Thursday, March 31, 2011

Wear It 3/31/2011


It's hard to believe but this outfit looked really cute at home, in the dark. In the harsh light of the office it is not quite right. The main problem is the shoes/stockings. I am having a small shoe crisis at the moment and I think it shows. I think either the nude shoe/stocking combo I did on Monday or tall brown high heeled boots (conspicuously absent from my closet) would have been better choices. Until then - we have this.

Shirt: Target
Skirt: J. Crew (thrifted via stranger on the internet)
Tights: Old Navy
Shoes: Van Eli
Necklace: $1 at consignment store
Belt: Betsy Johnson
Green Is Good Tote: Hayden Harnett
Purse: Rebecca Minkoff Zip MAB

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Wear It 3/30/2011


As much as I love clothing, I am a bad shopper. I tend to buy a lot on impulse or because it is on sale only to find out it doesn't work for me. I am working very hard to reform this habit (hence the blog) but I still fall victim to the lure of the clearance rack - "you can't not buy this at that price" mentality. Although this tendency often results in a lot of unworn clothing - sometimes I luck out. Such as the case with this dress. Purchased on clearance last year and, I think, far more flattering than I expected it to be.

I expect this will look better with bare legs and sandals but since it seems winter is stubbornly sticking around - today is a tights day.

Dress: Chadwicks
Tights: Old Navy
Shoes: Camper
Belt: Nine West

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Wore it: 3/28/2011


I've been feeling a little under the weather so I didn't have a chance to post yesterday's outfit (which I wore for all of 3 hours before going home and crawling into bed).

Shirt: Old Navy
Skirt: United Colors of Benetton via Ebay ($9!)
Tights: Target
Shoes: Urban Outfitters

Monday, March 28, 2011

Weekend




Saturday outfit - day trip to the local casino and then dinner out with friends.

dress: French Connection
Boots:Rocket Dog

Friday, March 25, 2011

Wear It 3/25/2011


I managed to take one photo before my camera battery died this morning. I am not this blurry in real life (at least not before my coffee).

I like this outfit a lot but it is annoyingly fussy - mostly due to the too short cami I put on under the blouse. Apparently it is in a fight with the top of my jeans and keeps rolling up - leaving my poor exposed muffin top trying to broker a peace treaty. In these situations the belly flab never wins does it?

Jeans: Calvin Klein ($7 TJ Maxx clearance)
Blouse: J. Crew
Sweater: J. Crew
Cami: Gap
Shoes: Seychelles

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Wear It 3/24/2011


It is snowing outside but I refuse to let that keep me from wearing my new spring cardigan. I know I said I wanted to introduce more color into my wardrobe and I already have at least 3 black cardigans - but this one is DIFFERENT. The collar acts like a blazer and it has shorter sleeves. Plus it was on super sale and you know that it is my kryptonite.

I am still seeking advice on how to target shrink the ass in the jeans so I can wear them a little longer. Until then I will be sitting down a lot.

Shirt: Tucker for Target
Cardigan: Gap
Jeans: Chadwicks
Belt: ? probably vintage Old Navy or Gap
Boots: Joan and David


Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Suit Math


One of the things that is a PITA about being a lawyer is having to wear a suit to court. As this post amply demonstrated, my closet is low on decent suits that fit. Suits are expensive and the cost per wear is almost never good. So imagine my joy at finding this suit at the Goodwill a few weeks ago. It is great condition, not very dated, and will fit when I finish losing weight (it is very snug now but I was not in an Amish mood so I decided to wear it even though I can't button it).

The best part - it was $25. Since I was planning to spend $200 a new suit - I have $175 of "free" money to spend. Gotta love it.


Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Wear It 3/22/2011


It may not look like much but I am head over heels in love with this blouse. It is by akiko and I scored it at my local "runway" shop at TJ Maxx. I have been wanting a flowy but fitted pretty printed blouse for quite some time. Although my two Tucker for Target blouses are close to perfect - this blouse blows them both away in terms of quality. You will be seeing this a lot this spring. I'm also rather pleased with this fake leather jacket I got at Burlington Coat Factory last year (which finally fits). Although it is fake - it is soft and I love how the ruffle details on the collar mitigate the overall toughness.

Shirt: akiko (via TJ Maxx)
Pants: J.C. Penny (part of suit (remixed))
Shoes: Bass
Jacket: ?


