Edit: Final count in wardrobe for 2014

As mentioned, I made a purchase on December 30, so to hold myself accountable, I am updating my wardrobe count for 2014.

I have finally finished cataloging my wardrobe into the Stylebook App and my final count for 2014 is:

• 124 tops (includes sleeveless, blouses, t-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirt/hoodies, blazers)
• 48 bottoms (includes jeans, shorts, trousers)
• 25 dresses
• 53 shoes
• 17 scarves 
• 68 bags (including clutches)
• 17 coats and jackets
• 32 pieces off active wear (tops, headbands, bottoms, runners)

December count

Added another shirt and pair of shoes to the donations pile and finally dropped the bag off on the 26th.

I received 2 unexpected gifts from my parents - a black quilted down coat, and a pair of pajama bottoms, which were two things I was on the look out for but had not told anyone and again I received them. I'm starting to think I should just keep quiet from now on and see what happens ;) 

Yesterday, I went to the mall to kill some time before dinner and checked out some sales - nothing really caught my eye but managed to score a few wardrobe staples at the GAP. I purchased 2 pairs of pants and 2 tops for $80!

(The plaid shirt I bought is actually black)



Started another pile for donations and have added more 'knick knacks' than clothing but as long as I'm clearing things out, I'm happy!

Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Final count in wardrobe for 2014

I have finally finished cataloging my wardrobe into the Stylebook App and my final count for 2014 is:

• 122 tops (includes sleeveless, blouses, t-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirt/hoodies, blazers)
• 46 bottoms (includes jeans, shorts, trousers)
• 25 dresses
• 53 shoes
• 17 scarves 
• 68 bags (including clutches)
• 17 coats and jackets
• 32 pieces off active wear (tops, headbands, bottoms, runners)

A few of my favourite things - sheep wool slippers

As the weather gets cooler, there is nothing I look forward to more than coming home and cozying up in these - my sheep wool slippers! I received these last year from my lovely mother-in-law (she lives in Nova Scotia so she certainly knows a thing or two about keeping warm!) and they are one of my favourite things - they keep me so warm and are so nice to walk in, especially on hardwood. These are one of the first things I bring out when the temperature starts to drop. 

For those interested, mine were made from the Lismore Sheep Farm Wool Shop - http://www.lismoresheepfarmwoolshop.com/ -- located in beautiful Pictou County, Nova Scotia.

Ask and you shall receive ...

... even if I totally ask for it in my head.

The other day, feeling the festive holiday vibes, I thought to myself that it would be really great to have a red colored silk scarf, perhaps something in a floral pattern (since I had recently seen a Flora Gucci bag) and today I received a gift from a co-worker, and lo and behold! A red silk floral patterned scarf!

In a previous post, I had stated that I would not be purchasing scarves for myself since I always seem to be gifted them so the thought was quite fleeting - what are the odds that I would get a red floral silk scarf? Red, maybe. Silk, possibly. But floral? That was a bit of a stretch. But it happened! And it couldn't be more perfect than what I had imagined this said scarf would look like.

Here she is!

Side note: It also came with a matching red tie for my husband, which I thought was a great 'his and hers' gift as they come packaged together in the same gift box.

A few of my favourite things - Gin Gins

I love ginger and I was so happy to discover these - Gins Gins! I really recommend them to people who are prone to tummy aches, or love the taste of ginger.  They are really soothing and delicious! I have seen a drink form of this when I was in Hawaii, but I prefer these - a heads-up, they are very chewy. 

Using the things I love

I don't know about you, but I used to hoard the things I love and never use them because I was 'saving' them for 'something special,' or just worried about them getting ruined. They were not necessarily the most expensive items, (in fact, some of these items I got for amazing prices and considered them to be 'trophy items'), but I just felt the need to preserve them. I would take them out once in a while and admire them and then put them carefully away.

I know it seems like there's no point in buying something if you're not going to use it, and people say that "things are meant to be used",  but for me it really wasn't - when I was a child I would 'collect' things and never use them and as I got older, this habit followed me. I thought it was because I liked to collect things but I realized that there was actually an emotional/mental roadblock I couldn't overcome.

When I began to adopt and practice a minimalist lifestyle, I began to purge my belongings, and realized that if I was to keep the things I loved but never use them, I would have to keep more than I needed or wanted to have. This wasn't something I wanted as the intent was to do with less and be happy with what I owned - I might as well have been leaving my happiness on a shelf, or hidden away in a drawer. 

Last year I worked really hard to start using the things I love and learned to enjoy them instead of stressing about them. I started slow, taking some items out for an hour at a time, and then eventually for a day, etc. I began to really enjoy using them and now can say that I am regularly using the majority of my things. I'm still working on a few pieces but I've made vast improvements. 

I would say that using the things I love is a personal goal of mine and to further give me the push I need to continue to do so, I really stress to myself the value of an item, hence, why I track a lot of my expenditures and how often I use things.

Do any of you ever save your things?

Scored at the Bay's One Day Sale for women's boots!

Last Thursday was the Bay's One Day Sale and along with my knee high boots, I also scored these awesome leather ankle boots from Denim & Supply (by Ralph Lauren) for only $60.

Not including my rainboots and Uggs, I only own 3 pairs of boots but they provide me with a great range and I am able to produce a lot more outfits. Now 'boot complete', I feel confident that I can begin to create capsule wardrobes. 

