June comings and goings

What came in - 3

• Converse sneakers
• Mint green sleeveless blouse
• Bracelet

What went out - 9

• A summer dress from years ago that I decided to let my cousin have to explore more sewing projects
• Nude Chanel nail polish 
• 4 graphic tees that I'm going to have my cousin turn into drawstring bags for travel uses
• 1 t-shirt - didn't fit the same
• 1 tank top - too small now
• UPDATE: I DID decide to let this one go.
  
  
  
  
  
• not wardrobe related, but my parents are renovating their basement so I donated a lot of my childhood toys and tossed a lot of things I had been keeping. They also purged and let go of a lot of stuff so we have a trunk full of stuff to donate. Hurray!

Not feeling myself lately

For a while I was doing a great job of keeping up with my outfits. This week, I've been feeling a bit out of sorts. I know it shouldn't really be that big of a deal, but for some reason, I feel uninspired and unable to put together outfits I feel good in. You've probably noticed a change in my ootds - they lack feeling and energy. Or you may not. But I notice it in myself. Even in outfits that are similar to what I normally wear, I don't feel good in. 

Lately, mornings have been a struggle and it takes me forever to get dressed. I'm just not feeling it. It's not fun. I am dreading mornings lately =( 

Maybe it's just been a long week at work. I hope the weekend will give me a pick me up and put some spark back in me so I can look forward to putting together outfits again. 

Would I buy it now?

Definitely one of the best questions I ask myself when doing a closet purge. 

I used to equate 'would I buy it now?' to 'do I need this?' but as I got older and purged more, I realized that the question became more about myself as a person and how the things I wouldn't buy, was a reflection of my evolving self. 

When I decided that I would not buy tight clothing 'now', it was because I had grown out of the clubbing and partying part of my social life; when I decided I wouldn't buy the same sneakers 'now', it was because I was embracing adulthood.

Did everyone already figure this out?  I feel like it should be obvious, but it wasn't for me.

Never say never - Dooney & Bourke

Last year I discovered that I love bags by Dooney & Bourke - this surprised me because it was one of the brands that I really did not like and couldn't understand its appeal. I thought them to be too plain or too ugly, especially the much loved fold-over satchel. 

Being part of a fantastic online community of people who love and celebrate bags, I was exposed to a lot more styles and colors by D&B and became more curious. Coincidentally, the Hudson's Bay began to carry their bags and I was able to test them out in real life and I found that the leather on the popular florentine satchel was amazing; the stitching and detailing for a bag at that price-point was more than worth it - the braided zipper pulls, the green suede lining, heavy stitching, and the interior organization - amazing.

While I finally understood the hype over the bags, I wasn't sure if the style was going to be suitable for me because, while I love the satchel style, I wasn't sure if I could do the fold-over part as it requires a little bit more maneuvering to get to my things. Also, since the zip doesn't break apart, I was worried that it would add more of a hurdle for me. 

Despite these hesitations, when I went to the outlets, and finally saw alllll the colors, sizes, and styles that they offer - I fell in love. The bag-loving part of me wanted to get every single florentine satchel there was, but I was refraining from going overboard. 

I oddly, decided to go with a small orange florentine. Orange wasn't on my radar but something about it really caught my eye and I figured, go big, or go home. She's one of my favourite bags in my collection and while she's too small to bring to work, I try to take her out as much as possible =)

What do I do with you?

Do you have an item where you struggle to decide whether to let it go, or keep? 

Lately, I am wanting to let go of this top - 

Why? I have no idea. I wear it often, it looks fine, it's comfortable, and is a nice shade of gray. 

Something about it though, is making me want to say good-bye. I've been debating this for 3 weeks now. Yes, I know, #fwp...

Every other day, I think, I'm going to let it go and walk towards the donation bag and then I decide to put it on, look in the mirror, and change my mind. This should tell me I should keep it, especially since I wear it often (actually, quite a lot) but then why do I have an inclination to do without it? This is really bothering me and I can only come to the conclusion that I DO like it, but I am wanting something very similar to it (that may, or may not exist) and I'm waiting for that item to come my way (which, may or, or may not)... which brings me back to my original struggle.

I've asked myself a series of questions - 

Does it make me happy? It doesn't, not, make me happy

Does it serve a purpose? Yes.

Do I enjoy wearing it? I suppose I do, I wear it a lot.

Is it easy to wear? Very much so.

If I were to let it go, has it reached my cost-per-wear threshold? Definitely. 