Monday, March 21, 2011

Wear It 3/21/2011


This outfit looked way better in concept than production. The skirt is actually a sun dress but for a variety of reasons works better (I think) as a skirt. It turns out that the navy cardigan I purchased to replace this one is still too small so my concept of a fitted navy cardigan and t-shirt went the way of a slightly baggy t-shirt and oversized cardigan.

It also turns out that it is way too cold today to expose my furry bare legs to the world but instead of changing into sensible jeans, I threw on brown tights and boots. I am not loving the look but I am stuck with it since I'm already at work.

Dress: Kensie Girl
T-shirt: Gap
Sweater: Boden
Tights: Old Navy
Boots: Rocket Dog
Belt: Betsy Johnson

Friday, March 18, 2011

Wear It 3/18/2011


I fell in love with this pattern when I first saw it in Lucky Magazine a few years ago. After stalking it for awhile I finally found this dress on sale for $39! The last one! In my size!

It is clearly very short and I may need to turn it into a blouse at some point since its wearabilty as a dress is limited (although I am at work this morning - I'm spending most of the day in a training class with no dress code).

Dress: French Connection
Tights: Old Navy
Shoes: Bass
Belt: Nine West
Earrings: Kenneth Cole

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Wear It 3/17/2011


After yesterday's fashion disaster, I decided to play it safe today (too safe?). I actually started the morning in my lovely new (to me) Jil Sander pencil skirt but at the last minute I remembered I was going to be walking around a lot today and I didn't want to deal with heels. So I just grabbed some jeans and a cardigan ta da - another classically boring outfit. At least is slightly more age appropriate.

I LOVE these jeans but they have become a bit baggy in the ass area. Anyone know how to target shrink pants?

Jeans: Chadwicks (random but I love them and they were $7!)
Tank: Gap
Sweater: Target

I'm glad I finally dug these boots out from underneath the bed. They are from Target and although they are not as comfortable as my real Frye harness boots - they are perfectly adequate for the price ($40 on sale).





Boots: Target
Mess: all me!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

What not to wear 3/16/2011


One of the good things about taking photos of your outfits is you can view things more objectively and often things look better than they did in the mirror. One of the bad things is that often times things look much worse and you don't realize it until after you are at work and stuck in an inappropriate outfit all day.

I don't have time to discuss all things I think are wrong with this outfit so I'll just note the obvious. 1. the dress has hearts on it. I am not a hearts person. 2. although the lace edge on the slip was designed to show - on me it looks unintentional and sloppy. 3. these boots are too big and my feet look and feel like boats (which I guess is appropriate given the rain we're having but not tenable for the long term). I'm afraid this dress is headed to the give away bag. Until then I'll be hiding behind my desk.


Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Stuff Fast 2011 Update

It has been just over a year since I started Stuff Fast and it is time to see what has happened and make some new goals and rules.

When I started Stuff Fast my goal was to have less stuff. Stuff was (and is) cluttering my mind and my environment. To achieve my goal I developed the following “rules”:

2010 Rules:

  1. 1. No new stuff - I am barring myself from purchasing any new clothes, handbags, jewelry, make-up, books, and art supplies for one year. Because I am a realist (and an inveterate shopper) I'm scheduling some breaks from the ban, although maybe I won't need them.
  2. 32 flavors - I buy a lot of shoes and handbags. We're talking hundreds. My goal is to whittle my collections down to 32 pairs of shoes and 32 bags. Watch this space for my selection process.
  3. Wear it! -I have a lot of clothing. Again we're talking crazy hoarder type shit. With no new clothing coming in (see rule 1) I will need to wear what I have. Every item I wear will be "analyzed" and if it doesn't fit or look good or feel good - it goes to charity or gets altered or tossed. Because I am have a tendency to procrastinate - I will purge weekly.

2010 Recap

If you have read this blog you know that that I’ve strayed from the rules – and not just in my heart. But I’ve also made some positive changes which I want to capitalize on this year.

The good:

In the last year I have gotten rid of almost everything in my closet. Now, of course, this was not due to any strength of character on my part but the result of losing some weight but hey they stuff is gone. And it was a lot. A cringe worthy amount.

I’ve also gotten my shoe collection down considerably. I’m not down to my 32 pair goal yet, but I am getting close. It helps that my shoe size has gone down ½ a size.

I’ve also made a small degree of progress on getting my purse collection under control. I have listed a LOT of bags for sale and hope to add more this year. I’ve become a lot more selective about purchasing new bags and have not bought any since December.

