Style Confused

I have a confession. A very embarrassing confession.

I used to be one of those gals. The kind what you would never see wearing the same outfit more than once, never left the house without a perfectly painted face, and would not be caught dead in sweatpants.

And now, thank the Lord, those days are over.

For a long time now, I have been style confused. Yes, that's right. Style confused. Meaning that my style has made a complete 180 degree turn more times than I can count. My wardrobe has been constantly evolving and transforming, leaving me with a closet stuffed full of 18,253,000 different kinds of clothes.

About 5 months ago I got really, really fed up with a closet overflowing with clothes I absolutely hated wearing. I mean, seriously. I still had tanktops from 7th grade, sparkly shirts from my freshman year of high school, and shoes coming out of my ears.

Well, that, and.. I recently lost a significant amount of weight and nothing fit me the way I wanted it to.

I've tried Stitch Fix, online personal stylists, all of it. And nothing has ever really worked for me.

About that same time, this 'capsule wardrobe' thing became really big. My friend and mentor, Liza, started doing it and even featured it on her own blog. I began finding more articles on it; I researched this thing upside down and backwards. I soon realized it's almost exactly how my mom has been dressing for years: mix & match layers.

I figured I've made worse decisions concerning how I dress, so this couldn't be the end of the world. I began by spending countless hours going through my infamous closet. I found myself looking at things and saying things like, 'I actually really hate this shirt and the tags are still on it. Why did I even buy it?', or 'Do I really need 8 different grey v-necks? Probably not.'

By the end, I was left with about 1/8 of what my closet was originally. Let me tell you something; it was so stinkin' freeing knowing that I didn't have endless amounts of clothes that I didn't even like just hanging there staring me right in the face.

Then, I ran into another hurdle. I hardly had any clothes left and I really didn't know what to do. I had the ability to literally start from scratch. I then reevaluated and started a Pinterest board to figure out what I really wanted my wardrobe to look like. I narrowed it down and turns out that there are two different style that I love: simple & classic and laid-back & bohemien. They are somewhat similar, but are definitely different. And the thing is, they're both so.. me. I couldn't choose one or the other.

simple & classic  -  laid-back bohemian

I deciphered what I liked and what attracted me to each style. With the simple & classic look, I really liked the somewhat muted colors and the ease that it portrayed. With the laid-back & bohemian look, I liked the mixture of textures and patterns, plus pretty details. After I figured this out, I combined both styles to create a wardrobe that is tailored specifically for me.

I also really needed to think logically as far as what I needed in a wardrobe. The capsule wardrobe idea is based off of having a certain amount of shirts, pants, etc., but that wasn't practical for me. You see, I hate pants. I have a very small waist and a very large ..achem.. rear end, so finding pants that actually fit me is a struggle. So, my go-to is dresses. I just have to worry about how the top fits and the bottom just kind of hangs there. You see, I had to figure out what worked for me, not what works for everyone else. 

Once I figured everything out, it was so simple. Everything in my closet can go together, so getting ready in the morning is fun. I grabbed 9 things from my closet to give you an idea of what it's like. 

Here are the pieces I selected: 

jean vest

utility vest

knee length cardigan

t-shirt dress

kimono

tank dress

white tee

animal print tank

graphic tank

and one piece of jewelry:

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The end result is so fun. All of these pieces could go together in a million different ways, but here are a few examples: 

white tee + utility vest

utility vest + animal print tank

animal print tank + knee length cardigan

kimono + graphic tank

jean vest + graphic tank

knee length cardigan + tank dress

utility vest + t-shirt dress

I also reinvented my shoe collection. Here are a few pairs you can often catch me wearing that can go with about anything in my closet:

lace-up cage wedges

sperry loafers

sperry sandals 

michael kors kitten heels

printed toms

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It really is a simple concept that makes getting ready each day not complete torture. If you're up for the challenge, I encourage you to do this too. It's just wonderful.

Until next time-

gp