Closet Buying: January sum-of-things
Posted by: jrosei on: January 24, 2012
I read an enlightening blog post by a lady who kept a journal of her spending on clothing, accessories, and shoes for all of 2011, and then shared it with her readership. Ah! She broke it down into new, foreign, thrift, and online purchases (Etsy & Ebay). Discussed, were price tallies from each category as well as an overall read on how useful/wearable her purchases ended up being. Though I did not buy three pairs of Fluevog boots, I have already made quite a buying statement for this month already. Lord help me, those sale e-mails I get from Amazon, Groupon, and Ann Taylor Loft are my kryptonite. And the sales themselves. 60% of SALE items! Well, now these new items are at trendy thrift store prices, and I have been in need of a pajama set for *cough* years! What am I getting to?
Monthly ‘sum-of-things.’ Yes, that’s right. Instead of fainting away as I sum up a whole years worth of ‘Closet Buying,’ (because that where my accessories, shoes and clothes live, and because it’s stuff that I may sneek into the house so my guy housemates don’t roll their eyes), I will go month by month. I also like this approach because it gives me 12 time to look at my spending and think. Think about whether a two week old item is as invaluable as I thought it would be when bought, think about the quantity of stuff purchased in a given month, think about new items vs. thrifted ones, and think about how I want the next month to be. I may include price eventually, but for now, I’m not. Here we go:
Accessories
Wood cut necklace (Seattle boutique)
Turquoise and metal, two strand beaded necklace (fair trade, TTV)
————-* chunky necklace (fair trade, TTV)
Clothes
Green-ish teal cardigan with ribbon detail (ATLOFT)
Light peach tee with stripped detail (ATLOFT)
Spruce green-ish blue 3/4 knit top with banding (ATLOFT)
Magenta and grey 3/4 knit top with banding (ATLOFT)
Navy wool slacks (ATLOFT)
Pajama set -bottoms: flannel white and gray animal spots pattern, top: knit brown-gray long sleeve (ATLOFT)
Jean trousers, dark wash (ATLOFT)
Shoes
Black -below knee- boots with buckle detail (Buffalo Exchange)
After taking these pictures and simply looking at and re-trying on some of the items I’ve decided to take back two of the knit tops because (1) my buying this month was excessive, (2) the cut of the shirts didn’t do great things for my figure, and (3) the print of the magenta one was just not ‘me’ enough.
Top accessory pick: the wooden necklace. The cut of it’s unique, whimsical and clean, is an interesting length and color/grain, plus it will remind me of Seattle when I wear it (and the good friends I have there).
Top clothing pick: Fun-ily enough, the pajamas. A close second would be the cardi, but no, it’s the pjs. I am rocking them right now. Loving the coloring and fabric of the top, and the flannel fabulous-ness of the pants, and guys, they match, but not in a lame middle-school way. I finally have cool pjs.
Top shoe pick: Okay, even though I only had one pair to look at, even if there were ten, the second-hand Seattle boots would still win out. I love ‘em. They are simple enough to dress up, dress down, wear with pants and an over-sized shirt or over leggings, paired with a skirt, belt and top. And they fit my calves. And they rescued my poor feet after being soggy for a few hours (the shoes I trudged around in during that rainy Seattle day, will never recover).
Flops: The shirts, and woohoo, they still have the tags so, back to the store they go!
*May end up being gifted, so it didn’t appear in the picture, nor did I want to reveal details about it.
Borrowing Inspiration
Posted by: jrosei on: January 22, 2012
So, Boden. Love their colors, love their prints and their embellishments, love their accessories and their photo shoot locations, but people, most of all, I love how they pair their items. When that small book of beauty (that some call a catalog) arrived in my mailbox, I smiled big. It’s January. I needed inspiration. So I opened it up and poured through the pages, paying no attention to price (Am I going to buy a simple A-line skirt for $100? I think not, plus as I look back at outfit pics of me, I’m thinking pencil skirts might be the way to go with these curves). First up, page one or two or whatever page they called it, but the first picture. Bingo.
So I didn’t have thin-stripe capris, nor do I exist in model make-believe land where you can wear capris during a Midwest January (oh, wait, you could have, like one week ago, but that’s another story), but I did have a green and white print cardigan and a goldenrod bolero, so this was the result.
I do still like the shades they had better, but guess what, mine was free (well not originally, but you know what I mean). Someone had a similar idea to me (as I’m sure many others have as well). Check out the article she wrote here. And another article gave a rundown of items ordered and tried from the catalog by her whole family in a test to see how much of her loyalty Boden deserved. Though I thought her assessments of the individual items were pretty spot on, I had to wonder if the 40- something mother she claimed was the target buyer pertained more to the UK line than the US one. I am not above dressing ten years my senior, and I’ll admit it, but 15 or 20? And the models, are my age (late 20s) or early 30s. And the clothes look good on them, not silly. Thoughts?
Next up…
Winding Down
Posted by: jrosei on: January 11, 2012
When I happen upon a shared goal or reflection read, I find I respond in a could different ways. The first and best is, “Yes! Thank you! You get it.” This usually comes when I am feeling I am up to the challenge, have already made strides towards achieving the goal, or am just so encouraged by finding a like mind, that I’m beside myself. As I wrote, the best reaction. Not so good is when I’m struggling with accomplishing something big or small and realize ‘champagne toast,’ (could be anyone) is leaps and bounds ahead, sharing about how yes it was a struggle but he/she has a healthier diet/schedule/etc. now and you can too. I want to love the improvements anyone makes on their life to be healthier in any of the ways one can be healthy, but it sucks to feel like I’m always a little late to the game in being the one to make improvements. I’ve been in this stuck place before, I don’t remain there constantly but it’s an underlying tension I live with. Lived with. Currently, partially live with?