Other stuff. Although I don’t talk about it much, I have whittled down my physical book collection significantly (thanks in large part to my Kindle). I also had two successful garage clean outs and plan to do a few more this spring. Our garage looks almost organized.

The not so good:

When you give away 99.9% of your clothing, you need to buy more or walk around naked. I chose to buy more. While I tried to be judicious in my buying, I made some mistakes. I bought more than I needed in certain sizes, only to change sizes more quickly than I expected.

The unexpected:

Budget: Like many people I have always wanted to have and follow a budget, but have failed miserably in the process. Recently, however, one of my lovely internet friends shared her secrets to budgeting and something clicked. The secret is to work backwards. Instead of budgeting based on my past expenditures, I needed to set simple targets based on % of my take home pay and goals.

For example, I decided that I wanted to save at least 25% of my income for retirement and long term savings. So I set up my bank account to put 10% of my paycheck into savings and 15% into my retirement account (I do not have a 401K at work so I am responsible for my own retirement account – scary). I then decided to allot 10% towards “fun” and the rest goes towards my necessary expenses (food/mortgage/car etc) and my short term savings goals (vacations, holiday presents, etc). Any month where there is leftover – it goes to savings.

Then I geeked out completely and created a spreadsheet to track my “fun” expenses. Every month I put the monthly budget dollar amount and track my expenses. If I go over a month, it gets deducted from the following month’s allowance. If I am under the extra goes to savings.

Thrift shopping and remixing: Until recently, I never really did a lot of thrift store shopping. Although I have donated thousands of items to the Goodwill – it never occurred to me to go shopping there. It also never occurred to me to look at the consignment store that has been in walking distance of my house for 14 years! Happily I recently rectified these mistakes and have discovered the joys of thrift store shopping. Yes it takes work to find things and there is a slight ick factor but the joy of finding a brand new Banana Republic blazer for $10.50 or a Jil Sander pencil skirt for $7 – makes it worth it to me. I’ve also been making a concerted effort to wear what I have and remix items to make it look like I have more things than I do. I’ve also been documenting things a lot more (hence the “wear it” posts) which helps me “see” my wardrobe from another perspective.

2011 Rules

  1. 32 Flavors: Keep whittling shoes and bags down to a manageable number.
  2. Stick with budget.
  3. Be more creative with clothing and remixing.
So there you have it. Another year of purging and de-stuffing and making more out of less. Pretty exciting... right?

Wear It 3/15/2011


I've had this sweater for awhile but never know what to wear with it. It had gotten so bad that the sweater was slated for potential donation on my next Goodwill run. Luckily for the sweater, my gingham shirt begged me for an introduction to a new sweater (shirt always gets underneath a too tight yellow cardigan) and I decided to pair them up. See what happens when you let your clothes talk to you? I was so excited by the pairing that I forgot to put on the necklace I wanted to wear. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

Everything from Old Navy, except the shoes which are by Born.




Monday, March 14, 2011

Wear It 3/14/2011


This jacket ( $14 during an Amazon.com sale) has been sitting in my closet since September, waiting for me to fit into it. Today is the day! I am also super excited about this skirt which was all of $9. I know tie-dye is not everyone's cup of tea but I think the muted colors make it work fine for the office. What do you think? Last but not least, check out the necklace which was $1 at the local consignment store. I love digging for treasure, maybe I should have been a pirate instead of a lawyer.






Friday, March 11, 2011

Poll - what length is best?


So I've been trying very hard to jump on the "remix" bandwagon and mix things up a bit. Since this skirt is rather loose, today I rolled up the waist band to make it shorter and paired it with a different top. Which brings the question - when I alter the skirt, what length works best? Below the knee, knee, above the knee? (I realize at the knee is not well illustrated but I know you all have great imaginations!).




Thursday, March 10, 2011

Wear It 3/10/2011


At 7:45 this morning I was in my PJs enjoying a cup of coffee when I remembered I had a client coming in at 8:30. Doh. So I grabbed the first things I saw and made it to work with 7 minutes to spare. Just enough time to snap a photo and write this post.

I bought this jacket at 6pm.com's $10 10/10/10 sale last year and it finally fits. I think it is supposed to be outerwear but I'm wearing it indoors because this blouse is sheer and my bra is blue and well you get the picture.

I am so excited about these boots. They were on clearance and are super comfortable and a good replacement for my other brown boots that were too big.

