ASOS coat
Lorna Luxe x In the Style sweater
Mavi jeans (c/o)
Sezane boots
Chanel handbag
Zara sunglasses (similar)
Mejuri earrings (c/o) (similar)
Location: Saint-Boniface Cathedral – Winnipeg, Manitoba
I confess: I’ve always admired people who have the ability to be casual. To wander through life aimlessly without specific plans. To show up to parties underdressed and hours late, to write a blog post simply because they’ve taken one photo they like.
I admire those people because that is not me. While I’m impulsive – if I have a good idea, I run with it, often without thinking it all the way through, figuring things out as I go – that does not make me casual. I am meticulous about planning every hour of my day. I work with both a paper calendar and a digital one, because one just isn’t enough. When it comes to parties, I am invariably and unfashionably on time, usually in an outfit I’ve spent hours agonising over and am still not completely satisfied with. And my blog posts must, without fail, appear twice weekly and feature a minimum of four images.
Yep. Not casual at all. (Case in point.)
The thing is, all of these rules are self-imposed. And sometimes when I stop to think about why I set them for myself, I can’t actually figure out the answer. A lot of the blogs I read, and enjoy most, are the ones where the author pops up now and then, sharing one or two snapshots of where they’ve been since they last wrote. I find myself wondering, as I read those blogs, what it would be like to maintain this space with no schedule. To simply write when I “felt like it” and keep you all guessing. While I know that for me, with my regimented personality, it would ultimately be uncomfortable, not to mention hugely challenging. But that doesn’t mean I can’t, on occasion, take a casual approach to what I do here.
…I am telling myself that, obviously, because I know you all already know.
So, in an effort to break from my own rules, here I am today with only three photos from a shoot we did when it was much too cold to be outside for any length of time. I look frozen in most of the other shots. And when I don’t, I am furiously trying to bury my hands in my coat sleeves to stay warm. We got three reasonable photos that day before giving up and going off in search of tea (with a side of croissants, if I remember right.)
These are those three photos. I have nothing much to say about them, aside from the fact that this day convinced me it was time to give up outdoor shoots for the winter, and I’m glad I’ve stuck to it. But since I’m trying to act casual, for once, I’m sharing them anyway, because we took them and they are good enough. And that’s all.
Happy Monday, my friends!
I used to be really meticulous with my blogging in terms of scheduling content but in the past few years it’s become the one area of my life that I’ve gone super casual with, just owing to the fact that something had to give somewhere and I had to let a little air out of at least one of the tires. I remain exhaustively attentive to details and planning and scheduling in every other single facet of my life but it feels nice to have one area in which I let things slide, so to speak…
Courtney ~ Sartorial Sidelines
Oooh this outfit is the dreamiest – love every single detail!!! <3 And always love seeing your beautiful quilted bag. I'm still dreaming of that whiskey hued one I DM'd you. Ahhh!!! As for being casual?! I'm a mix, like casual, once I've worked out all the details with a fine tooth comb. Does that count? Haha!! xo
My Curated Wardrobe
Heading out into the freezing cold, year after year to take photos is a test of endurance, and I’ve found myself making more and more excuses not to. I won’t hold it against you, and I’m glad you aren’t holding it against yourself. We really are the worst to ourselves, making up impossible goals, setting extreme standards, and then still feeling insecure over what we’ve done. It’s crazy. It’s cruel. Why can’t we just relax and believe we are enough?