Here’s an outfit made of clothing I’ve owned for four years or more.

And no, it wasn’t on purpose — this wasn’t some kind of self-imposed challenge to make an outfit out of older clothing. In fact, I didn’t notice that this outfit was made of exclusively older clothing until I started writing this blog.

Let’s see, I think pretty much all of these pieces — with the exception of the leggings — were purchased sometime in my freshman or sophomore year of high school. The leggings might actually be older: perhaps from eighth grade. One of the few perks of having not grown an inch since middle school — I never throw away clothes because I outgrew them.

The downside of not growing since middle school is, of course, I still look sort of like a middle schooler.

It’s interesting though, because I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have put these pieces together in this way back in middle school/early high school when I first got them. For one, leggings were against dress code at my middle school, so that never would have happened unless I wanted to get yelled at by my 8th grade history teacher.

But more importantly, four-five years ago, my style was just different. I wore a lot of skater skirts, infinity scarves, and utility jackets. That’s not to say I don’t still wear those things, but not really together any more. Together, they make me look like I stepped right out of 2014 — this outfit is a pretty good example of that. I think I even recognized in the blog I wrote that I looked like a (short) Hot Topic model from 2014.

I’ve never really had this problem before, but I’m finding I have to be more and more careful that my outfits don’t look like something from 2014. The differences between 2014 and 2018 fashion are subtle — and many 2014 pieces can still be worn in 2018 — but I have be cognizant of what looks contemporary, and what looks ever-so-slightly dated.

Honestly, I think being slightly dated is even worse than being completely out of style. When you’re out of style, you’ve at least committed to a look. When you’re dated, you’re clearly trying to be contemporary, but you’ve missed the mark.

I’m excited for when 2014 fashion is old enough to look vintage. The day my child goes to decade day at school wearing an infinity scarf, leggings, and riding boots, I’ll know I’ve made it.

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at home at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Jacket: Banana Republic

Turtleneck: Forever21

Leggings: The LOFT