Three spring moments, ten outfits
A Europe packing list, a work conference, and a wedding in the French Alps
Hey friends,
I’m sharing three recent clients I styled for three different occassions: a two-month Europe trip, a work conference, a wedding in the French Alps. On paper they have nothing to do with each but there’s a common theme that surfaced.
1 dress, 4 ways: Holiday in Europe
She’s spending two months across Morocco, Istanbul, Greece, Bordeaux, and Italy. So that’s five countries, 15k+ steps a day, and the question every over-packer eventually has to sit with: how do you pack light without ending up in the same pants-and-a-shirt rotation the whole time?
I think we’ve all been there. She wanted to feel cool—still herself but a bit more creative and aligned with wherever she was.
We started with what she’d already pulled together, which is always my preference. She also sent me options she’d found on her own, which is actually really helpful because it tells me a lot about the vibe she’s going for. When I recommend something, it has to earn its place. I found this dress and it was immediately the one.
For a trip this long, the color story is the whole foundation. Everything has to talk to each other or you end up needing backup pieces just to make combinations work. Chocolate brown, cream, and olive are the anchors. Warm pops of butter yellow, cognac, and mustard as accents. If you pull any look out of context, it reads as the same trip taken by the same person.
1: Travel day | Morocco Dress on its own, scarf tied on the bag for the plane. Sandals you can walk in all-day onto dinner.
2: Open-air market | Istanbul - Dress unbuttoned over white jeans and a butter yellow tank with the same sandals. A pendant necklace instead of earrings. The jewelry swap changes the whole focal point of the look.
3: Beach club | Greece - Dress open as a cover-up. The sandals and bag keep it grounded. Switching to cream cat-eye frames and ivory earrings lighten the whole vibe for Greece.
4: Last night dinner | Bordeaux & Italy - Swimsuit repurposed as a top and tucked into white jeans and dress worn open as a duster. Adding a collar necklace, belt, and satin bag take it up a notch. The dress is basically a coat and it’s the chicest it’s looked all trip. Works for Bordeaux and Italy.
1 base, 3 ways: Work Conference
This client came to me in the middle of a lot at once: a promotion, an impending cross-country move, and the general feeling of being bored with what was in her closet. She’s tired of the decision fatigue and overwhelm, and relying on a Pinterest board full of looks she loves with pieces that can’t seem to reproduce them. She also wanted a wardrobe that represents who she is today.
Her ideal style in three words: casual, timeless, cool.
After our first session, it was clear that she’s a minimalist at her core—clean lines, neutral foundation. But the outfits she actually remembers feeling good in always had one unexpected thing: a pop of color or a printed blouse peeking through a sweater.
What she was missing were the anchors: trousers, layering turtlenecks, leather loafers—pieces that hold the whole thing together and keep working long after the conference. We built three variations on that base, each dialing something different up depending on the day.
1: Travel day - Neutral half-zip over a slim turtleneck with her go-to navy pinstripe trousers, and Salomon’s. Scarf tied on the bag. I’ve seen the Salomon’s paired with relaxed trousers look on her Pinterest board more than once. Now she has her own version.
2: Conference sessions - Same trousers and turtleneck, layered with an olive cardigan. For someone who defaults to neutral, the cardigan is already a statement. The colored socks strategically hidden under the trousers is going a little further without full-on commitment.
3: Sessions to Dinner - Blue button-up over a charcoal turtleneck, same trousers, and olive socks with the loafers. More polished than the day looks but still completely her.
Playful Bridal Looks: French Alps Wedding
She’s getting married in the French Alps this summer. No notes on the venue.
I’m styling her welcome party, after party, and post-wedding brunch—three events with very different vibes. The welcome party brief: pizza, Aperol, bocce ball. Her actual wedding dress is more traditional, so this was her moment to explore something outside the box but still feel special. She specifically flagged that she doesn’t want any of the bridal looks inspo circulating on Instagram.
When we talked about her style today, she felt that it’s kind of all over, playing it safe more often than not. What she wanted was a little European, a little playful and chic—more personality than she usually gives herself permission for.
1: Something Blue - Long satin dress with silver embellished mules, moonstone drop earrings, and embroidered fringe bag. This was my personal favorite but a little too much for the bride.
2: Something Floral - Vintage-inspired florals with sleek kitten heels, fringe clutch, and dainty gem earrings. Romantic. This one almost won.
3: Something Fringey - Cream satin fringe maxi with lace-up heels, baroque pearl earrings, and a dusty rose suede clutch. The fringe brings the personality but next to an Alps backdrop and a bocce court it felt slightly too precious.
(We ended up somewhere completely different from all three. Can’t wait to reveal after the wedding :))
A Common Thread
The thing I keep coming back to with all three of these is that they started the same way.
Before the trip or the dress code, we talked about her. What she always reaches for and what feels like herself instead of what she has to talk herself into. Where the gaps are between the wardrobe she has and the outfits she actually wants to be wearing.
Most people don’t actually have a style problem. The clothes are there, sometimes too many of them. What’s missing is an understanding of the repeating elements that make an outfit feel like them. The specific textures, proportions, color instincts, and the finishing move that shows up whether you’re packing a carry-on, walking into a boardroom, or dancing at cocktail hour.
Once you know what those are, the rest gets easier. You stop adding the wrong things and stop second-guessing the right ones. Getting dressed stops being a problem to solve every morning.
I’ve been building something around that idea. More next week.
In the meantime, I wanna know about your spring moment ! Drop it in the comments.
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So good!
The greatest honour!!!