On Juneteenth weekend, the Unbothered crew brought the heat with us to Atlanta for our first-ever in-person event, The Glow Up. It’s been a week since the amazing inaugural festival, but we’re still swooning over the vibes we were able to bring to life for our community.
Between entertaining panels, must-see performances, and a rollerskating experience straight out of Roll Bounce, The Glow Up was everything that we wanted it to be and then some. Did we mention that the looks were giving all weekend? Despite the fact that Atlanta isn’t always named in the couture discourse, the city has always influenced style trends in Black culture. Fashion is embedded into the very threads of Atlanta’s DNA — and our Unbothered family made that abundantly clear by turning up in their best festival fits.
From co-ord sets to sundresses and even color-coordinating looks with the besties, the Unbothered family showed up and showed out. Here are just some of our favorite looks:
Besties Color-Coordinated Fits
We’re not sure if this was planned, but we love to see friends set a theme and stick to it. We stan these crochet tops (which, by the way, are making a comeback) because they remind us of the impeccable work of Black designer, Gigi Hunter.
(@hallemilan, @kennedyahood, @geeeebabyyyy) Nostalgia Activated
We love the nod to one of our fave cult-fave Gabrielle Union movies. (#IYKYK). It’s always going to be Clovers for us. The Pink Way
Black women sparkle in every color — period — but pink looks especially amazing on these two beautiful queens.
(@jimip_, @makeupbyleeamarie) Stripes and Sets
Matching sets are truly here to stay. We’re particularly obsessed with this chic two-tone stripe shorts set.
(@bianca_rezine) Throwback Tees
Remember airbrushed tees? They’re back, and these ladies slayed and styled them in their own unique way. Abstract Patterns
Style tip: Take your flowy shirt dress and wear it off one of your shoulders to keep cool in a heat wave but also to add dimension to it.
(@itgirlnapi) A Monochrome Moment
Want to elevate that classic all-white look you’ve got in mind for the function? Try pairing it with a splash of color through your accessories. A cute bag is a perfect detail, but colorful shoes or bold statement jewelry can be a simple but chic addition that’ll make you stand out every time.
Petal Sleeves
You can never go wrong with a fitted mini dress that has a unique sleeve — like this stylish petal sleeve cuff.
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Tradition dictates that bridesmaids are there to accompany brides on their wedding days, both in person and in style. As a result, bridesmaids’ dresses have remained classic and demure, with pastel, dusty, and neutral colors reigning in the market. But for many bridesmaids, who spend upwards of $100 on their dresses, according to The Knot’s 2021 Real Weddings Study, having to stick to a style that doesn’t fit them is simply a bad investment, especially when the dress ends up in their closets as memorabilia.
Thankfully, both bridal and ready-to-wear brands have started rethinking their concept of a “bridesmaid’s dress,” ranging from casual A-line numbers and out-of-the-box jumpsuits to trendy cut-outs and summer-ready frocks with puff sleeves. Brides are also breaking the rules, choosing to have their brides wear non-traditional colors like white and black. No matter your style, the dress you (and the bride!) choose should have the perfect balance between the wedding and your personality, guaranteeing a lifetime of wear.
Ahead, take a look at some of the best non-traditional bridesmaid dresses available now.
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Traditional Dresses With A Twist
If you still want to keep your look traditional, play with classic silhouettes that have an edge, like velvet textures or one-shoulder necklines.
Slip Dresses With Cut-Outs
While cut-outs may seem risky for a wedding, choosing classic A-line dresses featuring this trend will ensure you’re safe for the big day and beyond.
Summer-Ready Frocks
Summer’s staples silhouettes are a safe bet when it comes to weddings, from casual A-line dresses to silky halter frocks.
Minimalist Dresses
Whether you opt for fringe details or a ruched slip, keeping your dress on the minimal side is a good choice to make sure it’s versatile enough for future wears.
Dresses With Puff Sleeves
Romantic, cottagecore-inspired puff sleeve are a perfect trend to include in a wedding party, keeping your dress wearable for a night out or an overdressed picnic.
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Post-college, I was in dire need of a paying job while attempting to pursue an editorial career and it just so happened that the Pleats Please Issey Miyake store in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood was hiring. With its crisp, precisely pleated clothing, the brand was long a source of fascination for me, especially during my teen years when I’d loiter about in the area, people-watching. Every customer who flitted in and out of the store was always immaculately dressed, the epitome of who I thought people who worked in fashion should dress. So when the opportunity to interview for a sales associate job popped up, I sent in my resume hoping for the best.
