What was once ruined and unwearable, is new again!

2 years ago, I was really hooked on the GAP's broken-in khakis - I loved the fit and comfort, and the casual cool vibe it gave off. Some materials and color were even office appropriate so I purchased 4 pairs. They are now on my 'do not buy' list because I can see myself getting them in every single available color and material. 

My favourite pair was in a beautiful pale blue color called Sandstorm, that I only got to wear 8 times before tragedy struck. I got a stain on it and for some reason, I decided to try to get it out with bleach. Why? You ask - I don't know. Not only did I use bleach, but I haphazardly applied it and obviously my pant ended up with bleached out splotches all over it. To this day, I still wonder what was going on in my head. 

My beloved

I was devastated. I kept it in my closet and desperately attempted to make outfits with them so they would hide the bleach stains. I debated back and forth about whether to get rid of them or keep them and dye them a different color. It saddened me to think about dyeing them since the color itself was why I loved them so much. So there they sat for more than a year, when finally I decided to just go for it. 

What color, I wasn't sure, but the first step was to bleach them and prepare it for possibilities. 

The blank canvas

The eventual color I chose was a beautiful purple, and with the help of my husband, now have a pretty amazing 'new' pair of pants that I know will fit me great. I can't wait to break them out and make new outfits with it!

New love!

After 3 packs of RIT dye

December, the month of reflection

I've been waiting for December 2015 to come along with great excitement! I have been diligently tracking my shopping purchases and trying to work within my wardrobe goals for 2 years, and can finally do a comparison between 2014 and 2015, and with 2 full years under my belt, feel I can finally get a better understanding of my budget and habits. 

Since I only started blogging towards the end of 2014, I'm going to go over 2014 in detail, and work my way up from there until the end of this year.

What I didn't do in 2014 was include my shoe purchases in my grand total of money spent, but I did keep track of them in a separate excel sheet specifically for shoes, so I was still able to determine what I spent on clothing that year. Unfortunately, I was't able to track the cost per wear for those shoes since I don't go into as much detail in their separate excel sheet as I do for my yearly budget sheet. (In 2015, I did include shoes into my full year's tracking.) 

My goal to purge and purchase better items had already begun in 2014 but I was mostly focused on purging rather than finding 'perfect pieces'. My purchases were less thought out in the 'wardrobe staple' department and more about filling in areas that needed replacing, or just things that I liked. The only well thought out pieces were my investment pieces.

In 2014, I didn't give myself a budget, but I also didn't go crazy - I would like to think I'm a pretty responsible shopper to being with, so not having a budget didn't affect me too much. In total, I spent $1028.78, for non-investment purchases, and $1,570 on 4 investment pieces (2 Burberry jackets/coats, and 2 Seiko watches), for a total of  $2,598.78. 

** For 2015, I made a conscious decision not to include any investment pieces into my regular wardrobe budget since they are intended to be long-lasting and very, very well thought out and calculated pieces. **

Spending $1,029 bought me a total of 33 items, including 4 pairs of shoes (including my ever so difficult to fit, knee-high boots), a winter coat that turned out to be one of my best purchases to-date (and an unexpected, very well-priced, investment piece), 3 items of gym wear, and an awesome black sheath dress. I also discovered that GAP boyfriend button-ups fit me very well and that I love their broken-in khakis, having bought 4 pairs. 

From those purchases, I have since donated 2 tops because I didn't like them any more, ended up wearing out my black sheath dress and a tunic, and ruined one of my favourite coloured khakis from a bleach accident (I've only recently bleached the entire pair of pants in an attempt to salvage them).

Since 2014, my cost per wear for each items has ended in single digits, with 6 items well under my $1 cost per wear threshold and approximately 10 items nearing that mark. The only item still in the double digits is my red Burberry quilted trench coat, but that was expected, and since I intend to have that for many, many years, am not too bothered by it.

