fedoras, feather earrings, and shame

Ahh, the transition from Childhood into Adolescence. a delightfully horrifying and humbling experience. 

It consists of three stages.
Being a child.
Being a pre-teen.
Being a full fledged teenager, complete with angst and eye rolls.

With each stage, I've had a style. Not style, but I certainly had a style. 

Before we begin, here's some references where I did not dress myself.

Not a great example, but hey. A typical outfit.

A cute blouse!

A regular shirt from Old Navy!

Another flow-y blouse!

A regular Kid outfit!

And so it begins.
I started to dress myself around five years old.

Ready to be the Alpha of my Kindergarten class.

Then it evolved, oh, did it evolve.

Added this one mostly for the DS gaming system.

WARNING: CROCS AHEAD

There were many sweater vests. (crazy hair day)

And then, the "A" chain stores. Abercrombie and Fitch, Aeropostale, Hollister, American Eagle, it's what all of the cool kids wore.

I made that bag. I chose that fabric.

And BOOM FEDORA. Fedoras and long chain necklaces (such as the ones they always sold at Down East) were popular, by me. 

I should also mention, this Fedora was from Claires. Also where I bought all of my jewelry. All. 

This next picture is terrifying, and I'm adding it solely so you can look at my pants. Remember "Miss Me" Jeans? I do. I will never forget. Bedazzled pants with white embroidery thread used as stitching was all the rage. All at the low price of like, $50.

Also, I used to wear a lot of cardigans over Shade and DownEast white tank tops.

Then it got really, really, bad.

This was the time in my life when I was most uncomfortable with myself. Not so surprisingly, the Junior High/ Middle School years. 

"Is that really Hanna?" Sure is! Wearing a shawl from Kohls, that I remember begging for because my very pretty and popular friend had one. Complete with dangly earrings, a Hollister tank top(that was much too big for me), and a necklace from Aeropostale. 

I didn't really know what fashion was. I just knew that all of the famed kids at my school wore Hollister, and so I needed to as well. 

Hollister dress! I felt uncomfortable with the length of it. Dare I have to bend down.

I don't have a lot of pictures of this time due to me not even liking how I looked. 

A long lost trend, feather earrings.
(I hear they're making a comeback?)

Neon and overdone side swept bangs.

A Hollister shirt! And Miss Me jeans!

My staple piece, you ask?

Well in light of 2011(ish) being the time for "randomness" and weird quirks, my personal touch quickly became cats. 

Cat leggings! Cat Sweaters! 

ft. a Hollister tank top.

I have two shirts like this. The other stating, "Crazy Cat Lady".

Not that I don't like cats, but that wasn't really the point. The point was that people would have something that linked to me. I had friends on Pinterest always sending me things about cats, and I was honoured.

It was my first year of high school, ninth grade, that I began to have style, not just a style. It still wasn't great, but it was definitely appropriate for 2013/2014. 

I actually literally have no pictures from ninth grade. It was definitely the peak of my being uncomfortable with myself. But I actually started to feel a sense of self. It was the beginning of my self-discovery. 

I no longer wore things from teen chain stores, rather I took things that were from Banana Republic and Loft from my mom's closet. I wore what I liked, and what I felt most comfortable in. 

Everything has been smooth since. 

Now I pretty much wear whatever I want, and I love it.

Fashion used to be such a burden for me. I liked it, but the pressure of wearing the wrong thing was always there, and I always ended up trying too hard. 

During childhood, you dress for no one.

During pre-teen years, you dress for others.

During your teen years, you dress for yourself.

Thanks for looking at embarrassing pictures with me.

Also, if you have any bad pictures of yourself where you've dressed up on your own, I WANT TO SEE.

Insta: @hanna.vanfleet

Twitter: @hanna_vanfleet

Phhhoto: @hannavanfleet

Snapchat: @hannaruita

shoes, summer, and belt bags

I went to City Creek Mall in Salt Lake City today and found myself very excited about a lot of the shoes I saw in Nordstrom's shoe department. 

Trends:

Block heels 

Suede 

Lace-up heels 

Oxfords

Monterey-style Birkenstocks

Anything Vince Camuto or Steve Madden (or knock-offs, if you're like me) 

The very first picture are shoes I now own(thanks Mom). Vegan Birkenstocks are great for two reasons. You don't have to feel the guilt of wearing real leather, and you don't have to feel the buyer's remorse of purchasing real leather. 

And then I found myself in the Nordstrom Swimsuit section. 

      Solid & Striped                                 Becca by Rebecca Virtue

Summer suit trends I love:

Cut outs

Lace

Low cut backs

Halter-tops

High waisted bottoms

Colour blocking

One pieces! As a dedicated two piece girl, I never really gave a singles a chance. But this season is coming out strong with edgier styles.                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                                                       A must have for this swim season is of course, a cover up. This cover up is by Surf Gypsy. Cover ups have made a great transition this year by going from basically a towel sewn into dress form into an entire chic outfit.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Another Summer trend I love is one that used to be a joke. 

Belt bags. More commonly known as fanny packs.  

left to right, top to bottom: Herschel, H&M, Frye, Kate Spade   

A fun, casual camping accessory was recently adopted by designer brands like Frye and Kate Spade, turning it into an instant classic. But if you're not willing to spend $228 on a leather belt bag, a $17 version from H&M will do just as well. 

Beauty Recommendations

A moment of silence for this Tre'Stique Mini Matte Lip Crayon in Florence Fig, for I have run out of it. Something that has never happened to me before. 

I used it like I use to use chapstick. It was a go-to. It looked like a light matte lipstick without drying out your lips or bleeding as the day goes on. It was essentially smear resistant, and got through almost everything.

If you can't afford Kylie Jenner's lip kit, like everyone else in North America, this next recommendation is the perfect alternative. 

NYX Cosmetics Liquid Suede cream lipstick. Another great product from NYX's lip care line. The only con about this product is the texture. It doesn't necessarily dry your lips out, rather it feels like you have a thin coat of acrylic paint on your lips. It's worth it, though, for the look and easy maintenance. I've also noticed it makes your lips look insanely full. 

Muted tones are really in for lips this season, and it's easy to experiment when you can buy great products like this from your local drug store.

Colour: Soft Spoken

Insta: @hanna.vanfleet

Twitter: @hanna_vanfleet

Phhhoto: @hannavanfleet

Snapchat: @hannaruita