Category: fashion

across my feed

Truthfully I am still trying to figure out what this blog will be. I’m trying to figure out a lot of things right now. I have a lot of thoughts and nothing is concrete. I do know that this blog is a great way to keep track of somethings and maybe nail somethings down. Sorry I’m being vague, I’m also figuring out how vulnerable I want to be here. In the past I’ve been pretty open about my life but as of late I’ve found myself embracing my reserve. I feel very influx right now, I’m not sure if it’s graduating from Columbia with my double masters and not having a job lined up. Or being faced with the prospect of being an actual Artist and Designer and what that means and looks like. Or being faced with the potential for loss. I feel a bit stalled or at the edge of a precipice faced with the decision to jump. I am not one to make decisions without research and serious reflection (I made a weighted rubric across 6 different categories to determine which grad school would be better). I take calculated risk and I still feel like I am doing the math right now on weather to jump or see if an alternative path appears. While I calculate, the one thing I’ve found helpful is to refine my style and get back in touch with part of me. It’s a source of control in a way, a way to get to know myself better, and a way to relax. i am trying to cut back on endless scrolling on social media (I have picked up actual hobbies too btw) which i have swapped for shopping and tailored scrolling these are some of my recent discoveries…

UP first is this toy horse ring from tsvite teren. I’m a sucker for cute thing and this ring is no exception. It came across my feed a few weeks ago and I’m heavily debating getting it, tariffs and all.

One of my new hobbies that I’ve been fascinated with since a kid but only took up recently is embroidery. My family has dragged me relentlessly because I’ve been “grandma-maxing” in the evenings (watching older TV shows and movies, embroidering or crocheting, and eating prunes). I’m not sure when my love of embroidery initially developed, maybe its hereditary (my late paternal grandmother wore a lot of embroidered dresses). There is something incredibly beautiful about it. I adore my agua by agua bendita pieces and some of the pieces I’ve picked up traveling. So it’s unsurprising that I’ve included this top from Ukraine here.

I found out about flora sycee a few months ago because her ribbon letter pendants came across my feed. It was love at first sight. I actually bought one on black Friday but I am (maybe foolishly) waiting to get the 18kt gold B pendant. There are about 3 things (the grain necklace and bracelet because I am trying to build out my silver collection) I want from here but i will say I do love the letter pendant I got and would recommend anything from here!

This is a bit of sneak! I’ve followed mmusomaxwell for years. I’ve always loved their designs but the bishop shirt is soooo good.

Mati q. Beyond grandma-maxing I’ve also been really into mermaids? Its more of an ethereal beach vibe that been on my mind for the past 2ish years. I think earrings from Mati Q (which unfortunately do not seem available) fit the bill perfectly. I am patiently awaiting their restock.

That’s all for now! I hope you enjoyed this and will hopefully have another one next week or in two weeks. I want to be somewhat consistent with this series because I see so many beautiful and interesting things from smaller makers that deserve some light.

25/06/2026
closet cataloging

I can be a tiny wee bit aggressive when it comes to organizing spaces…at least very specific types of spaces like closets. I really love organizing closets (it might help that i also really love 99% of my clothes). I think it’s because it comes pretty natural to me to organize them. I like grouping objects together, it’s soothing. I have a very specific and not entirely outlandish approach to organizing: generally it’s by garment type then color then season (although this last one gets a little tricky so it doesn’t always get applied in a straightforward way). In addition to this physical organization method, one tool I use a lot is an app called whering.

There are a few apps that help with closets organization/cataloging. These tools are super useful if you want to get organized, better utilize your wardrobe, or be more intentional about what you buy and curb your spending. Personally I use whering but there’s also indyx, which I tested but I love whering a bit more. Functionally they’re the same. They have most of the same features. I like the UI of whering more and they allow for bulk/batch uploading which indyx did not have at the time when I joined. Whering is also more granular when it comes to uploading details, which is a draw for me. You can be really detailed with materials, care, status/tagging, styles, and more. They both have trip planning features so you can plan your outfits/packing list pretty much anywhere you have your phone and it will generate a packing list. I did this recently for my trip to Mexico City and loved it so much I will definitely use it again. They both have an optional social feature so you can follow people and see what they’re buying and wearing, as well as stylist features so you can style other members. You can share and send outfits, wishlists, and mood boards, which is fun. Whering feels a lot like what I’d imagine the clueless closet to feel like but better, it’s fun and interactive in a way that indyx was not for me. Whering also now has a chrome extension so you can add things to wardrobe, wishlist, or mood board as you browse. It is also compatible with some apps like vestiaire collective you can easily share from there to whering. I believe they’re also testing an Ai function to help with outfit planning and Indyx has professional stylists you can hire to help you with your dressing needs. These service costs vary from app to app and stylist to stylist, but both apps are free to use. If you join whering feel free to look me up and follow me (my username is brianna__loves). I use the app regularly, nearly daily at this point for various reasons which I will get into to in a later post but I wanted to share these apps now. If you have questions I think you can comment on this post and I’ll answer it.

