In keeping with the fashion and wardrobe topic of late, I thought this Wednesday, I would cull through my “Dress Me Up” Pinterest board and see what things I’d like to put on my bod. Oh, and I recently read in one of my piles of papers that if you choose to keep it simple with a black and white palette when it comes to clothes, wear the white on the bottom instead of the black, otherwise, you could get mistaken for waitstaff at an upscale restaurant. However, if you must wear your black on the bottom as it minimizes and does al kinds of forgiving things to the lower half, add a pop of color or a statement pieces necklace to draw the eye up towards your lovely face. Hey, look at that that! I’m retaining information; now for the application! Stay tuned.
So, about a month ago, I posted the photo below:
curly_girlie78 I’m having serious buyer’s remorse with this shirt. I junk the cardigan helps but I’m wishing I hadn’t cut the tags 🙁 can it be saved? Lets discuss! #ootd
You might have even read the original post and weighed in. I have tried to make this shirt work and it just doesn’t. I think it’s too short on me. When I look back online at the image from J.Crew, the model wearing it makes it look like there are shirttails hanging out. I think that’s what the problem is! There aren’t any shirttails on the actual shirt! False advertising!
Look at this! A trompe l’oeil!
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| (source) |
Is that a shirttail or is the shirt just jauntily bunched up on her belt loop? Either way, it don’t look like that when I put it on. See Exhibit A above. Maybe I need to wear a cami underneath and let it peek out? I need the length, otherwise, I look like a very short-waisted square.
Even as I type this, I know that I’m not going to try it again with a cami underneath! That would mean getting my hopes up one more time only to have them dashed when the shirt fails to deliver. That shirt mocks me from my closet! Every time I go in there, it just sits there, unworn. We’re going to have to part ways.
A few days ago, I heard about this website called Poshmark, which is this website where you can buy and sell fashion. You snap a few pics of your clothes, shoes, accessories or whatever, provide a description, the actual price and the price you’ll take. Presto! Change-o! Whatever’s taking up valuable real estate in your closet can become someone else’s problem favorite outfit! Check out my listings because I really want to move give these things a good home!
Call it spring cleaning. Call it purging to making room for new stuff. Whatever you want to call it, I’m trying to thin the herd that is my closet and wear what works best for me. We all know I love me some striped shirts:
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| I may need a stripe-tervention (this isn’t even all of them!) |
and I’m trying wear clothes that flatter my body type. I’m a pear or a triangle with hourglass dreams. I buy clothes based on fit, not by the number on the tag (and I have been everything from single digits to double digits but you’d never know, aside from the fact that I just told you, because I wear what fits). Still, I’ve been walking around feeling like my outfits are incomplete. Coco Chanel famously said, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.”
If I did that, I’d be missing a shoe, or my wedding run, or my pants. That piece of advice wasn’t really working for me and I kept thinking that I needed to add something. I would put on a belt, only to have my eye gravitate right toward the buckle, which magnified my problem area — you know that area between my neck and my knees). I would try to tuck the shirt in and have the belt lat flat against my waistband only to look like a stuffed sausage en route to carpool. Ugh! I have scarves and hats and a bevy of necklaces and bracelets, but I can’t ever put them together in a way that made sense. It’s like fashion math; jeans + top + (shoes /inclement weather) * big hair = still in my underwear after 15 minutes of looking.
I started people watching for outfit ideas. I was in Target and saw this older lady in a cowl neck gray top, coral pants and leopard print shoes with gold hoop earrings. I’m pretty sure I have similar pieces, so I made mental note and put something together at home. I saw another woman wearing red cords, a chambray shirt and nude flats. While the red cords and I didn’t see eye to eye, I did have some red twill pants, a chambray shirt and nude flats. I threw an oatmeal colored sweater on top and thought, “Okay, I’m getting it.”
One of my dear sorority sisters N., came for a visit the other day and talk turned to fashion and investing in quality pieces. She and I both had succumbed to shopping at stores for basic pieces over and over again rather than buying the more expensive piece, one time. We’re both at a place (chronologically and financially) where we can stop buying the throw-away pieces and really invest. It’s a tough nut to swallow, though.
Case in point: I received an expensive pair of shoes as a gift recently. I wasn’t sure if they were the right size, so I bought a second pair in the size down to compare. I planned to take whichever pair didn’t fit back to the store.
