Fashion – Life of kk

Ode to the Barn Jacket

November 9, 2025 littleshoeprincess

If you hold onto something long enough, it will come back in style. And this year – among the wide leg jeans – it’s the barn jacket.

It was during my time in college that everyone was wearing barn jackets. Neutral colors. Plaid interior. Corduroy collar. Big buttons. My college campus looked like a walking J. Crew catalog.

My barn jacket was light khaki in color, dark brown collar. And the pockets! So big and roomy! My claim to fame was the time I was able to sneak a 12-pack of beer (Icehouse – what were we thinking??) on my person into Flynn Hall because of my barn jacket. Cans in the outside pockets, cans on the inside pockets, maybe one or two in the small of my back. This feat could not have been accomplished without my trusty barn jacket.

The place the barn jacket truly came into its own was for parties at the Caves. When I went to Stonehill College, it was surrounded by woods. Now, those woods have been leveled to make room for dorms and buildings. But back in the day, following a path behind New Hall (the new dorm that no one could apparently name?), up hills and through trees and around thickets, there was a clearing with huge boulders. This could be one of those times that the boulders felt huge looking at them through my beer googles, but if I saw them today theywould just be regular sized rocks.

The barn jacket was the perfect outerwear for the Caves. It was likely the only coat I had at college or was willing to wear out, jury is still out on that one. No one gets cold in college. Hundreds of kids would gather at the Caves to drink and party. I think there might have been music if someone had enough batteries to power their boom box (hey kids today, your lives are so pampered with music libraries in your pockets!) and we’d listen to Pearl Jam or Nirvana or Oasis. Someone made a bonfire in the middle of a wooded area, tended by drunk twenty year olds (how did we not burn down the town?), which looking back seems like a sure fire way to draw attention to underage drinking in the woods. “Hey Earl, do you see that FIRE over there on the top of that hill? Wonder what that is?”

The barn jacket held many purposes on Caves nights.

Transporting beer
Providing a nice little shield for your privates when you had to pee in the woods
Warmth (questionable during winter months)
Making it nearly impossible to find your friends in a sea of neutral-colored barn jacket-wearing drunk kids
Repelled any beer spilled on you
Camouflaged you when you were running from campus police

If you’re getting nostalgic for your barn jacket reading this post, you’re in luck. They. Are. Everywhere! Long and short lengths. Variety of colors. Snaps, zips or buttons. Quilted or canvas. A style for every day of the week.

And if you want to go old school, J. Crew is selling a vintage barn jacket this year for $188!

NOTE: I’m sad to say, that the Caves no longer exist at Stonehill College. They are now dorms or buildings or some shit. I feel sorry that the students do not get to experience a Caves night. My 22nd birthday was celebrated at the Caves at a party during the day (man, we were bold!) and I will never forget running through the woods being chased by campus police careful to not spill a drop of beer out of my red solo cup. Now, they have fancy lounges and bars on campus, and I feel sorry for them. You have not lived a true college experience unless you wake up hungover with twigs and leaves out of your hair, and you glance over to your desk chair for the comforting sight of your barn jacket hanging on it (most likely with mystery stains on it).

Fashion

Running a Mile In My Shoes

November 4, 2025 littleshoeprincess

In perusing the DSW clearance rack, this pair of sneakers stopped me in my tracks.

It was seventh grade gym class. Our teacher took us all out to the track and informed us that we all had to run a full mile, and that we’d be timed. Excuse me? At the time I had no concept of how far a mile was, and I also was not a fan of running. I was – and am – more of an indoors kind of girl.

On this particular, horrible gym day, I remember panicking at the thought of running a mile. A mile was something you drove in a car! I didn’t even live a mile from the school! Plus, I was wearing my raspberry colored high top Converse sneakers; not exactly athletic footwear.

The class staggered and took off running on the teacher’s cue. Or – in my case – more like wogging, which was a clumsy cross between jogging (when the teacher was looking at me) and walking (which was every other minute on the track). My feet ached, my arches were screaming, and I wanted to cry.

After being lapped by most of the class (who didn’t stick around the cheer me on), I was, officially, the last person to finish. I think I clocked a 10+ minute mile, barely finishing in our allotted time for gym class.

