Cheryl Shops

Happy February! After what felt like a years-long January, I'm happy for many reasons: I've started a new job, my birthday is now 28 days away, and restaurants and salons are once again open in San Francisco, which means unless something catastrophic happens in the next two weeks, we'll actually be able to go out to celebrate Valentines's Day. Now, normally I'm a cook-a--romantic-meal-at-home kind of person on Valentine's Day—when you go to a restaurant, the meal is usually overpriced, the service horrible, and I always end up seated next to a couple who's either fighting or not speaking the entire time—however, cooking at home is nearly all I've been doing for the last year, so bring on the prix fixe menu and the annoyed waitstaff. At this point, I'll eat a hot dog wrapped in paper as long as I don't have to cook it or clean up after myself. (And, yes, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge that I am fortunate to be able to afford enough food to eat, much less be able to order it from a restaurant, and as much as I'm complaining right now, I am very thankful for everything.) Luckily we have fancy outdoor brunch reservations for Valentine's Day, so in a return to semi-normal, here's what I'll be wearing. 

Earlier this week, I shared a Valentine’s Day look, but why stop there? Here are more Valentine’s Day outfit ideas, with the caveat that you don’t have to wear them in a romantic context. These are outfits I’ve worn in the last year that have made me feel confident and feminine, in an empowered way. They’d be great on date night, but they’d also work for a night out with friends. You do you, dear readers! Some thought starters…

Full disclosure: I’m planning on spending actual Valentine’s Day in a cabin in the mountains with my friends (and with my boyfriend). But I think a lot of you are looking for date-night looks, because my most-viewed post from last year was what to wear on Valentine’s Day. So in the interest of service journalism (not that this blog counts as actual journalism!), I thought I’d share another idea for this year. Plus, I’ve been featuring a lot of pants lately, so I thought a dress might shake things up a bit. Here’s what I’d wear if I were going somewhere fancy.

Full disclosure: I don't have any plans on Valentine's Day yet. I'm assuming I'll be spending them with Sean, seeing as how we live together, but as I mentioned in my gift guide post, we don't like to go out to eat on Valentine's Day, so we usually end up cooking something decadent at home. Of course, if you are going out, don't let me stop you from getting all dressed up in your date-night best. The age-old question is, are you dressing up for yourself or for your partner? I truly believe that sexiness comes from feeling comfortable in your own skin. You could have the perfect body and be wearing a Hervé Leger bandage dress that leaves very little to the imagination, but if you don't feel good in it, you won't look good in it. Conversely, you could be wearing a muumuu and both look and feel like a straight-up goddess (which is actually how I feel when I'm wearing one). Which brings me to the conundrum of what to wear on date night.

This is the time of year when my Instagram feed gets flooded with red and pink dresses for Valentine's Day. Now, I am all about red dresses—and so are men, if that's who you're really dressing for—but they just seem a bit obvious to me. And can you imagine walking into a restaurant on Valentine's Day (that is, if you choose not to follow my hygge plan!) and every woman is wearing a red dress? That would be just a bit awkward. So for those of you who wish to move to the beat of your own drummer, here's my take on sexy dressing for Valentine's Day.