Notes from February

Things I learned, things I bought

While January felt like the longest month of my life, February came and went in a moment's notice. Lots happened this month: I launched Less, tried Nuuly for the first time, visited my long distance bf, spent too much time in Fort Lauderdale, attended a friend’s wedding, traveled for work… lots of good stuff. 

The end of February also marks the two month point of my year of more intentional shopping. I figured it would be fun to publish a monthly reflection on the things I learned and things I purchased as a way to check my progress throughout the year. 

So without further ado, let’s get started. 

February Learnings

One, I don’t want to use fashion rental as a crutch.

I’ve written on this week after week this month — if you want to get caught up to speed, check out my past reflections here and here. 

For everyone else — TLDR: I tried Nuuly, it was convenient and the assortment met my needs as a wedding guest, but I was bummed about the pieces that didn’t work (too wrinkly, didn’t fit). Ultimately, I decided I don’t want to leverage fashion rental during my Rule of Five because even though I’m not adding anything to my wardrobe, it’s still tripping my dopamine sensors and making me crave newness versus getting creative with the items I already have in my closet.

However, I did appreciate this piece from

Eleanor

on how she uses Rent the Runway. There are definitely major differences between the two platforms – Nuuly is a subsidiary of fast fashion giant URBN (reflected in its assortment) and contributes to that endless feeling of trend cycle newness, while Rent the Runway offers entry-friendly price points for mid-tier luxury brands like Sandy Liang and Tibi. The value prop feels different to me. I might let my curiosity get the best of me and give Rent the Runway a try later in the year for another wedding/work event, but we shall see. In the meantime, I’ll stick to learning to appreciate what I have. 

Two, get me off IG.

I may have kicked the urge to purchase a stunning mohair sweater from a well-targeted Instagram ad on the flight back to NYC, but I buckled on a limited edition drop from jewelry-maker Stinky Jewelz (spotted on the likes of Olivia Rodrigo and Doja Cat). 

If you can’t tell, I’m a huge sucker for these social first designers. I’ve been burned many a time by a limited edition drop, where items sell out by the time I even get to the Apple Pay checkout page. Unfortunately, this has conditioned a trauma response where I sprint to press purchase without thinking. As was the case with the charm necklace I bought earlier this week.

A common piece of advice is to unfollow brands/influencers on social media to resist the temptation to shop. But I have curated a collection of small brands, indie designers, jewelry makers, vintage curators, etc. that I struggle to part ways with. Admittedly, I like the social capital of being in the know. It took me years to find all of these designers and makers, and unfollowing would unravel years of hard work of unearthing my personal taste.

More than other platforms, IG feels like a minefield for consumerist urges. Small brands and designers have used IG like a portfolio for years before TikTok came along and co-opted our attention.

With this in mind, I think I just need to find more mindful ways to engage with the platform. Like any good Zillennial, just post my IG story and go.

February Purchases

Now onto the fun part. I made three fashion-related purchases this month. 

One: a secondhand glass pearl choker necklace. This marks my second fashion-related purchase of 2024 (both secondhand). 

For weeks, I’ve been obsessed with this TikTok creator’s personal style – namely her signature pearl choker that she wears in nearly all of her videos. 

After doing some major sleuthing (aka watching her older videos), she shared that she made the necklace herself and wouldn’t be planning to make replicas (womp womp), so I turned to the greater resale app rotation to find something similar.

I sat on this purchase for a couple of weeks, evaluating options before purchasing this Brooks Brothers glass pearl choker on Poshmark for $20. 

In the process, I started thinking about how I want to approach accessories with the Rule of Five. I’ve scoured the internet for guidance on how to approach shopping for this category with little to no luck. Accessories weren’t specifically called out in the Hot or Cool’s Institute’s Unfit, Unfair, Unfashionable report (the sacred text for Rule of Fivers), leaving me in this weird grey area.

When I look at my wardrobe, I’m majorly lacking in accessories: jewelry, belts, hats, etc.  

I tend to wear the same pieces of jewelry in my day to day life: a puffy red heart cord necklace I bought from Awoke Vintage in Williamsburg, a pair of medium silver hoops from Madewell, and a pair of silver chunky heart earrings also from Awoke. This is reflected in their cost per wear: it costs me $.45, $.48, $.56 per wear for each of these pieces, respectively. I literally own one belt, and have worn the same clip-in mohair bows weekend after weekend for nights out.

I’ll probably end up writing a longer reflection about this later, but in my pause on purchasing, I’ve started to pay closer attention to the outfits I’m drawn to on social media. Accessories have this subliminal power to pull an outfit together. When I reflect on people who have really great style, the garments themselves are a very small part of the picture.

