My Winter Wardrobe

First, a note about my posting schedule. Work is ramping up (hello Advent, you’re right around the corner!) which means lately I haven’t had as much time as I would like to write and publish posts. For the foreseeable future, you can keep expecting at least one post a week, but my usual Tuesday/Thursday schedule will now become the ideal rather than the norm. Thanks for your flexibility and for continuing to keep this blog a fun and creative place for community and conversation!

And now, this year’s late fall/winter wardrobe, for your viewing pleasure. Since I broke up with capsule wardrobes, this is not a comprehensive list of every single piece I will wear this winter, but rather the pieces I imagine will get the most wear; they form the core of my wardrobe.

Tops

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Coin 1804; Gap Body; Eileen Fisher; Ivanka Trump; Workshop by Andrea Jovine; J. Crew; Cyn; Liz Claiborne; Gap; Loft; L.L. Bean; J. Crew; Joan Vass; Gap Designed & Crafted

I’ve really upped the number of tops this year for two reasons: I have about twice as much winter to contend with, plus my M.O. for expanding a section of my wardrobe tends to be “buy several different varieties I think I’ll like and then see what actually gets worn.” Instead of “less is more” (which is where I hope to end up), this is basically the “more becomes less” approach.

Re: colors – is anyone surprised that my sweater palette is basically blue and cream, with pops of caramel, grey, and red? That’s my whole summer wardrobe right there.

And the dresses keep the theme going….

Dresses

Gap; J. Crew; Merona; Caslon; Merona

I’ll wear these with cream, blue, and grey tights of varying weights.

The pants, however, have a liiiittle more variation in hue happening…

Pants

Loft; Talbots; Paige; Lauren by Ralph Lauren; Banana Republic; Jessica Simpson

I’m enjoying pairing more neutral tops with more colorful bottoms – if you can call purple so dark it photographs as black (those first pants) “color”! And yes, apart from the jeans, I’m sticking with the all-corduroy streak again this year. They just feel…cozier. I’m probably deceiving myself that corduroy imparts extra warmth; after all, the fuzziness is on the outside, not on the inside where it would do some good. I don’t care; just let me hold onto my comforting delusion!

Back to the trusty ol’ red/cream/blue color palette for my layering pieces.

Layers:

Kate Hill; Merona; Tahari by Arthur S. Levine; The Savile Row Co.; Mercer & Madison; Loft

Last but not least…

Outerwear:

United Colours of Benetton; J. Crew; Larry Levine
That’s a lot for now; I’ll share scarves/hats and footwear in another post.

In the meantime, check out my winter wardrobe this time last year; a lot has changed!

Travel Wardrobe: Cold Weather in a Carry On

No Friday ReBlog today because I haven’t been reading enough (any?) blogs over the holidays to find good stuff for ya. It’ll be back next week; in the meantime, send me your favorite thrift- or style-related blog posts at leah AT thriftshopchic DOT com or leave ’em in the comments.

We went to the Great White(ish) North for a week over the Christmas holiday and I had to figure out how to pack for cold weather in a carry on. The limited parameters on my wardrobe were not as dramatic as this trip when I packed my stuff and my kid’s into a tote bag (which I promptly forgot), but I did need to think practically about how everything would go together since warm clothes take up more space and thus afford fewer slots to play with. Everything is thrifted unless otherwise noted.

Using the template from the How to Pack a Travel Wardrobe post, I’m factoring in:
-length of trip (6 days);
-weather/activities at destination (cold; family time + church + exercise); and
-laundry facilities (check!)

Knowing it would be cold, I started off with this wool/cashmere/angora sweater from the Loft, which is as cozy a garment as you’d hope to find:

Then I picked out tops to go underneath:

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4 tops, with plans to either rewear or wash depending on how many living room dance parties were to be held. L to R: Coldwater Creek, Piazza Sempione, Loft, J. Crew

I also tucked in a sleeveless undershirt in case it got REALLY cold – didn’t need it but was glad it was there. And I wore leggings (see below) under my pants when were going to be outside for a significant amount of time.

