Dress up with cork wedges from Aerosoles and a necklace from Pier 1

As San Diego began to open up, I joined a small group for a backyard wine tasting. I wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to dress up a bit. My friend Hillary felt the same way. While we sipped on rosé, I asked about her outfit choices for the first day of summer.

Hillary used a versatile light-weight denim jacket (about $25) to keep warm in the afternoon June gloom. “At some point, I had a jean jacket and was like ‘these will never be in fashion again, I’m donating it and I don’t want it anymore.’” She rolled her eyes, and continued, “And then like a year or two later, they were everywhere and I broke down and bought a new jean jacket that I’ve now had for like eight years.”

She found her olive green, draped hem dress about 10 years back for less than $15 from a small local retail store. “It’s still one of my favorite dresses. I really like the color because I feel like it works for all seasons. I like the hem, because it’s a little bit different,” she said, tugging at one corner. “It feels like I can dress it up or down — that’s very important — day to evening, very easily.”

Originally from Lompoc in Santa Barbara County, Hillary told me a little bit about her fashion influences. “My mom and I would go shopping all the time on the weekends as a hobby, we’d have to drive 30 minutes to the mall, and then it was all about the sales. We would go bargain hunting a lot, so I still have that mindset.”

Hillary cited her tan cork wedges which she found shopping at the outlets in San Ysidro (around $40, Aerosoles). “I have an unhealthy obsession with wedges. Because in the summer, when you’re at outdoor events especially, you’re walking around on different surfaces and heels always go into the ground. It’s a big pet peeve of mine.”

The medallion necklace was a gift from her mother, who found it at Pier 1. “I’m very minimalist when it comes to my jewelry choices. My mom, though…” she smiled, “has a theory that every woman needs several statement pieces in her wardrobe.”

Like many many of us, Hillary has been working from home, so she hasn’t had to get dressed up much. “For three months, I existed only on yoga pants and sweatpants.” She suddenly found herself needing to put together an outfit for our Saturday gathering. “I was like, ‘What am I gonna wear?!' And I looked at every single thing that I owned. Some things I couldn’t find. I’m pretty sure they exist in my closet, but I haven’t even opened the door in months.”

She isn’t as anxious to trade her sweatpants in as she would have expected. “There is a shift, in that it feels more ok to stay at home. And fashion is a big part of that, right? Because I would rather be comfortable than get dressed up. I can’t just go back to being in nice, structured clothing. Which is a weird phenomenon.”