I am still having way too much fun dressing these days because I haven't exhausted all of my outfit combinations yet and I keep adding to my wardrobe little by little. I wore outfit number one on Saturday. I really wasn't feeling this top on vacation. It fits well but the color felt really bright and I was iffy on the style. But then I fell in love with brights and wearing color with color! The purple cropped cardi was once mine, but I had handed it down to DD, so I borrowed it back from her. Somehow the pairing made me so happy! It was the perfect outfit for ferrying DD and friend around on a Saturday. I didn't want to take it off at the end of the day! Have you ever worn an outfit like that? I wore it with my dark denim shorts and turquoise sandals. Monty provided some pattern.

On Sunday it was quite a bit cooler and I went shopping all afternoon. I came up with the daring idea to wear my navy and white striped H&M striped top with my new Walmart floral cardi Saturday night and I couldn't wait for morning to come! I wore them together with my thrifted ON white denim skirt and black ballet flats to bookend the black in the sweater. I tried a belt and a necklace, but I was going to be trying on clothes, so I left both of them off. My top was tucked and untucked at different times of the day. I reached for Monty again to have a total of three patterns going on. I also liked his soothing low contrast with this high contrast outfit and the fact that he matched my hair. I loved the pattern mixing in this outfit. And no one stared at me like I had two heads!

I went to Famous Footwear, Payless, The Rack, TJMaxx and Ross yesterday. There were a lot of "almosts" but nothing that was a 10. I was looking for woven/button front tops and sandals. There just isn't a huge selection of this type of top in the stores I frequent (or in my price range). I found a two "okay" choices for shirts that were both $9.99. I had $20 in my pocket and I just wasn't thrilled enough to buy them. There was a Savers in the shopping center so I decided to look there before heading home. I found 4 great woven shirts/blouses, two in linen and two in cotton for $18 and change after tax! I like them so much better than anything "new" I saw in the stores!

Which leads me to Epiphany 1:
In addition to all of the other reasons to thrift, sometimes thrifting can provide MORE selection for colors and styles than what is trending in the retail stores. This meant I didn't have to settle for orange (not my best color) or a sheer, loosey-goosey unstructured knit with a neckline big enough to drive a Smart Car through.

Epiphany 2:
I love purging my wardrobe, but sometimes I do it too quickly and too often. (Does that make me a clothing bulimic?) I make rash decisions about what is "my style" and everything else goes out the window, or in the trunk of my car. Just because I love slim pants, pencil skirts and structured jackets doesn't mean that those are the ONLY things I should wear. Sometimes I need the freedom that shorts or an A-line skirt provides, and I'm loving short cardigans this season. I have tossed items simply because I had nothing to go with them. I need to be a little bit more "wardrobe retentive".

Epiphany 3
I tend to be way too strict with trying to nail down a style and then feel like I need to be committed to it. I was "neutral girl" all winter and I felt so fab but maybe I want to embrace color this summer. Maybe I'll want to add more color next fall/winter! That's okay! It's not like the ladies of YLF are going to say, "But I thought you said....." We are women, therefore we have the prerogative of changing out minds! Fashion changes and I don't want to be completely static, even though I'm a classic dresser.

Epiphany 4
In summer (my dominant season) I need more quantity and less quality. Well, quality is good too, but the woven tops I just bought look like they'll hold up in the washing machine just as well as a $40 top I could have bought at the mall. I should say I need more *less expensive* pieces with my clothing dollars. One fab $40 top, no matter how versatile, is not going to cut it for me all summer. It would always be in the wash, and I would get bored with it. So far this season I have bought 8 wonderful woven shirts/blouses for much less than $40. TOTAL. I used to just wear T shirts (or a knit top at best), so this was a huge wardrobe hole for me and I'm making some progress. Now I need to slow down until I'm sure I can handle the ironing they will require!

The End. Thanks for reading! All comments/suggestions always welcome.