That day is burned into my memory, and likely the reason why I never wanted to run. In my late thirties I ran my first 5K, mostly because I needed to do some type of exercise and a friend said she’d train with me. And there I was, back on that SAME track, doing the couch to 5K. Hating it just as much as I had 20 years earlier.

But back to the sneakers. How I LOVED those raspberry Converse! Fast forward a few decades and here was this pair sitting on the clearance rack, in almost the exact same color, except they were suede – a total upgrade. But I didn’t get them, because the minute I saw them, I was transported back to that horrible day of gym class, and how they were the worst shoes to have on that day. And I reminded myself that I’m too old to wear shoes with no arch support and that hurt my feet.

Fashion

Putting my best foot forward.

November 2, 2024 littleshoeprincess

I love my feet.

When we lived in Boston I was working in the advertising department at Filene’s (remember Filene’s??). One of the perks of the job was having access to the sample sales to unload merchandise that was photographed for the catalogs, since it couldn’t go back on the selling floor. Each department would hold a sample sale down in the buyers’ “offices” (cubicles) and all the advertising folks would scamper down from the 8th floor to be first in line (if you didn’t get there early you would be left with slim pickings). I would come home with $15 comforters, $2 towels and $10 handbags.

The best sample sale BY FAR was for shoes. You see, I am a sample size 6 shoe. When photographing shoes for a promotion, they would shoot the smallest size which was almost always a 6. Once shot, the shoes usually didn’t go back on the selling floor (they were marked with a big X on the bottoms) and they’d be at the next sample sale.

The beauty of the shoe sample sale – compared to the bedding sample sale – is that while everyone could use a duvet, very few people had size 6 feet.

On shoe sample sale day my friend and forever shopping partner would get the call from the shoe buyer that the sale was on. I’d grab an empty shopping bag and we’d sneak down the back staircase, through the maze of cubicles until we reached the small conference room which contained one long table covered in never-worn shoes, all a size 6 and all $5 a pair.

That’s right. $5 a pair!

Leopard calf hair ankle booties! Red kitten heels! Pink ballet flats! Black Mary Janes! I bought them all. I had a very impressive shoe collection for a twenty-something making $30k a year as a copywriter.

When I left my job at Filene’s and we moved out of South Boston (7 boxes of shoes in the moving van), I arrived at my new job with an impressively strong shoe game. And I loved wearing every pair. Each day I’d dress and show up to work in heels. Not only was I able to walk around the office all day in pointy toed boots and platform wedges, I drove the hour to and from work wearing them! Wearing heels make me feel glamorous, but they also enabled me to wear pants without hemming them to fit my 5 foot frame. I was literally wearing heels from 7am until 8pm every day. I was, apparently, slightly insane.

Fast forward a decade or two, and you will have a hard time finding a shoe with any height in my closet. Waaay in the back I have a pair of black heels that make my feet weep after wearing them for only an hour. I could potentially get a few hours out of a wedge, but that’s about it.

My closet is filled with flats and sneakers. I might as well own stock in Rothy’s I have such an embarrassing number of pairs #sorrynotsorry.

Back to my feet.

Once, I was coming home from work on the T in Boston (wearing jeweled kitten heeled thong sandals) and a very nice homeless man was staring at me until he finally drunk shouted at me: “You have really beautiful feet!” I was flattered.

My feet are small and proportioned. My toes behave accordingly, and are in perfect descending order of length. My feet look good in any shoe, because every shoe looks good in the prototype size 6. In the summer, my feet turn a beautiful bronze from the sun.

And the best part about my feet? They always stay the same size! So while I have bins of pants that span 4 sizes, my shoes have always fit perfectly and never disappoint me.

I could always count on my feet.

That is, until my feet started failing me.

I Am Obsessed with Skorts

November 12, 2022 littleshoeprincess

In grade school I wore a pair of black velvet culottes for picture day with a white blouse and Mary Jane shoes. This year, I found myself purchasing not one, but two pairs of culottes. When I went for my drivers license, I wore an entire outfit from the Gap, right down to my ballet slippers, which made a comeback last year (Remember Sam & Libby? Swoon!). However, one of my favorite outfits from childhood was from high school: this cute little skort that was basically a dressy pair of shorts with an extra panel that came across the front to cover up the shorts and buttoned at the waist, giving off a “skirt” vibe. It was all dressy in the front, casual in the back. I wore it with loafers and a cardigan.