Full disclosure, I was also a beta tester for whering. So I am biased and more active on there than indyx.

05/04/2026
sweaters pt 2

I really love sweaters and should have just waited to post that instead of splitting it up into 2 parts. This will be of equal length I think. Knits (as a general term not specifically referring to the technical weaving of fabric) are so special and one of the areas I personally think you should invest a bit of money because they tend to be one-time buys that can be repaired year after year with relative ease. You can still buy affordable knits second-hand, especially given they way our (general) relationship to clothing has changed over the years. There are more and more sweaters and cardigans ending up in the thrift stores, and I highly recommend checking the men’s section (that’s where the gems typically hide)!

Sorry for the long pause between posts, I had midterms. Next week I’ll likely talk about finding things for steals! There will likely be a follow up to this one, because I really love sweaters and am always looking for the next great sweater (but truthfully, I think I already own it).

Annie Sews

A one woman shop in manchester, uk. She offers a few different designs, but I adore this peony top and think it would make a cute cardigan. This one is made to order but not absurdly expensive (at least compared to the rest of this list, sorry!), but you’re supporting a small creator who’s using natural materials so the price (around $200-230USD) is likely worth it (and will last). You can pick the base color and the fuzz color as well as the buttons for this top!

Aisling Camps

There are few sneaks in this list this is one of them. Aisling Camps is an interesting and newer company. They make a lot of pieces with blends of wools and arcylics which I personally hate those blends on principle. (Plastic in clothing so arcylic/polyester/nylon, wear out with the heat and friction [heat again] of your body which leads to holes and makes it difficult to repair/require more frequent repairs). This top, which I’m saying is baby bottega, is knit leather! Fun! Different! Edgy + soft, in short it’s pretty perfect. I will definitely try to buy one of these (second hand).

Yaga Shop

This is a tiny shop that makes their handmade knits in Peru. They mad/ke a cardigan and that looked very similar to a Sea NY one but without synthetic fibers. I wish I had seen it before I bought mine!

Ýrúrarí

These sweaters are really funky and fun! I have a few novelty sweaters and they’re great on days I don’t want to really get dressed up but still wear something eye catchy. These sweaters are a little (very) out of my price range (they’re close to 1k each), but I do love them. It might be cheating to include Ýrúrarí in this list because she doesn’t actually make the sweaters, the base sweaters are second hand and she adds the funky knit adornments. I like this one in particular because the mouths are actually pockets so you can tuck the tongues into them. She’s dropping a new collection of sweaters soon!

Lulu Kaalund

Okay this one is a bit of copout considering she makes artistic knits that I’m not sure she sells them but I think the designs are funky and fun. While I would love to buy one of her sweaters (I’ve tried she never responded!) I do think they serve as great color inspo.

25/03/2026
sweaters

This was not the post I had planned for this week. I was going to go into detail on how I get deals. I am very much avoiding doing work right (I’m tired, actually exhausted I think) but I’m also trying to clear out my gdrive because I’m way over capacity. I thought I had successfully transferred over my files but that was not true. Anyways, the meat of todays post is a collection of sweaters and cardigans (which I really need one of these) that I’m digging right now. These are all from brands that I love and have bought from before.

Sea’s Martha Cardigan

I’m a huge fan of Sea NY, especially for their knits (my favorite sweater of all time is from them). I know Whering, the app I use to catalog and organize my closet, would disagree but Sea is a big brand in my wardrobe. I am also partial to their dresses. Their knits are really well made and thick. They’re definitely worth the money but if you’re in NYC area you should check out their sample sale. It’s a good time to get a discount on many of their clothes, specifically sweaters. I’ve bought a few things during their sales.

Elexiay Amelia Sweater

Elexiay, is smaller brand out of Nigeria. I have this sweater style in a custom colorway (the green one if you’ve seen this over socials a while back that was me) that apparently was copied by shein. I’m literally finding it out right now as I’m working on this substack. I love Elexiay, they do take commissions, so you can get a custom piece at pretty much retail cost. Since their pieces are crocheted, they are handmade. Knits are knitted by a machine but crocheting can only be accomplished by hand, so even when you see super cheap crochet work just know it was made with underpaid labor. Their quality is amazing, and I’m sorry in advance if the rest of the list makes no sense, because I’m in disbelief right now.

Babaa no. 18

My sweater collection is split between Sea and Babaa, I love them. They’re handmade using organic spanish cotton in spain, using low impact dyes. They also have wool sweaters made from spanish wool, and if my sweater shelf wasn’t overflowing I would buy one of these every season. They also hold their resale value very well, so they are a good investment. The no.18 are great for layering and very slouchy. I also love the color options, I’m obsessed with hibiscus flower (pictured here).

