from the wardrobetales rundholz repository (no. 20 12 14 21)

often when i am prepping posts, i think about that (what should i call it?) trend on instagram to post the instagram version of something and the reality version of something. it isn't that i want to post blog versus reality (because that doesn't exist -- it is pretty much reality around here -- no bull grips, taping or pinning). what i think about posting is the lookbook version versus the my reality version. haven't done this yet -- even just privately. but i think about it often.

i am wearing rundholz dip a/w 2021 (dress, trousers and boots).

from the wardrobetales rundholz repository (no. 20 11 30 21)

it has been some time since black clothing was such a mainstay in my wardrobe. it some ways, it feels like i have returned home after being away. in other ways, it feels like i have arrived at another new place.

i am wearing rundholz black label a/w 2021 (top, jacket, trousers, coat, hat and boots).

from the wardrobetales rundholz repository (no. 20 11 27 21)

there is wearing the clothes and then there is laundering the clothes. all i can say is i am glad i work out.

i am wearing rundholz dip a/w 2021 (boiler suit and sneaker boots).

from the wardrobetales rundholz repository (no. 20 11 19 21)

this jacket. i wanted it from the moment i saw it on the showreel. i wanted it when i saw it in the lookbook. i did not think it would come to me. but it did -- it feels like i was just in the right place at the right time.

i am wearing rundholz mainline a/w 2021 (top, trousers, jacket and chelsea boots). 

from the wardrobetales rundholz repository (no. 20 11 03 21)

i customized these trousers -- i felt like i needed to be much taller to carry off the weight and volume of an extra large cuff.  possibly sacrilegious to have done so. but it was either that or relegate them to a lonely life in my closet.  i loved them too much for that. i am very happy to be able to wear them.  my way.

p.s. when i wrote the caption above, on the tip of my tongue (or fingertips) was expressing that this was an incomplete outfit, that a piece of the puzzle was missing. i held back though. i remember wanting to write it and at the same time not wanting to write it. in light of what has happened since -- stay tuned for that post -- i have to wonder whether something was going on. sometimes things happen and i get goosebumps. goosebumps.

i am wearing rundholz mainline a/w 2021 (top, trousers and chelsea boots).

from the wardrobetales rundholz repository (no. 20 11 06 21)

reflecting on the pieces that i acquired from the black label collection for this a/w, i think i picked nothing but cosy, easy wearing pieces. maybe this has something to do with my selections from the other rundholz collections for this a/w. i wouldn't describe them as easy wearing. i would say they are a bit more elaborate. i am a huge fan of the waistline on this "coat dress" -- lower in front and higher in the back.  i think i first experienced it, in a more subtle way, with the dip collection for a/w 2017 (a favourite of mine even if i don't own a lot of it). a more extreme version of the waistline was a feature of the dip collection for last a/w (a/w 2020) (also a favourite of mine -- and i own quite a bit of it). there is a coat in the black label collection for this a/w that, in my eyes, is a perfect match to this coat dress. i didn't have it when i first wore this coat dress. i do have it now, though. i will feature it in a future post.

i am wearing rundholz black label a/w 2021 (dress, trousers and boots).

from the wardrobetales rundholz repository (no. 20 10 11-17-28-29 21)

october saw me mostly moving through some of my stock of old rundholz. here is some old rundholz dip that i wore.

i am wearing rundholz dip a/w 2018 (all clothes), rundholz mainline a/w 2018 (platform boots) and rundholz mainline a/w 2016 (lace up boots).

from the wardrobetales rundholz repository (no. 20 10 01-02-05-06-07-08-09-25-31 21)

i have always found it hard to change hairstyles. the transition period -- the time between the old hairstyle and the new hairstyle -- is difficult for me to navigate. i feel like i am without a style identity. none of the clothes in my closet seem to fit me anymore and i seem months away from fitting into any new clothes -- amazing the role a hairstyle plays in my style identity. i hear and read how one should embrace each step of the transformation, but i just can't seem to do this. i remain fixated on the end point and everything short of that doesn't satisfy me -- it seems, well, not the me that i was envisioning when i made the decision to change my hairstyle.  i always seem to choose to go through the most difficult months in the transition period during the bleakest winter months, when i know i am at my most vulnerable emotionally. that said, i am not sure that any time of year would make it easier to survive those difficult months -- regardless of the degree of my emotional vulnerability. i say this with some sadness: all the beautiful rundholz clothes this a/w that i couldn't resist may just be lost on me this a/w. they will always remain beautiful on the hanger though. and of course they will be there for me when i come out the other end of this painful hair growth transition period. here is some old rundholz black label ... on the evolving me.

