Tag Archives: spring wardrobe 2012

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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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Minimalist Challenge: Closet Purge

Hey, remember when I said I had done a spring closet purge?

Yea, just kidding. I pretty much just got out all of my spring clothes.

You know what? I still have too many clothes!

So I have decided that this weekend is going to be the real deal, seriously serious closet purge. In fact, I have decided to go back to my favorite fashion challenge: Project 333.

I am digging out the worksheet, writing down my plan ahead of time, and taking everything else out of my closet. Adios, things I don’t love!

On Monday, I will post my list along with pictures of the 33 items of clothing that made the cut.

Feel free to play along at home. I would love to have people join me and share their experiences living with less! Trust me – it’s better.

So what are you up to this weekend? Any fun challenges in store for you?

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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??