Ulla Johnson

I’m a huge fan of Ulla Johnson’s designs more broadly and I know her sweaters are particularly popular. I love her pieces because the materials are primo. I have a lot of her dresses and am looking to diversify what I buy from her. There’s a leather skirt from last season that I love, a white top from five years ago that I can’t seem to find anymore, and sweater. I love the sweaters. They’re chunky and timeless, some are more funky and fun. This red one is alpaca, made by a women’s collective in Peru, and is available on the real real in a small and large. Her clothes do run large so please read the measurements.

Alemais Villa Cropped Knit Jumper

I waver on this sweater, because my favorite sweater (this one from sea) has fruit all over the sweater instead of just on the front, like this one. This one is also a mix of natural and synthetic fibers which I really try to avoid, although the sea cardigan at at the beginning of this list has acrylic in it.`I’m not a fan of acrylic/synthetics in clothes because they wear out quickly and make it harder to repair the clothing so youll have to replace the clothes more often.

I have more sweaters I want to focus on but honestly the shein thing threw me for a loop today so I’ll do a part two later.

Deals on sweaters:

The state of clothing now is bleak at least in the mainstream. That’s sort of why I started this and it’s a little cathartic for me just make lists of things I’ve bought or want to buy or brands I think should get more attention. Maybe it’s because I started a furniture company a few years ago and it’s very difficult to start a company on a marketing front. As I write this more and more, I’ll definitely talk about myself more and my approach to shopping/building a wardrobe. I do a mix of vintage/second hand, and new. There are so many places to find good quality clothes for under $100 or even under $20. While, I do highlight a lot of new pieces, I want to stress that a lot of stuff can be found second hand. I think next week’s post will focus on this in detail but will say, that the real real and thredup have some really absurd deals. You really can get over 80% off on quality clothes.

23/02/2026
deals how to get them
I planned to share this post a few weeks ago but then I didn’t feel like writing it. Then I lost track of time sooooo here we go. I know a few people (myself included) are attempting no/(s)low buys this year. I said I would do that after an absurdly expensive fashion year, where I went a little overboard. I quickly failed at that mostly because I did not actually want to do it. Instead I have a new method that’s healthier than an all or nothing approach because even though I did overspend last year I do not have many clothes and I am still trying to rebuild my wardrobe after years of not buying anything. I also know that I am capable of doing a no buy because I did them before they were really a thing and went on a no-buy for years for environmental reasons. Finally, even though I did go overboard in comparison to my previous years I not spending, I got some absurdly good deals and this is how I did it. This will probably be one of my most unglamorous posts but no matter your budget these tips are helpful!
1. look everywhere! you never know where you will find things. i am truthfully embarrassed to admit this but im like fifty buy/sell/trade groups for various brands on facebook. sometimes you luck on there and there are groups for nearly everything. it’s as simple as searching [brand/designer] bst/buy. Normally not a lot of trading happens in these groups and I would recommend using paypal business for any transactions to protect your purchase.
2. second-hand sites (ebay/poshmark/vestiaire collective/thredup/ mercari/vinted/therealreal). i love buying secondhand for a lot of reasons. i enjoy saving money but also seeing first hand how much textile waste the West produces keeps me up at night, it’s so much and so sad. so i will always buy second hand and always try selling something before donating it for this very reason. is it a little more inconvenient? yeah but somethings gotta give and i’d it rather be me than the earth. i love all of these sites because you can really luck out either in terms of finding exactly what you’re looking for at a lower price or finding something you wouldn’t have noticed before. the big downside to searching on these sites is people can be lazy with listing things so you will have to hunt oooor you can use my final big tip which is the one i use the most now to save time.
3. google (and bing) reverse image search (google calls this google lens). this is one of the best tools for second hand shopping or finding some long lost item. i was able to find the louboutins i wanted for less simply by using this lens. i found the dress i wanted for years with lens (granted it was on the realreal but it didn’t show up immediately in my saved search). i found some shoes i wanted for a while today with lens. i hate sharing this because I want to gatekeep but i also believe if it is meant for me it will be. i recommend clarifying the search a bit by adding a keyword like a brand to really weed out unnecessary images. occasionally i will use bing too because bing is actually better at finding the source of an image (i.e. you found something on pinterest and want to find the first place this image popped up, you might need to use bing).
4. okay i lied my final tip is beni, which a chrome plugin that will essentially do the google search for you and automatically find second options of most of the thing you shop for clothing-wise. it’s great and honestly i forget about it a lot of the time until it pops up and then i remember to use it. highly recommend it because it will find you the things you’re looking for in your size and you can save pieces to. so say it’s not currently on a second-hand site it will let you know when one becomes available so you can purchase it.
i will get into this more in the next post but i check every single day for certain things in order to find them because if there is one thing i’ve learned you can buy pretty much anything second hand but you might only get one chance to get it depending on the item.
11/01/2025