BrightestYoungThings: Get it TOGETHER: Fool Proof Grown-Up Style Guide

Just in time for the weekend, we got a visit from the pandahead fairy, aka Morgan West (nee Hungerford) who was our original style writer and has a few tips to make sure your adult self is not looking like your young adult self (see Drew below). Cute hats optional.

(tip #1: don't do the above)

my style has definitely evolved over the last couple of years, but i hadn't really thought about it until last night when i realized that three months from today i will be THIRTY ONE. in a lot of ways i've cleaned up my act, by which i mean i've cobbled together a wardrobe, etc of things i can wear over and over again without looking like a real nut:

BLACK SKINNY JEANS: i don't work in an office and have the luxury of an UBER-LIBERAL dress code, which means i wear jeans to work at least 4 days a week and then on the weekends too. i have six pairs of skinny, black, high-rise levi's and i will be buried in one pair of skinny, black, high-rise levi's. they look good with ALL SHOES and transcend the time/space continuum in their ability to be styled appropriately for almost any occasion. no weddings or formals; we already discussed funerals.

BLAZERS: blazers are super profesh and very mature. yes, most of mine have come from the little boys' section at the thrift store, and yes - they are most often thrown on over a gnarly t-shirt. but my dad still says i "look sharp" whenever i wear one and therein lies the appeal.

JEWELRY: i'm finally used to wearing my engagement ring (helpful hint - don't wait six months to get it sized), and adding a wedding band is whatever. i recently started wearing a watch, which feels like a lot going on in the hand/wrist regions, but now i always know what time it is without having to pull out my phone. this is an indicator of adulthood. that said i broke my last watch doing a david lee roth impression so we'll see how long i can keep my shit together.

LIPSTICK: maybe it makes me feel more grown up; maybe it's just the economy. either way i've been wearing a lot of it lately.

BLOUSES: it's like sometimes i wake up in the morning and i really want to look like keith richards, and then other times i wake up and i really want to look like rod stewart. the answer is always a SILK LADY-BLOUSE, generally with the aforementioned denim and flat-busted chelsea boots. this scheme also works to quell any rolling thunder-era dylan urges (of which i have many).

A STRICT NO HAIRCUT POLICY: unless you are a celebrity and you're getting your wig trimmed and shaped on the daily, i am 100% convinced that there is no good way to grow your hair out. i spent two of the last four years doing just that and i looked dreadful for two of the last four years. when one day the clouds parted and i had an actual haircut again, i vowed never again to give into the michelle williams-es, the jean sebergs, the edward furlongs of this world. fun fact: the first time i cut my hair short i did it myself after seeing juliana hatfield's universal heartbeat video. then my dad took me to get it cut "correctly," and they didn't do it "right," and when i got home i threw a hairbrush at the wall and it made a big dent and my mom was SUPER pissed! see? don't cut your hair. IT'S NOT WORTH IT.

i guess that's it. basically i'm no longer walking around only in STATEMENT PIECES that can be worn once (you would not have wanted to see my closet when i was, say, 26?), and i've actually started taking care of my things so that they last. i'm looking forward to continuing to dress like a total weirdo when the mood strikes, but mostly i'm just glad i've ended up with a bunch of pieces (apparel or otherwise) that make it easy to feel like myself. 30 or 31 or whatever.

photo from airport outfits.