April 2019 Shopping Reflections

Much like in March, this was another month of shopping for things to wear once summer weather fully settles in, which might not happen in NYC for another few weeks. Both of April's purchases were made quite early in the month, and were already mentioned in my recent money diary posts (part one, part two), so there's nothing too new or exciting to report. The Linenfox top shipped about a week ago, during my vacation, and I'm looking forward to receiving it and trying it on.

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Oh, and here's a spoiler for next month. Early in our family vacation to Maui, I bought a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers because the sun was quite intense every day. My last pair of sunglasses was a pair of dinky, unbranded 9 Euro sunglasses from a beachside stand in Santorini, and I was never quite sure how much I could trust them for UV protection. In the years since, I'd thought about buying a pair of "real" sunglasses, but never needed them in NYC, as I'm rarely out in the sun for long. My mom and I also chipped in to get my sister a pair of super-cool Ray-Ban Clubmaster folding sunglasses as a combined birthday and belated Christmas gift. (In my family, gift recipients pick out their own gifts, sometimes long after the relevant occasion.)

I suspect any other purchases in May will also be summer items, most likely including a dress. At the moment, the summer dress design that stands out to me most is the Elizabeth Suzann Georgia dress in mid-weight linen, paired with an Asawa belt in the same color and material (like in this photo). That particular outfit comes across as being potentially slightly more dressy than most other linen dresses I've seen in all my browsing, enough that I think I might be able to wear it to my office without feeling like I'm pushing the casual side of the business-casual spectrum too far. If I end up getting it, I'll have to think carefully about which color I want. Almost all of my summer dresses are black or navy blue, which makes me somewhat interested in trying another color. But I also worry that the very light colors like white or flax might be impractical because they could get dirty easily, plus those colors are a little outside my comfort zone (I don't own much white clothing). I like the terra cotta shade on Elizabeth Suzann's models, but I'm not sure the color would suit me. Any colors in the same general family as orange or yellow often don't work for my skin tone.

A few months in, I think my new method of being more consistent and regimented with using Pinterest to track my shopping wishlist has been working well. It's still a bit too soon to say, with any credibility or certainty, that it's actually changed my shopping behaviors in a significant, quantifiable way, but things feels different. On average, I'm feeling a lot more sure about a larger proportion of my purchases, and that feeling has grown stronger in the last two months. Melissa and Jess have also mentioned using Pinterest more heavily in recent months to track their shopping wishlists. We'll see how it works out for us as the months go by!

Fashion - (TOTAL: $108.11) 

• Fitflop "The Skinny", dark beige (past season, limited sizes) - $46.61 - This is my third pair of these shoes, which I've had in various colors and wear all summer long on the weekends and whenever I travel anywhere with hot weather. I find these super-comfortable, even when I'm doing a lot of walking in the city or on other easy terrain. It must be said, however, that these are not particularly attractive or stylish by any stretch of the imagination. Still, I remain loyal to them because I'd never really had a pair of comfortable sandals before these. I also like how, with their slight platform, they're not too flat, so I feel like my feet are kept a bit further away and better protected from the substantial NYC sidewalk grime than with a lot of more trendy-looking flat sandals. I think my extreme attachment to this specific shoe can be considered a bit of an odd quirk. I'm not sure I could readily recommend them to anyone else because I can fully acknowledge that they're not very fashionable!
• Linenfox "Mona" top, white - $61.50* - This top shipped from Lithuania (where Linenfox, NotPerfectLinen, and a few of the other popular linen shops on Etsy are all based) early this month, and I haven't received it yet. Hopefully, it comes in the mail soon. I have high hopes for it, based on Elaine's review. I was interested in a linen top that would be a bit more substantial and potentially dressy than my Everlane linen scoop neck tee (which is also nice and is still going strong now, but I don't need another linen tee), and this top had the look I was going for, something breezy and with a relaxed fit. I'll report back once it's arrived and I've had the chance to try it on and wear it out.

*Indicates that price includes shipping charges. 

And that's it for my April shopping. How was your shopping month? Any recommendations for comfortable sandals, particularly ones that might have a less casual look than my Fitflops? I'm due to return from our family trip to Maui in a few days. It's been a wonderfully relaxing trip, and I'm so pleased that we were able to celebrate Mother's Day out here! The natural wonders of Maui, including Haleakala and Molokini Crater, are amazing to look at.