Then pants that picked up the colors in the sweater and would serve as great neutral bases:

L to R: Banana Republic, IT! Jeans

I wasn’t keen on the grey at first, since I had a grey turtleneck; doing too much grey because it’s just depressing when it’s dark and cold. But the corduroy on the dark grey ones is almost like velvet, making them so chic I knew they would dress up my otherwise comfy outfits. I thought about bringing my navy cords, too, but since I couldn’t justify 3 pairs of pants (no room!), I decided to keep the grey and just not wear it with the grey top. (Look for a post next week introducing the caramel velveteen pants.)

Jewelry:
Same ol’ earrings every day, plus one pendant necklace, the cream and dark taupe of which would jive nicely with my sweater:

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Necklace DIYed from Goodwill parts.

Shoes:
I went for one these two, to cover church (bronze flats by Clarks – retail) and everything else (navy Pumas):

Plus sneakers for running (retail).

Workout clothes:
Luckily my sister-in-law is pretty devoted to her running schedule so I knew I’d get a chance to run with her – motivation!

I packed a silk undershirt to layer and keep me warm:

And a bamboo tech shirt to layer on top:

It wasn’t cold enough to need more than that – I just had to run about 5 minutes to warm myself up and the silk kept me nice and snuggly.

I also brought bulky but oh-so-worth-it track pants from highschool to keep my legs warm while running.

I brought two pairs of leggings, one for sleeping and one for layering under the track pants, both American Apparel (retail). Here was my shirt to sleep in (and to wear one day before I slept in it):

Faded Glory.

Sadly, I discovered ANOTHER hole in it, so it’s hereby consigned to winter sleepwear with no daytime cameos:

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Outerwear
I wore my trusty red wool peacoat on the plane (well, used it as a blanket) and packed my freshly thrifted winter accessories in the outer pocket of my carry on so I could get them out first thing after landing:

J. Crew

No tags.

Here are my outfits. There’s not a lot of variety, but I liked the formula. Furthermore, I had no one to impress and just wanted to look put together and feel WARM. Mission accomplished:

(worn twice)

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(worn twice – except for the bowling shoes, those were just worn once)

What are your strategies for packing sufficient cold weather clothes into a small space? Do you ever just pick one simple outfit formula and wear variations of it to keep packing super simple? Scroll down to comment, and Happy New Year!

Fall /Winter Wardrobe Preview

We’re still in hot temps here but I know many of you have already started the slide into fall weather so I’m going to post some of what I *think* will work as my core/fringe items to get those autumnal juices flowing. This is not an exhaustive or restrictive list but covers most of what I plan on wearing.

As you may remember, I’ve been restyling my cold weather wardrobe as I try to figure out some styles I love that keep me warm. I’ve been doing it during the summer to give me time to think about additions and go slowly without the pressure of chilly temps right around the corner – but this also means I haven’t been able to wear any of the clothes together yet! So consider this most definitely a first draft.

(Also, the cords below are currently at the tailor to be transformed into actual slim pants instead of boot cuts, so you’ll just have to use your imagination.)

Enjoy!

Mixing my core/fringe model with a dual-silhouette idea borrowed from Un-Fancy, I’ll do two core silhouettes – my go-to silhouettes that most of the clothes in my cold weather closet can participate in – and a fringe silhouette – the one I use occasionally to mix things up a little and that’s made up of some pieces that don’t mix and match as well with the core silhouettes.

Here’s my first core silhouette, continued from summer into fall:

Torso-skimming top over slim pants. This silhouette will cover a variety of temperatures with some lightweight tops, some toppers (cardignas, blazers, ruanas, etc.) over lightweight tops, and finally proper sweaters (with shell underneath for really chilly days). Please ignore the tag on the top – recently thrifted and not yet worn! – and imagine the pants a little slimmer in general. All my slim trousers were at the tailor.

