Weeding out the Extras

I’ve gotten this curated wardrobe thing down to a science (ha): thrift a bunch of stuff I like and am reasonably sure I’ll wear for the upcoming season, then take them all for a test drive and weed out the extras – anything I’m not excited to wear or have failed to wear completely – after a month or so. And I’m about at that point for my warmer weather clothing.

Though it’s all thrifted, this might seem like a wasteful approach. But for me, it works – I like seeing my picks in play (or not) and learning from that process to make even better, more informed choices next time (hopefully!).

And while I try to gauge in the dressing room what will be too tight/short/chafing etc. and say no accordingly, I’ve found that style-wise, I simply can’t always predict what I’m going to love. Sometimes a cut or color that is a reach for me stylistically ends up being a home run; other times, something that’s right in my wheelhouse ends up curiously unworn.

This dress, for example, should hit all the right spots – it’s a shirt dress, one of my favorite styles, in Light Summer-ish colors (or neutral enough to fudge it):

But I’ve only worn it once and didn’t fall in love:

It’s a bit on the short side, which means I paired it with leggings that are too warm for truly hot days. It doesn’t have as much structure as my two other (beloved) shirt dresses, so it feels a little limp. And the neutral stripes just aren’t as chic as I thought they’d be – instead of elegant or minimalist, they feel washed out. It’s also a tricky neckline to pair with with necklaces; I have one choker I like that sits above the collar, but my other favorite necklaces are in danger of getting lost or clashing with the diagonal lines on the v-neck.

Just… meh.

Here’s another neutral stripe number that underwhelmed:

The charcoal stripes looked like they’d give some great contrast to solid blazers, but the shirt is too tight in the shoulders. (I probably should have noticed this in the dressing room, but I’ll admit I didn’t do a full round of calisthenics in this shirt to test it out.) And it somehow didn’t work as I imagined – I just looked like a referee on a brunch date:

Or a referee disguised as a watermelon (to be fair, my preschooler picked out this ensemble):

I do like the stripes peeking out from under a sweater:

But again, after a few hours, the tightness in the shoulders that felt so mild at first just ruined the comfy-chic of this outfit.

Another neutral denim-y number that didn’t make it because what felt structured and slimming in the dressing room felt like I’d had too much for lunch at home:

In a moment that would do the 10×10 community proud, I used it as an open layer and liked it much better:

I felt very chic in my denim-on-denim outfit with its subtle print-mixing (there’s pattern on the cuffs) – which I created on a whim as I headed out the door. But I want my clothes to be more versatile than just looking chic as a layering piece. If you’re a button down shirt, I want to be able to wear you that way!

I know a chambray shirt would look great with my pink pants and my green ones, though, and with my yellow shorts and red shorts. So I’m keeping my eyes out for a chambray popover tunic – a silhouette that I know from experience will fit my body better.

Alright, here are two more I haven’t even worn yet:

This cute tee with a little neckline embellishment is too cool to be Light Summer, and although I should probably just break the palette “rules” and wear it, every time I look at it I think “nah.” I’ve realized I like some pattern in my casual tees because my shorts never have pattern.

Which is one reason I haven’t worn these spot-on Light Summer shorts:

Plaid Bermudas were my shorts style for a minute back, oh, 8 years ago? But I have long since given away my last pair, which should have clued me in that these wouldn’t get worn (not least because I don’t have many solid tops to pair them with). In these I feel a little too tomboy – a formally beloved aesthetic which no longer does it for me. That’ll teach me to thrift something just because it’s in my color palette!

 

What about you – do you thrift a bunch and then weed out, like I do? Or do you only thrift a few, carefully selected items – but maybe sometimes go home wishing you’d bought that one out-there piece, just to see if you’d grow to love it?

