I have loved neon colors ever since I was a kid, however I never really wore them. I guess I always feared I would stick out too much.¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My nails on the other hand? I have been rocking bright manicures since day one! Lime green, hot pink, electric yellow, tangerine…I love all of those colors. If you don’t see nail art or a bright color on my nails, you know something is wrong. But let’s get to the clothes…
New York City has been my comfort zone my entire adult life, so when I left it back in February, I didn’t leave a lot of my New Yorker habits. I still found myself rushing everywhere and holding tension in my body due to things I might become stressed about in a few hours. Silly, really. Regarding my rushing, I have cooled it a lot. However I have been holding onto my all-black wardrobe as if it were one of my nine lives.
My very good friend and my roommate here in Sweden has been telling me that I need to wear more color. I ignored her, especially since I already stand out here in Sweden. I’m not staying in a huge city like Stockholm, Gothenburg, or Lund; all of those cities are used to tourists (especially Americans) on a regular basis. Örebro on the other hand is a small city that doesn’t really get many tourists. It’s a cute city smack dab in the middle of both Stockholm and Gothenburg (about 2.5 hours away from both). I go to a place once and I’m remembered. It’s quite crazy actually, so why would I want to stick out even more? There’s a bar I have gone to only twice, but I’m now referred to as Miss America when I walk in. The grocery store I go to? Let’s just say they know me there.😂
I stand out even more because I’m not just American, I’m Latina as well. I’m literally a unicorn here. Plus, the style trends here in Sweden are very simple; lots of neutral tones and yes, black. More in-line with my usual style. After a month, I’m now used to standing out simply just existing (I’m still not sure if I like it tbh). So the idea of adding color to my wardrobe to stand out more made me nervous, but this is my year of self-discovery and I’m 100% open to new things. I didn’t quit my job and leave New York just for the fun of it, so I let my friend pick out my clothes for me on a recent shopping trip, and voilá…I’m now the proud owner of a neon sweater, and I love it. I also finally have a pair of bright white sneakers; a Swedish style staple. While they didn’t replace my favorites (my black Air Force 1’s), I feel fierce af in them.
See my full New Yorker meets Swede look below:
Like my neon look? Shop it here:
Do you ever wear neon? Let us know in the comments below!
