How to get complimented by other women

I pre-planned a week of outfits, this is how it went

Yesterday, as I went to catch the midnight bus back home from the city, a young girl approached me, running up to me from behind and said “excuse me, oh, I just wanted to say that you look really cool, like, your outfit, and your hair and so”.

She was in her early 20´s maybe, blonde and cute and had a slight alternative-goth-ish look to her, she was smiling and I think she was a bit tipsy.

I had had a few glasses of wine myself, having spent all day and night, 12 full hours, with a group of my best girlfriends, celebrating a babyshower, catching up, sipping champagne on a beautiful patio, surrounded by flowers and trees and bathing in sunlight.

So, my heart was already full, but the young girl made it even fuller. I smiled and thanked her for being so sweet. She ran back to her group of friends, and waved at me.

Getting complimented by other women is THE ELIXIR OF LIFE and I am living!

What was I wearing? Well, if you look through this (slightly chaotic) video, you will see a snippet of the dress+shirt-outfit.

Below, I will give more detail, on the how and why of wanting to plan ahead an entire week of outfits.

How and why

The week before, I followed

Danielle

´s weekly prompts for what to wear to work, which I had just stumbled across here on Substack, to my delight.

Although I am a mood dresser, I also appreciate not having to rely on or check in on my mood for dressing when days are busy, like they are right now.

I usually have a daily routine of checking the weather forecast before bedtime, picking an outfit and having it ready for the day after.

That is a solid routine, but I did like the creative challenge of Danielle´s prompts, and wanted to test out making my own.

I took a few hours last Sunday evening, checked the weekly forecast and my own schedule, cleared out one of my clothing racks and filled it with outfits I planned to wear.

This did take some time, but I had fun while doing so.

I think some of that had to do with planning for a week of actual nice weather (aka no rain), which makes dressing a bit (okay, a lot) more fun.

I will note that I did not actually try on all the outfits ahead, which might be recommended. I chose items I looked forward to wearing, some even for the first time (the white shirt), and some I hadn´t worn for a long time (the gold flats).

I did leave some spontaneity for accessories/jewelery and sunglasses, which mostly stayed the same.

So, let´s see how it turned out:

Monday

A day for working with editing, a few meetings, getting the week started. I wanted to feel chill and cool, somewhat retro but nothing too fussy.

It was a cold morning. I went with a navy v-neck sweater from CDG Play, black wide leg trousers from Filippa K, my trusted vintage black leather coat, and black Clarks Wallabees.

I let the neckline of a white tanktop pop through underneath, which is a neat trick learned from somewhere on this platform, thank you all.

Tuesday

This day had back-to-back meetings at work, all day, plus an appointment to get my car fixed, and a stop at the gym.

I wanted to feel comfortable yet sharp. I wanted to feel energized and creative.

A velvet-ish fuschia sweater did the trick, with the same black pants as yesterday, with a grey checked Tibi Liam blazer, black Clarks Wallabees, and a black mesh totebag.

Went out to stock up on lunch, and returned via my new favorite elevator.

Wednesday

Hit the gym before work, and then a day of filming at the museum. I wanted to present myself as creative and approachable, and feel comfortable.

I went with the beige Uniqlo pants, a red vintage shirt, the Wallabees, a black and tan woven leather bag, and a long, cream coat.

Now, from here, the outfit photos are documented as a re-enactment, as I actually forgot to snap them on the actual day (as I did not use my favorite elevator, only the stairs, so there you go for being sporty-ish).

I spontaneously picked up this red (with a strong pink undertone) vintage Woolrich shirt just last week, and I adore this color! It is in a very thick cotton, I think, the label had been removed, and can work as a, uhm, shacket for late spring and summer.

Thursday

This was the only day I strayed from the plan, when I decided to go hiking on my way to work, as the weather had brightened and warmed up.

I ditched the original plan of wearing a long white cotton dress underneath a black blazer, and had to choose an outfit+shoes that would fit in a small backpack (and could be worn even when wrinkled), so I could change into it as I arrived at the office.

The result was kind of…uninspired. A vintage silk shirt (in a gorgeous midnight blue color), black Theory ankle length pants, and a brown pair of leather flats (not pictured here, but you can spot them in the video above).

Silk shirts are one of my hero items.

Friday

I took part of the day off, as I had a friend staying over. I did stop by the office, and we had plans for meeting up with more friends after work. We had a glass of wine at a sidewalk bar, and stopped by a very casual birthday celebration.

I wanted to feel a bit more polished, but still chill. I found a really good recipe for said feeling with my trusted Aurlandskoen loafers, a pair of rolled-up jeans, my new-for-me Skall Studio cotton shirt, a velvet ribbon as a sort of tie, and the Filippa K blazer.

This was the outfit that had me feeling most like myself, all week.

Saturday

I was so pleased with the shirt-and-tie-ish combo from Friday, that I carried it over to the weekend.

Now, I forgot taking an actual photo here, but again, it is featured as the last outfit of the video above.

I chose a light pink and silver dress as a base layer, performing as a skirt most of the day, underneath the light cotton shirt, although I did take off the shirt at one particular warm point during the day.

I like pairing gold and silver, so that´s what I did here. As a contrast, I wore a bomber-ish satin black jacket as the evening fell, which did a good job of taking the formality-level down a notch compared to the original plan of combining it with a black blazer.

I have already described how yesterday turned out.

I was filled with joy over getting to spend such a day with a big group of girlfriends.

I didn´t really think about my outfit or hair, my shirt got a stain from the delicious Basque cheesecake I had for dessert, I walked around in my friend´s garden barefoot most of the day, and my make-up had almost melted off my face.

That was when a stranger complimented me. I think that´s a nice conclusion.

Giving myself a thumbs up for the effort!