Mighty Closet: Aubrey Sabala

Style

Remember the post about what I packed on my trip to New York? That was fun. So much fun that I wanted to do more. The problem is, I don’t want to show up places feeling all cute and have people be like, “Yeah. I already saw that dress on your site.” (Sad trombone.) So I thought I’d visit a few of my stylish friends and take photos of their favorite outfits. Aubrey Sabala is my first Mighty Closet guinea pig.

Aubs throws parties for Digg, where she works as the marketing manager. She’ll be in New York shortly, organizing a shindig for 3,000+ people, and she’s also planning a big birthday blowout for herself and a friend while she’s there. Speaking of which, how much do you love friends who just take charge of their own birthdays, instead of pouting that no one ever remembers their special day? You love them a lot, that’s how much.

Anyway, her entire enormous closet is filled with dresses. She never goes anywhere that requires pants, and I’m pretty sure she works out in cocktail attire. So you know, owning no pants is madness in San Francisco. It’s seriously cold here, especially in the evenings, which is Aubrey’s favorite time of day.

I asked her to show me four of her favorite outfits and her no-fail cocktail outfit, which just happens to be a genuine Little Black Dress. Here are the results:

This is what Aubrey wears when she’s taking her scooter out for soda pop with the gang. (To the best of my knowledge Aubrey doesn’t actually own a scooter, but I encouraged her get one.)

This is the forlorn bag I forgot to include in the photo. Sorry, little bag.

Sundresses and cowboy boots is one of Aubrey’s favorite looks. This is because San Francisco hills laugh at you if you try to wear heels.

Also, if you wear heels, the homeless people assume you’re a tourist and they hassle you because they take you for an easy mark. Same story if you wear shorts. No one here wears shorts, because all of us know that the weather could turn on you at any moment (except Aubrey who is clearly a mutant freak with no nerve endings). And then you’re freezing your ass off in Union Square with aggressive panhandlers yelling at you, and you have to go buy a pair of cheap San Francisco! sweatpants, which only exacerbates the problem. But I digress.

This is Aubrey’s favorite dress, and she’s right about that. Flattering, baby. She usually wears this with cowboy boots too, but she agreed to change things up to give the natives a thrill. We were outside for about two minutes taking this photo, and she was hooted and honked at no less than three times. That’s a good dress.

How cool are these earrings? Aubrey said she never wears them, so I put them in my purse before I left. Aubrey, I stole your awesome earrings as punishment for neglecting them. I’m going to take them out and show them the world, show them what it means to be loved.

She loves this green dress, but rarely wears it either because she has to pair it with 15″ heels so it doesn’t drag on the floor. Tailors, ladies! Fifteen bucks and it’s a whole new dress. Because seriously? You’re not gonna hem it. Don’t kid yourself.

Aubrey laughs 99 percent of the time. She was really trying to put on a solemn face for the sake of fashion, but this is the real Aubrey in action.

I’m such a sucker for a lariat necklace. Almost no one wears them, which makes them even better.

Aubrey has that kind of enviable straight hair that will do a spiky chignon with four bobby pins. Speaking of which, please ignore the pins I neglected to tuck.

The aforementioned uncomfortable shoes.

This is Aubrey pretending to chug a bottle of whiskey. She’s wearing her all-purpose Little Black Dress, and holy crap it’s a good one. (J Crew, you do this so right.)

I love this photo. It’s so nightcap.

Closeup of her chunky bracelet, which is actually a twisted necklace.

Adorable, harrassment-attracting patent leather shoes.

I know, that was exhausting. Thanks for being so game, Aubs. Especially considering the aftermath. Hoo-boy.

So! That’s my very first Mighty Closet. Was it good for you? Let me know if you’d like me to do anything differently next time. Do you want brand names, even though a lot of the stuff won’t be available anymore? Links to similar outfits? Stories behind the outfits? Photos of exceptional lingerie drawers? I live to serve, so let me know.

Published

108 thoughts on “Mighty Closet: Aubrey Sabala”

  1. Love it! Feeling sad that I just saw those earrings for $1 at a thrift store and I didn’t get them because I was too lazy to wait for the woman to get them out of the case. Man, maybe I should go back!

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  4. Yes, PLEASE continue Mighty Closets! I *loved* your NYC clothes pics and I loved Aubrey’s clothes. Dressing for SF is such a challenge and I need all the help I can get.

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  5. miss aubrey MUSt wear that green dress more (it is SO nice on her) or send it down to me in panama – i would wear it everyday (well, every other day)
    loved mighty closets….well done

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  6. …and I CONTINUE to believe that you are apparently only friends with gorgeous people. 🙂
    I also love mighty closets!
    And yes, brand names or a tad more info on whatever you could manage would be great in the future, but I am SO not here to complain! 🙂

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  9. Love it! Would be interesting if you could get folks from different cities to participate as well–this former SF’er is still trying to fit into the LA scene without looking too, well, LA.

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  10. I am in love with this new mighty closets idea! And short comment made me die with laughter. SF newbie myself and first trek outside in short a local stopped me on the street to tell me how my choice was all types of wrong. Lol.

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  11. Awesome new feature! While all of the outfits are divine, she totally rocks that green dress — and the black one, too. Full-on envy is setting in …

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  12. This is a great feature. I love dresses but as a teacher wearing them to school is a struggle. I try to work them into my off-hours circulation but a girl can fall into a rut. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  13. Love, love, love. This is a great post with great pictures of great outfits (and what appears to be a great gal, to boot!), and I’d love to see more of these!

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  14. Loved this feature. As a fellow dress & skirt-wearer (always…..those little workout tennis skirts rock), I was impressed.

