I have noticed that my style is slowly changing now that I live in Manhattan. Boston was more of a city where people wear casual clothes and dress conveniently, especially in winters. I remember how several women felt the urge to address my choice of shoes there. Apparently my very warm and waterproof Adidas wedges weren’t appropriate for a Boston winter in their eyes. They were too pretty. I am still annoyed just thinking about those incidents. In New York City in contrast nobody would ever badmouth my outfit choice in the street.
Anyway, let me now return to my style in Manhattan. Now that I don’t feel as judged about it anymore, I also feel more like dressing up again. It is something I did before I moved to the U.S. and it just seems very appropriate for Manhattan. If I don’t dress up here – where else?! After all this is the city of Carrie Bradshaw and “The Devil Wears Prada”.
Recently, I discovered a great secret to how people can afford fancy clothes here: sample sales. I had heard about them, but I had never been there. Until I went to the Rent the Runway sample sale a few weeks ago. Like OMG! Both, the clothes and the prices were amazing. All you need is a lot of time to look through all the racks because the clothes were sorted by size. I found this Draper James dress and immediately fell in love. I have always liked Reese Witherspoon’s style and her fashion company’s dresses are just so beautiful. I ended up buying this one for only about $ 40 and I have worn it several times since.
It works for work and free time. I find the medium length perfect for fall. Initially the dress looks a little conservative, but then you notice the little décolleté vent. The rather pink than red color is also much more pleasant. For a walk through Central Park I wore the dress with flat boots because walking in Manhattan on high heels is still something I need to master. Distances are usually a little too far and I neither want to run down my heels all the time. So flats it is most of the time. Seriously, how did Carrie constantly wear high heels? Or did she actually not walk that far, but always take a cab? I might have to rewatch the whole serious and do some research there.
At that sample sale I purchased several more dresses because I have rediscovered my love for dresses. I am not even sure yet if Manhattan is more of a dress/skirts city, but these pieces just make me feel better and more confident. Isn’t it funny though how my style changes according to the places I live in?! Or is it more that Boston was clearly not my city because I dressed differently whereas now I actually return to my “old” style that I already had in Istanbul?
dress: Draper James Buffalo Plaid Dress (old, similar here*)
handbag: Liebeskind (old, similar here*)
shoes: Rebels (old, similar here*)
© janavar
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