Perched on a rickety stool in the basement stockroom, I realized quickly that I was not cut out for retail as two stylish petite Japanese women, both clad in matching black cinched trousers and billowy tops from the brand, politely asked me why I wanted to work there. Replying “I want to look like you,” while flattering, did not make for a successful salesperson. Suffice to say that I did not get the job, but those two always stuck in my mind as my career progressed. Imposing and sophisticated, they represented an ageless elegance that defied trends and yet managed to be eye-catching all at once, which is what I wanted to embody as someone who was just starting out in fashion.
Founded in 1993, Pleats Please began as an experiment for Japanese designer Issey Miyake, who originally added the pleated pieces to his main line before spinning them off into its own brand. Made from polyester, the fine pleats look delicate — in actuality, they’re quite sturdy and can be tossed into a washing machine or luggage while still remaining intact — and simultaneously oversized.
Despite my failed attempt as a Pleats Please salesgirl, it turned out my relationship with the brand was just beginning. Fast-forward a decade later and I was well established in my career as a fashion editor and stylist. No one tells you that no matter how far along you get in a job, imposter syndrome never quite goes away. It’s especially true during fashion week when it feels like your status in the industry is up for scrutiny by your peers. Figuring out what to wear is always a trying experience, and it’s extremely tempting to chase the trends that everyone else is wearing. One season I was determined to change that mentality: I had just dyed my hair from my natural black to a bright platinum blonde, which felt more authentic to my personal style which leaned more Japanese avant-garde.
While my closet held a few pieces of Comme des Garçons pieces that I was slowly collecting, I needed other styles to flesh out a week’s worth of outfits. I thought back to my teen years when I wanted to look like a confident, stylish Pleats Please customer. If there was ever an occasion to dress like a walking accordion, this week was it. And so I reached out to the brand, which graciously loaned me a few pieces that I carefully packed into my suitcase for the shows in London.
On my first day, fresh off a red-eye flight, I wore a black flowy turtleneck tucked into jellyfish-like green pants that proved to be a hit with street style photographers. Day two was equally as successful: I mixed a billowy red Comme des Garçons top with a Pleats Please skirt. These looks felt more authentic to me, especially when compared to prior fashion weeks where I’d chase whatever trend was popular photographer bait be it giant faux fur scarves or mismatched prints. I look back at those photos and cringe at how silly I looked. Instead of trying to emulate what I thought was stylish at the time, this time around, I went for eye-catching looks that had statement power without screaming for attention. It was true to who I was, and I finally felt at ease during an otherwise stressful time.
Pleats Please also came to my rescue when I was given short notice for a black tie gala where I knew no one. Their signature Madame-T shawl, tied and twisted over a black dress, turned out to be the perfect creative outfit for the event. Even if I spent most of the cocktail hour nursing a glass of champagne by myself, at the very least I didn’t feel self-conscious about my look. It also didn’t hurt that numerous guests came up to me and complimented my ensemble.
Fashion week and black tie outfits might seem out of touch with daily life, but many of those pieces have seeped into my everyday life as well. Though I had to return those green pants to the brand after I came back from London, they popped up at a sample sale later that year. I immediately bought them, and four years later, I’ve worn them with a camisole for casual weekends in Brooklyn as well as turned them into a bathing suit coverup during my vacation in Hawaii. Though the black turtleneck was impossible to find on sale, I did wind up purchasing it later online. Since then it’s been my go-to for tucking into skirts and wearing for Zoom meetings.
My collection has grown exponentially in the last four years, acquired through a mix of sale purchases, since the pieces can be on the pricey side. The brand’s pleated pants, which I have both in green and black, are my favorites for days when I’m running around on errands or fitting my styling clients, while the billowy dresses are the only thing I want to wear when it’s hot and humid out. I even bought a crop top from Pleats Please, which prompted a girl on the escalator at Nordstrom to chase me up a level to ask me about the piece. Whenever I want to feel my best with very little effort, these pieces have never failed me. In retrospect, I guess teen me knew how best to dress.
