Stripes, Jeans, and Pearls

 

Thrifted Items:

Jeans $7.50 (new w/tags) Gloria Vanderbilt

Striped Top 

Black Leather Purse $8 Fossil

Flats w/ Bows $4.99 Naturalizer

~ ~ ~

Necklace $5.98 = Target

Earrings = gifted from mom

Elvis Watch = gifted from hubby for birthday      

Tan Ankle Trousers

I thrifted this pair of Talbot's pants and this is the first time I've worn them.  They are actually "petites" and may be meant to hit lower towards the foot, but I like them at this length and style for me.  They are 95% cotton and 5% spandex and soooo comfy. I think I'll be able to wear these with sandals, heels, flats, or sneakers.   Love them!

I received inspiration for the top half in mixing stripes with denim from the beautiful Tamera Beardsley in this post.

I'm joining in link up for Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style.
 
 Thrifted Items:

Pants $4 Talbots

Red White Striped Top $4.99 Jamaica Bay

Denim Top

Purse $5.99 Liz Claiborne

Red Sandals $4.90 Nine and Co. 

Peppermint Pink Stripes

I had fun pairing this pink striped button down shirt with the brown blazer, gray jeans, and red mules.  Not a color combination I would have immediately thought of, but when I tried it I really liked it. I'd worn gray/pink or brown/pink, but I don't think I'd mixed brown/gray/pink.  The jeans give this a relaxed feel, but the blazer, button down, pearls, and low heeled/backless shoes dress it up a bit.  Exactly how I like it.

 Thrifted Items: 

Gray Jeans $4.99 Gloria Vanderbilt

Pink Striped Button Down Shirt $2.50 Old Navy

Pearl Necklace

 Purse $6 Aldo

Red Mules $4 Karen Scott 

We're Home

We're back from our trip.  Had a nice visit with family.  Also saw my best friend.  She gave me 2 scarves for my birthday that I absolutely love.  They'll be making an appearance on this blog for sure.

This was an outfit from last week that I hadn't gotten around to posting.

Thrifted Items:

black jeans $6.50 Levi's

black t-shirt

blue/black cardigan $5 Silence+Noise

black leather purse $8 Fossil 

Traveling Day

We're off for a few days on a trip to the midwest to visit my family.  This is my traveling outfit...comfy black jeans that have a bit of stretch to them, green sweater with scarf, slip on shoes that are great for walking, a black jacket for extra warmth.  I get cold easily, especially on airplanes.

I am so proud of my packing.  We'll be gone a total of 5 days (that includes travel days) and we're only bringing one carry on bag for the two of us.  Besides what I'm wearing on the plane, these are the items I've packed:

*gray jeans
*lightweight, soft black cardigan
*lightweight, gray, rouche necked, long sleeved top
*sleeveless, black/white animal print dressy top
*short sleeved black/teal/gold top

(plus pajamas, delicates, minimal jewelry, toiletries)

I can wear all the tops with or without the black cardigan....depending on the weather....although it's predicted to be on the cooler side 50's to low 60's for the high temperatures.
I probably don't even need all of the items I'm taking because I could repeat, but I'd rather have a couple of options...and all the tops I'm taking are a thin, slinky fabric that will occupy very little space in the suitcase.

I must say that this is a vast improvement over my past attempts at packing.  Through reading other blogs I am learning a few tricks about how to dress more minimally and mixing and matching.  
Have a great upcoming weekend and I'll see you again next week.

Thrifted Items:

Black Jeans $2.50 Gloria Vanderbilt

Gray Jeans $4.99 Gloria Vanderbilt

Green Sweater $4 Sag Harbor

Scarf $1

Gray Top $4.80 Lea Nicole

Teal/Black/Gold Top $2.50 Style & C0.

~ ~ ~

Black Cardigan $9.99 JKLA = Ross

Black/White Animal Print Top $8.99 Sere Nade NY = Ross

Pearl and Gold Chain Necklace $5.80 = Forever 21

Black Slip on Shoes - Liz Claiborne = gifted  

         

Making The Best Of It

I'll really be happy to break out the springtime clothing.  Until then...I'm keeping myself warm.

 Thrifted Items:

Gray Jeans $4.99 Gloria Vanderbilt

Orange Sweater $3.99 AGB

Scarf

Dark Brown Mules $9.10 Madeline Stuart 

Browns

Thrifted Items:

Jeans $6.99 Ralph Lauren Polo Co.

Top

Scarf $2.99

Purse $2.99 Chaos Leather Collection

Shoes $4 Franco Sarto  

Another Gray Day

Today's gray comes with mustard.

Thrifted Items:

Gray Jeans $4.99 Gloria Vanderbilt

Sweater $4.99 Merona

Scarf $3.99

Purse $8 Fossil

Black and Blue With A White Button Down

Well, the weather has been cool enough for a scarf here again....and I've got plenty... so I threw this one on to complete this outfit.  Simple, easy, comfortable.

