My Closet Purge

(All pictures from puttingmetogether.com)

I don’t know what happened during my maternity leave, but I went on a clothing and make-up kick. Maybe it was the cabin fever feeling… In high school I was so trendy (in an “I just wear whatever I want and it ends up looking cool but I really don’t care what people think anyway” way) but somehow, somewhere I got so… boring. I needed to spice things up!

When I realized there was no way I was going to fit back into my pre-pregnancy jeans I was a little upset. I LOVE wearing jeans and I don’t mind paying a little more for a good quality pair. (Normally I’m pretty (cheap) thrifty). I have about eight pre-pregnancy jeans and having to start a new jeans collection didn’t sound that appealing to me. Then I discovered Audrey at Putting Me Together and my urge to purge the closet got out of control. If you haven’t visited her site, go do it now. (By the way, she doesn’t know who I am, I just love her site and highly recommend it.) If you’re feeling like you’re in a clothing rut with your current wardrobe or want to start from scratch on a budget, her site is the place to be! She totally helped me “re-imagine” what I already have and gave me great tips on how to choose wisely for new additions to my closet.

I used to just buy what I thought was cute, wear it one way/style, and then be on the lookout for something else. While I still want to shop all the time (that’s just in my blood), I now take time to think about what I’m getting, make sure I can wear it more than one way, and decide from there if it’s something useful for my closet or if it’s just something to spend my money on. Hubs and I give each other an allowance so we can save for things we want and not have to worry about asking each other if it’s okay to buy something. Whenever I have money in my pocket I totally get that “burning a hole in my pocket” feeling and sometimes I’ll go out and buy a new top just to buy something. And sometimes that top sits in my closet, tags still attached, for MONTHS. Now I really think about the item and make sure it’s something I’ll wear and again, is actually useful and not just something to spend my money on.

Another awesome thing about her site is that it’s SO realistic. Two major places (that I noticed) she shops is Target and Old Navy. Everyone has one of those stores close by, right? It’s so discouraging when you’re reading about this awesome outfit on a site and then find out the top is $100, the jeans are $200, and the handbag is $250. That’s just sooooo not realistic. I love that when I see an outfit on Audrey’s site it’s actually an outfit that I can go buy. It’s not like, “okay I have to find something similar to that because that actual one is way too expensive”. You can get EXACTLY what she has. Since following her site I’ve gotten an olive pair of skinnies (that I got on clearance for $6!!!), a cargo jacket, a jean jacket and nude flats with black cap toes (from Old Navy but they’re not on their site). Olive skinnies are something I never would have gotten before because I wouldn’t know how to wear them. My initial thoughts would be a white top or a black top, done. But why not blue or gray? Why not black AND white? And throwing in a mustard colored cardigan?!!? I NEVER would have thought of that. (I am now on the hunt for a mustard colored cardigan by the way.)  Admittedly, I’ve had to check back to her site to see how she wore her olive skinnies. I’ve also gotten a black and white striped shirt and a chambray shirt, all because of her. She has really helped me put together outfits that I never would have thought to do myself.

While I was purging my closet, I realized that I have so many pieces that I don’t wear. It looked like I had so many clothes, when in reality, when looking at what I actually wore, I didn’t have that much. But also, thanks to Audrey, I learned that you don’t have to have a ton of clothes. It’s more useful to have key pieces that can work in a variety of ways. To get more ideas of what I mean, definitely check out her post about re-imaging clothes. There are little tweaks you can do that make a HUGE difference.

Have you noticed all of the Instagram closets lately? I’ve had a Poshmark and Vinted for a while now, but I just jumped on the IG closet band wagon too. (Poshmark and Vinted are sites you can use to purchase gently used, second hand items. If you’re a little worried about the whole PayPal thing, Poshmark and Vinted are more “secure/legit”. As a seller on Poshmark, they take a 20% commission and have a shipping rate of $4.99 for up to 5 lbs. As a buyer you get the peace of mind of tracking your shipment and being sure you’re able to return the item if it’s not as described. Vinted is pretty similar – as a seller they take 19% commission and you can chose the shipping costs by being able to chose the shipping weight. As a buyer it has the same benefits of peace of mind.) IG closets are a big deal right now, but they are run by the honesty policy. If you search “#shopmycloset” on IG you will find tons of things. It can be dangerous. =] And feel free to click on over to my IG closet at www.instagram.com/runt_closet.

Anyway, enough talking. If you’re in need of a closet refresher, want some ideas on versatile key pieces, or just want to see how to put together different outfits, definitely check out Audrey’s site!

(Again, she has no idea who I am and all of the pictures I’ve posted are from her site.)