i am wearing rundholz black label a/w 2018 (clothes and footwear).

from the wardrobetales rundholz repository (no. 20 09 15 21)

and just like that another s/s clothing season comes to an end. i usually switch over to a/w clothing in october, so, after today, and until april (when i switch over to s/s clothing), it will all be about a/w clothing -- from the new rundholz collections and from some of the old ones. (after a couple of years of struggling to figure it out, i finally settled on which old collections to join to the new collections in any given year -- i looked to the increments of weights at one of my gyms for inspiration -- something completely arbitrary really -- i will go back 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 20, 25, etc. years -- not that i currently have collections that fall in the 9, 12 ,15, 20, 25, etc. years old categories.) anyhoo, this last s/s outfit for 2021 was one of the last purchases that i made in s/s 2021. when i bought it, it was sweltering hot, so i could only look at it hanging in my closet. until recently, when it became cool enough to wear it. i just love me a good boiler suit!

i am wearing rundholz dip s/s 2021 (boiler suit and sneaker boots).

from the wardrobetales rundholz repository (no. 20 07 10-13-18-30 21)

berry prints. the inspiration for the last outfit (the one featured in the last three photos) is an outfit that i wore in s/s 2016. i don't normally intentionally recreate outfits from the past. unless i discard them and later come to miss them. yep, that is what happened with the s/s 2016 outfit. 

i am wearing rundholz black label s/s 2021 (dresses, jumpsuit, tunic, trousers, jacket, sneakers and boots).

from the wardrobetales rundholz repository (no. 20 07 10-17 21)

berry. straight up. so for the first time since march 2020 a date was fixed for when i might be heading back into the office (at least on a part-time basis). of course that was before it became clear that we would not escape a fourth wave. now, we wait to see whether that return to office date will be postponed. it is interesting the sorts of questions that have been asked about a return to the office. one question has been whether there will be a change in the dress code. dress code and any possible change in dress code aside, i wonder what i will wear to the office when i finally do go back. while i haven't been wearing pyjamas while working from home these past 17 months, i haven't exactly been dressing like an office worker (even my version of an office worker). part of me thinks that i should start to wrap my head around how to dress like (my version of) an office worker -- because i am not sure that i really remember how to do this. another part of me thinks i should continue along my present path of dressing. if these past 17 months have taught me anything it is that i should embrace and make the most of the now, because that it is the only thing that is here and certain. what was, well, that is gone. and what might be, well, that can be a large unknown, isn't always in my control and can turn out to be other than what i thought. so i think i will continue along my present path of dressing. until i am standing at a fork in the road (or some other marker requiring a decision on a direction).

i am wearing rundholz black label s/s 2021 (dress, top, trousers, boots and loafers).

from the wardrobetales rundholz repository (no. 20 07 07-15 21)

here are some black outfits that i wore in july. and speaking of black outfits, the a/w clothing acquisitions period has begun! and the first acquisitions have been ... drum roll please ... black items. i don't think it will be an all black clothing season. but, at the moment, i am thinking it is going to be a bit more sombre than the s/s before it.

i am wearing rundholz mainline s/s 2021 (jumpsuits, jacket/coat and oxfords). 

from the wardrobetales rundholz repository (no. 20 07 02-28 21)

and just like that another august is here. here are some green outfits that i wore in july. i know that i picked green and berry as my colours for this s/s. and i will say that green and red are two of my favourite colours. but lately i just haven't been feeling either colour. it is at times like these that i wonder whether i should revert to the version of me that wore nothing but black. or the version of me that wore and mixed every colour in the rainbow. really thinking about this as i pour over the new a/w rundholz collections.

i am wearing rundholz dip s/s 2021 (clothes and sneakers).