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Style/shopping goals for 2014

Elizabeth P

Veteran

I need some accountability, so I"m going to put pen to paper. Or fingers to keyboard.

Several of the recent threads about what style etc goals for 2014 have got me thinking. What do I want to do? What do I need to do?

Well, the first thing I NEED to do, is to STOP SHOPPING. There, I said it. Seriously, I've been totally out of control for the last year or so. I used to rarely shop, I had 2-3 places I went, and if they didn't have anything I liked/fit, well, then I just waited until the next season. So I developed an attitude of "buy it now if it fits and you like it". Well, I now shop online, and in more places, and have a whole lot more interest in clothes and fashion, but my attitude doesn't seem to have changed.

And then there's the Costco thing... they have a lot of great basics, and they are cheap. So I grab things, pretty much every time I go. I have a drawer full of brand new tees, for goodness sake. I do not need any more! I'm fussy over fit and necklines, so often get several when I find something I like, but come on....

And what do I want to do? I feel I've played and developed enough over the last year that I'm ready to decide on a "style monkier" or some descriptors. And I'd love your help with this. I find that I have a natural tendancy towards classic, polished style, esp when dressing for work, however that's not necessarily how I feel inside. I think I'm more casual than that. So I need to figure out how to meld these two things. Elegantly RATE, or casual polish... is this possible, does it make sense?

People on here who's style I feel is closest to mine, or at least who's style I often want to emulate, are Suz, Shannon, and I'd like to be a bit more Marley. I wear bold saturated colours, and my neutrals are black, navy, white. Beige and grey are not my friend. I also love Angie's simplicity and structure, but when I break her outfits down, a lot of things aren't quite me, so I'm not sure what that means.

I also seem to have a problem with actually wearing the outfits I know I can create. I'm pathetic at getting clothes ready the night before, I find the weather or my mood always makes me change my mind. So even though I may have some great clothes, and new outfits to try (some which I've vetted here), it's the boring ffbo's that get worn, and I'm not feeling them.

So, I'd love some help with my descriptors, and I guess Part 2 would be how to then do a better job of incorporating those descriptors, esp into my work wardrobe.

Below are basiclly the same outfits I put into the 2013 wrap up post,
they are my favs, and outfits I feel best feel show "me".

Thoughts, advice, whatever you can offer, all welcome and appreciated!

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Dressing

19 replies

Latest reply was from Elizabeth P

gryffin

Veteran

Elizabeth - your outfits are lovely. Classic, clean, pretty minimalist but you have a serious dramatic element going - from these pics I could call you classic dramatic but feel free to toss that if you don't like it. High contrast, sequins, oversized pieces (like your hip belt) and your black topper all clean, crisp, refined. What is not to love? I don't see casual so much as unfussy, which I really like. I think you could live happy in just the pieces you've shown. What about the white t and black topper over the black and white striped pencil skirt? Your boyfriend jacket with the sequin tank faux tucked with either the jeans or black pants? So many options. If you literaly just take all the tops,bottoms, toppers and mix and match, write down or photo the ones you really like you'll really increase your ffbo. PS what's wrong with wearing those ffbo as long as you have enough to keep you happy. But I do applaud you on trying to articulate your style. I think if you can figure it out in a visceral way it will help you refine your purchases. But I think you loo wonderful!!

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Thanks gryffin! "unfussy", I like that word.

And when I said I defaulted to my ffbo's, they are not featured here. My boring ffbo's tend to be dress pants, a long sleeved tee, and a cardigan. Or dress pants and a sweater. Snooze.... If I could get out of my way and put on some of the above outfits (or ones like them) on a regular basis, I'd feel much better about myself.

gryffin

Veteran

Elizabeth - what about swapping out a tee for one of your lovely tops? Also would you consider adding a sweater jacket or knit blazer to the mix in place of the cardis? Also what about taking photos and make a poster (kind of like the pictorial menu in the chinese restaurant) this way you don't have to choose the night before and can let the mood take you but you don't have to think about combinations. Would any of those suggestions be helpful? Finding your own way is the hardest part but you will absolutely figure out a system that works for you!!

MuseumGal

Veteran

What a wonderful set of outfits. Classic and bold are what comes to mind. You look amazing. And I hear you on the just.stop.shopping.already thing!

MicheleLee

I'm always changing my mind on what to wear. To make it easier I will have several outfits pulled together and ready to go in my closet. Then when I get up for work I can choose what fits my mood and schedule for the day fairly quickly. Prepping outfits in advance gives me a chance to really think through how I want to try new things.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I think Gryffin really captured it. I see the drama, the graphic strong colors, the simple "unfussy", and bold. A lot of potential outfits right here, and absolutely repeat your favorites!