Easy enough. Between the time the second pair arrived and the time I made it back to the store, I continued to educate myself on wardrobe essentials courtesy of my stack of magazines. One thing I didn’t have in my closet was a pair of black, patent leather pumps. I had a pair of black pumps that I probably bought when I was in college; they’ve clearly seen better days. Time to upgrade.
When I took the two pairs of shoes back to the store, I figured I’d check out the patent leather pumps, too. Long story short, I exchanged the second pair of shoes for a nice pair of pumps. The clerk asked me for my card so she could apply the difference. Now, math has never been my strong suit, and I assumed I was getting some money back. I carried my little happy hips out of the store and visited a few more shops before my brain caught up to my wallet.
I actually PAID MORE money for the pumps than for the shoes I was returning (let’s just say, I couldn’t swallow a triple digit pair of shoes, no matter what Rachel Zoe, Tim Gunn, Lloyd Boston and Stacy London say). I went right back to the store, up to customer service (’cause I was too embarrassed to back to the shoe department) and laid it on the counter.
The customer service rep was happy to help me with my return, though he did do a spit-take when he saw the date and time of purchase on the receipt.
Me: Hi. I’d like to return these shoes (hands over receipt).
Him: Sure, I’d be happy to help you with that. (looks over receipt). Looks like you bough these. . .15 minutes ago?! (insert spit-take here)
Me: Um, yeah.
Him: massive eye roll
I guess when it comes to investment pieces, I’ve got to start small (smaller than shoes anyway). As I related this story to N. , I was doing a mental record of her outfit: yellow and white striped sweater, green scarf, blue skinny jeans, brown boots. Hmmm, yes, I have all of these pieces. Why haven’t I put them together like this before?! So, the next day was an homage to N.
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| (thanks, N.!) |
Bonus for me! With all the striped shirts I have, I’ve got a few alterna-tops I can pair with these jeans for a similar look with a totally different color scheme. After N. left, I went back to my files – the torn out pages from Glamour, Real Simple and People with headlines like Your 10 Essential Wardrobe Must Haves! Rachel Zoe Decodes Your Closet! and Victoria Beckham’s Guide to Style! You can imagine the pile I’ve amassed. It’s starting to pay off, though. Now, when I’m getting dressed in something other than Work-Out Chic, I scan my dog eared pages for some insight.
The belt and I have decided to try it again. Belt down low, bad. Belt up high, much better. Observe.
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| ready for church |
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| just another day in the life. . . |
It’s coming along, slowly but surely. I’m glad I’m taking pictures as I go because I’m sure there will be a day when I walk into the closet and really have no idea what to wear.
Side note:
I’m doing one of the many February Photo Challenges that’s floating around the internet. Day 4’s picture was OOTD (outfit of the day). The day got away from me and I ended up trading my pj’s for workout clothes and back again. I have read somewhere that if you invest in quality workout wear, you’re more likely to wear it to work out.
Yeah, that sounds like some crap to me, too. I’m just trying to get it right and tight, maybe make the leap from pear to hourglass. I might just have a belt to help with that, too.
I’ve been trying to improve my wardrobe from sweatpants chic to a more young, urban mother flair. It’s been a journey considering the number of sizes I’ve cycled through with each pregnancy. No counting the work-out wardrobe I needed to get back into shape. My closet is overflowing and yet, I constantly maintain that I have nothing to wear.
I have steadily torn out pages from Glamour, Real Simple, People and the like whenever headlines like How to dress 10 Lbs. Slimmer! Your 10 Essential Wardrobe Must-Haves! Winter Chic for Under $50! Rachel Zoe Decodes Your Closet!
You can imagine the pile of papers I’ve got to work with. I’ll admit it, I’m a follower of trends. I’ve got a Pinterest board called “Dress Me Up” and one called “Saw it. Bought it.”, which overlap quite a bit. Clothes, shoes, outfits that I’d like to wear (or maybe it’s the body shape I’d rather have) make it to these boards. On a recent review, there’s quite a bit of stripes going on, but as the old adage goes. . .
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| (true story) |
I see stuff that I like either in magazines or on other people. Rather than thinking about whether or not a) I need it, b) really and truly like it or c) whether or not it’s a good match for me, I end up with stuff that I don’t really wear. Trying to put an end to that, I’ve decided to dress or rather, make outfits selections more purposefully rather than with a “This is clean” mentality. And while I’m not a fan of shopping (contrary to what my back account says), I’m a sucker for things that I see in my price range and that I think will disappear if I don’t grab them. Case in point, this Peter Pan Collar from J.Crew.
