reliance.

Most of us have an item (or items) that we rely on when we can't be bothered to come up with a cute outfit. We reach for this "uniform" if we're running late, if we're tired, if we're going out to grab a bite after a long day. For me, this backup item is a very common one- jeans. Denim can be great, obviously, and I never want to banish it from my closet. But, if I'm not careful I could wear jeans every single day--and that gets boring. What are your old reliables?

Now is a great time for me to branch out; I donated a bunch of old jeans, and I have had really bad luck finding any new ones. I haven't been much of a skirt girl for everyday wear, usually I have saved them for going out or doing something special. This is probably due to laziness, but I can give change a go! Here are my first efforts:

For running errands, including getting keyless entry for my car! yay.black/white layered dress, gift. denim shirt, gap. purple tights, target


Trip to church & out to lunch.black turtleneck, express. dress, proenza schouler for target. tights, target. shoes, kenneth cole

Hmm. I also need to work on my picture taking skills. I need to go look at more inspiration. I'm sure all of you have seen this site, but my favorite lately is wardrobe remix on flickr. It's all real girls, most are super-creative and envy-worthy. Watch out, it's addictive!

rage & zen

I am still hopping mad about my termination experience yesterday, but I am trying to forget about it & move on. Well, maybe tomorrow. Today was my excursion to Plato's Closet, aka the only consignment store in central Florida. If you can call it that. I took my 4 big bags bursting with clothes that were still wearable, just not by me. While waiting to hear what riches I would be bestowed, I browsed the next-door Old Time Pottery.

After I got lost & found zen in a forest of fake flowers, I found that awesome tiki ceramic-ware that I wish I had a reason to buy. Maybe my consignments will yield so much that I will treat myself to something silly like that, I thought to myself.

I strolled back into P's C., head held high. "So, what's the verdict?"

A whopping $28. They handed back my 4 bags, still quite stuffed to the brim. "this is what we're passing on," they said. "Some of the labels are outdated, and there is some wear evident on some items". Outdated? I guarantee nothing was older than 3 years old, and yet I see, in the store, clothes that were in Hollister when I worked there 7 years ago when they still had 2/4/6 sizing as opposed to 3/5/7? And clothes from Express when I worked there 4 years ago?
Wear is evident? Some of it was brand-new. And please, first how about explain all the ratty/nasty clothes being sold here, and the overwhelming smell of cigarette smoke coming from the clothing racks? But, I digress. I took my 28 bucks and dropped the rest of my clothes off at Goodwill. I tell you what, Goodwill smells better inside than does Plato's Closet. I'd also wear anything in Goodwill before anything in P.C. That place is plain confounding. I won't be back.

In the end, I can't live off of the bounty from my clothing sales for a couple weeks as originally hoped. Back to the world of job-searching. sigh.

top model mania

Last night I filled 4 big bags with cast-off clothing from my closet & dresser, getting completely caught up in the Top Model marathon happening on VH1 all week. Truthfully, I was watching it long before last night and may be suffering from Top Model Mania.

Causes are: seeing the same commercials over and over again (Drew Barrymore for Covergirl has been in my bedroom about 13,000 times, and also, those damn ringtone commercials are from hell itself), watching the show get better and better up til cycle 7 then crashing & burning, obsessively watching Tyra's weight go up and down, all the frustration and anger surrounding the phenomenon of "Jaslene", seeing Tyra's crazy example poses over and over and over, etc.

Symptoms may include: voguing in the mirror, experimenting with extremely dramatic eye makeup, using "fierce" in everyday language, feeling like Melrose is your friend in real life, fantasizing about what Tyra would do for your week-2-makeover, and extreme depression at the realization that only 1 cycle remains til this MODELTHON ends.

For the record, I am now obsessed with A.J.'s haircut and want it badly:





UPDATE: my man said "um, veto. that will turn into Mom Hair really quick". Bah!


Anyway, my closet is looking sososo much better and I'm excited to add only very well-thought-out items from now on. I had stuff in there from high school that I probably haven't worn since then. I think I've finally completely let go of the notion "quantity over quality". Speaking of high school, while there, I was extremely obsessed with not repeating an outfit within 2 weeks. I guess I was a product of my affluent/preppy high school where the popular girls had a different Abercrombie shirt for every day of the month. I hadn't developed my personal style all the way and felt that I had to compete. I tried to get as many tops as I could, therefore having to repeat less often. This of course led to a wardrobe chock-full of filler wear, most of which had been edited out previously, but now is almost nonexistent.

For some less-is-more inspiration, check out this flickr photostream of an adorable girl named Rebecca and her ability to mix-and-match to look endlessly fresh (discovered thanks to The Clothes Horse).