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The first thing to know about Nuudii System is that the intimates brand makes what founder and CEO Annette Azan calls “boobwear,” not bras. In fact, the brand is anti-bras and pro-boobs, and it describes wearing Nuudii as the “option between bra and braless.” The way Azan explains it, traditional bras have been designed to reshape, push, flatten, squeeze, or lift breasts into unnatural positions. Bras are also constructed with thin straps that often dig into the shoulders and made with frilly, lacy, meshy, and otherwise delicate materials that require upkeep. Wearing a bra, she essentially argues, should be an intimate experience that makes a wearer feel confident, but often, it’s the least comfortable item that’s on the body.
Azan also notes that bras, in general, are also not very size inclusive nor are they made for diverse chest shapes. For example, folks with two different cup sizes have generally been out of luck, defaulting to bras that simply don’t fit. As another example, people with bigger busts have always been conditioned to think they need bras that “support,” often with padding or uncomfortable underwires that don’t actually cradle the juggulars in a natural or sufficient way.
Azan herself was over the notion that boobs have to be reshaped by bras at all — so she launched Nuudii System for people who seek the feeling of going braless while embracing the natural shape that they have. Made from a lightweight but strong material that has 360-degree stretch, the Nuudii is somewhat similar to wearing a soft stocking for your chest. There’s a supportive double-strap system that allows for myriad ways to wear, while the band is made to effortlessly stretch and hug the underboob area. Wearers can expect just a hint of a lift, but it’s subtle because Nuudii is all about letting the boobs hang and jiggle as they may. Ahead, we catch up with Azan on how she’s bringing innovation into the tatas space.
I learned that you inadvertently created the Nuudii prototype when you needed something to wear under your wedding dress. What were the problems that this early boobwear solved?
“So my wedding dress was super-sheer and skin-baring. It was cut literally under my arm all the way down to my waist and my back. My only option was stick-ons, but I had third-degree burns and those adhesives have formaldehyde in them if you read the small print. So out of desperation, three weeks before my wedding, I went to a general store and bought a nylon-spandex base and created a very thin layer between myself and my dress. It was made out of a fabric never used for boobs. And the minute I put it on my body, it worked so well. It didn’t look like I had anything on. It was such a great solution for what I needed at the time. We launched a Kickstarter two and a half years ago to wild success and sold about $750,000 of merchandise in only 30 days.”
We’re creating a space where your boobs look more natural.
annette azan, founder/ceo of nuudii system
I feel like a common concern for people who wear bras is the need for support, especially for those with larger busts. But I know that very concept is something Nuudii is reframing. Can you explain more about what the Nuudii experience is like?
“So we never use the word ‘support.’ Basically for the last hundred years, bras have been reshaping us into thinking we need support, we need lift, we need to push our boobs into the middle. But these are things we don’t actually need. The bra industry has basically sold us on that. So Nuudii does not support like a bra because we don’t believe in that. We’re creating a space where your boobs look more natural. But having said that, it is not like going braless. It’s really something in between. It’s kind of like leggings — leggings aren’t pants; they’re something different. We’re up against the whole bra industry so it’s really important for us to guide and educate our customers as to what Nuudii is. If people are expecting support and lift, that’s not what Nuudii is. We’re telling people that your boobs can hang the way they normally do. We embrace and show off the side-boob. You don’t have to force your boobs to be any specific way. The intimates industry has been over-sexualizing bras, and can we just move away from it now and just be yourself? I mean, it’s great if you want it, but we don’t want to feel forced into that anymore.”
That all said, the sizing system for Nuudii is also unique. How was the sizing chart developed?
“We have a two-letter system because our bodies are complicated, right? Some breasts aren’t the same — some people have one smaller cup and one larger cup. What we heavily recommend is that women measure themselves because every bra company cuts differently. [Note: You can use a traditional bra size chart to help you determine your Nuudii size.] And we don’t call them cups; we call them ‘the cradle’ since they’re stretchy and soft, and they hug and cradle you rather than holding you like a cup. Our sizing system works, and we know it works because we have an extremely low return and exchange rate, which is unheard of. Women can really get a fit that works and is comfortable for them — we have all those sizes in our charts.”
As someone who has tried the Nuudii, I want to emphasize how stretchy it is. Like, I initially thought I ordered a size too small because the packaging is so compact. But it totally fit after a good stretch, and you can also cross over a strap and sling it over your head. That’s how stretchy it is.
“It was a very complicated product to make, even though it looks very minimalist and is simple from a consumer standpoint. This thin fabric is not just two pieces of fabric sitting on your boobs — the straps are made from one piece of fabric, which doesn’t exist in a lot of bras. So the straps actually do give you a little bit of support and hugs from underneath your boobs. The two straps allow you to have complete comfort from your shoulders, especially for women with larger busts, because the two straps minimize a lot of tugging on your shoulders. It also allows you to wear the Nuudii 12 different ways.”