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| (image) |
I looked at it online after viewing it in one of my mags back in August. The word on the street was that Peter Pan collars were making a comeback for the fall. This particular shirt was already back ordered until November. In my pea brain that meant Panic at the Disco! Everyone is buying this shirt! I must have it, too!
I must have been a lemming in my past life.
Now, I know that I am shaped like a 34 year old Black woman, not like the model pictured above. BUT, I figured that the shirt would be flattering. I mean, I’ve got a cute shape every now and again. I’ve got jeans like the model has on. I could make this work. So, I forked over my debit card and waited for November. The shirt came as promised I planned to wear it for Thanksgiving dinner. I gave myself a blow out, put on a little stick-lip (that’s lipstick to the rest of y’all) and away I went.
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| (you can’t really see it that well, but I’m in it) |
Anyway, I liked how it looked. It was comfy and every time I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror, I found myself smiling. Of course, the vanity in the bathroom was high enough to cover the lower half of the shirt and my body, so I never got a really good look at what was going on. Ignorance is bliss, right?
Fast forward to a few Sundays ago. Trying to get ready for church, trying to wear something I haven’t worn in a while (remind me to tell you about the clothing rotation project), and my hand stopped on the shirt. I figured I could wear it with a black pencil skirt, black tights and black pumps. Yeah, it wasn’t doing me any favors. So, I tried the shirt with a herringbone print skirt, black tights, and pumps. Nope. Negative. Then I held up a pair of oxblood pants to my waist, turned to the hubs and asked, “Does this go?” and he gave me a a very confident thumbs up.
I slipped on the pants with a pair of nude heels, turned to the hubs, who then said, “Actually. . .that really doesn’t work.”
I knew it! And here I am with this shirt that only looks good from the waist up. What am I supposed to do with that? Walk around with a redact bar across my waist? Back to the drawing board. SN: as for church that day, I settled on the oxblood pants, a cream colored long sleeve shirt with a boatneck, and a grey cocoon shrug. Nice.
So, I’m determined not to give in to this shirt. I’m going to do one of three things.
1. Take the shirt to J.Crew and say, “Help me with this.”
2. Fold it up and save it for one of the girls to grow into (hello, grow with me project for Vivi!).
3. Keep trying clothes in the closet to see if I can figure something out.
Today, I went with option three. I flipped through my other pages of fashion inspiration and wouldn’t you know it? I had another page featuring a Peter Pan collared shirt, this time worn by a well known actress.
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| (image) |
I have all of those pieces she’s wearing. I put on the skinny jeans, some tall brown boots with a brown belt. I grabbed my black cardigan per Victoria Beckham’s Wardobe Essentials as reported by Glamour magazine. She must have gotten that from my good friend and constant cardi wearer, Karen Sue. As for the scarf, I skipped it.
Clearly by the look on my face in the first picture, I’m not feeling this. So, I add the cardigan. Better, but still not making me happy. Maybe I need the scarf after all.
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| (grrr! this shirt!) |
What’s a girl to do? Take it to social media of course. I fired up my insta.gram, pic-stitched the pics and turned it over to the masses.
Here’s a sample of the feedback I received from my pals (in no particular order):
from lifeofkeesh: Wear this shirt with a bright colored blazer (maybe a jewel tone) and add a skater skirt. You’ll be new old school.
from sjfaraway: I’m sorry, were you saying something? I was distracted by those awesome boots.
from annteighm: If the shirt were red, I’d liken you to Aileen Quinn. . . “The-e-e-e-e sun’ll come out, TOmorrow! Betcha bottom dollar that too-more-owww. . .they’ll be sun- n- n-n ! For real, though, I think it looks good.
from refeoxyfemme: The cardigan helps. I’m wondering if some pops of color would too. Is the collar connected?
from besswa: I love it!
from franklinfitzgerald: Drop the cardigan. You can go with a nice skirt and run some dressier boots to set it off. Possibly a wide high waisted belt to set off the dressy boots.
from kmcam34: I like the shirt. I was going to ask you where you got it. I think some different shoes with the cardigan or without.
from jessgarbi: I love it! Try with round flat shoes.
from itsonlyanatural: I like it.
from kisforkatrina: I love Peter Pan collars.
Love, love, love it! I think it can be saved. Stay tuned. . .