Summer 10×10 Remix: Day 9

As part of the Summer 10×10 remix (hosted by UnFancy and Style Bee), I’m attempting to post what I’ve been wearing each day as I live out of my suitcase on back-to-back family reunions. What’s a 10×10 remix? 10 pieces of clothing, 10 outfits, 10 days. What you count as an item is up to you (I’m not counting shoes, workout gear, outerwear) since the point isn’t following strict rules – it’s using limitations to spark creativity.

Day 9: Goodbye Lake Champlain, Hello New Hampshire

Here was my outfit for driving 4 hours from Vermont to The Granite State, where we stopped over for a night before flying home:

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My 5-year-old cousin made that twist braid – didn’t she do a great job?  I can never get those to stay.

Shirt: Gap – thrifted
Shorts: Bill Blass – thrifted
Hat: unlabeled – thrifted
Crossbody bag: Marco Avané – thrifted
Cuff bracelet: Monet – thrifted
Sandals: Saltwater by Hoy – retail

I think this can now be called my official travel shirt. I always wear it on airplanes (and apparently in cars) because it’s lightweight yet longish-sleeved, so it does well with shifts in temperature as AC goes on/off, working up a sweat as you run through terminals, etc.  Both top and shorts have some give to them which makes sitting for long periods more comfortable.

Details:

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Once we got to New Hampshire my spouse and I busted out the workout gear and went for a run in the rolling hills dotted with farms. It was absolutely gorgeous – flowers everywhere, blue sky, cows, lusciously painted old farm houses, fresh air… Since we often visit in the winter, I forget how beautiful New England is in the summer.

What’s your go-to travel wardrobe? Scroll down to share!

Summer 10×10 Remix: Days 2 & 3

Unsurprisingly, vacation has gotten in the way of posting my remix challenges on a daily basis – what a happy problem to have! As part of the Summer 10×10 remix (hosted by UnFancy and Style Bee), I’m attempting to post what I’ve been wearing each day as I live out of my suitcase on back-to-back family reunions.

What’s a 10×10 remix? 10 pieces of clothing, 10 outfits, 10 days. What you count as an item is up to you (I’m not counting shoes, workout gear, outerwear) since the point isn’t following strict rules – it’s using limitations to spark creativity. 

Day 2: On the Farm 

We headed straight over to the family farm and explored all our favorite spots. My preschooler was enthralled with this gravel pile – exciting!

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Beautiful prairie and cornfields in the background.

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Shirt: Madewell – thrifted

Shorts: Bill Blass – thrifted
Hat: unlabled – thrifted
Sandals: Saltwater – retail
Sunglasses: Ray-Ban – retail

Grain bins make a great background for your striped shirts:
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I have great memories of climbing those grain bins to a small platform near the top to watch sunsets.  In my biased opinion, Iowa sunsets are the best in the world.

Day 3: Color Run 5K & Family Reunion

I started off the day with a 5K through town – so much fun!

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It was the first color run I’ve done and I got some interesting looks showing up at the town pancake breakfast covered in festive accoutrement:

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Tank & shorts: Champion – thrifted
Running shoes: Champion – retail. Running shoes don’t have to be expensive to work well!

After a parade, I went home to shower and then we headed back to the farm for a family reunion. Aren’t my relatives good looking?

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I only got family pics, no outfit pics, so pardon the cropping out of family members:

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Shirt: Madewell – thrifted
Shorts: Bebe – thrifted
Sandals, cuff, hat, sunglasses (not pictured) – same as above

On the farm no one cares if you wear the same shirt two days in a row, so I happily reused the shirt from Day 2. The beauty of a capsule/travel wardrobe that all works together is that you can swap out one component and end up with an entirely different look.  (And it helps that the pheasant hunting lodge where we stayed had laundry!)

See ya tomorrow!

What I Wear Every Weekend

Surprise! A weekend-related post for the weekend.

