My mom has albums upon albums of pictures of me as a child. A lot of them are in storage in California while my family spends the next few years in Utah, but my mom did bring some photo albums along with her in the move. She recently sent me some photos, and in my mind, I immediately travelled back to the 90s when I was growing up.

Something I always tell people who ask me for style inspiration is to think back on what you loved as a child. My boyfriend used to wear power ranger shirts, and I am not suggesting that he go out and buy 10 power ranger shirts to upgrade his wardrobe. On the flip side, I have always loved dresses as a child. Nowadays, I still love dresses and if given a choice, I *typically* will always choose dresses over pants (weather permitting).

Drew Barrymore’s style for the February 2018 issue of InStyle gave me such a great idea. What if I used my old photos showing me as a child for the foundation of an outfit that child me would love, and adult me would still wear?

the distinguishing aspects of my childhood style

I flipped through all of the old photos of myself and thought back to the 90s. Then, I came up with a list of distinguishing parts in my childhood outfits that just scream Claire as a child. These

Dresses
Tights
Mary Jane shoes (black or red)
An emblem of Mickey Mouse somewhere on my dress or shirt
Bright colors (you wouldn’t have caught me wearing black and white as a child)

It was so much fun to reminisce about what I loved as a child and how much my style has changed and hasn’t changed. Now, I would never wear Mary Jane shoes and I don’t really wear tights anymore, but I do love dresses and bright colors. My obsession with Disney and Mickey Mouse has also never died off (and it never will).

A true testament to how accurate this list depicts me as a child is my cousin’s reaction when I told her. My cousin, who I grew up with and is one of my best friends, said, “I literally feel like I could picture that whole outfit of you as a kid”.

the look I created

I took this older but beautiful print from Lilly Pulitzer in a style that wasn’t especially curve-hugging (because I’m not sure that’s entirely appropriate on a child), dug out my tights from the bottom of my sock drawer, threw on some heels, and grabbed my rose gold Minnie Mouse ears. Just for fun, I put on a pair of sunglasses that I know the sassy child-Claire would have loved.

Overall, I was quite happy with how this turned out. It was so nice to be able to come up with something that I would legitimately wear that I know child-Claire would love.

I would love to know what sort of things in your wardrobe you loved as a child and what has changed for you now!
If you recreate a childhood look, use the hashtag #recreatingmychilodhoodoutfits and tag me! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

XOXO,

Claire