Elle Sundberg

recently wrote an amazing piece on this if you want to dive a little deeper. 

Which puts me in an awkward spot as I’m navigating this year of less. I’m conflicted: I want to be intentional about my purchases and avoid impulse shopping, but I also want to explore how items like glasses, hats, belts, take an outfit to the next level.

I’ve decided moving forward I’m going to create new guardrails around accessories, and allow myself to shop for 10 pieces (encompassing jewelry, belts, hats, glasses, hair clips/headbands), of which at least half must be secondhand. Strict Rule fo Fivers, please don’t castrate me.

Promise it won’t be in vain. I’d argue accessories are a low lift way to experiment trend cycles without needing to make significant adds or adjustments to the garments in your wardrobe. 

Recent Internet aesthetics like office siren and girlhood core boast characteristic accessories (eg. thin rectangle framed glasses, bows) that are easy to incorporate with basics.

I’m confident in the foundation I already have with my closet, and know accessories are what I need to focus on to elevate my outfits.

Two: my Nuuly foster fail (Anthropologie polka dot dress)

Nuuly knows what it’s doing. After submitting your order, you have the option to purchase any of your rented pieces at a steeply discounted price. You get the perk of playing dress up with the piece in your day to day life before making the call to permanently add to your closet. 

I absolutely fell in love with one of the dresses, and ended up wearing it twice during the rental period: for welcome drinks the night before my friend’s wedding, and at my work event. 

excuse the smudge on the hotel mirror!

It was one of those pieces that ticked off every box for me. The dress was comfortable on my body and it made me feel confident. I appreciated its versatility, and knew the style would be timeless years from now.

I ended up spending $93 on it, a 50+% discount from the listing price of $170.

Even though it was technically rented out before me, I’d still consider this a new purchase. I’m putting dollars into the pockets of a fast fashion conglomerate versus supporting a small vintage business or reseller. 

I feel really great about this purchase though. It was informed, not impulsive. And now I have a really great polka dot maxi dress to love for years to come.

Three: Stinky Jewelz Charm Necklace

The Internet loves Brooklyn Charm. Rightfully so – charm necklaces are arguably among the cutest forms of self expression (also see: handpoke tattoos, stickers). I’ve been eager to dabble in the trend, but haven’t found a piece that exactly hits the mark for me. 

A few years back, my bf gifted me a thoughtfully customized Susan Alexandra Tiny Joys necklace as a welcome back present for moving back to San Francisco. I wore it nearly nonstop until I gradually made the shift to exclusively wearing silver jewelry. Love a Susan piece, but her silver-friendly offerings are sparse. I think of him every time I see the piece hanging up in my room, but it gets pitifully little wear time nowadays, and typing this out makes me realize I need to be bold and embrace a mixed metals moment.

circa 2021, miss the ginger era

Other than the Susan piece, my closet is severely lacking on the charm necklace front. I’ve scoured the likes of Poshmark, Etsy, and eBay in hopes of finding a vintage piece, but most of the pieces I could find were 1) too expensive to justify and 2) bronze or gold.

So when I saw Stinky Jewelz post about a charm necklace drop, I was quick to pounce. They weren’t fully customizable like Brooklyn Charm or Susan Alexandra’s, but I felt a connection to the assortment of trinkets on the necklace I selected. The one-of-a kind piece came out to $88.

anything green + with bugs <3

Reflecting back on my time as a gold girlie, my Tiny Joys necklace was part of my daily rotation, so I’m confident this new charm necklace will also get plenty of air time in my day to day.

Leaving me to my totals:

• $ spent on clothing in February: $299 ($98 on rental; $201 on purchases)

• 1 of 5 new garments purchased

• 1 of 10 secondhand garments purchased

• 1 of 5 new accessories purchased

• 1 of 5 secondhand accessories purchased

Looking ahead

Today marks the first day of March. Spring is a little over two weeks away (thank god) and I’m looking forward to transitional dressing.

With the change of season, I anticipate new spending triggers to arise, and look forward to sharing reflections along the way. 

As part of this process, I also want to look inwards at my own style: the pieces I gravitate towards (and why), the pieces I forget about (and why), and identify ways to bridge the gap. 

Soon after joining Substack, I read a piece by

The Wardrobe Edit

on aspirational dressing versus shopping for everyday life. Anna tried an interesting exercise, where she labeled her outfit for each day under WFH / casual / smart / meeting. At the end of the month, she found she wore casual clothing 77% of the time. 

A wardrobe audit like this is a great way to assess your daily dressing needs, and it’s something I’m excited to try in the next month. 

In the meantime, wishing everyone a wonderful start to their March. See you next week!

Xo, Bri