Second core silhouette: sheath/sweater dress over leggings and long sleeves (as needed)

Two more dresses I’ll be wearing in this manner: here and here

Merona – Land’s End – Merona – Jacqueline Ferrar – George – all thrifted

Here’s my fringe silhouette, moving from the starting list last winter to more of a relief pitcher this year:

Fitted top over flares
I like the chic, long lines of this silhouette, but I got a little tired of it last year, so it’ll make some appearances this year but not take top billing. Now I’m mixing metaphors…

And here are the items that will fit into each silhouette:

Skim over slim – lightweight tops

Japna – Madewell – Meadow Rue – Merona – Ambiance Apparel – Piazza Sempione – White Stag – Coldwater Creek – Pull and Bear (detail of sweater worn in silhouette photo above) – all thrifted

Skim over slim – sweaters

Liz Clairborne – Gap new with tags – Forever 21 – Mossimo – French Connection – Liz Claiborne – Loft (the back is more interesting) – all thrifted

Skim over slim – toppers

Old Navy – Loft – Haberdashery by Personal – Merona – Cartonnier – all thrifted

Skim over slim – bottoms

Uniqlo – Ralph Lauren new with tags (to be tailored to slim fit) – Banana Republic (to be tailored to slim fit) – Chico’s – F21 – all thrifted

Fit over flare – tops

Banana Republic (featured in silhouette photo above – Express – both thrifted

Fit over flare – bottoms

Old Navy – thrifted

Outerwear
Just one coat, because it makes me just that happy:

J. Crew – thrifted

This feels like a lot, but not counting leggings, shells, or outwear, it’s 35 pieces – right about at the sweet spot for typical mix-and-match capsule wardrobes (although I do have a few more things on my thrift list that might either grow this list or elbow some of these items out of the way!). I’ll keep you updated on what works, what doesn’t, what gets worn and what sits at the back of the closet or drawer.

What’s in your capsule or edited wardrobe this fall/winter? Scroll down to comment!

Happy fall!

Translating Style from One Season to Another: Tips

Tuesday’s post was an exercise in thinking out loud about my own winter style; I know it’s helpful for some of y’all to read about how another person strategizes about their wardrobe.

But I wanted to do a short reboot with universal tips based on what I learned, because not everyone wants to read my inner style monologue. If you process best via bullet-points and lists instead of story and narration, this post’s for you!

Thrift off-season. It gives you time to go slowly, consider where your holes are, and wait for the perfect piece.
Figure out what’s not working. What do you dislike about your current lineup? Is it the texture, the silhouette, the level of formality? The way things go together (or don’t)? Some ideas for getting your juices flowing to diagnose the issue:
- Write about it
- Talk about it with a friend who has an objective and stylish eye and knows you well
- Scroll back through outfit pics to see what worked/didn’t (this is the #1 reason I use Instagram)
- Go thrifting and try on some different styles to see if a new perspective helps
Figure out what works in a part of your wardrobe you love, then apply it elsewhere.
- Silhouette/cut. What’s the cold-weather equivalent of the silhouettes you love in your warm-weather clothes (or vice versa)?
  I’ve nailed down my summer work style – tapered pants and looser tops – so for me this would mean slimmer trousers + slouchy sweaters in winter.
  For you maybe it’s loving shorts and a 3/4-sleeve top in summer, so you do a miniskirt over tights/leggings and a blazer with rolled sleeves over a shirt in winter.
- Color scheme. What color scheme makes your heart sing in summer? Find a muted, darker, or bolder version for winter. Or vice versa, lighten up your winter creams into white, navies into sky blue, aubergines into mauves. Keeping it in the same color family also lets you use cross-over pieces in the transition months.
  (On the other hand, if you’re sick of one color scheme by the end of the season, it’s also a great time to adopt an entirely different palette.)
- Fabric/texture. If you love natural woolens or tweeds in the winter, try linen or cotton in the summer. Silk, depending on the weight, works well across seasons. If you love you some tencel, modal, or jersey in the summer, find the same fabric but in heavier weights (or just layer what you already have) for winter.

Caroline at Un-Fancy does this whole how-does-my-summer-style-get-winterized-or-vice-versa thing well if you need some visual inspiration. So does Janice at The Vivienne Files – she visually walks you through putting together and accessorizing an outfit for each month of the year, with all the garments sharing the same style philosophy and color palette. Amazing.

