Are you saving your special pieces?

Bespoke Style is a newsletter about personal style with vintage and tailored pieces. I write it to share my love for clothes and building a wardrobe with longevity and personality.

Enjoy! - Johanna.

Happy New Year!

May your 2025 be bright, exciting, full of beautiful things, feeling great in your body and the pieces in your wardrobe, and inspiration all around.

I’m excited for the year ahead. Writing this newsletter gives me so much joy! Life is best, when you follow that spark! I’m looking forward to sharing more outfits and style thoughts with you.

Even though I didn’t make any resolutions with a capital R, following joy is key to what I want my 2025 to be like - in life and in terms of my style.

How about you? Did you make any resolutions? Is there anything you want to switch up, style-wise?

I have an idea for a style resolution I’m going to share with you below: It’s time to stop waiting for perfect occasions for your special pieces!

Take them out in 2025!

No More Saving Your Special Clothes

Do you have a special piece of clothing in your wardrobe? The dress you got that was a real splurge that’s now wilting on its hanger because you fear you might stain it? That sparkly skirt you fell in love with, but just can’t find an opportunity to wear it to? Those glorious satin high heels that need the perfect weather conditions to leave their box?

It’s time to wear them all!

Saving your special clothes is a silly presupposition. Most people do it. It’s an accepted practice.

Don’t stain it. Don’t ruin it. Save it for a nice occasion.

Do those occasions ever come?

When I look at my wardrobe, I have a couple of those pieces. Wonderfully soft silk blouses and dramatic, floor-length skirts that are just never right.

But, one day - one glorious, perfect day when the sun, and the stars, and the moon align, and the mood is right, I will wear them. At least that’s what I kept telling myself.

It’s silly.

Philosophically, it’s also an incredibly hubristic attitude. It’s based on the assumption that we have forever. That life goes on and on and on; that year after year is guaranteed until at the ripe old age of 108 when you’ll finally attend a Sunday matinee on September 28th that your leopard blouse from 85 years ago is perfect for.

I think you see where I’m getting at with this.

Life is short. We should celebrate it. Saving special pieces is the antithesis to that.

Now, you might think, okay Johanna, I get what you’re saying - in theory. 

But, how should I do this? I can’t wear a silk blouse to run errands?!? People will stare when I wear a glitter skirt to work!

And, some of this stuff is just too nice. Too sensitive.

I get it. Let’s explore.

My *Special* Piece and How I Made it Work

I have a floor-length silk skirt that fits all of the above criteria. It’s really nice, really precious, and from a really nice brand. I got it at their archive sale that was a fashion miracle.

Here it is. The silk is really thick, which gives the skirt an architectural feel. You can almost stand it on its hem.

Needless to say, it’s highly unlikely I’ll pop this thing on to go to the farmers’ market. Imagine, I get dog slobber on it from making a new friend in town! Argh!

After waiting and waiting for the perfect opportunity to wear it for almost a year, my patience ran out shortly before this past Christmas.

I had tickets for an X-Mas concert and I was going to wear it, no matter what.

So, how do you make this wearable? 

I did by taming it with more earthy materials and going for monochrome.

I popped on a wool sweater, cool silver boots, and festive earrings to wear with it. It was just the right amount of festive, while keeping things simple on top.

You could totally dress it up for a ball with a corset, an updo, and even more sparkly jewelry. Given that I live close to Austria - ball central at this time of the year - this is actually a realistic scenario.

Outfit deets:

The skirt is vintage, the boots are from Kate Gray, earrings from Zara, and the wool sweater is from Benetton. I’m wearing it as I’m typing this email, actually.*

So, did this work? 

I think so. To be honest, I was still a smidge overdressed. At the same time, I got a lot of compliments, which is always nice.

There’s an underrated thing that happens when you go for it, sartorially. It’s a spark for you as much for others who see you. A cool outfit can provide a break in the monotony of somebody else’s day. A little sparkle in your personal style goes a long way!

Imagine dressing up as a service for others :)

Go For it in 2025!

What’s the moral of this style story? Going for it is fun - for you and others.

Why not dress up for the supermarket run on a Saturday morning?

You really, truly only live once. Embrace the YOLO!

It would be too sad to keep yourself from enjoying your special pieces, just because that’s what the rules in your mind dictate.

With a little creativity and courage, your special pieces can go much farther than you assume.

If there’s one style resolution that may be worth it for 2025, it’s wearing all your pieces - even the special ones!

Here’s to a year full of sartorial enjoyment,

Johanna

PS: Here’s one cool thing I saw at the concert hall. It’s the building where they hold most events for the Salzburg Festival (a six-week fancy opera and theater event). The dress code for that is quite elegant, which - as you can see below - can lead to complications.

PS2: *Brand mentions are not an ad. They’re for you, in case you wanted to do research. I think I need to put this for advertisement transparency (??).

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