Tag Archives: fashion

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Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop!: Shoes

It’s time again for Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop! I had a chuckle when I saw this month’s prompt; I talk a lot about my clothes, but I don’t think I’ve ever talked about my shoes. I haven’t been too strict about how many I have. As a minimalist, I thought I was going to have to out myself as having “too many” shoes.

But I was surprised to see that I have seven pairs of shoes. And I’ve been strategic about what I own and why.

 

I used to a big shopper (I still struggle with this!). Anyway, I used to buy shoes all the time. They were cheap! And cute!

About a year ago, when I first became interested in minimalism, I started thinking about what kind of shoes I wanted to own. I wanted good quality shoes that would last a long time, that would be comfortable, and that would be cute as heck. I decided to only buy one pair of shoes per season.  Instead of buying 3 -4 pairs of $15 shoes, I could buy one pair of $60 shoes that would be higher quality and last longer.

 

I have been doing that ever since, and I love my shoes now. I have been done a great job of buying good quality, classic (yet fun!) shoes that I enjoy wearing. Plus since they are quality shoes, I have been able to take them to the cobbler to get them repaired when they need it. They are lasting a long time. I am getting my money’s worth out of these guys!

 

I have owned those polka dot galoshes forever. They are so cute! I bought those nude shoes in the middle for Spring 2011. The pink butterfly wedges were for Summer 2011. For the fall, I bought those brown boots on the right. They were pretty pricey, but I wear them ALL. THE. TIME. My cost per wear has got to be pennies by now. The red heels (second from the right) were for Winter 2011/2012. I did buy two pairs of shoes for this spring – the brown pair of booties (second from the left) and the black pair with bows. But again, they are classic shoes that I wear all the time. I love them all!

Most of these shoes are Clarks or Naturalizer brand, so they are über comfortable. Excluding the galoshes, they are all heels, but they are only 1″ – 2″. They are comfortable, and I can wear them all day at work or dance in them all night long. Trust me – I’ve done it!

I am planning on buying one more pair of shoes for this summer. They will be a cute pair of bright colored flats – maybe pink or green. I’m taking my time to shop around, but I will be sure to share them on here when I find the perfect pair.

Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop!

Whew! There – I have out’d my shoe collection. What do you think? Do you have a favorite pair of shoes that you can wear all the time?

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Adios, Clothes

So some of you asked what I took out of my closet. Here they are!

Top left – clockwise

5 cardigans/shrugs

2 workout shirts & 1 swimsuit

1 pair of black pants & 2 skirts

3 dresses

2 long sleeve shirts

9 short sleeve/sleeveless shirts

And I just realized that I have some shirts that are on hangers that I moved to the guest bedroom closet. So they aren’t in this pictures. But there are probably another 5 – 8 shirts that aren’t in here.

What I took out is about 2/3 of what I kept. That’s why I had to let them go – there were too many clothes in my closet and my dresser! I couldn’t find things, hangers would fall on the floor in the closet, and I was frustrated when I would get dressed.

Now getting dressed is fun again! Seriously, I’m really enjoying it. I have made two brand new outfits in the past week that I wouldn’t have thought of if I had more clothes. And I love what I’m wearing these days. Win/win/win!

OK, I need some help with some other parts of the house! Advice please for minimizing my kitchen and crafting hoards!

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Purge’d!

I took a ton of clothes out of my closet and my drawers. I have room again!

But I don’t have pictures of that. I have pictures of the clothes that I love that I kept. Here they are!

I love my dresses! I realized when I was taking pictures that they are all v-neck. Hey, I know what I like! (There are two black dresses on the left there.) (7)

I have seven shirts too. They’re so pretty! (14)

And long-sleeve shirts, too. Five of these bad boys. (19)

Here are my three cardigans. (22)

And last but not least for tops – two blazers! (24)

Now for bottoms. Here are my skirts! So pretty! (That one on the left is navy, not black.) (28)

And I have two pairs of pants and one pair of shorts. Almost done! (31)

Finally, my outer wear. Here is my rain jacket and my delicious cognac satchel. Done! 33 items!!

As you can see, I was serious when I said two weeks ago that “my style” is dresses and skirts. They make up a large percentage of what I’m keeping here.