Do y’all prefer lists and tips, or narrative and story when it comes to thinking about style?

And what are your tricks for revamping a wardrobe you’re not currently wearing?

Restyling an Off-Season Wardrobe

I wrote last week about why I like thrifting garments off-season: it gives me several months’ breathing room to mull over my wardrobe, figure out what worked/didn’t and where the holes are, and assemble what I want in the lineup for next season.

Thrift shops make this relaxed, thoughtful process possible because they have all seasons of clothing available all year ’round instead of for just 2 weeks before everything good is sold out (thanks retail stores).

Since it’s almost May, that means I’m currently thinking about my winter wardrobe. (Not that I’m not excited about spring/summer clothes…I was thrilled to break out my first short-sleeved work top and dress last week.)

This may seem counter-intuitive, but the juxtaposition actually helped me get a handle on what in my winter closet needs fixing. Continue reading “Restyling an Off-Season Wardrobe” →

Winter Capsule Wardrobe Update, Part 3: Tops

Part the Third—and final! (Part 1 and Part 2.)

Today: Tops/Blazers.

I did not buy any new shirts, per se.

But I did buy a new sweater. And replaced an old blazer with one I like better. (See: thrift upgrade.)

The Harvé Benard blazer from my winter capsule wardrobe video? It looked chic but also kind of stiff…too corporate with most of my less-serious stuff. For example:

A photo posted by LeahLW (@thriftshopchic) on Oct 22, 2015 at 7:46am PDT

What are those sassy top & skirt doing with that starched blazer?? So I found something with more give, more softness—oh, and the ability to move my shoulders with complete freedom instead of feeling like Tommy Boy: It’s wool, it’s knit, and I need to remove a few pills. Perfect! It just looks more comfortable, more friendly, no? Definitely more me. I figured this out by thinking about what I love about my other go-to blazer, the one for which I actually reach on a regular basis:

A photo posted by LeahLW (@thriftshopchic) on Dec 10, 2015 at 10:09am PST

Soft, has give, feels good on.

Glad that upgrade has been thrifted. Sorry, Harvé Benard. It wasn’t you….okay, well, it was. Maybe next time.

I haven’t been as jazzed about the blue/grey/coral/white sweater as I thought I would. I sort of make myself put it on like you eat All Bran—because it’s good for you. The pattern is fun and they are good colors but it doesn’t feel very dynamic with non-jean work pants.

Here, me and sweater in happier days:

A photo posted by LeahLW (@thriftshopchic) on Nov 20, 2015 at 6:21am PST

Really I’m just not in love with any of my sweaters except my grey leopard print.

So I nabbed this one whilst heading to the cash register at the Goodwill with a few houseware-related purchases:

Wearing the pants I just ambivalized in yesterday’s post…

Not in love with this sweater either but slightly more excited to wear it.

What I’m learning here is that I SHOULD NOT BUY SOMETHING UNLESS I LOVE IT.

Because eventually mediocre attraction to a piece of clothing will out, and you’ll find yourself thrust right back into the cycle of “I need something BETTER in my closet”—the very merry-go-round from which I was trying to disembark in the first place.

DO NOT BUY UNLESS YOU LOVE sounds so simple, and really is the whole point of a capsule wardrobe. So you’d think I would’ve avoided this problem in the beginning by following my own capsule-building rules.

But I think I was worried about having enough—enough tops/pants, enough combinations, enough variety. Surely two skirts will exponentially multiply the versatility of my capsule wardrobe??

Living with an attitude of scarcity over abundance never leads to happiness in other areas of my life; rationalizing and catering to all my fears about “enough” leaves me dissatisfied in a way that loving (smaller amounts of) what I have doesn’t.

So maybe in the next week or two I will try an experiment in radical wardrobe love and get rid of every winter item I don’t THRILL to put on. I’ll just embrace the feeling of sartorial (hopefully not actual) nakedness and, I bet, discover I can live just fine with only things I love.

What about you? Do you have tips for/stories about stepping off the cliff and only owning what you LOVE? Scroll down to comment!

Winter Capsule Wardrobe Update, Part 2: Pants

Just what you’ve always wanted, a multi-part capsule wardrobe update!

