Weekend Reads #39
Wardrobe Oxygen got a bit of a makeover, what do you think? If you're reading by email or an RSS tool like Feedly or The Old Reader I encourage you to click and visit. Websites and blogs work hard to have their sites best showcase their content. Like your closet, you'll maintain a general style aesthetic but the contents change with time. New trends happen, you may adopt a few that appeal to you. New gadgets to organize and store your clothes come on the scene and are exactly what you needed. After five years, it was time to give Wardrobe Oxygen an update.
I felt the old site was a jumble of fonts and colors, the sidebar distracting. I wanted something that was clean and open to let the content stay in the spotlight. While I loved my old logo, I wanted something that felt more vibrant and fun. I wanted to keep the site simple, easy to navigate, chronological order: modern but with classic functionality. A few of the changes:
- A new logo and you'll find coordinating graphics in blog posts and social
- No sidebar on the homepage to let content be king. However, the sidebar is on individual posts and pages where you can find links to social, popular posts, and the archives.
- A widget on the homepage sharing my faves – this will update regularly with new purchases and longtime favorites in beauty, skincare, and fashion.
- Fewer fonts, to keep it clean and easier to read.
- Threaded comments are more obvious, so you can see replies to comments. You can also subscribe to comments to see if people reply to you.
Stay tuned, as I am working on giving my newsletter a much-needed makeover to match the site. There will also be a variety of newsletters for you to choose from so you can get the daily posts, a weekly digest, monthly special newsletter-only content or all three.
As always, please let me know what you think. What you like, what you don't, what seems weird, what is awesome. Wardrobe Oxygen is for you, and I want you to have the best experience when you visit!
This Weekend's Sales
There are some great sales this weekend. Retailers love any holiday to offer sales, and I guess in America the Superbowl is a holiday! The best sales I've seen:
- Through the 7th, Kohl's has 15% off the entire site with promo code TAKE15OFF. I'm a fan of the Simply Vera Vera Wang line and own a few pieces from it. I also love Kohl's for nicely priced activewear in a great range of sizes. This sale incudes great brands like Levi's, Dana Buchman, and their exclusive partnership with POPSUGAR.
- Through the 3rd, Macy's is offering 25% off at the Super Weekend Sale with code YAY. Again this is off the site, not just fashion. Macy's is one of the retailers that carry petite plus size, and they always have Eileen Fisher on sale. They also carry Tommy Hilfiger, which I became a fan of after a partnership last year. It's not all casual Americana, the brand has great workwear like this dress.
- Through today, Gap is offering 30% off your order with promo code READY. I'm telling you, chartreuse is a color for 2019 and this merino pullover is a sophisticated way to pull off the color. It's gorgeous with navy, olive, denim, white, peach, and all shades of pink. You KNOW I love stripes, this shirt looks pretty perfect and I love the cheery color combo in the multi stripe! And I'm really liking the look of high-rise wide leg jeans; wear these now with a gray or black or camel sweater, in spring with a denim jacket and striped tee, come summer with a simple linen v-neck or tank.
- Through today, Ulta is offering 20% off any qualifying purchase with promo code 622213. Love that you can stock up on MAC, IT Cosmetics, NYX, and CeraVe in the same shopping cart!
- Through the 4th, ASOS has 20% off full-priced items with promo code KICKOFF. ASOS is one of my go-to's for wide width shoes, fun, and festive clutches and purses at a nice price, and unique belts. Their clothes are a mixed bag of uber-trendy cheap fast fashion and gorgeous statement pieces from better brands but worth a visit as their shipping and return policies are very easy and they have a great size range.
- Also through the 4th, Lands' End is offering 25% off full-priced items with promo code COZY and PIN 8924. Their New Arrivals are worth a look, Land's End is really finding ways to make current trends classic and wearable. I mean check out this cute jumpsuit! And these high-rise wide leg jeans and cropped stovepipes! As for classic versatile pieces, I'm digging this truly waterproof yet stretchy raincoat, and this matte jersey dress that will work for so many situations.
Weekend Reads
Sadly, 2/3 of the links I gathered through the week disappeared with the site redesign. I tried to gather what I could remember!
Last weekend I shared my thoughts on the government shutdown and mentioned how bad it is for contractors. This piece from The Washington Post delves into this major problem and how it didn't go away with the feds going back to work this Monday.
“Subjecting ourselves to the gaze of others is what steals our beauty.” A great piece on being invisible by Garance Doré.
I find The Cut's new series, Judgements, quite fascinating. It's an example of how people make sweeping judgments on you just based on what you wear and how those assessments are often wrong.
Looking for brands that offer rings larger than a size 9 I found these at Nordstrom. Badass messages and up to a size 9!