I want to show everyone who is putting together a minimalist wardrobe that you don’t need to wear all black! If you are smart and stick to a concise palette, you can curate a beautiful, colorful, minimalist wardrobe.

I am loving navy blue right now, so there is a lot of the in my wardrobe. I think of that as my first neutral color, along with white/cream, brown, and a little bit of black. For legit colors, I have pink, purple, and green. My wardrobe is bright and bold for spring and definitely not boring!

Finally, here are some pictures of my closet. The first one is the “before”, from a couple of weeks ago.

I can finally push things around and find what I want! There is definitely less hassle. I’m so happy!

 

Whew! That was a lot of work, but I love the result!

Did you purge your closet this weekend too? Share!

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Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop: My Style

Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop! has switched from once a week to once a month. And I hadn’t been posting regularly, so I missed last month’s prompt.

But when I received the prompt for this month My Style, I knew it was time to jump back in.

You may have seen the pictures that I post here of my minimalist wardrobe, and hopefully you have noticed a trend. My go-to outfit is a dress or skirt with a cardigan and heels. It’s my fave!

I wear dresses and skirts 5 -6 days a week. I am to the point where I really feel uncomfortable in pants. They look so weird on me!

In general, I’m pretty girly but I also like to think that I am also sophisticated.

Here are some of the other things (besides dresses and heels) that I consider my signature pieces:

Big glasses/sunglasses

Bright colors

Scarves

Fingernail/toenail polish

Stuff I make or made by someone I know

An eclectic mix of pieces (second hand, vintage, brand new, hand made, etc.)

(Remember when I posted about my head scarf the other week? Well here’s the full outfit.)

It’s taken me about three decades to get to this place, and you know what? I love it!

Do you want to see more examples of people’s individual style? Check out this linky party!

Gussy

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Minimalist Wardrobe Hack: No-Measure Custom Tailoring

Wow, I had a great weekend. On Saturday, I went to a rummage sale where they were selling clothes, $3 for whatever you could fit in a paper bag! What! In the interest of good thrifting karma, I only picked out the things I knew I would wear.

One thing I snagged was this white button-down-the-front shirt:

Now, I normally don’t like white button-downs on me. They fit weirdly. I have broad shoulders, which makes the buttons pull in unflattering ways. I don’t want to iron the collar. The material is generally thin and more “see through” than white.

But I know this is one of those basic pieces that I ought to have, so when I saw this shirt, I snagged it right away. I have an undefined waist, and I knew the princess seams would look good on me. I was delighted by the feminine ruffles. The kicker, though, was the mandarin collar. No ironing! Sold!

But when I got home and tried it on properly, I realized it was too big.

So I decided to do some custom tailoring. What did I have to lose?

The princess seams were perfectly spaced on the front (whew!), so I just needed to take in the side seams. Rather than using some fancy measuring method, I simply sewed the width of my presser foot. Check it out:

(See how I’m lining up the outer edge of the foot with the original seam?)

So, I did this a couple of times, trying it on after each set of seams. I ended up sewing four seams on each side before it fit the way I liked.

I didn’t want to make the opening for the arm hole any smaller, so I started my seams in the armpit.

After I got my shirt the right size, I zig zagged between the last two rows of stitches. I wanted to finish the seam and give it a faux-serged look. Mostly, I didn’t want the raw edges of the fabric to fray later on.

Then I cut off the extra fabric. Voila! Beautiful custom tailored shirt.

I love this shirt now! I can’t believe I would ever say that about a white button-down, but I do. I plan on wearing this pretty much with everything this spring. I love beautiful basic wardrobe pieces!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s your favorite article of clothing that you altered to make extra special? I would love to hear your stories.

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Spring Wardrobe Purge!

Look what I did last weekend! (Clockwise: Dresses, blazers, short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts, pants, skirts)

I went through my closet. I had so much fun! I was looking to elminate a few things: clothes that needed to be thrown away, clothes that needed to be donated, and clothes that needed to be put in storage for fall.

Now my closet is all set with my beautiful spring and summer clothes. Check it out!

I love my wood hangers. It makes it feel like I’m dressing from a boutique every day.

And here are my sweaters that I keep folded up in a basket above my clothes. It looks good now; I am going to enjoy it while it lasts. And that’s my summer fun purse next to it. Almost time to use it!

