The transition from teenager to adult can be a weird one. Being in my twenties, I don’t consider myself a full-fledged adult. I still live at home with my parents where my mom does my laundry, kills spiders when they come after me in the bathroom, and makes me dinner (which I am extremely grateful for). I’m not quite an adult but I’m also not a teenager anymore. In this phase I find myself not knowing what to wear. Am I still allowed to wear leggings as pants? Can I still get clothes from the “juniors” section? What defines a “junior” anyway? I’ve learned that if I dress like I’m going to work out people assume I’m an active person who doesn’t have time to pick out a nice outfit rather than assuming I’m lazy. Because of this, my wardrobe mostly consists of V-neck t-shirts and athletic shorts. Clearly, I need some new clothes.

Last weekend I went shopping in a store called “LOFT.” My older sister and mom have probably spent enough money in that store to own it by now, so I decided to check it out. I was a little apprehensive to go into a store where they sell clothes for people of all ages. I usually shop in stores like “Forever 21” and “American Eagle” where the clothes are specifically geared toward teenagers and twenty-somethings. The experience of shopping in a store that caters to my own style as well as mom mom’s and sister’s was definitely a new one. Many of the things I liked I learned had already been bought by my sister. I could’ve taken the opportunity to buy all the same clothes as her and just conveniently show up at family gatherings wearing the same thing as her but I decided to be a good sister and steer clear of the things she owns.

One item this store has that I am very new to is jeans. For most people jeans are a staple in their everyday wardrobe. I am not one of those people. I prefer the comfort of the leggings and the freeness they provide which allows me to eat all the ice cream I want. However, as a soon to be junior in college I figured it was time to invest in some actual pants. I settled on two pairs of jeans in the same exact “skinny jean” style. I’m still going to wear leggings as pants (which I think is still okay when you’re not a teenager but not quite an adult) but it’s nice to have the option to wear jeans when I want to.

I also bought several shirts which are basically just fancier versions of t-shirts. What can I say? I like to stick with what I know. Even though they’re not super different than what I’m used to, they’re definitely an upgrade from my V-necks from the “Junior’s” section of “Target.”

When you don’t know what to wear it can be easy to fall into a fashion slump. If there’s one thing I’ve learned while shopping in a store without a “Junior’s” section is to try on things you normally wouldn’t. I’ve also learned that if you go shopping with your mom on a Sunday afternoon most of the workers will assume you’re twelve years old. Even though the things I (my mom) bought weren’t super outside of my comfort zone, I was able to update my wardrobe and end up getting some things I didn’t think I would like.