Though I can be fickle with my weekday wardrobe – thrift something one week, donate it the next – I am a creature of habit on the weekends. In spring, here is the shirt I reach for without a second thought every Saturday (and often after work or church):wp_20160924_17_00_19_pro

It’s by Gap and made of incredibly soft, worn-in cotton.  It has my favorite width of stripes: not too thin or thick and evenly spaced so the shirt doesn’t appear too white or too navy. The drop shoulders make it look a little more modern although I wouldn’t care if they were normal shoulders. The wide neckline feels laidback as does the loose, but not sloppy, cut.

Most often than not I pair it with these cut-offs. They’re Gap jeans I thrifted 10 years ago right after I stopped buying retail. They were already cut to this Bermuda-esque length, which is just right for breezy days when shorts would feel too chilly.  And although they’ve stretched out a leeetle too far for their own good, I can’t give them up. They are perfectly worn in and just feel right. (I even wore them in one of my engagement photos lo these many years ago!)  I can roll up the edges for a neater look or let them go frayed when I’m feeling a little more free spirited.
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Both pics from this post.

That’s it!  If you see me wearing something else on a Saturday, it’s either unseasonably cold (and I’m in jeans) or someone forgot to do laundry.

Do you have a weekend “uniform”?  If so, scroll down to share.

What I Wore: Skinned Knee Chic

When your spouse is sick and you are singlehandedly making the church run with a toddler and you are preaching and you are LATE, you only get three outfit photos and you are HAPPY with them:

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Do you like how I turned a last-minute snack for my kid into an autumnal-colored accessory?

 

And when you have recently face planted while running and skinned your knee (and your elbow and your wrist) pretty significantly and your household has run out of band aids so you can’t wear pants or leggings (plus you ruined your favorite pair of leggings in said face plant) but it’s too crisp to go completely bare legged, you put on knee socks and pretend you meant to wear this all along (skinned knee not pictured out of consideration for the faint of heart):

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The print mixing, it is out of control:

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Color block/striped dress: Gap, thrifted
Blazer: Haberdashery by Personal, thrifted
Belt: J. Crew, thrifted
Scarf: my mama’s Kohl’s shopping spree
Socks: Target
Ankle boots: Lucky Brand, gift from my sister

 

Seriously though I did buy these socks for just such a look, hoping to encourage myself to wear skirts through fall and thinking that, with the ankle boots, it would read sort of like a tall boot (of which I have yet to be convinced I need to buy a pair although I would be happly to thrift some). Don’t worry, these socks came in a two-pack with plain navy so I don’t have to be in a 5-billion-patterns mood to wear them.

What do y’all think of the knee sock/ankle boot look? Or the tuck-your-scarf-into-your-belt look? (Very handy for showing off your belt and keeping the fringe out of reach of handsy toddlers/your coffee mug.) Or the print party? Scroll down to comment!

 

Other Fashion Rules to Break

Reader (and friend!) Sheena spotted this Old Navy advert featuring bloggers busting the myth that “certain jeans are for certain body types.” (Let us take a moment to celebrate that Old Navy didn’t select a bunch of skinny white women as their featured style bloggers.)

It reminded her of one of my “Can I Wear This?” posts where young women felt restricted and shamed by these very rules.  That post also features a picture of Sheena!  Isn’t she gorgeous?

Inspired by their take on things, Sheena asked me to do another post on fashion rules you should break – particularly ones that say that certain kinds of people “can’t” wear certain kinds of clothes. Continue reading “Other Fashion Rules to Break”

What I Wore: Office Sick Day

Yesterday I had a head cold from Hades. (I still have it, but now it’s from, say, Hoboken.)

I spent a good 15 minutes in bed trying decide whether to go to work or stay home.

But yesterday was my boss’ first day back after 4 weeks out of town. And a new program year is breathing down our necks. And I had 3 meetings scheduled. And someone had to drive the kiddo to daycare regardless.

So I went to work, but in the most comfortable work-appropriate clothing possible, which I had most fortuitously thrifted over the weekend due to my inability to say no to comfortable dresses and stripes (and this shade of blue!):

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Continue reading “What I Wore: Office Sick Day”