“So many great things. We launched our strapless a week and a half ago, which we’re really excited about. This fall we are launching bottoms and two completely new, really innovative styles, which I can’t tell you about yet but they’re great. We sell at Nordstrom and are also going to be in vending machines at malls and airports, so there’s easier access. Nuudii is really good for travel because you can just crumple it up, pack it, wash it, and it dries really quickly. We also launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Nuudii Backless System and received support from 4,000 backers. [Note: The Backless System is in development and will debut next year.]”
So you’re an entrepreneur, a woman of color, and you’re in an industry that caters predominantly to women, which I hear is often overlooked or dismissed by investors. What’s this journey been like for you?
“From the consumer standpoint, they’ve been super embracing. From an investor’s standpoint, it’s been more challenging. But I’m actually in the midst of a community raise through WeFunder and Daymond John from Shark Tank actually just became one of our investors. I keep hammering at the VC doors because, as we know, women and women of color hardly get any VC money. But I’ve gone to the community, and they’ve been super, super supportive. We’ve sold now what is close to 90,000 Nuudiis and raised $360,000 through our Kickstarter campaigns. There’s been absolutely insane outreach from the community. We have a growing community behind us.”
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My parents never let me have Bratz when the pop culture-inspired dolls were all anyone under the age of 13 wanted in the early ’00s. (The name, a reference to “bratty teens,” didn’t sit well with them.) In banning the sought-after toy, though, they only drove me to want one more. As a clothing-obsessed tween, all I wanted was to dress like Cloe, Jade, Sasha, or Yasmin — it didn’t matter which one — in go-go boots and leopard print tube tops. Maybe it’s no wonder that now, roughly 18 years later, I still think about them.
No, I’m no longer dying to get my hands on a faux-fur-clad figurine. However, I have recently found myself trying to dress like a Bratz Doll again, big-foot-inducing boots, micro-mini skirts, cropped cardigans, and all. And I’m not the only one.
Two years ago, Bratz, founded in 2001, experienced a second wave of popularity when makeup artists, beauty influencers, and more began recreating the dolls’ vibrant eyeshadow and glossy lips on Instagram. By 2020, #BratzChallenge had surpassed the beauty space and made its way to TikTok, where, today, it has more than 161 million views. Today, style-minded fans are fully on board with the trend, recreating outfits worn by their favorite doll to the soundtrack of the brand’s theme song. Just in time for the brand’s 20-year anniversary, Bratz dolls became 2021’s fashion muses.
TikTok user Syrena, or @fauxrich, 22, posts videos mimicking her number one Bratz doll’s looks. “Channeling Miss YasmÃn today,” she captioned one video featuring a fur-trimmed purple cardigan, feather-hemmed flare pants and a matching crop top, and a denim mini skirt paired with heeled boots and a newsboy cap. Isidora Fernandez, or @isiifernandeez, 17, also recreates the dolls’ looks for her TikTok, which has over 21,500 followers. Think: sheer socks paired with break-your-ankle platforms, tiny camisoles layered over cap-sleeved baby tees, and plenty of tiny plaid skirts.
According to Fernandez, the draw is in the fact that the dolls’ unique styles complement their personalities and encourage self-expression. “Every time I see myself in the mirror wearing some Bratz-inspired outfit, I feel I’m showing to the world who I am — how good I feel in my skin,” she tells Refinery29. “[It’s a way] to gain confidence and self-love.” Vanessa Campana, or @v_camps on Instagram, 23, dresses like a Bratz doll because, now that she’s in charge of her style, she can: “I love the Bratz [dolls’] clothing and always have, so now that I’m an adult and can wear mini skirts and giant boots, I will,” she says. “I love the look of … channeling my inner Bratz doll.”
Via fluffy fabrics, matching sets, platform boots, and asymmetrical silhouettes, Bratz dolls did more than inspire young fashion lovers the opportunity to experiment with clothes. Some even went on to design their own. Jasmin Larian, the founder of popular fashion label Cult Gaia — worn by Emily Ratajkowski, Ariana Grande, and Hailey Bieber — grew up with Bratz dolls just like many Gen Zers and millennials did. As the daughter of Bratz doll creator Carter Bryant though, her time with them gave rise to her career.