When skorts started showing up last year and then more prominently this spring I was ecstatic. Super versatile and super forgiving, long live the skort!

Skorts aren’t anything new; they have a long history and have been around since the early 1900s. But if the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that we want to be comfortable and we no longer can tolerate button-front pants. It’s an athleisure world, and I’m happy to be living in it.

My first skort purchases were for our trip to Disney. I wanted something comfortable and that I could easily walk miles in without anything riding up or chaffing. Plus, it was going to be in the 80s so leggings were out. Enter: the skort! I found athletic skorts at Target that were perfect.

These skirts doubled as great dog waking attire too. They had pockets for my phone and dog treats. Eventually Bruno recognized my “walkies” outfit so whenever I put a skort on he would start going crazy thinking we were headed out. These skorts were so easy to slip on each morning that they became my de facto work uniform. (Move over, leggings!)

This summer, I started taking golf lessons. Mr. KK is a really good golfer, so I thought it was time to learn how to play, just in case golf would become the thing we did together in our retirement. On the first day of golf lessons, they were reviewing proper golf attire, and guess what women golfers wear? SKORTS. Score! I already had a built in golf wardrobe. Though I did buy some fun golf shirts because if you can’t get a new wardrobe around a new endeavor, what is the point?

I also purchased a “fancier” cotton skort to wear out and about on weekends, running errands or going to lunch. Again, you can’t beat the comfort of the skort. I found mine at TJ Maxx, but this one at Kohl’s is similar.

Eventually, it got too cold to wear my skorts. However, I have extended the life of my athletic skorts by wearing them to kickboxing! I feel a little fancier on the mat, and the spandex undershorts make it easy to move and kick.

‘Til next summer skort season…

Age, Beach, clothing, Fashion, shopping

I May Be a Coastal Grandmother

November 10, 2022 littleshoeprincess

Since working from home, my style has gone from fashion statement to leggings…period. It’s all about minimal effort, yet being camera ready at all time. Except in the summer. Summer…is just easier.

Summer is my favorite season. I love the warm weather, the cooler nights, and the relaxed look and feel of the clothing. If I could wear summer clothing year round, I would. Call me crazy, but I just feel better about myself when my skin is sun-kissed and I can throw on a casual dress and flip flops.

So imagine my surprise one day during my early morning phone scrolling, when I came across this:

I’m no fashion maven, and it’s been decades since I’ve cracked open a Vogue, but “Coastal Grandmother” is a style?

It – in fact – is.

And not only is it a style, it’s a style I like. Think Diane Keaton in “Something’s Gotta Give”: all creams and whites and linens and straw hats and a beach house. This is a look I can get behind! (especially the beach house).

This style is such a thing, that it was featured on The Today Show, and Glamour. There’s even a Spotify playlist!

Honestly, I have had this summer vibe long before a TikTok video put a name to it. I live in my white jeans and cotton pullovers in the summer. I’m all sandals, all day. Casual is my middle name. And, apparently, Grandmother is my last name.

The key to Coastal Grandmother style is to be comfortable, yet stylish. Keep a light color palette and breathable fabrics. This style pairs well with Sauvignon Blanc and a chaise lounge.

And even though I wake up crooked every morning and need to ‘walk off my sleep’, you don’t have to be an actual grandmother to be a Coastal Grandmother! Who knew?

But AARP doesn’t seem to have gotten that message that I’m not quite a senior, however, because my inbox looks like this:

Not one, but TWO emails within 4 hours. Is AARP hurting for members?

I think this style is my destiny. I have been telling Mr. KK for YEARS that I would be my best self in a beach house. Something small and walking distance to the ocean, where I can be a Coastal Grandma until my heart’s content. Sip cocktails, and walk the beach for seashells to put in my canvas tote, a straw hat protecting my face from the sun. And I would have an entire wardrobe of cream, off-white, café au lait and chambray.

I’m so dedicated to this plan, that I created my own Coastal Grandma Chic mood board for inspo.

If you’re looking for me, I’ll be perusing beach houses for sale and shopping for cashmere wraps and canvas totes.

Love,

Grandma