Stylequake

[dorchadas]

I think it's time to change my personal style around.

The last time I did this was back in 2015, but I've done it several times in my life. To wit:

1. High school / University proto-goth (1997-2004): Mall goth. Black jeans/pants, black graphic tees. Occasional infusion of reds or dark blues, especially when I went to university (I used to have some red pants I'd wear on laundry day and greyselke hated them)
   
2. Post-university casual (2004-2008): Mild grunge. Much more color, though mostly blues, greys, browns, and greens. T-shirts with sarcastic sayings ("I'm only wearing black until they invent something darker") paired with cargo pants. Unstructured sandals during summer and boots during winter. Occasional flannel over top.
   
3. The Foreigner in the Inaka (2008-2011): Extreme business casual. Slacks/dress pants with untucked dress shirts above, in mostly black, white, dark blue, or pastels, though still greens and blues. Pants were black or blue.
   
4. Monochrome in the city (2011-2015): Gradual reduction of colors to black and dark grey, while still maintaining the business casual aesthetic. Introduction of sweaters (previously I'd relied on coats only during winter).
   
5. Dystopian Future Assassin (2015-2021): Full cyberpunk goth makeover. Substantial outlay on brand pieces (Demobaza, MDNT45, Zolnar, First Aid to the Injured, Tom Krom). Focus on asymmetrical clothing, layering, draping, and multiple textures per piece. Tons of compliments.

Dystopian Future Assassin has gotten me more style compliments than any other time in my life, but it has a lot of problems mixing with parenthood. It's very expensive, the clothes require some special effort to clean (most of them can be washed but are hang-dry only), and honestly, Laila probably isn't going to be too comfortable being held if I'm wearing a shirt with plastic webbing or too many zippers. So I thought, what would be an aesthetic that looks good, that I would like wearing, and that's easy to care for if a baby spits up or throws up on it?

Answer: Darkest academia.

That's kind of a joke, but it's true that sashagee has always said she's more in favor of Victorian goth style than cyberpunk style, and her favorite outfits of mine have always involved sweaters and cardigans. So focus more on that--slacks and dress pants, loafers or dress shoes, vests, dress shirts, sweaters, suit coats and cardigans, all in black, grey, dark brown, dark green, or wine red. I just said "Vests?" to and she replied "Y. E. S." so that's a good sign. And to top it all off, I can actual find these things in thrift shops and regular stores! I'll still be at the mercy of sizing, since it's nearly impossible to even find the most generic pants in my size, but the styling will be easier. There's certainly isn't any Demobaza available at my local thrift stores.

Honestly getting excited to update my wardrobe once again.