Cheryl Shops

The last couple of years, I've focused on gifts that you and your significant other can enjoy together. It's a nice sentiment—and one still worth pursuing—but after texting with my girlfriends today, I decided we're all a bit starved for some self-care, and so this Valentine's Day, why not take an opportunity to practice some self-love? I mean of the treat-yourself variety; this is a shopping blog, of course. ;) Here are some of my favorite Valentine's Day gifts to give yourself (sharing always encouraged).

This is the outfit I meant to post last week, however the photos accidentally got deleted from the memory card, so we had to reshoot them. It seemed like a minor catastrophe at the time, but I think these turned out even better than the originals. Anyway, there’s no particular theme to this shoot, other than this has basically been my winter uniform so far: wool coat, cashmere sweater, jeans, and boots. I know I’ve been featuring a lot of jeans recently, but I promise I have some dresses coming up soon. In the meantime, here’s what I’ve been living in.

We were just in New York City in October, but when we got an invite to a dear friend's 40th birthday celebration (that just so happened to coincide with a holiday weekend), of course we couldn't say no to another trip. So we sent Zuni off to Petcamp, hopped on a 6 a.m. flight, and touched down at JFK just in time for the festivities. Here's how we spent three days in New York. 

I've been working on a sustainability campaign for my day job and it has really opened my eyes to all of the impact we, as humans, have on the environment. Coupled with the prediction that the world might more or less come to an end by 2050, I've been low-key freaking out about the future of our planet for the last couple months. Of course, one of the worst offenders is the fashion industry, which I unwittingly contribute to by convincing you to buy stuff. I will never stop using clothing as a means of self-expression, but I am seriously reconsidering my consumption habits and, to come clean, one of my resolutions is to not buy any new clothes in 2020. I am allowing myself to shop secondhand, and to accept gifts, but I am really, really trying not to buy anything new. As you can imagine, 16 days into the year, this is already a challenge for me, but I'm hopeful that it will get easier as the months go on. (And full disclosure: I'm granting myself an exception for my birthday and if I have any significant life changes worth celebrating.) That said, there are a lot of amazing sales happening right now, and if I can't shop them, maybe you can? Here's what I'd be buying if I hadn't made this @#$%! resolution.

There are quite a few things on my holy grail list, and a shearling aviator jacket is one of them. (In case you were wondering, an Hermès Kelly bag, a Max Mara camel coat, and Chanel ballet flats are also on it.) A shearling jacket does not come cheap, however, and so I have yet to buy the real thing, especially because I haven't been sure that I can actually pull one off. Am I too old? Too traditional? Too Californian? I decided to investigate with a faux version, which is less of a financial commitment and an item that can easily be donated to charity if it doesn't work out. Long story short, I love my faux shearling enough to wear it till it's threadbare. Here's how I styled it on its first outing. 

Winter truly brings out the casualness in me, and my go-to look most days consists of a sweater, jeans, and sneakers. So it's fitting that this month's most-pinned look from my Outfit Ideas for Ageless Style Pinterest board is just that. Granted, it's a very stylish take on the basics, but it's a totally easy look to re-create, so let's do it.

Back when I worked for Gap, our first fashion campaign of the year was always a neutral one. I think part of that strategy is that it’s in between seasons, so you don’t really need anything and aren’t looking to make a major statement, plus neutrals are a nice palate cleanser after all the rich colors and sparkle of the holidays. I also find myself gravitating more toward neutrals in general, although I do like a good strategically placed print or statement piece—and that’s what this look is, in a nutshell. You could wear it nearly any time of year (minus the heavier jacket) but the zebra print makes enough of a statement so that the outfit is memorable. Zebra will probably never replace leopard in everyone's hearts, but it's a fresh alternative. Here’s how to put it all together.

I wrote 2020 for the first time today and wow, was that weird—it truly is a new decade! That said, 2019 ended just a few days ago and I’m still in recap mode. So while my year in review post from Tuesday was all about me, this one is all about you: what you browsed, clicked on, and bought. I obviously love data, and analyzing it helps me deliver more content that you’ll (hopefully) enjoy. Plus, it’s fun to see what you got! So without further ado, here’s how you shopped in 2019.


OUTFIT DETAILS: Zara blazer | H&M tee (similar here) | Free People Normani skirt | Staud Bissett bag| Golden Goose Superstar sneakers

You know how all the best-of lists come out in mid-December? Those seemed to appear so quickly this year (I’m still blaming our late Thanksgiving), but I was really thrown by the plethora of end-of-the-decade stories. How did a whole decade just happen? It feels like 2010 was just yesterday, although, to be fair, a lot has happened in my life—and in the world—since then. That said, there’s a lot that I’m proud of having accomplished, especially in the last year. I love the optimism of starting a new year, but before I jump headfirst into 2020, let’s take a look back at 2019.

Did you leave your shopping till the very last minute? No judgment. And, really, the holiday shopping season was super short this year, so cut yourself some slack. Here are five super-last-minute gift ideas—one Amazon Prime-able, and the rest can be sent electronically. So finish that shopping, pour yourself a well-deserved drink, and relax.

