I really don’t like malls. In fact, I even shared recently a Facebook link from Matt Bellasai in which he discusses just that, his distaste for malls. The combination of the food court smell, obnoxious parking, the same chain stores, all very unamusing to me. Growing up in a small business, I now usually prefer to shop at smaller boutiques because I want to support the business and find things that nobody else has. (Nordstrom Rack is also one of my other go-tos for discounted designer items though, and I love shopping at Anthropologie).
However, I believe that any truly stylish woman can walk into about any store without shame and pick something to incorporate into her wardrobe, so I wanted to do just that. I usually wouldn’t go out of my way to go into a mall, but recently a 15-year-old family friend visited us and we wanted to treat her to a day of shopping. Since her favorite stores are H&M and Forever 21, we took her… to the mall. Without the intent to buy anything, I decided to just try a few things on for the fun of it since I usually try to steer away from fast-fashion. After our day of mall shopping, I got the idea for this post and decided to share my picks:
My first purchase was a corset-inspired top from H&M. I’ve actually been admiring other bloggers wearing these types of shirts and have been on the hunt for one. Here I paired the top with some of my old white jeans, grey FILA socks, and sandals from Marmalade. There are a lot of different looks here, sporty, tomboy, girly, but it is all tied in with the neutral, tonal color palette.
At H&M I also picked out a cute My Little Pony phone case.
American Eagle has never really been an intriguing place to shop for me, even when I was younger and actually liked mall shopping. Peering around, I noticed a wide array of high-waisted jeans which I will always choose over low-rise options. I decided to purchase these high-waisted two-tone jeans. I thought they looked high-end and similar to some expensive trendy designer denim. They didn’t have my size available so I decided to try a pair a few sizes bigger and wear them as boyfriend jeans. (I did find also that American Eagle jeans run a size small.) In this look, I paired them with a one-sleeve top from the American Apparel liquidation sale (R.I.P.), and some Marc Jacobs platforms (a lot of 70’s vibes here). I like the idea of pairing dressier shoes with casual outfits (and vice versa) as I think it is an unexpected contrast. I’d also wear these jeans higher on my hips and cinched with a belt for more of a paper-bag waist look.
It’s always fun to try new places to shop. Even though these stores won’t be my go-to places, I really think it is worth stopping by every once in a while to see what I can find.