Oh, right the title of the post. Let’s bring it back to ‘best reactions.’ So there are very few blogs I read by folks I don’t know but I happened upon an entry by ‘Just a Titch,’ off of a link from my friend’s blog and I loved two of the points she made, particularly because I’m working at them myself. I feel encouraged by reading goals that I haven’t articulated in quite this way before. These points were under the heading, “So Why Don’t You?”
“Turn off the TV, music, phone, Kindle, etc. for five minutes? Light a candle and enjoy the quiet? Write in a journal instead of watching or listening to something? Sit with your own thoughts and take deep breaths?”
Yes, to quiet, yes to journal-ing yes to sitting with my own thoughts. There is not enough of this in my life, nor has there been in forever.
“Start a nightly routine? Settle in with a book, some tea and a candle? Take a bath or shower, followed with yummy lotion? Snuggle with your pet or special person? Ban anything with a screen for the last 30 minutes of the night?”
Hm. Candles in both of these entries. Guess I should get on that. I have some, they just don’t get lit. Why? Because, since college I haven’t spent much of my waking time in my bedroom, but it’s not just the time, it’s that it requires a level of unwinding that hasn’t been on my radar for awhile. I have fun, I have people over for games or a chat, I go out. I have a rich social life (and I’m talking real friendships here), but I don’t let myself stop until the end of the day. If there’s room in my schedule, then it’s up for grabs. Was up for grabs. I’m starting to learn.
I’ve been reading more these last c0uple months (I read a heck of a lot this summer, but that was required reading), I wrote a goodly batch of Christmas cards (sure there wasn’t a picture or a tri-fold yearly update, but I wrote a personal message in each), and I’m giving more attention to my cat (though I still have a ways to go there in her estimation). I am moving forward in ways I haven’t in a long time by slowing down and even stopping.
Getting domestic (or staying in), and liking it
Posted by: jrosei on: January 10, 2012
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The title of the post is misleading, I admit. Here is what I mean:
Over the last few weeks I have had time to create, to move more slowly and breathe. I didn’t write poems, or short stories, or picture book manuscripts. But I did make a couple meals (Groundnut stew and tuna turnovers) while I was out visiting the Seattle crew, and last night Homemade Toast had a craft party and I sewed three buttons onto two coats, and a fastening device onto a pair of pants. One of the coat’s buttons had fallen off two winters ago and until recently had been affixed with a safety pin (which it turns out was making a large-ish hole in the coat). Another one of the crowning achievements of my time out west was helping complete a 1500 piece puzzle composed of fairy tale characters. Who has time for something like that? I did (along with my hosts)! And it was great. While away, I read poems, parts of books and tried to keep the laptop off as much as possible. I need more of this.
More of mending and making, free cooking and baking*, reading and questing (after new stories and what to do next), re-imagining (my space, etc.) and resting (& giving my cat attention), and not getting stuck!
*(by this I mean not being confined to a certain finish time and not doing because I’m on the schedule to but just choosing to, so it’s up to me if and when it gets done).
Seen in a Connecticut thrift store’s dressing room
Posted by: jrosei on: February 1, 2011
So I take a few items into the dressing room (this is back in August), close the curtain and start undressing. Then I notice a paper taped to the wall. I may be in my underoos, but the paper must be read. It has bullet points. I am intrigued. Here is what it said*:
Skin Tones and Seasons
Cool Tones
“Winter” complexions have blue or pink undertones. Skin can be pale white, yellowish-olive, or dark. Winter people are generally brunettes, with deeply colored eyes. Many Asians and African-Americans fall into this category.
“Summer” complexions, like winter complexions, have blue or pink undertones. Skin is pale and pink. Summers are often natural blondes or brunettes with pale eyes.
Warm Tones
“Autumn” complexions have golden undertones. Many redheads and and brunettes with golden brown eyes fall into this category.
“Spring” complexions have golden undertones and are usually creamy white or peach. Spring people generally have straw colored or strawberry red hair, freckles, rosy cheeks, and blue or green eyes.
Choose Clothes to Flatter Your Skin Tone
“Winter” should wear colors that are sharp, stark, and clear. White, black, navy blue, red, raspberry, cobalt, taupe, and emerald all go well with winter complexions (think jewel tones). Avoid subdued tones like beige, orange or gold.
“Summer”should choose pastels and soft neutrals with rose and blue undertones. Lavender, plum, aqua, grey, rose-brown and soft blue suit summers well.
“Autumn” should select colors with golden undertones, like camel, beige, orange, gold, khaki, olive, teal, and chocolate. Avoid colors with blue tones, like navy.
“Spring” should wear warm colors like honey, peach, golden yellow, lime, turquoise, and salmon. Avoid dark, dull colors.
(My reaction: Well, there is no debating that I have a ‘spring’ tone. In response to their suggestions, I’ll meet this half way. Less black, more bold colors, and seeking out warm colors (but I love my blues and cooler colors!) Perhaps I’ll do some lighter greens, and some peachy pinks. Golden yellow might be a bit too much for me though. Turquoise they definitely got right!)
*Reactions: 1. You may well have see this before, and thought it was useful back in middle school or high school but now that you are secure in your style, you’ve no need for it. 2. You may not have read it before but you think it is a load of crock. 3. I have opened your eyes with this post, and you are now flinging items out of your closet.4. You’ve read it and, maybe like myself, you may try a few suggested colors here and there. Comment!
Oh, and the ladies in the thrift store probably got it either from the site below or from the same source the site got it from.
Flickr Photos
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Thanks!