Cheryl Shops

I've found the things in my closet that get the most compliments are often the things I was most on the fence about buying. Case in point: this dress. It sat in my bag at Net-a-Porter for over a week, until it went on sale again and I decided to pull the trigger. Even when it arrived, I was like, "Whoa! Is this cute? Is this ugly?" I went back and forth about it. I asked my boo what he thought and after a long pause, he said, "It's very colorful." I still am not totally sure about it, and I wasn't Sunday morning when I first wore it, but after getting several compliment's from my boo's friends—who are very into vintage cars and, by proxy, into design—I realized that, of course, it's one of those boundary-pushing pieces. It may be polarizing, but I love it. So, without further ado...

Decluttering is a big New Year's resolution for a lot of folks, and while it's not one for me personally this year, I made a big push a few years ago after reading the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (and yes, it is indeed life-changing, so I'd recommend reading it if you haven't already). That said, I am constantly getting rid of clothes—with a name like Cheryl Shops, it goes with the territory—and while donating them all to charity is by far the most noble option, I prefer to donate cash and instead sell my gently-used clothes and accessories…so I can by new ones. Here are my favorite ways to do it.

I've just returned from a fantastic long weekend with some of my oldest, dearest friends in the world. They're all moms, and they all joked about having a mom uniform, which more or less sounds like skinny jeans and a flowy, forgiving top. As a fashion blogger, it's practically my job to show a variety of looks, but I too have a uniform of sorts, especially in the winter. It's built around my favorite pair of pants: these leather leggings, which I should almost apologize to my IRL friends for wearing too much...except I won't, because I love them, and I'm a firm believer in wearing what you love.

The holidays are over but we still have several months of winter left, which explains why coat-based looks are trending on my Outfit Ideas for Ageless Style Pinterest board. This week's pick is still very wintry but brightens things up with a strong helping of color.

I'm going to Miami this weekend for a girls' trip with some of my oldest friends, so while it's still technically winter, I have beach weather on the brain. Also, I have so many cute spring and summer dresses, it's a shame they have to languish in my closet for months. So today I'm breaking all the rules and wearing my warm-weather dress now. Take that, January!

Confession: I am terrible at saving money. You might be thinking, "Well, you write a blog called Cheryl Shops, so duh," and you'd be right—I do indeed like to shop, but I don't spend money I don't have...it's just that I spend what's there. And I since I have a healthy six figures already in my retirement account, perhaps a more accurate statement is I'm terrible at budgeting, which is indeed true. But while my retirement savings are on the healthy side, my personal savings are…not. So one of my non-resolution resolutions for 2018 is to save more. Thankfully, I've discovered an incredibly easy, low-maintenance way to do it.

Judging by the traffic to last week's post, my Get the Look series is off to a rousing start, so here's another favorite from my Outfit Ideas for Ageless Style Pinterest board. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've been looking for the perfect leopard-print coat forever; this one is particularly appealing to me because of its open, cocoon-like cut. Since the woman in this photo is holding an invite to the Jacquemus show in her hand, I'm assuming it's rather pricey, so let's see what we can do for a bit less...

There are people who complain about the weather in San Francisco being always the same, and to those people, I say, take a look outside right now because it is pouring rain. The slightly weird thing about this is that it only rains in winter here—it's like northern California's version of snow—and yet people totally freak out about it. After four years here, I've come to somewhat loathe this time of year, as necessary as it is, because it's hard to look chic when you're loaded up with practical waterproof gear. But it's a small price to pay for the beautiful weather we have the rest of the year. And I've developed a formula that makes dressing for winter weather a bit easier.

I've been to the gym twice this week and both of my classes have been ridiculously crowded, which reminded me that January is the time of year that people tend to hit the gym hard and perhaps go on a diet too. That's totally understandable—I've been eating and drinking everything in sight for the last two weeks, and I have put on a few extra pounds that I'd like to shed ASAP too. I know several people who are doing the Whole 30 right how, and while I've never personally tried that diet, it seems a bit too restrictive and also maybe not very scientific. So let me be that person who tells you all about my diet instead.


Last summer, I started to feel incredibly run down. I had been sick multiple times (including an incredibly bad flu that kept me home from work for the better part of the week), I had zero energy, and to put it as subtly as possible, my digestion was completely bloated and, uh, irregular. I have always been a relatively healthy eater, but I tried cutting carbs, alcohol, dairy, and so on, and nothing was helping. Then I read this article, "Could diet cure arthritis?" in Goop*—full disclosure, I have rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune disorder—and I figured well, why not give it a try? I ordered The Plant Paradox by Dr. Steven Gundry, devoured it (pun intended), and my life hasn't been the same since…in the best way possible.

Remember yesterday when I said I don't make resolutions? That was true, however I do set goals, and one of mine for 2018 is to blog three times a week instead of just two. I also wanted to bring back a series of posts from last year (I called them "ageless outfits") in which I recreate a look that I've pinned to my Outfit Ideas for Ageless Style Pinterest board. So here we are! This week's look is one of my most repinned pins ever (with 500 saves and counting!), and it's not hard to see why: it's simple, classic, and totally chic, but with enough details to make it interesting. Here's how to put it together.

Happy new year, dear readers! I've been traveling and not working for the last week and a half, which has put me into that weird state of mind where I'm not sure exactly what day of the week it is or where I'm supposed to be. And while I enjoyed my time off, I have high hopes for 2018 and am excited to tackle a lot of new things in 2018. That said, one of my pet peeves is "new year, new you." I am all for making resolutions—as you'll see, I'll be sharing several of my own here over the next few weeks—but you don't need to totally reinvent yourself. Just do you. A better version of you, maybe, but still you. Which brings us to this week's outfit, starring one of my favorite sweaters, the classic ivory cable knit.


A cable-knit fisherman sweater is so classic and cozy, and for the next few months, I'll pretty much be living in one. This particular sweater is from last year's Madwell collaboration with Sézane, although Madwell pretty much makes the same one every year—the one linked below is a very close approximation. Obviously, you can wear it with jeans, but I decided it dress it up a bit for a stroll down one of my favorite streets in San Francisco, Maiden Lane.