Today: Pants.

So the goal for my winter capsule wardrobe project was to come up with a finite number of mix-and-match pieces I love, designed to get me through the season without shopping more or spending mornings in front of my closet groaning that I had nothing to wear.

Emphasis on the “pieces I love”: not just in theory, but in reality. Like reach-for-this-and-put-it-on-my-body-with-EXCITEMENT reality.

My winter pants have been somewhat lacking in that department.

A photo posted by LeahLW (@thriftshopchic) on Jan 13, 2016 at 12:26pm PST

Don’t let my expression fool you; it’s more about the full-length mirror than the pants. Continue reading “Winter Capsule Wardrobe Update, Part 2: Pants” →

Winter Capsule Wardrobe Update, Part 1: Skirts

It’s time for an update on my winter capsule wardrobe project. You may recall that in December (when it finally got cold here in the South) I set up a capsule wardrobe: a finite number of mix-and-match pieces I love, designed to get me through the season without shopping more or spending mornings in front of my closet groaning that I had nothing to wear.

So how am I doing in my quest to get more out of the clothing I already own?

Continue reading “Winter Capsule Wardrobe Update, Part 1: Skirts” →

What I Wore: Preaching in January

Hello Thrifters!

My sincerely warm thoughts go out to all y’all up to your eyeballs in snow up North. Meanwhile, it’s chilly but sunny here in Georgia where the “snow closure” on Friday ended up consisting of rain followed by Saturday morning flakes that barely dusted the grass.

Sorry.

This is what I wore to preach yesterday–I haven’t done a proper outfit post in awhile and I thought you’d like to see how some of my winter staples are working together:

Continue reading “What I Wore: Preaching in January” →

Thrifting Winter Coats for the Whole Family

You may have seen the coat I thrifted earlier in the season to replace a long-gone, much-loved staple:

What you probably don’t know is that I unintentionally thrifted my kiddo a matching coat to brave the wilds of the frozen Midwest:

With that little thrifted hat, awwww.

And over the holidays, my spouse, whose one true winter coat lives in New England (see this post about leaving your heavy-duty cold-weather clothes at your family’s house), thrifted a decent winter coat to leave at—you guessed it—my parents’ house. Alas, I didn’t snap a picture before we left, but it pretty much looks like this:

Source

It’s a cashmere blend made in Bulgaria of Italian fabric…just typing that makes me feel cozy. He scored it for $20 at the charity shop benefitting the local hospital in my parents’ town. (I also picked up a brand-new Wubba Nub for $1.00—!!!—for a friend’s baby shower, airplane earrings for The Sister, and a beading book for my mom-in-law. Y’know, getting a jump on next Christmas’ shopping list.)

Tips for Thrifting a Winter Coat

If you live someplace warm but occasionally need a winter coat to visit relatives or for business trips, try thrifting at your destination. It’s much more likely that they’ll have what you need—although coats 1 & 2 in this post were thrifted in Atlanta. Just sayin’.
If you need to combat seriously low temps, look for wool, cashmere, or down and good quality—in tact lining, pockets, reinforced buttonholes, etc.
Find out how your local thrift shop does seasonal wear and shop accordingly: some places put clothes out at the very beginning of the season and they get snapped up, some keep them all through the season but then put them away, and some keep everything out all year (which allows you to take your time shopping for the perfect winter coat because neither Jack Frost nor other coat shoppers are breathing down your neck in July).

Have you thrifted a winter coat before? Any good finds or good tips? Scroll down to share!

Building a stylishly edited wardrobe from thrift store finds

Tag: winter

My Winter Wardrobe

Travel Wardrobe: Cold Weather in a Carry On

Fall /Winter Wardrobe Preview

Translating Style from One Season to Another: Tips

Restyling an Off-Season Wardrobe

Winter Capsule Wardrobe Update, Part 3: Tops

Winter Capsule Wardrobe Update, Part 2: Pants

Winter Capsule Wardrobe Update, Part 1: Skirts

What I Wore: Preaching in January

Thrifting Winter Coats for the Whole Family

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