Balancing Act
Rachel Carlsen (@ravvy_rachel) was sashaying along Milwaukee Avenue wearing a combination of beautiful autumnal tones—rich burgundy, caramel, and green. "When I'm getting dressed, I'm usually dead set on wearing one thing and I'll base everything else around making that piece work," she says. "I really wanted to wear the scarf, so I picked everything else based around the colors in it." Balance is central to her sartorial strategy: "A big or busy skirt means a simple top, a crazy shirt means jeans and flats, or you make the top and bottom equally crazy and they somehow even each other out." Working as a catering and events assistant at a warehouse, Carlsen says "the days can get monotonous, but picking out a fun outfit lets me play a character and differentiate between the days of the week. Putting on an outfit I love and doing my makeup makes me feel like that day happened, like I woke up and put in effort."
Originally featured in the Chicago Reader.
