Cheryl Shops

So apparently I missed out on a big trend this summer: the shoulder-pad tee. It's more of a muscle tank with, yes, padded shoulders. It seemed like a ridiculous fashion-victim thing at first, but the more I saw them on my Instagram feed, the more I wanted a shoulder-pad top of my own. And while summer is winding down in the rest of the country, it's just getting started here in Northern California—it's 86 degrees as I write this—so I figured better late than never and placed an order. Here's how I styled my padded shoulder top. 

I am constantly in pursuit of what I like to call "rich-girl skin"—smooth, poreless, glowy—and I will obediently try any skincare product that promises any of those effects. Maelove had been on my radar for awhile, after I'd seen it mentioned countless times in message boards and beauty-blog comment threads; it has also popped up pretty frequently in my Instagram feed, so clearly their ad targeting is spot-on. Then, like a sign from the universe, Maelove reached out to me about trying a few of their products, so in the name of investigative journalism, I agreed. (Everything I do, I do it for you, dear readers!) I've been using the following Maelove products exclusively for the last two weeks; here's my honest and unfiltered review. 

We've been watching a lot of throwback movies lately on our weekend nights in, one of which was Pacific Heights, a 1990 thriller starring Melanie Griffith, Matthew Modine, and Michael Keaton. It's basically about the horrors of being a landlord in San Francisco, and in spite of being 30 years old, it strangely touches upon some very current issues, including systemic racial discrimination. What struck me the most, however, was Melanie Griffith's wardrobe, which felt very 2020 with its mix of straight-leg mom jeans, boyfriend blazers, and drawstring bags. In one pivotal scene, she wears a fabulous pair of high-waisted paperbag pants and while I know I was supposed to be focused on the plot, I immediately got on Shopstyle and started looking for a pair in black. I always say you can never have too many black pants, so here's the latest addition to my repertoire. 

The first day of fall is next week already, and I have a feeling it's on everyone's mind, because this month's most-pinned look from my Outfit ideas for ageless style Pinterest board is definitely an autumnal one. The palette is minimal and so is the outfit—at only three pieces, it's one of the simplest I've ever featured in this series. But it sounds like we're all looking for a little minimalism in our lives and in our wardrobes, so let's re-create the look. 

 This is the outfit I had intended to share last week, one that straddles summer and fall, which felt appropriate for just after Labor Day. Under normal circumstances, this would feel almost a bit too bundled up for San Francisco weather in September, which is typically the warmest time of year. But after a week of heavy smoke from wildfires and unseasonably thick fog, I’ve learned to roll with the punches. Which is a pretty apt way to describe how to handle seasonal transitions no matter where you live. Or the year 2020. So this look feels very fall from the waist up and very summer from the waist down; it’s a bit idiosyncratic, but so is life nowadays. Here’s how it all came together. 

In case you haven't been reading, listening to, or watching the news lately, pretty much the entire state of California is on fire at the moment. I am (thankfully) safe, but San Francisco is currently cloaked in unhealthy levels of smoke (the sky was literally orange on Wednesday) and unfortunately we can't go outside, which means we can't shoot a new post, and thus I don't have a new one for you this week. What I can offer, however, is a Cheryl's Greatest Hits featuring one of my favorite wardrobe items of all time, my Gap Icon denim jacket. The timing is actually quite good, because it's the perfect transitional piece—or, in my case, the perfect year-round layer. So without further ado, here are seven of my favorite ways to wear it. 

Have you ever taken a trip that was so good, you forgot to take photos? We just spent a long weekend in Mendocino County, and that's exactly the kind of getaway it was—so relaxing, we were able to be present and not glued to our phones. (The fact that I didn't have cell reception 95% of the time definitely helped.) I meant for this post to be a sort of travel diary about our trip, but then I realized that I already did that two years ago when we went to Mendocino. Last time, we stayed in town; this time we were a bit south, in Little River, and we only went into Mendocino to grab meals (most of which were takeout, due to Covid restrictions). We also brought Zuni with us on this trip, which gave it a slightly different vibe; it was a little less romance and more quality family time. But since the air in the city has been thick with smoke for weeks due to the wildfires, we were thrilled to get out of our apartment, into the fresh, clean, coastal air. The one day we did take photos was when we went a bit inland to the town of Philo, which is where many of the Anderson Valley wineries are located. Here's where we ate and drank. 

 Sometimes my posts are written days in advance; sometimes I'm working up until my deadline (and sometimes a little beyond that). This post is an example of the latter. I was intending to post a bunch of ridiculously marked-down sale items for your buying pleasure, but in researching this post, I realized that the most exciting deals were the ones on fall styles. They might not be 80% off, but I'd rather spend a little bit more on things for the upcoming season, rather than ones that I can wear a few more weeks, then stow away until next year. So here are my favorite buy now, wear soon pieces, plus more Labor Day sales for your bargain-shopping pleasure, because this is a safe place. 

I'm going to make a bold statement: 2020 the year of the housedress. True, 2020 is not yet over (although maybe it should be) but it is already September (September!!), and while it hasn't been a big year for fashion trends, the one I've most readily embraced is the housedress. Debuting during the postwar years when housewives needed something to wear whilst cooking and doing chores, housedresses evolved into a slightly more fabulous version in the '70s, when they were geared more toward entertaining at home. Then in the '80s, women went to work in offices, and they'v been pretty much dormant ever since. Now, however, two major factors have collided to create the perfect conditions for the return of the housedress. One is that big, floaty dresses are in fashion. The other is that, obviously, we're all staying home waaaaaaay more than we have in years. And while wearing sweatpants was fun for awhile, one doesn't always feel the most pulled-together in them. Hence, the housedress. It's comfy yet pretty, functional yet feminine. I've been living in them this summer, and last week I bought my best one yet.