I spent a lot of time recently—too much, perhaps—wondering if I could pull off leather jogger pants. I finally bit the bullet and ordered a pair. They were a fantastic deal, but they made my hips look ginormous (I think I ordered a size too big). Then I tried a pair that was too small, although I loved the cut. Finally, I think I found the pair that's just right. While I would have preferred a real leather pair, I settled for vegan leather; there are just more options out there, some of which are surprisingly priced at real-leather levels. I still am not 100% convinced that I can pull these off, but that's not going to stop me from continuing to try. Here's what I wore with my vegan leather jogger pants.

'Tis the season where we all get on a plane and fly home for the holidays, so we might as well look good while we travel, right? Back in the day, my mom got me all dressed up to fly (these were also the days when you could smoke on an airplane, so clearly we're going waaaaay back); nowadays, you see people wearing everything from flip-flops to pajamas on a plane, and while comfort is definitely key, there's a way to look polished without looking like you rolled straight out of bed. As someone who travels pretty frequently, I have my plane outfit down to a formula. Here's what I almost always wear when I travel.

The older I get, the fewer holiday parties I seem to have. I remember being in my 20s and having multiple events per night in the weekends leading up to Christmas; now I’m just an introvert with no friends. I’m kidding! I still have lots of friends, but we don’t throw parties like we used to, probably because we’re too stressed out this time of year. Still kidding! Well, maybe not. Anyway, while my social calendar isn’t as full as it once was, I do have some festivities to attend, and thus I decided to treat myself to a fun new skirt on Black Friday. Here’s what I’ll be wearing to this year’s holiday celebrations.

Usually I spread my gift guides out over several weeks—or months, as my very organized self did last year—but if you’re anything like me, the holidays REALLY snuck up on me this year, and dear god, how did this happen?! So in the interest of Christmas and Hanukkah being less than three weeks away, I decided to lump my somewhat abbreviated gift guides into one big post. This year, I didn’t filter by recipient; I went straight to price, but included something for all genders and ages in each. Well, except for splurge gifts—those are mostly just for me. ;) So without further ado, here are my favorite gifts for 2019.

My plans to shoot an outfit post were thwarted by the rain we had all weekend in LA (yes, it does rain in Southern California), so instead, I thought I’d share some of what I’ve been wearing lately on Instagram. I used to shoot my daily outfits in the bathroom at work, but since my new job has truly terrible lighting (and the ladies’ room is always crowded), I’ve been trying to do a better job of showing more everyday looks in my feed. In case you’re still not following me on IG (yes, that was a shameless plug!), here’s what I’ve been wearing.

Back when I first started writing Cheryl Shops, I used to list all of the weekly sample sales in NYC; if you’ve been reading this blog since the dark ages, that’s probably how you first found me. Nowadays, there are many sites out there who track the sales better than I do—Madison Avenue Spy being one of my favorites—but in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought I’d show my gratitude to you, dear readers, by sharing the best deals on my favorite sites. Let me know what you got in the comments below!

I was compensated with free lodging and meals for this post, but all opinions are my own.

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California sounds like a magical place from its name alone, and once you’ve visited, you realize the magic is real. Conceived as an artists’ colony in the early 1900s, the town’s character is that of a village in a forest overlooking the beach, and it’s filled with straight-out-of-a-fairytale houses that all have imaginative names. (Fun fact: there are no street numbers in Carmel-by-the-Sea; residents go to the post office to pick up their mail.) The town is vigilant about preserving its beauty—trees cannot be torn down to accommodate new construction, buildings cannot be more than two stories tall, signs must be wood (or wood-like), and as a matter of public safety on its uneven sidewalks, you are required to have a permit to wear heels over 2 inches high (yes, that is an actual law!). It may sound like a lot of regulation, but the result is that Carmel-by-the-Sea is a truly special place filled with people and businesses that feel so devoted the unique character of the town. And what makes Carmel even more dear to my heart is that it’s the most dog-friendly town I’ve ever visited—in fact, all of the visitor maps note which businesses allow dogs!


Carmel is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from San Francisco, which makes it perfect for a weekend trip (although we'd happily spend a week—or longer—there). Here’s what Sean, Zuni, and I did on our visit in November.

I was #blessed to spend a weekend in Carmel again—as you may recall, we go every August for car week, which I love, but this time was a totally different experience. For one, the town was waaaaay less crowded. For another, the weather was absolutely gorgeous; it’s normally foggy and chilly in the summer, but it was clear and crisp and surprisingly warm. I have a more in-depth post on my trip coming later this week, but in the meantime, here’s what I wore in Carmel last weekend.

My Pinterest followers have been busy repinning fall-transitional outfits, and even though it feels like winter-transitional weather at the moment, I think this is a great look to wear right now (and later). The most-pinned look from my Outfit ideas for ageless style Pinterest board looks very Bottega Venteta, but let's create it for way less (mostly).

When I was young, I had a babysitter named Carrie who was very cool in a Joan Jett–meets–Stevie Nicks kind of way. Her style was boho mixed with punk—lots of silver and black and denim—and I was pretty much obsessed with her. She almost always wore black suede boots, and in all my years of shopping, I've never found a pair that reminded me so distinctly of her until I tried on the Giorgia boot by Calla. They came in the mail last week and I literally wore them for three days straight. I channeled Carrie all weekend long, but this was the look I think she'd approve of the most.