Do I already have something that I could substitute it with? No.
Have I seen a better replacement? No.

None of these answers, are helpful or make me any more decisive. Any thoughts? 

Edit: Orange works for me too!

I previously posted about culling colors that don't work for me and orange was one of them. And it seems like orange, is everywhere this season. I couldn't turn away, and luckily found two inexpensive pieces to appease my want to wear it and test it out. Turns out, I don't look too bad in it! 

Similar to eating my words when it came to yellow,  I think I just needed to learn how to wear certain colors. I'm starting to learn that different shades might look better on me than others, and that the piece itself makes a big difference. Maybe it might not look good as a bottom, or a sweater, but perhaps it would look good if the color came in the form of shorts, or a tank top. Also, what I wear it with makes a big difference - some colors on me, only look good with very specific items. 

Brown is also a color that doesn't look good on me, but as I write this, outfits are spinning in my head and I think brown may actually go really well with orange!!! So there we go, there are 2 more colors that I can wear, and together, resulting in new outfits I can put together (and I don't even own that many of either color, which in itself is awesome because that means my outfit possibilities have grown, with so little). Fantastic!

I'm having a fantastic time learning all these lessons to help me make my best wardrobe.

I'll post some outfits once I get them down on my Stylebook App =) can't wait!

My first pair of Converse = excitement!

Over the weekend my husband and I were bored and with nothing planned, and not wanting to swelter in the heat-box that is our condo, made an impromptu trip to the Seattle Premium Outlets. Husband wanted to get a new pair of Converse (practically his uniform; he ended up buying 3!!!) and I finally found a pair that works for me. 

I have wanted a pair of Converse for a very long time (SO many awesome Pinterest inspirations I've been wanting to try) but the high-tops were just too much hassle for me with the constant tying and untying, and the low-rise ones kind of made my feet look like Ronald McDonald's; they also feel a bit uncomfortable because they are more narrow than the Adidas sneakers that I love and used to wear constantly (when I had more chances to dress casual).

Usually I don't look but husband was taking a bit long in making his color choices so I spent some time in the women's section and came across THESE, Converse shoreline slip-ons in beige - 

Wearing them already!

They are of the vintage nature, low-rise, NO TYING required, and just lets me slip them on easily like flats. And since there is no tying, the lace part doesn't go as high up on my foot, making it more comfortable for my wider feet, and the elastic back makes them nice and snug. I'm so excited to use these in my weekend outfits!

FINALLY using something for the first time #ootd

Three years ago I purchased a beige blazer, thinking it would be PERFECT for the office during Spring and Summer. Somehow, it did not make its way into my outfits, once. I did try - I spent hours trying to put together outfits and somehow never got it right or felt too self-conscious to walk out the door. I have no idea why - the blazer is perfectly normal and office appropriate. 

Last week I got dressed, walked out the door, and turned back. Without thinking, I grabbed the blazer and put it on, and headed back out. I checked my reflection as I walked and the outfit looked great! I don't know what the heck I was doing wrong before, but I'm so happy that I can finally use it, and wasn't wrong about it being a good purchase. True, it's only been in one outfit, but I think it will be fairly easy for me to produce different variations of it, now that I have something to copy from. 

Behold!

New blog page

Hi all!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and a fantastic start to the week!

I would like to showcase more of my ootds, so I have added a new link/page to the blog. This page is dedicated to only my ootds and will include the designer, or store they were purchased from, for reference. 

You can find the link to my ootds just under the header. There may be some technical difficulties as I am not savvy with these type of things, but please bare with me! If you notice anything weird about the links, or can recommend improvements, please leave me a comment!

Please see below for your regular scheduled blog post =)

May color capsule summary and showcase!

N and I have just completed our second month of color capsules! In May, we decided to keep to our basic colors and we each added a color for the start of Spring - she chose peach, and I chose pink!

Here is a summary of our outfits!

Mine - 

I've highlighted my favourites in green. So far, I'm still loving this color capsule concept versus a pre-chosen number of items. With a color capsule, I'm allowed more flexibility but it still keeps my numbers to a manageable amount. Although I introduced pink into the mix, I only used 3 items in that color and the rest of the items are still coming from my basics - black, white, gray, and navy. 

N's - 

Again, I love N's choice. Peach looks fantastic on her and she seems to have incorporated more of her additional color into her outfits than I did. Her clothes always have an interesting pattern or detail to them, and always look feminine; she always uses some fantastic accessories too! 

For the month of June,we have both chosen to add blue, of the brighter variety =) Stay tuned!