In a 2017 interview with L’Officiel, the designer said that the world of Cult Gaia was “inspired by the aesthetic of the Bratz dolls.” “I thought it was the coolest thing ever,” she told the publication. According to Larian, she spent a lot of her childhood with the fashion designers that created the dolls’ clothing; it was at MGM design studios, where Bratz dolls were created, that she said she first learned how to sketch clothing. Years later, and Cult Gaia is responsible for the most recent Bratz doll-like trend: the pin top.
Cult Gaia isn’t the only brand that draws inspiration from the dolls. On August 26, U.K.-based fashion label Daisy Street launched a collaboration with Bratz on ASOS, featuring butterfly halter tops, baggy cargo pants, and animal print sets.
While many are dressing specifically to fit the Bratz aesthetic, it should be noted that most of the trends worn by the dolls — tiny skirts, clashing prints, platform boots, mini bags, and fuzzy accessories — also align with the current return of Y2K fashion. This might explain why Olivia Rodrigo, Emma Chamberlain, Iris Apatow, and other Gen Z influencers appear to be dressing like Bratz dolls, too. In June, Rodrigo posted a slideshow of photos featuring herself wearing a corset-like plaid mini dress with knee-high patent leather platforms, her hair tied in two tiny pigtails. Below the photo, Instagram user Stephenie Smith commented what we were all thinking: “Jade Bratz doll IRL.” The “Deja Vu” singer continued the streak in the just-released music video for “Brutal,” which featured Demonia platform boots, a rhinestone tank top, butterfly clips, and multicolored hair extensions — a Bratz signature.
As someone who never got to experience the Bratz World up close, I’ve been patiently awaiting the return of Bratz doll fashion. Finally, not only can I own a Bratz doll — all four original dolls were re-released in June 2021 — I can dress like one, too.
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Mandatory Credit: Photo by Shutterstock (314079d) VICTORIA BECKHAM BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR DAVID FURNISH – 1999
From Kate Moss-approved slip midis and puckered popcorn dresses to tube minis, the late-‘90s and early-‘00s were full of memorable frock styles. The latter style, in particular, was a staple at every shopping mall brand and an omnipresent fixture in pop culture. Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker made strapless tops a red carpet mainstay. Britney Spears wore a black tube dress with matching opera gloves as an honoree at the 2003 Glamour Women of the Year awards. And Victoria Beckham made form-fitting minis part of her signature Posh Spice uniform. Despite their ability to evoke human sausage casings, or tightly bandaged mummies, tube dresses were also a hit among runway designers such as Calvin Klein, Versace, and Tommy Hilfinger.
As a teenage girl, I swooned over the strapless dresses that appeared everywhere from music videos to TV shows and films. I would sift through my favorite magazines Tiger Beat, Seventeen, and YM looking for the newest tube dress styles that I could pin to my wall for outfit inspiration. But while I desperately wanted to have one in every color for every mall outing, there was a drawback to this style: It was deeply uncomfortable, requiring constant tugging and pulling at the neckline to keep the look from falling and exposing its wearer. This is perhaps one of the reasons why the style fell out of favor in the mid-2000s, giving way to more comfortable staples like baby tees and velour tracksuits.
Having packed away my tube dresses and tops in the back of my childhood closet alongside my hoarded magazine posters and teenage crush dreams, I personally never imagined this trend resurfacing. But in 2022, tube dresses are back. According to the experts at shopping platform Poshmark, in the last five years alone, the demand for the dress style has gone up by 313%, with the biggest spike happening over the last year.
“The tube dress is seeing a summer resurgence, and for good reason. It is easy to perfect for warmer weather and offers a dose of that feel-good nostalgia we’re all craving — that minimalist silhouette is a total Jennifer Aniston in the ‘90s vibe,” says Chloe Barfet, Poshmark’s curation and merchandising expert. “The [traditional] skin-tight tube dress is still a thing, but we’re also seeing more sophisticated adaptations take hold, from the structured and architecturally inspired tube dress to the sleek silk charmeuse black tube dress paired with a barely-there strappy kitten heel to the country club-esque crochet-knit tube dress.”
