Closet Ultimatum #4 - Purple Skirt

 

This skirt was part of my Gap shopping spree which led to my shopping ban at the beginning of the year.  I was under the influence of my 4 adorable nieces, so I really can't be held responsible for the decisions I was making that day.  I mean, they really wanted me to buy the purple skirt!  What was I supposed to do?  I wore it 4 times between January and April (here, here, here, and here), but haven't worn it since then, which is why it was included in my ultimatum pile.  This outfit is inspired by Pinterest - Striped top, purple skirt, nude heels.  I just wish I had an elephant necklace.

Verdict:  I think it feels a little too short without tights.  I realize it is longer than some of my other skirts, but the flounciness (you know what I mean?) of the skirt makes it feel shorter than my straight skirts.  I think I will keep it, but save it for fall and winter days when I can wear tights.  What do you think?

Top and Skirt: Gap
Shoes: BCBGeneration
Necklace: inPink
Bracelet: from Kenya/gift from a friend

Shopping Ban Over!

 

April 12th is here!  This means my self-imposed 3 months of no shopping is up.  I was pretty good at following my rules, mostly by staying away from stores.  There were some very tempting sales going on, so it was tough!  Here's the list of items I ended up with since my ban started on Jan 12th.

• Black flats (worn in today's pictures) - these were legal for 2 reasons:  I had a gift card to Dillard's, and I desperately needed a new pair of black flats.  My other pair was literally falling apart, so these were on my list of cheats if I found a good pair during the ban. 
• 2 shirts at Loft (one worn here and here, and the other hasn't been worn on the blog yet) - I was using a gift card.  I still have half of the gift card, so I will need to hit Loft again soon.
• Brown Belt (worn here)- no gift card, but this was on my list of cheats.  I've been wanting/needing a brown belt for quite awhile and hadn't found one I liked.  I was killing time at Urban Outfitters after the baseball game, and before Pub Quiz, and just saw this belt on clearance.  I couldn't pass it up! 
• Pink skirt (worn here)- this falls into the thrifting category of cheats.  J. Crew skirt for $3.50 - not too bad!
• I<3fun. t-shirt- I had to get a souvenir from the concert.  This falls into entertainment, not clothing, right??

 So, I think I might be going shopping after work!

Top: Alfani
Cardigan: Target
Skirt: Gap
Shoes: Born

FBFF - Repeat offenders

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It's FBFF day again, and the theme for this week is "repeat offenders."  If you've been reading my blog, you know I am definitely a repeat offender.  If you are here for the first time, just take a look at my "popular posts" on the left.  I'm wearing the same pink cardigan in 3 of the 5 pictures!  I put together some collages of my frequently worn items.  I won't even get into the fact that I have 3 pairs of jeans that I wear ALL the time! 

1. Are you a one-time wearer? I try not to be.  I'm not a millionaire, so I try to buy items I can wear many times, and many different ways.  I do have some items that I've only worn once or just a few times.  I'm trying to be better about getting rid of these things, to make room for more versatile items.

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2. Do you feel the need to purchase something new for an evening out or a
special event?  Sometimes, and it depends on the event.  I usually try to find something I already have that will work.  For example, I bought a new dress last spring for a friend's bachelorette party in Kansas City.  It was about $35, which is more than I would have liked to spend for a dress.  By changing my accessories, I was able to wear the same dress for Easter, another friend's wedding, a banquet for work, and my anniversary dinner last year.  $7 per wear isn't too bad!

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3. Re-mixing is something a lot of bloggers are proud of being able to
accomplish - are you a re-mixing pro or do you shy away from posting items
frequently? Why?  I like remixing my items.  Most of my favorite bloggers do a lot of remixing, so when I started my own blog, it seemed totally acceptable.  I also started this blog as a way to become a better re-mixer.  Before I started blogging, I felt like I was rotating the EXACT same 14 outfits.  I'm not afraid of posting the same cardigan worn multiple ways. 

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4. Do you have a clothing budget or are you an impulse buyer?  I'm supposed to have a budget, but I wasn't doing a good job of keeping track.  I don't think I was going way over budget, but I wanted to be a more discriminating shopper.  I'm on the tail end of a 3 month break from shopping, which has been good.  I'm afraid I would have been impulse shopping more as trends come up. Now I have a better idea of what is missing in my wardrobe, and what types of items I should be looking out for.

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5. Do you find yourself bored when reading a blog in which clothing items
are often remixed and appear frequently?  No, I really enjoy seeing the different ways an item can be worn.  I actually like the "remixy" blogs better than the ones that never repeat.  It would be easy to get dressed every day and wear something amazing if I had an unlimited budget.  It's a little harder to come up with exciting and creative outfits when I can't go out and buy new things every week.  I like seeing bloggers who are in the same boat, and get inspiration from their remixing ideas. 


Go check out the other FBFF bloggers here!

Pleat Repeat

Didn't I wear this skirt last Monday?  Yes, I did.  But, the ABC theme for today was Pleats, and this is one of my few pleated items.  Last week, I kept it simple and classy with all black, so today I had a little more fun.  Inspired by Kendi, I put my striped sweater and purple-y tights with my purple skirt. The cold and snow means I will be wearing boots most of this week.

I'll be honest, I really loved this outfit.  I kind of felt like a teenage rock star.  Maybe that's not a good thing, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

I was looking at my list of labels, and I realized I haven't worn pants on the blog yet.  And then I realized I almost never wear pants.  I mean, I wear jeans, skirts, and dresses.  I have pants, I just apparently haven't worn them at all in the last few months.  Maybe I should try that sometime...
Go check out the other pleated bloggers here. 

Sweater:  Old Navy
T-shirt:  PacSun
Skirt:  Gap
Tights: Steve Madden via DSW
Boots:   BareTraps via DSW

I love the 80s

 Remember how I said I was going to get ahead of the game this week, and actually post my outfits early each day.  Yeah, that didn't happen at all.  Today, the challenge was to get inspiration from a decade or region.  This shouldn't have been difficult!  I was just not feeling it.  I had to turn to Pinterest and Google for inspiration.  One of the first pictures that I found as 80s inspiration was the movie poster from Heathers, which I've never seen, but the plot summary on Wikipedia sounds pretty crazy.  Anyway, I decided to bring the blazer and skirt look into 2012.  I really like it.

Apparently, I've decided leaning against the wall is a pretty good way to pose. 

 Of course, I had to twirl in my flowy skirt:

Go check out the other looks here!

Skirt and Top:  Gap
Blazer:  Limited
Tights:  Target
Heels:  BCBGeneration

New Year's Day

Here's my outfit from the first day of 2012.  After sleeping not very many hours, we went to church and then over to my in-laws' house for Christmas with them.  We had some lunch, opened some presents, played some cards (I won!), and then had a girls' movie night while the guys watched football.  It was a good start to the year!  

I'll be honest, I thought this outfit would be much cuter than it ended up being.  In my head, it wasn't so cheerleadery.  I got this skirt over Christmas vacation, and I may have been under the influence of three seven year old girls.  One of whom has a very similar purple skirt and really wanted us to match.  I've never really bought into peer pressure, but my nieces and nephews can convince me to do all sorts of crazy things. 

I've been pinning some purple skirt inspiration this week, so I'll try again with this skirt.


Sweater:  American Eagle
Black Tank Top:  Gap
Skirt:  Gap
Boots:  Wanted via Piperlime