New York Closets: Lara Speier

If you were to peruse the wardrobe of this week’s New York Closet contestant prior to an in-person introduction, you’d find a collection of clothing so eccentric and enmeshed with the wearer’s personality that you’d feel as though you know her. Today, you can meet Lara Speier and her closet at the same time. Speier runs the mobile editorial projects at Yahoo while working on her side hustle, The Skinny Dipping Report. She’s also helping to build a bike-share program in Tanzania and via five selfies taken back in the fall, Lara is proof that getting dressed is a true extension of personality; that there’s fashion — and then there’s personal style.

Monday:

I’m kind of dressed like an American football player from 1914 here. I have on vintage plaid pants and a cropped athletic sweatshirt that’s made from a heavy knit. These brown leather flatform loafers remind me of the helmets said football players used to wear and the original pigskin footballs they played with. Felt like a real athlete today.

Glasses: Warby Parker, Top: Theyskens’ Theory, Pants: Palm Beach Vintage, Shoes: Zara

Tuesday:

This outfit is kind of “Amelia Earhart in 2015,” most notably because I’m wearing a vintage brown leather jacket, dusty pink harem trousers and red velvet loafers that proudly display the cat-in-love-emoji. Earhart would totally wear these shoes in 2015 right? She’d be having such a good time!!!

Glasses: cheap, Leather jacket: vintage, T-shirt: Zara, Pants: H&M, Shoes: Del Toro x  Moda Operandi

Wednesday:

It was cold today, so I woke up wanting to subvert the weather and how gross I feel with a lot of white, mom jeans and a colorful scarf. It’s amazing how clothing can do that, how it can allow you to create some delusional yet physical shield against the real world.

Glasses: Warby Parker, Jacket: Theory, Sweatshirt: American Apparel, Jeans: Polo Ralph Lauren, Scarf: Diane von Furstenberg, Shoes: Asos

Thursday: 

I’m dressed like a stay-at-home mom who’s dropping her kids off at school, only to return back at home 20 minutes later with coffee and croissant in hand to watch Wendy Williams and return to bed to “do e-mails.” In reality, I’m in my work elevator, going to get some ice cream and birthday candles for a co-worker’s birthday.

There’s something liberating about mixing prints at the bottom of your body. The striped sneakers poking out of the polka dot pants tell you I have a sense of humor and that I may be blind.

Peacoat: Calvin Klein, Sweater: Theory, Pants: Moschino, Shoes: Zara

Friday: 

LOOK! I have legs! And while it’s close to Halloween, I’m not dressed up as a schoolgirl — it’s just a regular Tuesday. I often renegade to schoolgirl or schoolboy looks for reasons I do not understand. Maybe this is me submitting to a “uniform” look to counter my more “original” looks. Maybe this is me wanting to feel more feminine, which takes on this prep-school-Cher Horowitz form. Or maybe I just want to wear something that allows me to repel fall rain. But really, I think I just have a penchant for knee highs, pleats, buttoning the top button and recess.

Glasses: Warby Parker, Top: Steven Stolman, Dress: Theory, Boots: Stuart Weitzman

Follow Lara Speier on Twitter. To learn more about the bike share program she’s working on in Tanzania with the Cyclones: a NYC-based social cycling club, check it here. Last but not least, learn more about (or submit photos to) the Skinny Dipping Report here.