When I introduced this weekly feature to my blog seven years ago this week, I had no idea that it would last this long. I knew that I could keep it up for awhile, but I wondered how quickly I’d run out of ideas. More than 300 posts later, here we are! I have learned so much and I’ve connected with so many interesting women around the world. Sometimes I wonder what this 70-year-old woman with no formal fashion training has to offer, but your feedback definitely encourages me to keep going!

Today I thought it might be fun to look back at the very first photos of myself that I posted on Fashion Friday.

As I look at these photos, I notice several things:

1. My style hasn’t changed much in seven years! Though I don’t have all of these pieces anymore, I’d still feel comfortable going out dressed like this because this outfit fits all five of my present style adjectives… classy, confident, comfortable, casual, and authentic.
2. Seven years later, I still have the blazer and the shoes! The blazer is left over from my teaching days. Though I don’t wear it often anymore, it’s a classic piece that really doesn’t go out of style. The shoes are a comfy pair of flats that I last wore to the symphony in Xalapa, Mexico last month!
3. My hair! After letting my thick, naturally curly hair grow out and wearing it considerably longer than this for the past several years, I had it cut short again a couple of weeks ago! It looks almost exactly like this except that it’s a bit greyer now!
4. The lack of snow. If I was standing on the stairs that replaced those ones when we added a small deck to the front of our house and hubby was taking my picture today, he’d be up to his knees or more in snow! Though daytime temperatures are occasionally creeping up above the freezing point, it will likely be awhile before we see bare ground and start taking outdoor fashion photos again.

While preparing this post, I also decided to look at some stats and see which of my Fashion Friday posts have been the most popular. Far and away the winner, with over 12 000 views, is the post entitled How to shop like a celebrity published on August 2, 2019. It would appear that a lot of readers have found it on Pinterest. My second most popular Fashion Friday post, A model who embraced her age, announced the death of 67-year-old model, Cindy Joseph, in July 2018. That one has had more than 8000 hits. I guess it pays to mention celebrities!

And now, let’s see how many more fashion posts I can write before I run out of ideas!