Friday, January 18, 2013

The Reveal (sort of)

A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though [s]he knows that you are slightly cracked.  
~ Bernard Meltzer

I can’t vouch for all interventions, but thanks to my friend, my fashion intervention was a blast!  :)

W. and I spent about 3 hours in a local mall.  She was amazing!  She found that perfect balance between (a) pointing me in the direction of better choices and (b) listening to me and respecting my feelings. 

For example – I stood firm on the “no skinny jeans” position.  I don’t care how fashionable they are – they are not for me.  But, she got me out of the men’s jeans that I typically buy at Wal-Mart (I told you that I desperately needed help!) and into a pair of curvy women’s boot cut jeans from Old Navy that I absolutely love!  :)

So, a quick run-down of our day, with pictures when I was able to get them off the internet:

We started at NY&Co, where I picked up:
  • 2 short-sleeved, neutral-colored, square-neck “t-shirts” (although the material is nicer than a standard t-shirt),
  • 2 long-sleeved, button-up, princess-seamed shirts with ruched sleeves (bright blue & warm peach)
  • 2 light-weight cardigans (grey & purple) on sale for $10 each! 




At Ann Taylor’s Loft I found:
  • A fun, short, pleated black skirt
  • A pair of nice black pants





I left Old Navy with:
  • 2 pairs of “Flirt” style (boot cut) blue jeans
  • 2 long-sleeved boat-neck “t-shirts” (solid pink & pink and orange stripes)
  • A flowing green blouse






Macy’s produced:
  • A pink pencil skirt
  • A longer black skirt – knit fabric, fitted on waist and hips, opening below with godet-like flares


And at H&M we managed to hunt down:
  • A pair of nice grey pants

Other stores, such as The Limited and The Gap, yielded nothing.  

The big missing pieces were a jacket and a dress.  I followed up with some online shopping and found this dress at ModCloth and this jacket at ASOS.  I also snagged a couple of leather belts (1 brown, 1 black) at Target. 




Later that afternoon I went through my pre-existing closet with a ruthless hand and culled out 4 large garbage bags full of clothes, which I promptly delivered to Goodwill.  A lot of that was stuff I have “outgrown” through weight gain…  :(

I’ve been doing a little internet research to see how I can create those cute wardrobe mix and match pictures like so many other sites post (the ones with white backgrounds and no people in the pictures) – and as soon as I get that worked out, I’ll show you exactly what I’ve got and how things combine.  ;)

An interesting side effect is that all this shopping has left me really motivated to do more clothes sewing for myself!  I’m now thinking about all those beautiful fabrics in my stash and visualizing how well tops and skirts made with them would mix and match within my new wardrobe!  I can’t wait to finish the flannel shirt for my Grandmother, so that I can get started on something for me!  I even have my first project picked out and ready to go…  :)

In summary, the day was a blast and I am really happy and excited about this new way of thinking about my wardrobe.  A huge thank you to my friend - a true friend! - for all her help and patience and guidance!  She rocks!  :)

10 comments:

  1. That's a good start. You're lucky that rtw fits you. One of the reasons that I sew is because rtw doesn't fit me at all, mostly becaue I'm on the thin side and a bit picky on fit.

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    1. Thanks, Debbie! :)
      I was going to say that I wish I had the problem of being on the thin side, but you are right - I am lucky that RTW fits me well enough. It would sure be a pain if I couldn't wear anything from the store...

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  2. You must feel like a million dollars! New clothes always give a lift. Now you can make some pretty things to go with all those fabulous new clothes.

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    1. Thanks, Gwen - it does feel good! I hope I can get the pants hemmed today and next weekend I can start on my first mix-and-match top! :)

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  3. I am so proud of you and thrilled that you put yourself thru the rigors of rtw shopping. Can you buy your friend a drink for me:)

    I grew up a bit advantaged in the wardrobe department because it is how my mom taught me to shop. In high school I would beg her to let us go home and leave the mall, but she would insist we stay until the last accessories were found....exhausting, but practical.

    There is nothing like a little organization to get the creative juices flowing. Can't wait to see your style boards, and project line up.

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    1. Thanks, Lynne! :)

      Wow - a high school girl begging her mom to quit clothes shopping - the thought boggles my mind! ;)

      Yes, I'm really going to try to think about my wardrobe differently and be a lot more practical.

      Of course, that's not to say that one or two "novelty" pieces won't ever emerge from my sewing room! ;)

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  4. The website you are looking for is Polyvore, I think. It lets you take images from stores to assemble outfits.

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    1. Thanks, Shannon! I'll check it out. Right now I'm thinking I might try "Closet Couture" because it lets me upload my own pictures and I want to include stuff I sew. :)

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  5. Sounds like a great starter wardrobe! And I'm glad you incorporated some color into it. That's great that you're so excited about sewing things to go with your new finds, and I'll be looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

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    1. Thanks, Becky! :)
      I hope to start sewing next weekend - although I also want to take a picture of each piece of clothing so that I can make those story boards for my blog... That's likely to take a chunk of one afternoon. The things we do for our blogs, right? ;)

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