The Purge

Before setting out to fill in the "holes in my closet" it was important for me to figure out and catalog what I already had. I truly see how important it is to (1) know what clothes you have (2) have them visible because there are few instances I put together an imaginary outfit and go hunting for the pieces that I want. My goal is to purge my closet of the clothes that I have a bizarre sentimental attachment to wearing in the future and the ones that I know that I will never be able to squeeze into. I was mildly successful in both of these avenues. I read a tip online that for clothes you feel attached to for no reason just take a picture and get it outta there, so I snapped a few pics on my iPhone and was able to get rid of another chunk of clothes.  I am guilty of keeping some pants that were a little snug but managed to give away the ones where I couldn't even get the button to fasten.

Finally letting go of some old stuff

As I mentioned above its vitally important to do a systematic review of closet inventory at least once a year.  I knew I had a love of colored pants and had picked up a few here and there, little did I know I'd hit every color of the rainbow already.  Glad I finally got them all together and neatly arranged so I can pick out exactly what I need.

One of the joys of closet reorganizing, rediscovering your past purchases

Going through and sorting my clothes allowed me to rediscover the wardrobe I already have.  I'm realizing this is a little bit about buying new clothes but mostly about learning what works for me.  Learning how to combine the pieces I already have and breathing new life into them is going to be the real challenge here.  I still need a solid foundation of basics to lay the meshwork of my style and then use the interesting pieces I've picked up along the way as adornments.  After weeding through the screen printed Ts and unflattering tiered cotton tank top dresses I was left with some beautiful textures and prints.  I had bought these more recently but they were buried underneath the other drab prints and textiles I'd been keeping around. 

Plush gray sweater, heavenly soft. Black lace top with stud detailing.

Light cotton T with delicate lace inset. Monochrome print top.

I picked up a few great deals around holiday time and even managed to hit some things from my list!

Nerding Out

Kenneth Cole New York Glasses [here exact]

If you've had an opportunity to take a peak over at The List you can see its a work in progress, but I think baby steps is the way to go for me here.  With my busy schedule I have noticed that of late I have been opting to sleep in the extra few minutes and throw on my glasses and head out the door.  There wasn't really anything wrong with my old glasses but they weren't unique or interesting in anyway.  They were just the right size to obscure any semblance of eye make up I was wearing while at the same time drawing attention to my half visible eyes.

I'll be honest, I've been craving a pair of heavy rimmed nerd glasses that take up half my face for a while.  The truth is I didn't think I was trendy enough to handle it.  I finally found the perfect pair that I think are kind of middle of the road in terms of their lens size and rim thickness.  They're pretty big, they take up an appropriate amount of my face.  My eye make up looks fantastic and the lens size allows the full almond effect of winged liner and a smokey eye to shine through in a subtle but sleek way.  I love them!

Here's the real kicker, I only paid about $20 for them! How? You like me have probably seen the Coastal.com free first pair offer floating around the web and likely brushed past.  I finally looked into it one day on a whim and found this fantastic pair that satisfied all of my rather difficult requirements for under $20 with shipping.  Take a look around, theres a few pair of pretty spiffy looking nerdy rims that fall into the firstpairfree category.

Another realization I made is that before any serious clothing purchases can be made I need to do a serious flush of my closet.  There are definitely shirts hanging in my closet I haven't even touched in 18+ months and somehow have convinced myself I might need it, I think it's time to let go!  I foresee a giant box of clothes being delivered to the goodwill sometimes soon.

Coastal.com Glasses//Original Price: $130//My Price: $20//Total Savings: 85%

Embarking on a Journey

I was out shopping for some clothes today and wandered through the juniors section at Macy's and was appalled and how unappealing everything there looked to me.  So cheesy, sparkly, tight fitting and mass produced.  I chalked it up to it being holiday season and the end of the year.  Then it dawned on me it wasn't the Juniors section that was the problem--it was me!  I'm in my early twenties, time to high tail it over to the big girl section.  This isn't to say that wonderful pieces can't be found stuck even in the kids section for us petite girls but its time for a paradigm shift in my wardrobe.

I'm a big bargain hunter, I don't believe in paying more money for a clothing item than I could realistically carry around in my wallet.  That being said I am now seeing the importance of having high quality, staples that will last for years and can be used in an endless variety of combinations and permutations.

Part of the reason my wardrobe has failed to transition is because I am still a student.  After completing my bachelor's degree I kept on rolling right into grad school and am currently in year three of a four year program.  The academic rigor required was one of the excuses for me slouching around in the same stuff I've had for years.  Occasionally I'd go on a "fashion" bender e.g.: I really wanted a cropped black blazer, when I finally found one I bought 5 in all different colors.  Excessive.

I'm a very concrete-sequential type person.  I like to make lists and cross things off.  One of my fav bloggers Franish introduced this concept of having a list of items you need and filling them in.  That sealed the deal for me.

I'm going to create a list, hopefully an amalgamation of what many ladies out there in the blogosphere have already put out and then start slowly working my way through it.  Like I said I'm budget conscious, as a student one of my last expense priorities is on clothing, and will keep that in mind as I venture through this.

This will be a blog about my journey to discovering my own style, body type and eventually transitioning to a wardrobe suitable for work, home and night.

I want to blog because it keeps me honest.  Even if nobody else every sees this, it gives me a space to be accountable and track my progress.

Click here for the list, or scroll up and click on the button above.

Comments? Thoughts? Items to add to the list?  Please feel free below!