Over all, my 2014 purchases helped me to: 

• find a great alternative to jeans by introducing me to khakis
• find a well-fitted button-up style
• finally find a pair of knee-high boots that fit me
• focus in on specific colors that are now my color palette of choice - gray, white/ivory, navy/blues, and black
• find an awesome cobalt wool coat that I absolutely love
• determine what kind of investment pieces I'm looking for and what areas of my wardrobe I'm willing to spend that kind of money on (coats, yes, definitely will lean towards paying investment prices; the watches were a one-time purchase and while they aren't in the price caliber as a Rolex, they meet my criteria of going with everything, are of solid quality, and are not pieces I intend to buy again until they break).

Designer jeans - a thing of the past for me

Remember several years ago when you couldn't open a magazine without seeing an article about how much we 'had to own' a pair of designer jeans? ... I'm not going to lie, I got caught up in the hype too, and I'm going to confess... I didn't buy them because I personally thought that the quality and cuts were better; a younger and much less wiser me, bought them purely as status symbols and justified them as investment pieces. Looking back, jeans were something I should have saved my money on, and here's why - 

Weight change - this of course is not the jeans' fault, but now I'm left with 6 pairs of designer jeans that don't fit (thank goodness I was able to give 2 to my friend earlier this month). At my age now, I've accepted that my weight will fluctuate for better or for worse, and there's no way that I can confidently say that I will be able to fit into the same size jeans from month-to-month, let alone a solid year. (This is why I love bags). This leads me to my next reason - cost per wear.

Cost per wear - out of 365 days of the year, there are approximately 104 days (weekends) that I can choose to wear jeans; that's about 28% of the year. Throw in some business casual Fridays, stat holidays and vacation days, then counter that with days I wear something else, we may be looking at actually 15%, which is about 55 days. I currently own 10 pairs of designer jeans and at a rough average of $125/pair (bought on sale and regular price), we're possibly looking at a Burberry coat.

(side note: Burberry coats are currently my wardrobe 'exchange rate'). 

Now, only 4 of the 10 pairs fit me and are in rotation, and here's their cost per wear breakdown for one year: ($125 per pair x 4 pairs) / (365 x 0.15) = $9.13/wear. (Interesting fact: if I were to wear the same pair of jeans for an entire year, its cost per wear would be $2.29). As I mentioned before, my goal for cost per wear is $1 - $9 is not going to do!

Less expensive options - In the last 6 months, and most recently, in February, I purchased two pairs for approximately $24 and $15 (yes, at the GAP =P), and they have already paid for themselves! If they wear down or my weight changes, I have no problem letting them go.

Other pant options - I've recently fallen in love with cords for fall/winter and khakis for spring/summer. They're great alternatives to jeans, especially khakis when the weather just gets too hot. Last summer, I spent most of my time out of jeans. Moving forward I expect that I will be wearing these alternatives more often, further preventing my cost per wear from going down

So taking the above into account, designer jeans are no longer an item I'm willing to spend my money on as an 'investment piece.' I'll be sticking to more reasonably priced alternatives, or picking them up at major discount. 

Excitement! - new favourite outfit and accessory!

I thought Mimmy made a really good point in her post comment about the 'odd man out' - "I think I was actually trying to pair it with things that worked against it." This really spoke to me and she had mentioned she decided to pair her piece with neutrals and let the piece speak for itself. 

Here is that same sweater again - 

(Rosie Neira)

And taking into account Mimmy's words, yesterday, I decided to wear it as the showcase piece and made this outfit with it - 

(Banana Republic, GAP, Rosie Neira, Cole Haan, Coach, Pearson & Brown)

I wish I had taken a photo with the outfit on because the colors look way better together, but this is a new favourite outfit I discovered; it uses my color capsule and a 'odd man out' piece to form a decent outfit, but then is taken to a non-boring level by my shoes and scarf. 

(The more I look at it, this cardigan seems to be a shade of gray with some green undertone ... ya, I still have no idea about its color, sigh...)

