It took me until my mid twenties to embrace my natural waist. For some reason I always felt like an old lady when I wore anything on my actual waist. As a teenager I can remember joking with a friend that we needed to buy stock in “low-rise jeans” so that we could ensure their existence for the duration of our lives. I think we didn’t want to ever have to wear “mom jeans”. Now look at us all! The higher the better and the bottom line is that fashion is a river…constantly flowing and changing and often times the scenery ends up being the same as it was a few miles back. And sometimes we chose to get out and stay on the bank where we feel most comfortable…whether that is in a fringed leather jacket or tight rolled boy friend jeans or a crop top you inherited form your free spirited aunt. I guarantee that if you wait around long enough, whatever your niche is will be back and you won’t have missed a beat!! Though there is something satisfying about staying current and enjoying stylish things while other people are enjoying them.

Keeping in mind that my waist has only been an appreciated part of my fashion efforts for a few years, I had to fully rediscover the wrap around skirt. I’ve owned wrap arounds since I was a teen, but I always wore them practically falling off my hip bones. How refreshing! The first time I tied a skirt where it belonged! Around my waist!! There is something very feminine and timeless about utilizing your true waist. May I also mention that nothing has made me appreciate my waist more than losing it for a season (quite a few seasons rather…). Having children has scared me into appreciating my waist more and more each pregnancy…each time, being 8 months pregnant and thinking “this is it…my waist is gone forever…there’s no recovering from this..” But the body of a woman is quite a miracle in itself and if you treat it ok, that helps too.

So this lovely reversible silk wrap around skirt, with some of that mustard yellow that I can only wear in small amounts, is one of my favorites.

 I got it last summer at some little hippie shop in Rehoboth, Delaware. The hippie in me refuses to die off. I can chop off the dreadlocks and donate all the patchwork I’ve ever stitched together…but I can’t stay away from a Nag Champa reaking hippie store filled with lovely, flowy fabrics and tapestries. This specific little store boasts 15-20 dollar skirts (very unlike every other store in the Rehoboth area)…and that doesn’t feel like too much to blow on myself on a family beach trip.

The whisper cotton v neck tee…MADEWELL. Can’t beat these tees. They’re cheap (on sale) and they are 100% cotton. I’m a bit of a textile snob. I won’t give you anything for the polyblends that are currently plaguing the “fast fashion” world right now. One stroll thru your local thrift store will open your eyes to the fate of every piece of poly/cotton blended clothing you’ve ever considered purchasing (or perhaps already own). It’s the ugly truth. (And a lot of ugly fabric.)

I don’t usually prefer to be very “matchy”, but sometimes you just gotta! I found these beautiful, vintage porcelain beads at our local Goodwill and they were strung on the most hideous, pale pink ribbon. I felt sad that the previous owner couldn’t see their potential. Set beside some antiqued brass beads they are just lovely. And while I wasn’t exactly thinking they would pair so well with this skirt…they really did…like they were separated at birth.

The Birkenstock Gizeh is by far my favorite style of Birk sandal. This is my second pair in 15 years. They have one fatal flaw…the cork always cracks near the base of the toes on the sides of the sandal. It’s nothing a little shoe goo and some elbow grease can’t remedy. The comfort is worth it.

 This outfit is exceedingly comfortable and fully sourced from my local Salvation Army. I’ve loved that bicycle print since it hit the scene some years back…but I did not own anything with the design until recently.

 I found this full, colorful, cotton skirt the same day I found the shirt and it was most likely made by a super talented, hardworking Mennonite lady. No tags. Just super tough seams and a zipper and a snap. When I saw these items, I imagined that those flowers could quite easily be in a bouquet in the basket of that bicycle and maybe that bike is being ridden thru the streets of Ottowa or Paris and I would want to be a part of that scenario. So while the mixing of patterns isn’t always the way to go…if there is an imaginary bicycle and bouquet of flowers that make sense somewhere in there…GO FOR IT!

I might normally have thrown a nice brown or golden leather belt on with this outfit, but lately I’ve only been wearing one belt…and his name is Max.