SP25 Moodboarding
Plus, lessons in staving off a case of “the sprinters.”
If you live in the US, we’re abreast of, in my opinion, the worst weather forecasts of the year. You know what I’m talking about: that winter-ish, spring-ish, mostly-rainy, perpetually gray climate—when the weather app just screams depression, misery, and melancholy (no, I’m not a dramatic person, why do you ask?).
Ugh, ew. Here’s a butterfly to remove the image I just conjured in your brain:
Ok—back to the topic at hand.
You may be suffering from a case of what I call the sprinters (derived from spring + winter—incredibly creative, I know) if you’re regularly experiencing the following:
The extra space in your everyday bag—where you’d normally put all your fun, unnecessary lip products—has now been replaced with the ugly mini umbrella you have to keep on you at all times.
Having to get dressed in anything other than your bleach-stained jim-jams feels equivalent to John Roberts himself sentencing you to death (like I said earlier, I’m not dramatic).
Your thermostat has been taking a ride on the Fahrenheit roller coaster and I hate to be the one to tell you, but your dry-clean-only sweaters smell like B.O. (badly)
Eek! I think I’ve got a case of the sprinters. Now what?
Sometimes, coming down with the sprinters is unavoidable, but there are things we can do to make this in-between season illness less severe.
This year, I’m determined to take sprinter by storm (pun intended), and I’m bringing you along with me. Weather, shmeather!!
Start small
Let’s go back to the drawing board, literally and figuratively.
Whenever I’m feeling uninspired and just plain blah, mood-boarding is my favorite way to get back in the groove. All my mood-boarding process entails is a) taking a bunch of sh*t I like and b) mashing it all together.
So, the first task in my quest to stave off the sprinters was making SP25 moodboards that highlight all the things I’ve been inspired by recently—from clothing to home decor to beauty.
The Stop & Stare Exercise™
No, not what the creepy dude at the gas station apparently does for a living.
Let’s reclaim stopping & staring for ourselves, ladies: I often find that while I dutifully save a million things I like whenever surfing the world wide web, I always forget to go back and actually sit with everything I’ve collected. Doing so is vitally important to honing in on what it is that you’re visually drawn to—a key way that we can continue to develop our personal style.
So when I finished my four moodboards, I just…stared at them. For five to ten minutes each, that’s it. Then, I wrote down any patterns I was noticing (those notes are what I’ll get into below).
I think it’s safe to say that by looking forward to spring and indulging in my gray weather avoidance, I’m well on the way to successfully staving off the sprinters.
Clothing & Accessories
Stop & Stare Exercise Findings:
Stripes, specifically on long-sleeve shirts: Growing up, my mom used to dress me in shirts like this from the boy’s section of TJ Maxx. I’ve always loved them.
Bags with interesting structure: “Structured” is one of my three words from Alison Bornstein’s three-word method, so it’s not necessarily surprising that I’m drawn to handbags with unique, shaped elements like this one.
Blazer + Graphic Tee + Pointed Toe: I wore this exact outfit endlessly in 2019, except instead of the pointed-toe heel, I wore dad sneakers (#throwback). I still love the combo.
Bright Sweaters: Pictured in the stunning blue sweater is
, whose style I absolutely adore—and whose outfits frequent my Pinterest boards.Sarcastic hats: They’re not new, but I’d venture to say that caps like the one pictured—complete with risqué sayings—are going to continue having a moment. I also think we’ll see the phrases get even bolder, thanks to the current state of the world.
Grommets: If I was a shoe, I’d be this pair of Mary Janes from Nicole Saldaña. They’re the perfect mix of masculine and feminine—and that hardware? Swoon.
Circles/Curved Edges: Overall, sitting with my mood board led me to discover that lately, I’ve been drawn to clothing and accessories featuring circles or curved edges. From the rounded handle on the vintage Coach bag to the wavy gold band labeled #11, I’m embracing this newfound interest in the more circular aspects of clothing and accessories these days. Will polka dots be in my outfit future? Perhaps!
Home Decor
Stop & Stare Exercise Findings:
Light green: Not only is this built-in absolutely stunning, it’s housing a gorgeous variegated plant. I’m especially drawn to the pastel green of the leaves.
Pennant flags: There’s just something about a felt flag that I love. The combo featured on this one, with the graphic lettering against an illustration, is especially striking to me.
Bright-tiled bathrooms: I’m so excited that people are coming to appreciate the art of the midcentury, colored-tile bathroom. Not only are decorators now keeping versus demo-ing them, they’re designing new ones in a cool, modern way. I’ve seen everything from floor-to-ceiling red tile to this cool lavender to even just white tiles with a fun grout color.
