Chasing Chelsea

I bounce back and forth between wanting a small fully utilized wardrobe and absolutely adoring all my many, many clothes and the endless options they create.  In the past year I've learned something about my brain and how it works that truly has been a lightbulb, making everything make sense.  

Oddly enough this epiphany came from a podcast on home design, not fashion or neuroscience.  The guest spoke about the psychology of our homes and how the "farmhouse/ greige minimalist/hyper awareness of the resale value movement appeals to people who are overstimulated and seeking relief.  They see the bareness, simplicity as a sanctuary from the world, exactly as our homes should be.  When presented in that light, I felt rather guilty for being such a harsh critic.  

The reverse then is true for me.  Generally speaking, I find the world very understimulating.  Every spralling Midwest town looks the same, everyone in athleisure, cars all some easy to resell shade of neutral, and all my days spent in greige cement buildings under florescent lights.  So boring.   

My brain craves new, interesting, beautiful, intricate, unusual, challenging, detailed, different.  It's why I shop so much, read four books at a time, and worked three jobs at once. Even the challenge of decluttering and living on a small capsule wardrobe is tied in to that cycle of something new, the next challenge. Then I get bored. My home and my wardrobe are naturally an extension of this.  I crave the hunt of a harsh to find dress, the challenge of alterations, the creative burst of styling it.  And then my brain wants to move on to the next hunt, the next challenge.   It's killer on my bank account if I'm not careful, but I've been this way my whole life; this is just how my brain works and it's unlikely to change.  However, it can be managed and knowing this about myself brings me a great deal of peace.

All of this has been a very circuitous way of saying, I've found another Bernie Dexter beauty from my ISO list.  This Chelsea dress in book print is one I almost never see pop up for resale.  I had to scour the BST groups, found a months old post, and had it shipped from another country to finally bring it home, but here she is and just in time for autumn styling.  No regrets.

Outfit Info:  Bernie Dexter Chelsea Dress in Books Print, B.A.I.T. heels, Vintage bag, Collectif Shrug