I don’t know about you, but 2018 was one long year for me. A lot happened, both good and bad. On a personal level, the year had its bumps, but overall wasn’t terrible, on a better personal note, I cultivated a lot of friendships this year, which left me so happy. However on a national level, 2018 continued to be a tragedy and an embarrassment, and I hope this year things turn around. Needless to say, I was pretty glad to shut the door on 2018, so we rang in the new year with some of our friends at our house, planning to watch Disneyland’s fireworks from the comfort of our front yard as opposed to the chaos of the actual park, but it was insanely windy, so no fireworks were had! But I actually get shots of my outfit (and decor!) before guests arrived, unlike last year when I snapped photos long after guests left.

I went with a comfier look than last year, and you can’t tell too much in these photos, but this dress has some fun gathering, which you can see in this post though. I also just wore my hair down, which I did a lot this last year, adding once again to my departure from period perfect vintage fashion. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see I participated in the “Vintage Year in Review” challenge, and I chose to do some reflection on what vintage fashion now means to me. For a long time, “vintage fashion” meant recreating looks of the past with vintage clothing from that time period, aiming to be as accurate as possible. I did this for years, and long time readers will remember the days of seamed stockings, hats, gloves, victory rolls, and a whole lot of hairspray. Over the years I had developed my own personal style, but because I no longer do period perfect looks, I feel like I don’t belong in the proper vintage community anymore. But that isn’t to say vintage clothing isn’t still a part of my life. I still firmly believe the fashion of yesteryear is superior to much of today in both cut and quality. I believe in buying from small businesses. I believe in buying second-hand. And often that means vintage, or in the very least, Buffalo Exchange or a thrift store. However, I still love a good heavily vintage inspired look, but perhaps minus the seamed stockings and proper hair.

Also in my Instagram post, I mentioned that I shop a whole lot less for clothing than I used to, and a lot of that has to do with changing goals and finances. I really want to focus on traveling and doing more, which takes up time and money that was otherwise spent on clothing. We also have a house, one that still needs improvements, which also takes time and money. But the great thing is that with the redesign of the blog earlier this year, all of those things can be better incorporated into the blog, and I really do hope that all of you have enjoyed the shift that we did with the blog since April.

I also want to touch on what “vintage” means on a larger scale. For me, it’s not just about clothing. Our house is vintage, it was built in 1954, and we furnish and decorate with almost exclusively vintage items, and those items that are new are often inspired by or direct recreations of vintage pieces. I’ve done a lot of talking about our home on the blog, and I still have yet to do proper posts on many of the rooms in the house, which I hope to change this year. Like I realized y’all haven’t seen the living room normal! Just for the holidays!

As for resolutions, I don’t normally believe in them, but honestly, between the Halloween season, family visiting, and the holidays, I haven’t had a lot of time to focus on myself, so the New Year does really seem like a nice time to refocus and create some goals.

This year I want to set some goals on various platforms…

-For the house, we plan to install central air conditioning by spring. I’m not prepared to do another summer in this house without central AC! The cute vintage, but oh so small, AC unit just doesn’t cut it, especially for our bedroom, as it faces west.

-For my closet, I plan to continue my goal from last year, which was to wear more of my Gunne Sax dresses. I also want to focus harder on the “cosmic” part of my wardrobe, by tracking down more space and retro-futurism elements.

-For myself and Patrick, we are going to save and plan for an epic road trip through the southwest later this year. This is going to fall on me a lot! Because I want so badly to also shop, as we will be traveling through the heart of turquoise country!

-For myself personally, I want to continue pursuing a lesson I learned earlier, which is “discomfort over resentment” and speaking up with I am uncomfortable in a situation.

-For the blog, I want to be more assertive, and aim to work with more companies to expand upon collaborations. I have a hard time with “cold call” e-mails in fear of rejection, but I need to get over that.

How about yourself? Do you do resolutions or goals? And if you do or not, I hope you all had a lovely and safe New Year’s!

Outfit
Dress: I don’t remember.
Necklace: Gift
Vintage Daniel Green Slippers: Red Light, Portland, Oregon