Dressing Room Diaries

In my last post I mentioned that despite my desire to live a more sustainable lifestyle, I’m not perfect. And I’m not trying to be perfect either – that would just be no fun! So while one of my other lifestyle choices has been to rent clothes instead of buy new, there are times when I want to own that cute wedding guest dress or a pair of jeans I’ll be wearing weekly. Of course, there are a lot of retail companies I can support that align with being eco-friendly. In fact, my favorite announced new goals to accelerate sustainable product offerings (I have the Banana Republic credit card so I use my rewards at GAP brands), but that doesn’t mean those are the only places I’ll look.

Ok, enough about trying to justify this post. Let’s face it – I’m never going to stop shopping fast fashion. In fact, I partner with SheIn, which is the definition of fast fashion. But my point is – so I don’t look like a total hypocrite – that I am shopping more consciously that I used to. Which I think you’ll also see below. And if we all started making more conscious decisions for the environment, that’d make a big difference.

Recently several Instagrammers caught my eye with their H&M and Target hauls. These are normally stores I avoid because their large inventory is overwhelming and not always high quality. I’ve tried to purchase more cotton pieces not just for the environment, but because of the comfort level. Yet, a day after watching Instagram Stories try ons, I found myself spending an afternoon shopping for everything I saw on these bloggers. There were some hits, but mannnnnny more misses. See the photos of my dressing room diaries below. Sadly, I’m no Kendi Everyday, the blogger who had the BEST H&M and Target try ons. Still, I thought I’d share nearly everything I took into the dressing rooms because although the pieces didn’t work on me, someone out there may love them. Let me know if you have any questions about what you see.

Walking into H&M was a breath of fresh air. Their prints this season are so fun! I wanted to grab everything in the pretty blue floral print you see in these photos. I was off on sizing though. I grabbed larges in most and then realized I should size down. While I purchased the dresses pictured in the top left and bottom right, after modeling them for Steve, we ultimately decided they weren’t worth keeping. Although, screw finding something flattering, I’m tempted to keep the oversized midi with puff sleeves just for its level of comfort. And, every time I see it on Instagram I fall in love all over again.

Something not pictured in this try on are H&M block heels. They were so comfortable and came in several colors. I’m tempted to return and buy a pair once I make up my mind on a color.

My biggest issue at Target was not knowing what size I wore in the different brands – and also making the rookie mistake of not using a shopping cart. I was especially interested in the Who What Wear collection after falling in love with this dress last year. Unfortunately, my arms could only hold so many clothes and the ones I chose weren’t winners.

The absolute favorite thing I tried on were skinny jeans from Universal Thread because they were so flattering, and I bought a pair.