Fashion Prompts: Previews Edition
I'm back with my favorite lil' fashion game!
Hello from Amy’s Bread on 9th Avenue! I am sitting here on my dinner break, eating a very chocolatey chocolate cookie, and half-listening to the conversations happening behind me, the loudest of which stars someone named John who “ruined everything.” Do better, John!
My pockets of free time—to write, to get dressed—are always like this lately, and by that I mean that they are stolen, unpredictable air pockets of time, and I have to make the most of them when they appear. Previews can feel like that—the time before a show officially opens but has begun performing for an audience, using those performances (and audience responses) to inform the changes made during daily onstage rehearsals. This step in the process also gives the show some much-needed tries at smoothing out technical elements, tightening up costume and set changes, and otherwise refining all the things that have to happen backstage to make the onstage show run smoothly. It is a time-intensive, highly creative moment in the life of a show, and—I say with love and gratitude for my work—it doesn’t leave a lot of time for…anything else. Lol.
All of this means that, when I get dressed in the mornings, I have about ten minutes to put on an outfit that is both flexible enough for a daytime rehearsal and can pass for theater-going clothes at night, when I sit with the audiences and watch/note the show.
This is a challenge with a slightly broader scope than say, just getting dressed for rehearsal. To set myself up for outfit success, I decided that, during our preview season, I would jump-start my looks each day with an inspirational image (or two!). I’ve talked a lot about The List—a note I keep on my phone with links to clothes I see and love out on the good ol’ World Wide Web, that Future Me might want to buy. The List helps me curb impulse buys and shop more thoughtfully. But I also keep a second note (and a photo album), where I screen-grab and otherwise save images of personal style I see on other humans! Together, all these images make a kind of rolling mood board, which can come in MUCH HANDINESS when I am working with limited time, but still want to feel good in my clothes.
This week, I used this mood board to play another round of Fashion Prompts—Previews Edition! Generally, when I save fashion inspo on my phone, I reference all the images together as a whole, as a vibe check. But this is Fashion Prompts! And using just one image per day was like a quick little spark of inspiration when deciding what to wear. It was giving Clueless! It was giving start-your-morning-with-a-puzzle! And it was fun!
The receipts:
Round 1
My starting image:
What I wore:
This yellow vintage shirt—jacket?—I’ve had forever, and it has a good boxy cut in the shoulders, like the green jacket above. You know I love a sheer little sock moment (and socks in general), but sorry Becky, it was raining! So I opted for boots.
Round 2
My starting images:
Okay I cheated and used two pics! But it was cold, so I had to layer over my sheer base, and the second pic informed those layers. What I wore:
I don’t have an amazing black fringe situation like the top above, but I DO have this shirt with a tail! We love a cape! I paired her with the black pants I shouted out here, which have become a staple for me this month. And then I layered my way to freedom! Including the below move, which used to be a signature of mine, but I haven’t done in about a hundred years—
—I added a bandana because I am a cowgirl and no one can tell me otherwise! Later, when the weather sabotaged my good hair day, I even added a hat. Layers save the day! I felt very cool in this outfit. I love any temperature-flexible look, especially one with an onion’s worth of surprises. A style onion?
Moving on!
Round 3
The starting images:
Cheated again! It’s my game, I’ll play how I want! But also, I mostly used the photo on the left, save for one key detail…
What I wore:
I love that jumbo flower in the Willy Chavarria runway look, but wearing a flower that size to work would be a big LOL. Until I find a medium-sized flower pin I like, I’ll have to make do with this tiny one—which I find cheeky because it’s so subtle. No star crown for me, but I was wearing it in my mind, don’t you worry!1
Round 4
Final round! Starting image:
LITERALLY AN INSTAGRAM AD, but inspiration is everywhere! I don’t know this brand well, but I like this vibe. It was a little cold for me to recreate this exactly, but I will be returning to this when we get some warmer temps. I love a summer LBD—so chic!
What I wore:
Cheeky sheer black shirt! Mostly the inspiration came via the sheer little black bralette above. I call this my competition dance shirt [which is a niche joke, sorry. Here’s some context?]. White flats with an all-black look! Fun! (Work lanyard optional.)
And that’s all she wrote! I think the biggest gift of Fashion Prompts is the push to wear my old clothes in new ways. So. What are your inspo images? Should we make a community mood board?! HMU.
Costume Change is a styling newsletter (vs. a shopping newsletter). There’s no spon-con above—any references to clothing/shoes/shops, etc. are purely honest-to-goodness recommendations. As always, I hope that Costume Change first and foremost provides you with inspiration to re-style inside of your own closet. Thanks for reading, and reminder to keep those comments kind!
***OKAY SORRY this might also be niche, but it is the night before publication and I have just realized that the little star crown Leandra Medine Cohen is wearing in that photo looks a lot like the crown the real life Inez Milholland wore in the Women’s Suffrage Parade in 1913. ISN’T THAT CRAZY? IS THAT AN OMEN OR WHAT—and if you have no idea what I am talking about, come see Suffs!