DIY/Upcycled Decor: This CD chandelier is everything, and I could totally see it being a relatively easy thing that someone could make themselves using some old soundtracks laying around.
Minimalist, but bright: Something about the clean lines combined with the bright red of this fruit & veggie holder is calling my name. I don’t usually need more than two lemons at a time, though, and I have a feeling this would look less aesthetic with onions.
More circles!: I’m obsessed with these positively bulbous plate-bowls.
Pinks: I love pink, but never think to use it in my home decor at my big age. Something about this fuchsia against the wood of the bed just works so well and makes me want to climb right in.
Hardware, but make it for the home: Hmmm, this reminds me a little of those Nicole Saldaña flats that’s on my Clothing & Accessories mood board above. Pops of chrome/metal are clearly something I’m into. Noted!
Chrome again! Circles again!: I love the clash of the metal against this (obviously) organic tree. That dichotomy makes it so visually interesting.
Omg, more circles.
And there’s that light green again!
Beauty
Stop & Stare Exercise Findings:
Reinvented florals: Florals? For spring? I keep saving flower-like nail designs like the one pictured that are a bit more unconventional.
Hello again, light green! I really like how this look, featuring a pop of green eye shadow, still feels wearable for everyday life.
Chrome eye stickers: I think we’ve all seen eye gems at this point. But eye stickers? Now that’s brand new (or maybe just new to me).
Braids: I used to wear my hair like this for high school lacrosse practice, and I’m so down to bring it back. It’s easy, it’s funky, and it requires no heat—all big wins in my book.
Grommets, again! I love the combination of the grommets against the soft fabric of this headband. This would be such an easy way to take a casual outfit from 0 to 100.
Light green. Again. I love the color palette of this nail art. It makes a statement, but in a more subtle way.
French pins instead of claw clips: I’m so SICK of my claw clips hitting my car headrest. I came across an old bamboo French pin I had at my parents’ house that I just never got around to figuring out how to use. I took it back to my apartment and have been wearing it on repeat—way chic-er than a messy bun.
Ok light green, we get it. I actually have a couple of these about face liquid eye paints, but in more matte colors. I love this glittery green version.
The reinvented headband: This one surprised me—the look feels so neutral and French, which is normally not my vibe. But it’s another example of an unexpected hair accessory, and I love that you can see hair through the headband.
Art & Design
Ok, this last mood board is really just a hodgepodge of a lot of things I was seeing that just didn’t seem to have any pattern. I tried to pay attention to the more “fringe” looks & items I was drawn to and put them together here. Perhaps they’re indicators of more widespread trends to come? We shall see.
Stop & Stare Exercise Findings:
Big bags, but make it art: I love this light blue, crescent-shaped shoulder bag from Paloma Wool. The design references that big, slouchy bag look that we all love, but makes it a bit more polished and considered. Speaking of light blue—there’s quite a bit in this spread: see #1, #8 and #9.
Risqué wedding attire: Ok, hear me out. I really feel like we’re going to see a lot more non-traditional wedding attire in the coming months and years. I got invited to a wedding in June where the dress code is simply “casual”—even though the other aspects of the wedding are rather traditional. I really believe this stems from people being sick of over-the-top wedding culture and the money guests have been expected to spend. Nuptials will be less likely to set standards guests must follow, especially if they’re already sacrificing quite a bit to attend the wedding. As it relates to clothes, I would even venture to say that we’ll see more white in wedding guest attire (gasp), sequins, as well as sheer pieces that show undergarments—like the red skirt pictured here.
Digital embroidery: Perler beads—and DIY crafts using them—keep popping up on my feeds. They also remind me of digital embroidery (another art style that I think is having a moment), and I think people love the 90s nostalgia of it.
Vintage prints, but not botanicals: We’ve all seen botanical prints, but I really think that vintage prints featuring more unconventional themes (like the shadow puppet one here) will continue to pop up.
Mixed media: I love the graphic starbursts here paired with the very traditional floral image.
Cake decorating, but with fruit: Making something like this feels so much easier than buying a million colors of icing and having a subpar illustration as a result. Will be replicating.
Dual-use jewelry: All over the place, people are trying to save money, so I think we’re going to see an uptick in jewelry that serves more than one purpose.
Illustration: I just love silly little illustrations that make me smile!
Rope font: The western, cowboy-boot renaissance has come and gone, IMO. But I think we’ll continue to still see it in hints, like this rope font.
Claymation: I just watched the new Wallace and Gromit movie and was sooo inspired by the detail and expertise of the animation. It’s incredible. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I took on an air dry clay project shortly after.
Takeaways
This proved to be a deeply fun exercise, and I truly understand my own mind and tastes better. Plus, my case of the sprinters has dissipated!
Next up…taking all the patterns I noticed and recreating them with things I already own. Stay tuned!