Meet fashion's next generation: Over 60s. And can I say how happy I am to see Lyn (AKA Accidental Icon) get all this press? Smart, chic, and kind. She came to me many years ago asking for blogging advice and her metoric rise is so well deserved. What a badass woman inside and out. (BoF)
I loved the fashion in this movie so I was psyched to read this Q&A with the costume designer for ‘Crazy Rich Asians.' (Cup of Jo)
This year I took my own advice and canceled most emails and newsletters. But I kept it for Clare V. I just love the aesthetic of the brand even though I can't afford much of it (I have one clutch). Well, this week Clare V. sent me an email that said they picked the best items for me. And darn it, Clare V. knows me and this ridiculous yet utterly awesome clutch was in there. I can't afford or even justify it right now but boy do I now want it!
Lately, I've been a bit frustrated by the offerings at Nordstrom. They seem to be targeting a 20-something audience with their choices of brands and all the blogger collaborations. Once my go-to for great clothes for me and for advice posts on the blog, now I've been heading to Bloomingdale's. They too have free shipping and returns (on orders over $150 unless you sign up for their free Loyalist program which I did), 365 days to do a return, and like Nordstrom have a decent range of price points and good sales. I keep gravitating towards items from the brand Aqua at Bloomie's (if you're an XS or S buy this clearance cashmere sweater and let me live vicariously through you; if you look good in yellow get this one). As a blogger, I don't like how I can't pick which photo to show in the widgets like I have below (I usually can pick color or angle). Their sale prices don't show up (which is why I don't have the prices below-but most are on sale). They have more sophisticated yet fun options at good prices. Below are my picks from the brand Aqua:
For Your Entertainment
This video is recommended by Emerson, who woke up early Friday morning and watched music videos with me before I headed to the gym. I love The 1975 and have shared them before in Weekend Reads, but they're worth another share especially with happy video.
For Valentine's and Galentine's Day
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I like it but have to say that for a moment i was lost and did not know it was your blog !
The WaPo article is absolutely heartbreaking. There are no words. I am a consultant here in Seattle for a large tech company–they probably utilize about 50% of the consulting resources in the county. If they ever do a massive swan down, they will bring absolute destruction with them, much like this.
Agree with you on Nordstrom–I don’t even bother to go to the store (literally two blocks) from me anymore. I tried last week, looking for a simple XL belt. Not a single XL belt to be found–but plenty at the Nordstrom Rack across the street! It’s hard to give up my “local” loyalty, but their in store selection is just terrible.
Though kudos to them on how they manage their customer privacy (they take it VERY seriously).
Love the new site–clean and simple.
Thanks Stacie!
1. Love the new look and blog organization.
2. The weekend roundup are some of my fave posts. You are such a great curator of the torrent of info out there.
3. So much agree about Nordstrom. Don’t know what’s up over there, but have been very disappointed. I bought some Bloomie’s cashmere, the C Collection (I think?) and it’s awesome quality and value. Side note: Bloomingdales credits your returns back to your credit card much faster than Nordstrom does. I have a Nordstrom Visa and they take 8-10 weeks to get a credit back sometimes! Bloomingdale’s is 7-10 days max.
5. Shout out to Emerson and her musical selection!
Nice to know about Bloomingdale’s returns!
Love your new look! The old one was still better than a lot of sites I read, but this new look is fresh and bright and I like it!
Here’s another article I came across during the week that made me think. You know how sometimes you read an article and think, ‘No, I’d never do that or be like that!’ Then you think about it a bit more, and think, ‘Well, maybe I do a little bit…’ only you were completely unaware of it. Or maybe it’s just me who does that! Anyway, this is the article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/attraction-evolved/201901/is-there-social-penalty-wearing-makeup
This is fascinating. I can’t help but think the media caused this. I think of how Samantha in Sex and the City was so smart and successful and strong but seen as superficial because she did cosmetic procedures and cared so much about her appearance. And then of course I had to think, what KIND of makeup were they wearing for the study? Was it subtle, or really all out dark colors and contouring? I want to know more! Thanks for sharing!
I love the new look of the blog! It’s much cleaner and easy to navigate and I like how “old-school” it is like it looks more like a blog and not so much like a website if that makes sense? I feel like some bloggers go for that route which isn’t really my favourite, I prefer the old-school chronological order of things with blog posts being the main focus. I myself had fallen down that whole until I visited my own blog one day and got frustrated haha but it’s back to how I like it now.
I’m glad you like it!
Just moving the side bar down and letting your freshest content rise to the surface has improved the site 90%! I always had to scroll past the side bar — on mobile, it was an even longer delay to get to your newest scroll.
In agreement about not having to scroll through the stuff at the top anymore.
That bugged me too, it was amazing how complicated it was to change that!
Oh it was TERRIBLE on mobile! That was one of my top needs for a new site was to get to the latest content faster!
Looks wonderful—very fresh, elegant, and simple.
Love. Love. LOVE the new fresh look!!! Your posts are always so rich and full of photos, insights and options – I can see (and enjoy) the time and talent it takes to put them together! What the heck is that gorgeous font you use for “Wardrobe”? I’m working on an invitation right now and that font will be brilliant for it!!!!
It’s called Amsterdam! Isn’t it awesome? My graphic designer Megan Jurvis picked it out http://www.meganjurvis.com