so sure they were great buys.
- There’s nothing wrong with wearing the same piece of clothing twice in a week. I mean, deep down, I already knew this, but pre-30×30, I would sometimes think to myself “no, I won’t wear that today because I wore it Monday.” Who. Cares. Wear what you want, when you want. (I’m saying this into a mirror right now.)
- I probably won’t do the 30×30 remix challenge again. Don’t get me wrong, it was really fun for the first 20 outfits or so. Many valuable lessons were learned (at least 3 of them – see above). By the last 10, it was getting harder to come up with new creations, and I was getting kinda sick of it. Even though I probably won’t commit myself to 30 outfits again, I do like the idea of picking out a few pieces (say, 10) and using them to jump start my ensembles for awhile, until I’m ready to pick a new 10.
Anyway, I’m glad I saw it through to the end, if only because collages are fun. Here they are, ALL. 30. OUTFITS. (Drum roll, please…)
What do you think…have you tried the 30×30 remix or similar challenge? Would you try it?
When: Aug. 1 // Weather: 80s // Real life: work
^^This is when I tried to casually cross one leg over the other and then I sort of fell and tried to cover it like it’s what I meant to do all along.
^^Boom. Nailed it.
One of my blogger friends (well, in my head we’re friends…I’ve never met her) posted recently about how we should make personal style about experimenting and having fun, and not just about sticking to a particular aesthetic. Amen, sister, and thanks for the reminder. Sometimes I think at my age I should have a particular look that I stick to, and I feel discouraged when I can’t figure out exactly what that look is. Am I stripes girl? Bright colors girl? Slightly edgy but also girly girl? Should I not call myself “girl” when I’m over 30? I have many unanswered questions.
Lately I’ve been feeling very me in neutral clothes with statement shoes/accessories, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only thing I can wear. At least I hope it isn’t, because I’ve got a closet full of crazy colors and prints that have plenty of life left in them. So for today, this is my personal style. Tomorrow? Who knows…follow my blog so you can find out. 😉
similar Dress (other options below) // similar Shoes // similar Sunglasses // similar Bag
When: Friday, Aug. 2 // Weather: perfectly summery // Real life: work, then dinner on a Mass Ave rooftop patio
I bought these sunglasses for like 15 bucks at a Fisherman’s Wharf shop in San Francisco. It just seemed like a fun, goofy, touristy thing to do. (Too bad it was cloudy almost the entire week we were in California.) Now I realize I actually kind of love them. The problem is that they feel like $15 sunglasses. They legit squeak when I fold and open them, and I’m fairly sure they would break if my cat sat on them.
So I went on the hunt for a good quality pair of white, not-so-subtle retro sunglasses. At first I was going to go with these, but then I started leaning toward these. I asked Kristin and she voted for option 1, so now they’re on their way to me! Just don’t tell me to order the second pair too, because I will take that advice!
Blazer (on sale) // Jeans // Necklace // similar Bag // similar Shoes // similar Sunglasses
When: July 27 // Weather: warm and sunny // Real life: family fun in Greenville, SC
I did it, OK? I got a fashion fanny pack. And I shan’t apologize. Because I really like it. Just think of all the sweet dance moves I can do now that my arms are free and I don’t have a crossbody throwing off my center of balance. I don’t normally go to clubs but I might have to start. They open at 7:00, right?
Bag (on sale) // Hat // similar Shorts // similar Shoes // Sunglasses