Long time, no see. 6 years to be exact. While I don’t have much of an audience on here just yet, I’ve been looking for another outlet through which I could continue my Instagram project and share my favorite style tips for dressing well on a budget and working towards a more sustainable closet (in other words, sharing the styling and shopping stories behind some of my favorite looks). Here goes!

One of my favorite things to do as a fashion enthusiast and a traveler is to look for places which accentuate and bring out the colors, feel and style of a certain outfit – and vice versa. I really lucked out in New Orleans, home of one of my favorite artists, Ashley Longshore, best known for her colorful, feminist pop art. I was supposed to go to NOLA over Halloween weekend, a trip which unfortunately got cancelled last minute due to unforeseen events (of course, we found out at the airport that the NOLA airport was experiencing a blackout due to severe weather). But the perfect trip (and perfect outfit to match) lined up just a few weeks later…

I definitely didn’t have this initial outfit in mind, but I’m so glad it came together the way it did. The greatest thing about the Rent the Runway app was how I could shop through hundreds of thousands of styles, bookmark things for future use, and mentally piece together outfits using my imagination. I stumbled upon this colorblock coat and pants separately, and the similar color schemes meshed together without clashing.

Entire outfit is courtesy of Rent the Runway, except for top and shoes which are old finds of mine (I think both from Amazon). Have to shoutout those rainbow heart earrings from TJ Maxx too!

Bag: Numero Ventuno

Coat: Osman

Pants: Mara Hoffman