Pre-Loved Diary: 12 Fresh Spring Outfits
plus, vintage treasures (granny square sweater, Big E Levi's jacket, quilted bed jacket...) & what I'm obsessed with lately
12 spring-transitional outfits to give you fresh ideas — plus, how to find similar pieces secondhand! Paid subscribers get full access to all my monthly favorites & recommendations (what I'm reading, watching & shopping!).
Hey hi hello! I’m up and at it early today because my husband (a baker) is hosting a pop-up where he’s selling his croissants, and I’m on (self-appointed) social media duty. It’s highly likely I’ll be paid in bread by the end of it, so that’s fine by me!
This month, I spent a lot of time working on a story about women who are vintage t-shirt dealers, and, honestly, I have to thank Substack that this story even saw the light of day. I pitched that story to editors for two years, and never landed it — the potential audience was too niche, which is why these reader-supported “specialty” spaces matter so much. Because I knew I had a readership for it, I did all the research and reporting myself, and ran it here on Pre-Loved!
It was so invigorating to report a story I really believe in, and since publishing, hundreds of women have written to say they’re glad I wrote it. I am too. But! I’ve got just a few minutes before I need to start snapping pics here at the bakery, so let’s get into the outfits, shall we?
I’m a pretty minimal makeup and skincare person, but I am putting things into my little virtual basket for the Sephora sale this week. I made an edit of my favorites here: a lot of Glossier, Kosas, Merit, Saie — you know the vibe! I’m trying to be reasonable about what I pick up and resist the urge to “stock up” (the on-again-off-again tariffs have me sweating!) but I will be getting back-ups of my faves, like my Maison Louis Marie in Balincourt No.4 perfume oil and Glossier You Doux perfume.
As you alllll know, we’ve been treated to fake spring weather lately. Every year I try not to rush the closet switchover (because I really do like all my winter pieces — jackets girl here!) too soon, but I never quite time it right. This day was especially chilly, which meant I got one more wear out of this granny square sweater that I got at Iowa City Flea Market recently.
You can’t see them, but I also gave my Birkenstocks and all my other suede and leather shoes a good clean — this is the cleaning kit I use! Also, this is the playlist I listened to while spring cleaning — it definitely has a “windows open” vibe to it:
Below the fold this month:
10 more outfits and the spring pieces I keep repeating!
A Substacker’s podcast that has me giggling out loud, it’s so good.
The books I’m reading, and passages I underlined.
A go-to look for family events where you need “jeans and a cute top”
Styling denim-on-denim? I have ideas…
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