Cheryl Shops

I'm going to cut to the chase and acknowledge the elephant in the room, which is that, yes, I am wearing a dress. A somewhat dressy dress. In the middle of a global pandemic when I'm supposed to be sheltering in place. And yes, even though I'm allowed out in public to exercise and make supply runs, I felt very obvious walking around my neighborhood in a zebra-print maxi dress. I'd like to think it's because this dress is so beautiful—and it is—but when everyone else in your vicinity is wearing athleisure and you're in a floor-length gown, you can't help but stick out like a sore thumb. That said, I have contractual obligations and social distancing was fully observed while shooting this post. Plus, we'll be able to return to normal soon, so might as well dress for it, right? Right! So let's talk about this dress that I can't wait to wear again for real.

Apologies for totally bailing on the blog last week. I had a ridiculously busy week at work and, honestly, was not feeling super inspired to write. After a very relaxing weekend, however, I've recharged my batteries, and I'm back. It still feels a little silly to be writing about fashion right now, but maybe we can all use a little distraction? Either way, if you have any topics you'd like me to cover, feel free to leave them in the comments below, or email me.

As I noted in my Paris outfit post last week, it feels rather surreal to be writing this post—and maybe more so now that we in San Francisco have been ordered to shelter in place for the next three weeks. How funny to think that just two weeks ago, I was in a foreign country, going to museums and out to restaurants like I didn’t have a care in the world! Selfishly, I’m glad I got to enjoy my vacation, and my heart goes out to everyone who’s had to cancel a trip. Granted, I know the collective health of the world is way more important and there are much bigger things to worry about. But if you could use a little distraction, here’s what I wore in London on my birthday.

It feels slightly surreal to be writing this mere hours after Trump announced a month-long travel ban to Europe, considering I just returned from a weeklong vacation to London and Paris on Saturday. While our friends in London were good-naturedly indulging in gallows humor (and stocking up on toilet paper), things in both places generally felt like life as usual. Granted, our flight home was less than half full, and in retrospect, some things were definitely a bit emptier than normal (but more on that later). That said, we had a wonderful time and are glad we went, regardless of when we'll be able to return. Here's how we spent two days in Paris, just as the Coronavirus began to spread.

I went to London and Paris last week for my birthday, a trip I’d been planning for months. And while no one expects a global pandemic, it was a bit bizarre to be so far away from home while all of the latest Coronavirus developments were unfolding. That said, it felt like business as usual in both cities (which have been pretty unaffected thus far), which was reassuring; we were able to enjoy our vacation, albeit with a little more hand-washing than usual (although that’s never a bad thing, especially while traveling). I’ll be posting my travel diaries over the next few weeks, but in the meantime, here’s what I wore in Paris.