Young, Dumb and Fun.

But not actually young. And sometimes not that fun.

Today, I wanted to write something helpful, something that everyone could benefit from reading. So I sat down to work on an article about how to buy useful wardrobe staples. How to choose clothes that solve problems instead of creating them. I wanted to give you a list of questions I ask before I buy something, and the foolproof process I use to separate a great purchase from an expensive mistake.

Then I realised...

I don’t actually have the answers to that. Like: at all.

In fact, when I look back over my recent wardrobe additions, I can really only think of two purchases I’d confidently describe as genuine wardrobe problem solvers. (For anyone interested: my Uniqlo trench and my Tony Bianco ankle boots.)

Everything else falls somewhere under the category of “Fun and Dumb.”

But before I get into that further, I want to talk about how I think I got here.

I think the problem started when I first heard someone say:

“If you can style it five different ways, you can buy it.”

For an average person, this is probably very solid advice. But for me? Well… I’m the kind of person who loves shopping and styling clothes. It’s the first thing I look at when I check my phone in the morning. It’s how I unwind at night. In short: styling is my happy place.

Let’s take a sequin skirt for example, with the help of my trusty friend Pinterest, I was able to come up with 5 different ways to style one in under 5 minutes.

1) With cowboy boots 2) With a denim shirt 3) With a crisp white shirt 4) With a chunky knit 5) With a plain whit t-shirt. BOOM. 5 ways… and now I’ve talked myself into a sequin skirt. See how simple that was? (All images taken from pinterest)

The problem is, I’ve now taken the above exercise as PROOF. And it is proof in some ways. It’s proof that I enjoy solving styling problems. It is NOT proof that I’d wear it, or that it suits my lifestyle, or that it would be a good purchase.

And if you’re reading fashion newsletters for fun, and saving outfit inspiration on Pinterest, and voluntarily consuming styling content in your spare time... the “can you style it 5 ways” rule probably isn’t for you either.

Because like me, you’ve trained your brain to see possibilities everywhere.

The better I’ve become at styling… or actually, the more immersed I’ve become in the whole world of fashion (through obvious things like Substack, and instagram and pinterest, but also through magazines, and shopping, and travel and visiting art galleries) the less useful the “can you style it 5 ways” advice has become. My brain simply doesn’t look at clothes and think “will I wear this?” It looks at them and thinks: CHALLENGE ACCEPTED (in a demon voice.)

The more Fun and Dumb the better.

So I buy the weird thing, and I add it to my Indyx, and I play around with it and convince myself I’ve made a brilliant and unique purchase. Except I haven’t. Because styling something in my virtual closet is not the same as wearing it.

Which leaves me in an interesting position. I need to be clear: I don’t regret buying Fun Dumb clothes, because I really feel like they make up a big part of who I am. They’re also a big part in why getting dressed feels playful and fun. But they (obviously) deserve to be worn.

So I’ve decided to come up with an experiment, or a new clothing challenge for myself, if you will.

Every week (for who know’s how long…) I’m going to choose one Fun DumbTM item from my wardrobe. And my mission? Wear it three different times that week. Not style it. Wear it. To the supermarket, to the playground, to school drop off, to where ever I happen to go in my real life. And I have to take a photo as evidence!

I’ll try to do a recap each week so we can all enjoy the Fun Dumb stuff I’ve purchased over the years.

If you’d like to take a look inside my wardrobe you can find the digitised version of it here on Indyx (please feel free to style a look for me and help me with my challenge.)

The item I’m nominating as my first Fun Dumb item of the series is… drumroll please… my fringed Blanca jacket.

Blanca Austin jacket.

Check back in next week to see how I went.

Wish me luck!

Love you!