Ok, Spring. I’m ready whenever you are!

Do you purge your closet as the seasons change? Or am I the only one who finds this ridiculously fun??

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Best Minimalist Wardrobe Hack: Shop Your Own Closet

Spring is here! Isn’t is wonderful? Last weekend I dug out my spring/summer clothes that I had put away last fall. They are like old friends. I missed you, lovely skirts and dresses!

On Wednesday, I decided to wear something to celebrate spring. I used a few of my basic pieces (black sheath dress & green cardigan), but I thought it looked boring and not spring-y enough. So I pulled out this awesome Vera Neumann scarf. Check it out.

Look how good my nails and camera look!

I received so many compliments on my scarf! It was great. I think it was just different enough that people noticed it. So if you’re looking to try something new, the head scarf is definitely in for spring.

(I want to figure out how to do a turban too. I might check out some YouTube tutorials this weekend. I will post pictures if I find any that I like!)

The other great thing about this outfit is that everything was either second-hand and/or cheap. You don’t have to drop a lot of money to look good! The scarf and cardigan (and camera!) I bought second-hand. The earrings are from Etsy. The necklace was a gift (Debbie has one too!). I bought this dress at JC Penney three years ago for maybe $15; my cost-per-wear at this point is pennies.

So my challenge for you this weekend is to play dress up in your closet. See what you already have that you can wear in a new way!

Are you doing anything new for spring fashion-wise? I would love to hear ideas for other minimalist trends!

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Spring Palette Challenge

Do you ever feel like the Universe it trying to tell you something?  That certain ideas are bombarding you in a short period of time?  That you need to do something or else the Universe just won’t leave you alone?

That’s probably a bit dramatic, but honestly, this is out of control.  I won’t bore you with every conversation I’ve had and blog post that I’ve read, but here’s the short version.

Last fall, I began participating in Project 333 (33 items of clothing for 3 months).  I’m currently involved in its second iteration.  Then I joined the Compact in December, which encourages group members to avoid buying anything new - outside of food, medicine, etc.  More recently, I have talked with people who have made their own clothes and read some articles online about the horrible conditions that clothing factory workers suffer to make cheap clothing. 

The culmination of these experiences is that I want to sew my own clothes.

The final straw was when I found this challenge at the Colette Patterns blog: The Spring Palette Challenge.  Brilliant!

Luckily, I have enough clothes right now that I don’t need anything urgently.  This is more an experience to “level up” my sewing skills and fill in some gaps in my wardrobe.

Right now, I am planning the following items:

1) a skirt

2) a dress

3) a tunic top

4) a tank top

5) a knitted shrug

Here is the color palette that I have chosen:

I am planning a big shopping trip on Sunday to buy fabric, and hopefully I’ll have something done before I leave for Ireland.  I am so excited!  This makes me very happy.  I will be updating my progress as I work on this project.  The deadline is March 31.  I can’t wait to see how much I get done.

Are you participating in any challenges?  How are you leveling up your mad skilz?

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A beginning: Project 333

Let me whine for a second:

Starting a minimalist lifestyle is hard.

As much as I would like to get rid of half my stuff, I need more direction.  Sure, I’ve started to throw away and donate a lot of my un-used and un-loved posessions.  I try really hard not to buy any junk. 

But how do you start a minimalist lifestyle?

For me, the first breakthrough came when I found Project 333 on Be More with Less.  The challenge is for participants to wear 33 items of clothing for 3 months – October 1 to December 31.  (This doesn’t include workout clothes or pajamas.)  Previously, I had gotten rid of many items of clothing.  How much harder would it be to streamline it down to 33 items?

Pretty easy actually.  Many of my clothes are similar colors (black, grey, purple/orchid), so I know that they coordinate well.  I picked items that would mix and match  easily so I would have lots of options.  Everything else is boxed up in my closet, awaiting review in January when they will either be re-instated into my wardrobe or donated.

How has it been?

1)  Every day I wear clothes that I love.  When you’ve only got 33 pieces, you pick the ones you love.  Why wouldn’t you?  I love getting dressed and wearing my clothes.  And I have received a lot more compliments than before.