 Thrifted Items:

Black Jeans $2.50 Gloria Vanderbilt

White Button Down Blouse $4.99 Separate Issue

Blue Cardigan

Scarf $4.99

Purse $8 Fossil

~ ~ ~

Slip On Backless Shoes - Liz Claiborne 

The Second Gray Jeans Outfit

I actually bought these jeans Oct. 12, 2011.  I didn't even realize it had been that long ago.  So....I waited alllll winter to fit into them so I could wear them in all the outfits I had planned and now our coldest weather is very nearly over and I'll be missing out on my opportunity to fit some of these outfits in.  I'll still be able to wear them into spring/summer with lighter tops though.  And it never really gets super hot here (for long) anyway.  But I will be wearing them a lot to get in as many cool weather outfits with them as possible.

One of my employers gave me these shoes a couple of years ago because she was not able to wear them.  They were brand new.  They're backless and the most comfortable things ever!  I almost don't ever want to wear any other shoe again...except maybe flip flops. haha  They just feel sooooo good.  Of course, I say this after a week or more ago wearing what I thought were super comfortable flats/loafers with no socks and by the end of the day I had worn a deep gouge into my heel which has required me to wear backless shoes for the last week while this heals.  My feet say backless is definitely the way to go....but I'm sure I won't always listen to what they try to tell me.

 

Thrifted Items:

Gray Jeans $4.99 Gloria Vanderbilt

Sweater

Gold Necklace $3.99

Blazer $3 Land's End

Purse $8 Fossil 

~ ~ ~

Bracelet $10.80 = Forever 21 
Shoes = Liz Claiborne  

Wearing Other People's Clothes

My daughter gave me a couple of large bags of clothes from herself and her husband to donate for her.  Well, I rifled through and found all kinds of goodies!  This sweater was Matt's and this scarf was Shelley's.  I kept these items, plus a few others for myself.  I was wanting to wear them with these jeans (thrifted) and we are still having some cool days here so this worked perfectly.  I am finally able to fit into these jeans and you'll probably be seeing LOTS of them because I have already planned many outfits with them.  I think I may have already worn them 3 times this week. haha  More gray jeans outfits than you'd like will be posted soon. :)

I'm joining in the link up with Visible Monday.
 
Thrifted Items:

Gray Jeans $4.99 Gloria Vanderbilt

Men's Red Plaid Button Down Shirt $2.99 Land's End

Red Purse $6 St. John's Bay

Low Heeled Red Mules $4 Karen Scott 

Black, Brown, and a Statement Necklace

 

Thrifted Items:

Black Jeans $2.50 Gloria Vanderbilt

Sweater

Black Leather Purse $8 Fossil

Black Leather Slip On Heeled Loafer $4 Cole Haan

~ ~ ~

Necklace $8.80 = Forever 21  

Wanna Peek Inside My Closet?

I love seeing into other people's closets, how they organize, etc.  I thought I'd show you how I'm starting out in our new digs.  I need to re-organize a bit and move things from closet to closet according to what I wear most, but this is how I've thrown it together so far to make room for all my stuff.  It's nothing elegant, but it works for me.
I donated tons of things and it's still tight....but I did fit it in somehow.
(You may click on each photo to enlarge if you wish.)
  
The top photo shows some hanging jewelry behind the door in the second bedroom.  This is my dressing and computer room.

More hanging jewelry and a double sided hanger with pockets.
 Additional misc jewelry on top of dresser.

An over the door shoe holder is filled with rolled, thicker scarves.  I had plastic snap shower rings that I purchased from Target for about $1 or so for a pack of 12.  I strung them together, hung from over door hooks from shoe pockets, and looped scarves through each ring.  I like to be able to see them at a glance.
Two tall bookcases hold shoes and some folded sweaters.  I have 3 boxes full of sandals and flip flops on the floor.  I will switch out some of my winter shoes on the shelves for my sandals when the weather warms up a bit more.

A bookshelf holds the purses I use most often.  In the large dresser I have folded t-shirts, tank tops, folded jeans, and lingerie.

The closet in the second bedroom will hold more frequently worn items, upcoming pre-planned outfits, and boxes with more purses and scarves.

My closet in the master bedroom contains hanging clothes, rarely worn shoes, plastic storage container drawers with summer pajamas, sweat suits, etc.  I have another larger 3 tiered plastic drawer set in the second bedroom next to the dresser (well, actually in front of the folded up treadmill) that holds more pajamas, more folded t-shirts, and a few sweaters.

I'm going to work on thinning out my shoes and clothing more.  I thought I had done such a good job of it before we moved in order to fit everything into our smaller space, but I can see I still have room for improvement.  It will take some time though.  I'm definitely curtailing my thrifting from here on out also.  
So, there you have it.  A peek into my wardrobe storage.
What are your favorite ways you've found to organize your wardrobe?