I was lying in bed last night thinking of whether or not it was worth trying to pull together a "musings" post, and was quite surprised, once I looked back and realized what 2014 had meant to me, style wise, So I guess the answer is yes!

Last winter, we had winter. Real winter. With snow, that lasted (and lasted and lasted). One day in December or January, on a complete whim, I decided to hit my local favourite shoe store just to see if I could find some tall black boots, that could be worn inside, and were totally weather proofed. Lo and behold, I did! Long after my size should have been sold out, and at 50% off. This was a game changer for me... as it opened up the world of dresses and skirts, and made them EASY. It may sound ridiculous, but this was a hole for me. I had great boots that couldn't get wet/salty/slushy. And great boots that were warm and weatherproof but definitely for outdoors. And carrying footwear to the office gets old, fast. Esp boots!

Another game changer was the emergence of fluid over fitted. I think I have always preferred my clothes to skim rather than hug, but that was just not available for many years. So I replaced a TON of summer tops, even ones just purchased last year, with ones that were more fluid. Sometimes I went too far into over sized, but that's all part of the learning!

And then the spot where Mr. Obvious had been beating me over the head finally started to hurt, and I took notice. I am an IT. Not only am I an IT, I am a broad shouldered IT (not in proportion to my hips, that ia obvious, but in proportion to my height). I look better with longer tops and toppers. Shorter ones make me look so square and dumpy. So bring on some of the longer boyfriend cardigans, waterfall cardigans, etc. That line is awesome for me. So what was a "get rid of cardigans they suck on me" was transformed into a "lets buy lots more longer ones".

Discovering Eileen Fisher. Lightbulb... clothes that look good can be comfortable too! Good quality fabrics feel so good! I knew this, just had gotten away from more expensive clothes in my young child rearing years. Purchasing one thing you love love means not getting four things you only like!

And finally, MY HAIR! Growing out my "silvers" was the best decision... ever. But you do need to be ready. I owe a lot of this to Dressing your Truth, and the knowledge that program gave me, not only on what colours and design lines and fabrications etc looked good on me, but on understanding and accepting who I am. Having the confidence to "come out of the closet" with my hair has resulted in a style that feels proabbly more like "me" than I've ever had. And along with that is the confidence to experiment with clothes, do things like wear patterned pants (!) (NEVER would have done that a few years ago, even with my weight being at a better place, which says a lot) and evolve a bit of a hard edge to my style which I've always admired in others but not known what to do with.

So I feel I DID make big strides last year. Hopefully good ones!

Going forward, a few goals I can think of off the top of my head:
1. Spend less, buy less. Really, I can't keep up the pace of last year. Nor do I want to. My "all or nothing" personality wanted to reaplace and upgrade NOW. So that's mostly done, now it's time to enjoy my wardrobe.
2. Purchase more strategically. It's time for just 9 or 10's. it's time to really think about what my holes are, rather than just "oh, I like that, I could use that".
3. Do some purging. I don't believe in getting rid of stuff I like to hit a magical number, but my closet is too full. I know I have things I'm not wearing, or not loving. I need to get better at passing those things on, and stick to wearing what I love.
4. Do a bit more analysing at what DOESN'T work on me. I may like variety, but doesn't it make sense to wear silhouettes that are flattering? Much like colours... I got rid of a LOT of colours from my wardrobe for a reason. Let's get rid of things that make me look huge for the same reason. Why look okay or fine when you can look great?
5. Oh, and this one's for you Suz... try more of Angie's capsules
6. And of course... keep honing. I still haven't developed descriptors or a monkier, or whatever I need, and I do feel that would help.

OK I think that's it. It's enough for anyone to read, anyway. If you've stuck with this, thank you! It was good to get it down "on paper" at the least.

I'd welcome any comments on what I've said, and feel free to share any of your own style musings for 2014 that you want or haven't already!