Jacket: Le Tigre (remember them from the '80s?)
Blouse: Gap
Jeans: Old Navy
Boots: Rocket Dog

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Wear It 3/9/2011


I finally found wine colored tights which, as I suspected, work better with this dress than black. The green shoes, however, are a mistake. I was just so excited to find them in my closet that I decided to throw common sense to the wind. I also bravely chose not to wear a cardigan today and instead wore my leopard print coat. Judging from the looks I got in the post office this morning, this was perhaps a bit too bold of a choice. Live and learn.


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Old Habits


I did have a slightly better outfit planned for today. However, the key component (a plaid blazer) is a bit tight and it made me feel uncomfortable. So I threw on a t-shirt and sweater instead. I tried to make it more interesting by putting on a necklace and bright shoes but I think it just looks random instead. And thus you see an outfit that is typical of my default "style" - random and a little boring.

The only reason I'm even showing it to you is that I am avoiding doing my job right now.



Monday, March 7, 2011

Wear It 3/7/2011


I purchased this skirt on super sale about six weeks ago, with the expectation it would be part of my "permanent" collection (i.e. clothes in the size I will be when I get to my healthy weight). I underestimated how large this designer cuts things, so it fits now. I expect I can alter it if needed.

For some reason I'm having a hard time finding things to wear with it. I expect that in the spring/summer when I don't have to wear tights, it will be easier (assuming I ever bother to shave my legs). Luckily this morning I remembered my "goes with everything" Tucker for Target shirt and problem was solved. For now.

The photo above was the only one I got this morning in which one of my cats was not an active participant. All the others, such as the one on the below, prominently feature cat ass.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Wear It 3/4/2011


Although you might not know it to see my outfits, I do own a full length mirror. It is rather magical in that I always look 10lbs less in it than I do in photos. However, it is also filthy which is why I did not shoot a photo of my much better looking reflection this morning.

I will spending most of the day in a training class (and driving!). Although I wanted to throw on sweatpants and a t-shirt, there will be some judges at the training and I did not want to be completely disrespectful. I also did not want to be uncomfortable. And yet I think I managed to do both. Go me.

I do not know what possessed me to tuck in my shirt this morning. The proportions work better but I also look lumpy. At least I'll be sitting for most of the day.

Jeans: Chadwicks
Shirt: Francesca's
Jacket: Target
Shoes: Kenneth Cole Reaction
Belt: Banana Republic
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff Zip MAB
Necklace: vintage eBay

Thursday, March 3, 2011

What Was I Thinking?


Another concept that seemed so cute in my head but failed execution.

I'm not sure exactly how to pinpoint the failure. Putting aside the fact that this concept would be better served on someone 20 years younger, this outfit just feels off. Maybe the leggings are too thick. Or the tunic too short. I tried a few belts but that didn't work. This was the best cardigan I could find but might be a little preppy. A long open sweater vest might work better (if I had one)?

I am pretty excited about these boots. After many years of stockpiling black boots, I have finally gotten rid of 75% of my excess pairs (many were too big and some became chew toys for my cats). These were on super sale and I suspect I will get a lot of use out of them next fall. I wanted a flat heel but these seem really comfortable and I think will work. I might wear them on Saturday's adventure and see how they fare.



Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Wear It 3/2/2011


Another day another poor suit choice. I wonder if I should have chosen a job that doesn't require me to be in court as much. I am super super excited about these shoes although no one else seems to be. I saw them at TJ Maxx a few weeks ago and, in a rare bit of restraint, I chose not to buy them. I pretty much regretted the decision as soon as I left the store and went back a week later - they were still there. Your loss TJ Maxx size 7 shoppers. These shoes are cool and awesome.

Suit: JC Penny
Shirt: Chadwicks
Shoes: Me Too (via TJ Maxx)
Necklace: Vintage enamel and gold chains via eBay


Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Wear It 3/1/2011




Random thoughts for this morning.

1. This outfit is the third one I tried on this morning and I'm still not happy with it.
2. My husband, who in many respects is a genius, did not know the difference between "Jungle Love" by the Time and "Tarzan Boy" by Baltamora.
3. I judge him for this.
4. I expect this makes me a bad person
5. I ate some ice cream on Saturday which seems to have contributed to a killer migraine.
6. I am fairly certain that I owned a version of this blazer and these shoes in 1995. When the '90s come back, you can credit me for welcoming them.
7. I bought these jeans in 3 sizes. I am currently on the second pair. If all goes well I will be in the final pair (smallest size) by June.

Blazer: Kenneth Cole
Jeans: Chadwicks
T-shirt: H&M
Shoes: Bievel



Necklace: Vintage via eBay