Valentine’s Day looks…One skirt 3 ways

One of the biggest things I tell clients is to shop your closet first!  I wanted to create a few cute Valentine’s Day looks and show you how you can style one piece to create multiple outfits.

In my opinion, that is the sign of a great piece of clothing when it can be mixed and matched to create so many different outfits. This way you can wear the piece over and over and never get bored. You can tailor the outfit for the occasion or just for your general mood that day.

Do you have the perfect Valentine’s Day outfit already in your closet?

An easy way to make anything more festive for Valentine’s Day is just add a pop of red or pink. Remember accessories are such an easy way to change an outfit without spending any money!

Shop your closet…new outfits for the New Year!

Are you stuck in a style rut??

You don’t need to go out shopping! You can shop your closet and create new looks with what you already have! I helped my friend create this outfit within minutes of  looking in her closet. And once we added the necklace that was the icing on the cake. She said she would have never thought of putting these colors together. Sometimes you just need to see your closet in a new way and be creative! This is why I love helping women with their closets… there are endless possibilities already in your existing wardrobe.

 

Fall Outfit Inspiration

I love adding accessories to really elevate an outfit. I have even been known on more than one occasion to create a whole outfit starting with an accessory like a scarf, necklace or earrings. I found this beautiful pink and blue Ikat scarf at the local consignment shop, My Secret Closet, and I just had to get it. That is one thing I love about Consignment and thrift shops is you never know what you might find. It is kind of like a scavenger hunt.

Once I got home I realized that I am drawn to this color palette quite a bit. This art by Jenna Webb Art has similar colors to the outfit and I have always loved it. I also have photos of bright pink flowers and pictures of the Amalfi Coast with all the blues and pinks. I Iove just about any shade of blue and pairing a hot pink with it just gives it that extra pop!

There are so many great sources of color inspiration around us. What colors are you constantly drawn to? I bet if you look around in your home or closet you will see some color themes!

Spring closet swap

spring looksIt is that time of year again! Time to put away the winter clothes and boots and get out your spring and summer wardrobe. Do many of you dread doing the swap?? Here are a few tips to help make the swap less painful.

Take the time to weed out things you did not wear this season before storing your winter stuff. Get rid of anything stained, worn out or no longer your most flattering look.

A few questions to ask yourself when cleaning out your closet:

Would I buy this if I was shopping today?

Would I wear this if I wanted to impress someone I hadn’t seen in forever (like an ex- boyfriend) ?

If my house was on fire what would I save out of my closet?
(of course many of us would not worry about clothes or shoes but things that are more important to us) However, pretend for a minute that all other items were safe-what clothing and shoes do you love so much you would save them?

Do not put something in the category of lounge wear just because it is not good enough to wear out of the house but you don’t want to part with it. How many lounge outfits, gardening clothes and clothes for projects like painting do you really need?

Okay so once you have done the hard part of getting rid of stuff then you are ready to store off season away.

-Make sure any items that have wool are stored in a cedar chest or closet or in a garment bag protected from moths.

-Leave some transitional items in your closet if you have the room.
This will save you from having to go search for items if we have a cold snap or rainy day.

-Items that will wrinkle easily or are dry clean only try to leave hanging so you don’t create more work for yourself when you get everything back out.

-Before storing shoes I like to check the bottoms for mud or dirt and do a quick wipe down with a clorox wipe before I store them away.

-Container store has great boot boxes. They are clear and the perfect size. A little pricey at $10 per box but you can buy a few a year and build your collection.

-I like to store my other winter shoes in a shallow clear bin that will hold multiple pairs. I don’t think it is necessary to have each pair of shoes in its own box. That makes for unnecessary bulk.

Hope these tips help make your transition a little easier.  One crazy thought that I have been sharing with my clients lately is to try to pare down your wardrobe significantly so that you can fit ALL your clothes in one closet!!!  I know that makes most of you break into a cold sweat with a look of horror on your face.

On that note, I have been reading quite a bit about minimalist lately, capsule wardrobes and project 333.  So more on that later….