Oh, 2016: you really were an absolute dragon of a year, weren’t you?

As writing an actual retrospective of this year would a) be the most depressing read ever and b) probably make most of you think I was just making it all up (Terry and I were talking about this a few days ago, and agreed that, although I’ve been very open here about my recent health issues, if I were to write about some of the OTHER stuff that’s happened in 2016, you’d just be all, ‘Poor Amber: she’s obviously just making stuff up now for attention, isn’t she?” It’s been a … strange year. Let’s just leave it at that.) I’ve decided to just do an outfit retrospective instead. Much more cheerful, huh?

So, here we go: here’s what 2016 looked like for me – on the surface, at least…

JANUARY

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We actually only had a few days worth of snow last winter, but because snow makes such an easy (read: lazy) outfit backdrop, I made sure to take outfit photos on every single one of those days. This had the unfortunate effect of making some of my readers think Scotland is some kind of snow-filled winter wonderland, when actually it’s just really dark and dreary at this time of year, but at least I got some decent photos out of it, so that’s the main thing, isn’t it? Er, apologies to anyone who booked winter holidays to Scotland this year, and didn’t get any snow: this year has been so mild so far that I haven’t even had the chance to wear that coat again yet…

FEBRUARY

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2016 was the year I discovered my love of berets, which became the solution to many a bad-hair day that winter. This post (i.e. the one I’m writing now, not the one I’m linking to) is the moment I’m remembering that love of berets, and making a mental note to go and dig them all out again. At least this post has been good for something!

MARCH

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In March, Terry and I went to Tenerife for two weeks, so there was an abrupt change from winter outfits to spring/summer ones. This post was published when we got back, in April, but it WAS taken in March, so that’s totally not cheating, OK?

APRIL

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Er, this one was also published in April but taken in March, so it technically IS cheating this time, but I apparently just relied on posting my holiday photos throughout April, as opposed to taking many new ones, so we’re just going to have to try to live with it somehow. We’ll get through this together, folks…

MAY

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In May it rained a lot, which made getting outfit photos even more of a PITA than it usually is. This one must have been taken on one of the rare, dry days that month, but is actually pretty representative of the kind of thing I’d been wearing: this was the year I started to really embrace casual style, and just didn’t feel like getting “dressed up” as much as I usually do, so I spent a lot of time in jeans and stripe tops. A LOT OF time.

JUNE

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Having just said that 2016 was the year I embraced “casual”, I’m just about to completely contradict myself, because June was sunny, which meant I was back in my usual dresses and skirts for most of it. I find my style is a little bit split that way: if it’s sunny and warm, I’ll wear clothes that a lot of the people around me consider “dressy” (even although they’re not, particularly…), whereas when it’s cold and dark, it’s causal all the way. Unfortunately, where I live is mostly cold and dark, but June decided to go in the opposite direction this year, making it one of the nicer months, both weather and fashion-wise.

JULY

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July was the month I got to wear a stripe dress on a yacht, and therefore hit peak ‘nautical’. Again, it was another reasonably nice month, weather-wise, so it brought lots of opportunities to get some use out of my summer wardrobe.

AUGUST

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I’ll say one thing for it: 2016 may have been a crappy year as a whole, but it WAS a better-than-average summer, which I don’t think I fully appreciated at the time, because I was so wrapped up in other things. I’d like to say this is an important lesson, and that I won’t be making that mistake again, but, well, you know me, I probably will, won’t I? I’ll TRY, though. (I will DEFINITELY wear that dress again, though…)

SEPTEMBER

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In September, I was still desperately clinging onto the last of the summer, and trying to find excuses to wear this Chi Chi London dress, which I finally bought, after denying myself it for months. No regrets there: I mean, I know I’m currently on a shopping ban, so I’m the last person who should be saying this, but sometimes life is just too short NOT to wear that dress, isn’t it?

OCTOBER

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I didn’t take a lot of outfit shots in October, partly because of the weather, and partly because I only really have about three decent autumn outfits, and once I’ve worn them, I’m all out of ideas. This year, however, I realised there was a great sweater in my closet which I’d yet to pair with this matching grey skirt, and thus another autumn outfit was born!

NOVEMBER

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As you might know, November was one of the worst months of my life, let alone this year, so, unsurprisingly, there aren’t many outfit photos from that month. This one was taken just before I found out about my ectopic pregnancy: after that, I mostly wore leggings or pyjamas until…

DECEMBER

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It seems a little bit redundant to post this one again, as it’s so recent, but it didn’t feel right to do a year-in-review and stop at month 11, so here you go: a photographic record of the first time I wore makeup and “real” clothes in December!

And that was my year in outfits! It looks very different from the year I’ll remember in my head, obviously, but I still think it’s interesting (to me, if not to anyone else) to have this kind of photographic record to look back on in years to come. As you can see, there was no big change in my style this year, and, on the surface at least, 2016 looked pretty similar to the year before it – and the one before that, if I’m honest. I genuinely don’t think that’s a bad thing, though: as I’ve said before, I’ve never really been into “fashion” in the true sense of that word, so while my outfits this year don’t really tell you anything at all about current trends or whatever, they do tell their own stories, some of which are very different to the one you’d imagine, just from the image.

And what will 2017 look like, I wonder? Well, time will tell: but if I had to bet on it, I’d probably be putting my money on a few big skirts, and a whole lot of stripes…