The silhouette has also become wildly popular among TikTok tastemakers. On the app, #TubeDress has 52 million views driven by influencers who offer a modern approach to the trend with styling tips and shopping suggestions. And while a lack of size inclusivity in the ‘90s and ‘00s, with models such as Moss and Naomi Campbell and celebrities like Posh Spice and SJP modeling tube dresses, left many plus-size women feeling unable to wear the look in its first heyday, this time around, women of all sizes and body shapes are embracing the trend. (It helps that more of today’s popular brands are offering a bigger range of sizes, too.)
A number of different factors have led to the tube dress’ resurgence. For the past couple of years, we have spent a great deal of time indoors wearing loungewear and oversized clothing, and it makes sense that the pendulum is now swinging in the other direction. While in the ‘00s, we traded the form-fitting style for Juicy Couture sweatsuits, having spent the last two years in sweatpants, we are willing to give up the comfort for any occasion to wear a party dress. Then there is the general resurgence of ‘90s and Y2K fashion on the runways and on social media platforms which has brought back other relics of the era like bandage dresses and low-rise jeans.
Personally, I have found my way back into the tube dress recently after finding a pink Fila number that hearkened back to my teenage years. In this dress, I recall the moments I spent in the malls trying on colors and styles that reminded me of the ones I saw in the magazines. But I no longer feel the need to compete with my school-aged friends. Nor will I be storing the style in the back of my closet anytime soon.
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HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 25: Lizzo attends Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrls Watch Party at NeueHouse Los Angeles on March 25, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by JC Olivera/Getty Images for Amazon Studios)
Getting dressed isn’t usually considered to be a spiritual activity. When you’re running late for work, you just want to make sure your underwear is on the right direction and you don’t spill coffee on your white button-down while you ride the subway. But when Loewe’s Spring 2022 runway show included a swirled abstraction of painter Jacopo Pontormo’s 1528 piece “The Deposition From The Cross,” it called to mind something unexpected: the soft glow of an aura photo.
The brand’s designer Jonathan Anderson’s hazy swirls of color may be the most notable iteration this season, but he’s not alone — emerging labels like Binya, Barragan, and Chet Lo, along with known industry veterans like Off-White and LaPointe, have adopted the tie-dye-esque, highly-saturated gradient look. “I think it’s a moment of experimentation,” Anderson told Vogue of his post-pandemic attitude. “If you’re going to reset after this period, you need to allow a moment to birth a new aesthetic. Start again.”
If you aren’t familiar with auras, Sara E. Silverstein, the founder of Inner Light Aura, describes them as “the invisible energy field that is always surrounding all living beings. It is the energy that we as individuals create that cannot be seen by the naked eye, but we can often feel it.” Aura photos, which were popularized with the invention of the AuraCam 6000 during the 1980s, use hand sensors to allegedly expose the electromagnetic field around an individual. The result is a colorful cast over a more standard Polaroid portrait.
As Anderson talks of rebirth, Susanna Merrick, the founder of Aurawear, explains that your unique aural color combination can change over time. “Each color of the aura has an archetype, an aesthetic of feeling that can resonate with the color itself,” she explains. Identifying with one color may not mean wearing it head-to-toe, but identifying with the energy that the color represents. Different days, months, or years of your life may draw you to certain hues.
Translating that energy into what you wear can mean anything from simply embodying a color’s energy to embracing the colorful swirl of aura photography into a piece of clothing. “I think as a culture we are all falling in love with understanding ourselves a bit better,” says Silverstein, attributing the rise of aura-like prints to a curiosity around the art. “Auras are blowing up in popularity right now. If people have an opportunity to wear a striking piece that makes them feel incredible, then they are going to flock to it.”
Don’t write it off as just a passing trend: The colors you choose and the way you choose to style an aura-inspired piece might also offer a bit of insight into your sense of self. “My experience with processing energy and aura is a catalyst and a tool to communicate,” says Merrick. “Each color that is coming through, depending on when it’s coming through in your reading, is a catalyst for a message or information that you are meant to receive.”
Merrick adds that the key to embracing the power of the aura in your wardrobe is the intentionality you put into getting dressed. “Whether color has an energetic effect on someone, or it is an emotional relationship they formed with that color since they were a child, it doesn’t matter. It’s the intention,” she says. According to Merrick, green, red, and purple are three particularly strong color archetypes — red “is about femininity on your terms,” green is “type-A energy,” and violet is “visionary energy” — that you can use as sources of power and inspiration.
Regardless of what color makes you feel the most powerful, embracing the subtle swirling haze of aura-inspired prints can create the chance for you to explore what it is about wearing blue, green, red, or yellow that makes you feel like the best version of yourself.
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