These are a few of the outfits I created with these boots:

DIY LV lock necklace by bakeacookie

As I mentioned before, I'm part of a wonderful online community of people who love to chat about fashion, bags, life, and everything in between! One such lovely member had a great idea to re-purpose LV locks into necklaces - it was such a great idea that I had to ask her to share! Below is a guide from bakeacookie on how she did it, and the supplies she used. Many thanks to bakeacookie for taking the time to share with us!

Some LV bags come with these gorgeous brass or silver toned locks. But despite carrying my Speedy Bandoliere and Alma, I never used these pretty little locks.

After checking out a few posts at the Purseforum, I took note of a Chanel lock necklace. Pinterest had examples, and my search even yielded a one of a kind vintage lock necklace using LV locks.

Convinced I could do this myself, I set off. I plucked the locks out from their dust bags and made a trip to the craft store, Joanns in my case.

Items needed:

• Chain of desired length. I prefer a 28-inch chain. 
• This allows me to place it over my head, rather than have to attach a clasp.

• Jump rings

• Jewelry/needle nose pliers.

• LV lock and key

Directions:

Open the jump ring with the plier, and insert them through the loop of the chain. Close the jump ring, getting the ends as close together as possible for a secure connection.

Repeat for the opposite end.

Open the lock and thread the lock through the jump rings.

Close the lock and voila, an LV lock necklace in less than 5 minutes.

To my surprise, there are (at least) two types of jump rings!

I preferred the easy to use single loop jump ring, shown in the silver lock necklace. It was easy to use, and it feels secure with the weight of the lock on it.

But there are double loop jump rings, similar to a key ring. These were much, much harder to work with, and somehow I pried them open enough to string them onto the gold chain. These are really really secure, there's no way for the jump ring to part at all without much prying.

Because I used the double loop on the gold necklace, it took 20 minutes (and assistance of my brother to pry them open) to make this necklace. 

The price for both the gold and silver chain, plus gold and silver jump rings came out to about $6.00.

The locks came with my bag, but can be purchased as a replacement part at Louis Vuitton for $39 each.

Jewelry purge and goal

Jewelry is an area where I personally find easy to own a lot of yet difficult to work into my daily outfits. I know a lot of fashion advice tells us that by changing up our jewelry, we can easily change up our look. This is really difficult for me as I'm admittedly lazy and rushed in the mornings and can't imagine having to add more brainpower to getting myself out the door. 

I have my daily jewelry which consist of my wedding and engagement rings, two bracelets on my left arm, two Pandora rings on my right hand, diamond studs, and a necklace with a family charm and a jade Buddha hanging from them. I wear these every day and only change them when I have an event that requires a little bit more. 

The 'little bit more' is where I plan to focus my attention - I did a major purge of my jewelry (not including fine jewelry or family pieces) at the beginning of the year and even tried to re-purpose a few items into bag fobs or other pieces that I may wear more. Now that I've minimized my collection, I'm trying to incorporate one piece into my outfits and force myself to change up my daily pieces. 

I still get lazy some days but I have noticed that a necklace really does spruce up an outfit and take it to the next level. Below are some of the pieces I've been able to use on a more regular basis. 

Left to right: navy and silver link 'Guess' necklace, a blue smoothed glass necklace (gift from husband from his latest trip to Nova Scotia), black 'J Crew' bangle, rose gold 'Coach' bangle, silver Tiffany & Co. mesh bracelet) 

FINALLY!!! - Knee high boots that fit me!!!

This post may be THE most exciting one for me because I'm so so SO happy to share that I have been able to find knee high boots that will zip up over my calves. I kid you not, I have been searching for almost 10 years - every knee high boot I've ever tried on would never zip up over my calves (even at my skinniest at 125lbs). 

I was commuting to work on Thursday when I came across an ad for the Hudson Bay's "Bay Days" where they have one day sales on selected items, which on that day were 50% off all boots. I never paid much attention to these but for some reason decided to check it out during lunch and thought, "maybe I'll see if I can find knee high boots," which is something I stopped even dreaming about. It must have been fate because I found beauties: 

With a little oomph, they zipped up all the way, and when on, did not feel tight at all. I unzipped them and tried again (just to be sure I wasn't just forcing them too much) and they were actually easier to zip than the first time. 

Black. Gold hardware. Leather. FIT ME. Everything I could ask for. Also, I was happy that they were Lauren by Ralph Lauren so I do have some comfort that the quality will be relatively good and hold up for a while as it may be the only time I will ever find knee high boots that fit again. The icing on the cake was that they were half off, so I paid only $95 for these!!!

I already inputted them into my Stylebook App and began making outfits with them. These are a few of my favourites:

No turtlenecks or crewnecks for me

When I was purging, two types of clothing that were very easy for me to get rid of were turtlenecks and crewneck. Again, because of my short mid-section, the proportions of turtlenecks and crewnecks don't work for me and even make my upper body look shorter than it really is - not flattering at all.

Of course there are always exceptions such as some crewneck sweatshirts and decorative tops, and the occasional turtleneck dress, but for the most part, I know I need to stick to V-necks and cowl necks, or larger/lower scoop necks (but even some sccop necks can be iffy from piece to piece).

November count

In November I sold one of my bags and did not purchase any bags or small leather goods (SLGs). I ALSO did not buy anything this month =) 

I also added a pair of gloves, 1 sweatshirt, and 4 shirts to my donations pile.