Now, let me talk about this scarf - I received it from my mom's latest trip to Asia and it's actually landscape. I don't know if you can tell from the photo but it's mountains and a body of water. I don't know too much about it other than it's silk and by Pearson & Brown - if any one has more info on this brand, I'd love to hear about it! It's beautiful and oh sooooooo soft. It's fast becoming one of my favourite items. 

(Pearson & Brown silk scarf; sorry for the poor photo quality, I used my phone camera to do the pano)

The yellow played off of my shoes and the green picked up the undertones of my cardigan. And since I left everything else neutral, both the scarf and cardigan got to stand out. So, thanks Mimmy, for giving me the idea to let the 'odd man out' shine, and also to the girls on TpF for all the talk about scarves lately that gave me the idea to pull this out. 

Spring is here! and what do I wear?

For the last few weeks I have been anticipating the arrival of Spring - looking at Pinterest for ideas, I couldn't wait to start wearing some color and break out some lighter outwear. Of course, we are experiencing terrible weather. While we have it better than eastern Canada, it is pouring rain and randomly breaking into torrential down-pour. This means it's wet, dreary, and COLD. Forget the cute skirts and open toe shoes, forget the tan trench coat, forget the small cute bags, but DON'T forget your umbrella and rain boots =(

How have I been battling these Spring blues? With khakis! After I discovered GAP khakis, I have purchased 4 pairs in less than a year. 2 in lighter spring colors (pale pink and dusty gray/blue), a lighter gray in linen, and a pair in dark gray. Yes, Yes, I know, I talk about the GAP a lot, and honestly, I'm surprised that I haven't raved about these pants sooner, haha. When I bought them, I bought them for summer use, but I am fast realizing that they give me the taste of Spring I'm so longing for, AND they keep me warm. 

The great thing about them is that they look great with flats, sneakers, and high heels. I've been wearing my rain boots to work and then switching into my heels for a more professional look at the office. When I have a tour, I can wear flats and they still look professional and keep me comfortable, and for weekends, I can wear my sneakers =) Very versatile!

Benchmark items

I know one of the first rule of thumbs when purging is to get rid of all the clothing that doesn't fit you but while I was purging, I couldn't help but keep some favourite items in hopes that I will one day fit into them again. 

These are a few of my benchmark items.

(Mexx, Tahari, Tommy Hilfiger, GAP)

I try on my benchmark items every few months - I last tried on these items at the beginning of the year and they were tight. Very tight. This month I started to do the 30 day squat challenge and I tried these pieces on, on Saturday and they fit! The blazer was a little tight in the shoulders but I was able to button it, and the dresses and skirt skimmed my body like they did when I first bought them, years ago. I am beyond pleased and am so glad I kept a few of these pieces - I know some people find them demotivating and I did too at times, but they also help me find motivation every time I looked at them because they remind me of why I want to be healthy and shed some weight - so that I could wear these favourite pieces again! 

Do any of you have any benchmark items? I have a few ultimate benchmark mark pieces but I think I'll actually have to lose 10 more lbs to be even close haha, but I'm not giving up!!!

Stress shopping

The last few months have been quite stressful and I have been feeling overwhelmed with anxiety and worry. I won't get into it, but I will get into 'stress shopping' - I found myself doing that a lot. In addition to the 4 pairs of shoes I purchased, I completely forgot to add the 2 pairs of pants, skirt, and dress that I bought, to my February count. Oops. Seriously, I just forgot until this morning. 

I noticed that when I'm in a good state of mind, the idea of shopping does not even occur to me. I'm pre-occupied with being productive and motivated that shopping is the last thing on my mind. When I'm upset, I have realized that I start to feel an urge to purchase things, and if I'm not careful, it can spiral out of control. Knowing this, I do stick to more affordable pieces and places during this time and I always keep the tags on and ride it out. Once I feel better, I re-evaluate what I purchased and make returns if necessary. (although right now I have a very big urge to go nuts at Louis Vuitton - but I won't, I know better than that).