2)  This is definitely “enough” clothes for me.  I look forward to January when I can edit my collection (and add a few different pieces), but I am planning on sticking to this number.  I love having many options, but it’s also nice to know exactly where every piece of clothing is, where its “spot” is in my closet, and remember when I wore it last.

3)  I am saving time and $$$ by not buying.  I never realized how much energy I put into shopping until I stopped doing it.  I have been able to get many more things done in my life when I have an extra 3-4 hours per week to work on other projects.  I don’t clearly remember if I would shop that much each weekend, but I was definitely getting to the stores at least 2-3 times per month.  And trying to figure out the best product, the best sales, the best time to beat the crowds, etc.  What a lot of pressure! 

4)  I have been able to evaluate what I have and what I would like to have going forward.  Call it refinement, I guess, but since I know exactly what I have already, I have been able to consider (for 2.5 months now) what new items would really enhance and improve what I have.  In January, I will probably keep the dresses that I have, but I would like to find a better quality pair of jeans and maybe a new (to me) suit for work.

However:

5)  I am actually wearing out my clothes!  When was the last time you wore something until it literally fell apart?  I think I began noticing this about a month ago when I realized that the elbows of my black blazer were worn through.  Not torn – the fabric was actually worn through.  Then I noticed that the buttons were coming off of my coat.  And then my flats stopped keeping water out.  I felt frustrated because I think that clothes should be able to handle whatever wear and tear they are put through at my cubicle job.  But then I realized that maybe I am honestly wearing them that much.

(I am planning to patch the elbows of the blazer with some cute/hipster patches.  I have already sewn new buttons on the jacket.  The shoes will have to be replaced.)

The great thing about this project is that it is teaching me so many of the benefits and rewards of minimalism.  My goal is to apply these same principles to other parts of my life and see if they will have the same result.  It might be slightly more difficult to apply to other things in my life (ie my kitchen or my crafting closet), but I am willing to give it a shot. 

I would love to hear what you guys have done to begin the process of minimizing.  Any insights for those of us just starting out?

Without further ado, The List*:
1.    Black dress
2.    Orchid floral dress
3.    Purple dress
4.    Red modern floral dress

5.    White diamond shirt
6.    Grey circle shirt
7.    Lavender shirt
8.    Purple floral shirt

9.    Black pencil skirt
10.    Herringbone skirt

11.    Black pants
12.    Gap jeans
13.    Levi’s jeans

14.    Black blazer
15.    Grey blazer

16.    Black cardigan
17.    Grey cardigan
18.    Purple/black cardigan

19.    Black scarf
20.    Orchid scarf

21.    Black boots
22.    Black heels
23.    Silver flats

24.    Black tights
25    Black polka dot tights
26.    Black chevron tights
27.    Black leggings

28.    Grey cami

29.    Black belt
30.    Black purse

31.    Red sweater (for volunteering uniform)

32.    Grey outdoor coat
33.    Black jacquard coat

*You can call me a big fat cheater because I am not following one of the main rules of the challenge: counting jewelry.  My philosophy is that I can mix and match my clothes only so much, and jewelry is a major component for keeping outfits fresh.  

Also items that have a specific purpose (ie rain boots, snow boots, umbrellas, etc.) I did not count.  If my health, safety, and protection from the elements is threatened, I figure that’s a rule that can bend.

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Daydreams

Hi World.

Laura here.

I have a lot of thoughts going on in my head.  A lot of big ideas.  A lot of daydreams.

I have started on some.  And accomplished a couple.  And now I want to chronicle how I make my daydreams come true.

You might have some daydreams as well.  Ideas that seem far-fetched and make people look at you funny when you say them out loud.

“This weekend I am going to make my own yogurt.”

“For the next three months, I am only going to wear 33 pieces of clothing.”

“Each of the presents I give for the Holidays will cost less than $10.”

“I want to get rid of my car.  Instead of driving, I will bike or walk wherever I need to go.  I will use the bus when the weather is bad.”

“I will pay off all of my student loans in the next 4.5 years.”

Yet who wouldn’t want to eat delicious food?  Or be debt-free?  Or have excellent health?  People say that they want these things but they don’t take the steps to make them happen.

I am taking the steps.  I am making the changes.  It will take me years to get to where I want to be, but I will arrive.  And I want you to join me.

Let’s do this together.  I will help you and you will help me.

Let’s do this.