Rethinking The Style Classics

Getting a jump on holiday dressing with J.Crew

This post is brought to you (and me) by J.Crew, one of my favorite brands for timeless essentials. Long time EE readers know, I’m a J.Crew gal at heart, and thrills me to no end to get to play with their new Holiday collection.

One of my many vain traits - sometimes I imagine I’m interviewing myself. And one of my most popular self-interview queries is, Laurel, could you please define your style? I think about it all the time, even though I generally bristle at defining one’s style, or giving trends cute names, etc. I think about it more in the sense of what does it mean to feel an affinity with a certain look, and how do I think about the ways I want to portray myself to the world.

One key element I keep going back to, besides the 90s (which coincidentally was the subject of my last letter in partnership with J.Crew), is prep. Do I fit the classic mold of preppy style? No. I have a lot of tattoos, sometimes I like things that are kind of goth, or severe. But there’s a classic-ness, pr…