Extreme Makeover: Wardrobe Edition

I've been frustrated with my wardrobe for quite a while now. It's outdated, the few nice things I own have been worn so much they aren't nice anymore, some stuff doesn't even fit correctly, and truth be told, nothing matches. At all. This all became even more obvious when I started creating my packing list for Italy. After a few attempts at sorting through my clothes trying to figure out what could mix-and-match, what was appropriate for a European country (obviously not all my OU t-shirts!), and what was versatile enough to work from September through November- that's a really wide range of weather possibilities!- I just gave up.

I gutted my ENTIRE clothing collection.

Mom took a few things to keep and a few to babysit since she's likely to wear them while I'm gone (Steelers jerseys being the most obvious example), and I tried unsuccessfully to get a few dollars by selling some things to Plato's Closet. I ended up with four garbage bags stuffed full of clothes that I gave away through Freecycle. Hopefully the ladies who took them will get some use of of them!

What did I keep? My semiformal dresses, all of my t-shirts that are from some specific event or organization (which is, admittedly, over 60 shirts), a couple of summer dresses, my absolute favourite long skirts, my best-fitting workout clothes, and a few (probably less than ten) nice tops that I wear too often to part with. That's it. I was able to clear out an ENTIRE cabinet in my room that had previously been devoted to clothes, and over half of both my dresser and closet.

To rebuild my wardrobe from zero, I started by utilizing this business casual "capsule" wardrobe from Outfit Posts.

Everyone knows I am incapable of matching things, so I stuck as close to her suggestions as possible- even the colours of each item. Here is my recreation! Note: I spent a long time looking for an online photo collage maker. I hated every single one, so I just went with the easiest to use. They cropped all my pictures awkwardly and I don't like it.

A few differences:

I ended up finding a teal dress that I really liked, but it was a sheath dress instead of a wrap. I figured it was no big deal, and I could just switch the two styles. However, I never found a grey dress in ANY style, so that's actually a skirt I found that I really, really like. It's a great skirt, and it is long enough that I can pull it up and belt it to wear as a dress! Neither my black and white nor my black skirts are pencil skirts- those two are things I already had in my clothing collection, so I decided to stick with them and save some money. Plus, that makes them slightly more casual than business-y, but still look nice!

Hopefully, I am going to sew a little piece of elastic into the back of the pink T-shirt to make it a little more fitted around the waist.

Now for a couple accessories:

I've been wanting a purse like that for a long time, so I decided to get it while I was already spending money! Plus a belt, and both a black and white camisole to round everything out.

And, of course, some extras:

Mom found these for me at Plato's Closet, and I decided to get them because the colours go with everything else in the capsule!

Last but not least...

I've been needing new tennis shoes for quite a while. I think I got these during spring break of 2012, which means they have been through QUITE a bit: two semesters of walking to the Ridges every day, a bunch of starts and stops of getting myself to run, walking the dog every day that I'm home, one Ohio winter, and most significantly, an entire 110 season... not to mention everyday wear! They have definitely seen their fair share of pavement and turf! I decided to go with Nike's, because I have heard so many good things about them from fitness bloggers and other runners I know. They're so comfortable!

This is the part that makes me cry a little. I don't think I've ever spent so much money on clothes in my life- I'm usually a thrift store-or-nothing type of shopper, and I have NEVER bought this many things at once.

Yellow cardigan $15 Target
Grey skirt $22 Cato
Black jacket $40 Macy's
Teal dress $40 JC Penny's
Purple cardigan $49 Sears
Black blouse $22 Sears
White blouse $25 H&M
Black and white skirt $0 (already owned!)
Black skirt $0 (already owned!)
White button-up $23 Target
Jeans $0 (already owned!)
Pink T-shirt $15 Sears
Black pants $25 Macy's
Striped shirt $32 Express

Black belt $8 Wal*Mart
Purple purse $19 Wal*Mart
Black and white camisoles $3 each JC Penny's

Teal and black knit sweater $8 Plato's Closet
Polka dot blouse $7 Plato's Closet

Nike's $50 JC Penny's

Ouch. But I really do think it's well worth it. I spent my money wisely. I bought new clothes for once, from good stores. These ALL match, rather than me just picking up random things I like without knowing how they fit into my wardrobe. I will get a lot of use out of them. And it is a fantastic starter wardrobe to build from in the future.