Right now, the silver lining is, since I know my style a lot better than I did, I've made some good purchases even during this time. I know, not an excuse to buy, or keep, but at least it's not a total loss. All the items I've so far purchased, I have worn and love. The pants I bought, love love love - again, from the GAP (I'm really in love with the GAP right now) - I bought their Always Skinny corduroys in black and a pair of their boyfriend jeans. No hemming required for either! Hurray! I've worn them so many times since I got them that their cost per wear is almost down to nothing (it helps that they weren't even $15 each - see, how could I pass them up??). I made two purchases at H&M for date nights when my husband returns and since he loves them, I will be keeping them; I don't have any 'date night' clothing, so these are nice additions to my wardrobe and I can always use them for other occasions, with the right accessories. 

Although I stressed shop, I picked up some great pieces and I DO NOT intend to bring this habit into March. March, I vow, will be a purchase-free month!!!

An amazing find for me - GAP boyfriend shirts

I love dress shirts - I think they look amazing on people! 

Unfortunately, they were an article of clothing that I found difficult to buy - they would either be too tight across the chest, or fit my chest and then be too big around my shoulders and back, or just over-all too tight or too large. And then there's always the gape between the buttons - so many gaps!

Last year I was shopping at the GAP (I love their sales and grab my trendier items from there (trendier for me, not necessarily trendy haha); and their sales are amazing) and came across a dress shirt and I thought, why not - by this time, I had decided that I wasn't going to wear dress shirts any more but I figured I've already been disappointed this many times that once more isn't going to make a difference. 

I tried, and fell in love - GAP's boyfriend fit shirts fit me to a T and since my discovery, have added 5 of them to my wardrobe, including the much raved about 'chambray shirt,' and wear them constantly. I also really love this pink plaid one - it looks great with so many things!

And the gaps? Depending on the material, there are none! For the thinner ones, there's only 1! Which I just tape up using double-sided tape =) 

I've found my new go-to dress pant: GAP's true straight pants

Up until 2014, I bought all my dress pants from Banana Republic and I would choose cuts with a wider pant leg. The previous year, I purchased a few slimmer fitting pants for spring and summer to wear with sandals and flats and fell in love - they are much more figure flattering and more versatile in terms of what shoes I could pair them with - flats, sandals, heels, wedges, they all looked great and because I could get them at ankle length, they didn't require any hemming (which is a HUGE plus in my books).

As luck would have it, early in 2014, I had to replace a pair of black dress pants so I went on the look-out for a nice fitting, price friendly, replacement and found myself loving the GAP's true straight pants. There were no sales going on at the time but that day the GAP was offering $15 off their dress pants so I gave them a shot.

When I tried them on, they fit perfectly, and were sooo comfortable - I was tempted to purchase more in other 'boardroom' colors but as I'm working on minimalism, only purchased what I needed. Plus, I wanted to know how they would hold up for a period of time. I wore them regularly throughout the year and they have been great. No fading in color, holds up well during wash and wear, no sagging or shrinking, and the best part is I don't have to hem them if I purchase from their 'short (A/C)' fit.

One of the last items I purchased in December included a pair in light gray for a fantastic price - it was on sale for $33.99 with an additional half off; I really couldn't say no to that. I did go home and put a pair of super wide-leg dress pants into the donations pile. One-in, one-out is my general rule of thumb!

I would love to add a dark gray and navy pair but I still have those in a wider pant leg that work perfectly fine so I will leave them be for now and only replace them if I come across another fantastic deal, or my current ones need replacing, or I've lost weight.

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!

Navy - my new ‘go to’ color

Blue was always in my wardrobe but it was mostly because I like the color, not because I knew how to make it work for me. I decided to go with navy as my main blue shade and bought pieces that I would use as ‘anchor’ pieces - pieces that would hold the eye. This year I added a skirt (Gap, similar to this one), kitten heels (Zara), nylon bag (Dooney &Bourke), and zip-wallet (Michael Kors) to the mix.