    And Aubrey: That green dress is amazing. Maggie’s right: tailor. And then you can wear it everywhere and the world will be your vassal.

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  16. Where is the whale print from the background of the nightcap shot from? I’m working on decorating my room and would love to have something cooler than the typical van Gogh.

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  17. Agreeing with everyone else on LOVING this new feature. I especially love the blue coat and I have to know more about that whale (sub?) picture. Where can I get a copy because WOW.

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  22. Great feature, and great style!

    I would love to know the brand name of the first boots, from Delirious Shoes, if you get a chance. They are fabulous, and I’d like to check out what the line has available currently.

    Thanks for being such a good sport and answering our questions!

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  23. Beautiful! I am wearing a similar dress to the green one, except I got it at Forever 21 for about $16. It is also too long, but I wear it anyway. 🙂

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  27. Red Dress – Brooklyn Industries. (www.brooklynindustries.com) – not sure they have it anymore as I got it last year, but it is the comfiest, most flattering thing in my closet.

    Boots: Brand name is ‘indigo’ – should have also bought them in black. SUPER comfortable, and the inside is paisley corduroy (!!)

    Blue Hat: San Diego Hat Co.

    Green dress – From J.Crew, but sadly, doesn’t look like it’s around anymore, but maybe try eBay? Also, Target has a similar one for $19.99 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/alicetiara/3293474999/) – I now own it in green, pink & a very bold yellow. (And Old Navy has something similar in blue: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aubs/3383733608/in/set-72157615862651322/)

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  30. That green dress is to die for! Hem that puppy up and wear it out! And that is a perfect little black dress. Those are always so hard to find!

    Can’t wait to see more of these posts! I love looking at real people’s clothes!

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  32. and i was just saying i wanted to be someone who wore dresses all the time – looks like i might just have to copy this fashionista and go for it!

    great idea for a regular feature, by the way – i love peeking inside other people’s closets!

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  33. I adore this!! Please do more. I would love to hear stories behind pieces, esp. if they are sentimental, or about how they make people feel (clothing is powerful as you know) and I’ve also loved your posts about thrift finds and combining them with other pieces. Rock on, love it, love your site.

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  34. Hey Maggie, With all this talk of shopping,and your friend Aubrey’s great style as inspiration I wanted to ask… I’ll be in San Fran over the summer, so I would love a list of some of your fav places in San Fran to pick up great clothes. I love your style and am keen to pick up some unique pieces.

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  35. The clothes are gorgeous of course. But you tell us this is someone showing off some of her favorite outfits. Then it becomes obvious that much of this is stuff she rarely wears, and that a significant amount of styling has gone into this. So this was a fashion shoot that the two of you did together, not what she looks like every day walking around town. There’s nothing wrong with that, I just think you should call it what it is. Because the reality is that most people don’t have the perfect stylish outfits and perfect stylish homes that every blog seems to portray. I have J. Crew and Pottery Barn catalogues to stoke my unhealthy fantasies of the perfect life I’m missing out on. I look to blogs to see how people really live.

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  36. This is a great feature! I think the name “mighty closets” is perfect. #85 – my favorite outfits are outfits I rarely get to wear, wtf is wrong with that?
    Aubrey is a knock-out! And I am feeling more confident about trying to wear a sweater dress. Looking forward to the next one!

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  37. I love this new feature. It would be great if you provided the names/links of the Mighty Closet participant’s favorite places to shop.

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  39. You know what this needs? Not links to similar peices. That’s a TON of work even for you (and might not be possible). It needs a links of stores the person likes/shops at. Some national, but F* it, give us local ones too.

    Soooo…. Aubrey. Where in San Francisco do you shop? Because if I’m not already shopping there, it looks like I should be.

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  40. I love this Mighty Closet! Very handy. I’m thinking it would be most beneficial to have links to similar things so we can get the looks ourselves. 🙂 But that IS a lot of work as the last comment mentioned, so even just a list of some stores for inspiration or ideas could work just as well!

    And who DOESN’T love a great lingerie drawer?

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  43. 1) I think JCrew has great dresses. I got my little black dress from there, and I love it so much that i bought a duplicate in ivory and wore it as my wedding dress.

    2) Cold in San Francisco? Please. I live in Chicago. 🙂

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  44. She looks gorgeous and the green dress is to die for. And by the way, I agree with 93. San Francisco…cold? COME JOIN MY MISERY IN MICHIGAN!

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  45. This has inspired me to get out some of my fun jewelry and wear it more often. Also, I love that green dress. Crazy flattering.

    I almost never wear dresses, but I got a flirty Nine West b&w dress two months ago that I have managed to wear four times (once to French Laundry)! Please keep this feature. 🙂

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  46. This is a great feature! I love seeing peoples’ favorite things and this was a cool way to showcase them. The photography was beautiful and the text short and sweet around each item. Love to see more closets featured!

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  48. as a soon-to-be san franciscan, i love the local tidbits of info you included. it’d be great to know where aubrey shops, both locally and nationally… it’d be less work than finding a slew of similar items, but would give readers a starting point from which to find similar looks. i’ll also echo the desire to see a photo of the person’s actual closet.

    as a sidenote, i’d love to see you write more about san francisco. you have a unique yet relatable voice, and that’s a perspective i haven’t really found in my research thus far. would prefer to ditch the tourist-oriented sites and read something about actually living in the city. if you have any “for locals, by locals” recommendations, do share!

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  49. Amazingly enough, the boots are still available at least two places on line. Amazon and Zappos, where they are on sale for $137.12, black and chocolate. The full brand is Indigo by Clarks, and the style is Bewilder. I am ordering my pair now. 😀 The reviews said most people recommend a half size up, so I’m doing that and crossing my fingers.

    Thanks so much!

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