Kiwibird

Your outfits are all lovely Elizabeth - I'd say simple, classic and casually elegant! I too have resolved to stop, or drastically curb, my clothes shopping this year. My ffbo's sound a lot like yours and every work morning I struggle for inspiration and end up rotating the same five or six outfits every week....... And the silly thing is it's not like I don't have any clothes!! I pulled everything out to photograph and put on "Stylicious" on my phone and didn't realise how many tops and bottoms I had and all the possible outfits that were already lurking in my wardrobe. So I made about a dozen from the photos and if they look good on I'm well on the way to making my wardrobe a "working" one. That little exercise of photographing everything made the penny finally drop that I don't NEED any more clothes - unless there is a genuine wardrobe hole that needs to be filled. I've found few holes and will focus on filling them - it'll be quite an exciting challenge!

Nicole D

Veteran

9, 12 and 15 are the bomb (is it the booties?)! You love colour and it loves you back, but you also look great in black and white. Beware of the JAB phenomenon (just add black), I do it all the time but it can get a bit boring.
It looks like you have some great neutral pieces to build on in black and white, also jeans so I agree with your vow to Shop Your Closet for the next while. Challenge yourself to switch up your FFBO by changing the top, for example 12 wth the top from 13 and so on. Style descritor: Classic Urban Peacock? (CUP)

carter

Veteran

What strikes me is that something about each and every outfit is unexpected...whether it's the shoes, the belt, the bold pop of color, or sequins with shorts. Most of each outfit is very classic and then you throw in the funky vibe. I'm going with "Classic Funk". PS...i may be showing my age with the word "funk"...maybe there's a more current term that's just not coming to me.

karymk

Veteran

Elizabeth, you dress yourself SO well. You look great in every shot. I am aiming for more "Marley/Suz/Anna/Rae" but I don't know if I can pull it off. I'll be watching to see how you do.

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Thank you, lovely ladies! I really appreciate you taking the time to look at and articulate something about this phase of my journey. I'm heading to bed, but will think about your input and respond properly when I'm at a keyboard.

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Oh my goodness, I really didn’t mean to post and run. I’d been waiting to post this thread for a
time I could think about it and respond properly, but life got in the way
again!

Gryffin, thanks for the remixing suggestions… some of those
I have definitely not thought of.

MicheleLee - having several outfit ideas ready is a great
idea. I really need to get better at
this. I use Stylebook, so it’s easy for
me to try some outfits then put them in that as “future” ones, I just don’t
seem to get my headspace in the right place to actually DO it.

Kiwibird – I use Sylebook, so have photographed a lot of my
clothes. And like you, there is no excuse;
I have a ton of clothes, and very little reason not to be a bit more
imaginative. I must say, seeing them all
laid out in order to do this post, plus all the lovely comments here, have
motivated me a bit. My last few
purchases have been to fill known holes, and now I must stop and work on enjoying
what I have for a while.

Nicole – JAB phenomenon – I like that. Discovering and wearing bold colour is actually
fairly new to me, so it’s great to get some reinforcement that it’s working.

Carter, I love that you used the word “unexpected”. This really resonates with me. As does the word “funk”, but then again, we’re
about the same age J

And Karymk, I’ll be watching (well, I already am) you too!

So, the words that have come out so far have a pretty common
theme… simple, bold, classic, unfussy, clean.
With an air of unexpected, dramatic and/or funky. I
think this will help me a lot… shopping needs to stick to mainly classic pieces,
and I can concentrate on accessories and footware for the unexpected ones, then
make sure I keep this in mind when actually pulling an outfit together. Does this seem to sum it up?

Oh, and I see that the word “edgy” didn’t come up at all,
which I must admit I’m a bit disappointed in… I have been trying to put in some
“edge” to some of my outfits. Maybe I haven’t
been doing it very well, or maybe those aren’t represented here, which means
that maybe, it’s just not me. Which is
fine, it’s part of the journey!

Any more descriptive words out there? Any more thoughts on a two word style
descriptor?

And thanks again to those who have taken the time to comment
and help me out here.

Anonymous

These are wonderfully creative outfits. They feel like they would fall under Elegant Eclectic but maybe you are wanting to move toward Urban Prince (Shannon, Suz,). How about Urban Dutchess?

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Wow, you look fabulous in these, Elizabeth! I can only echo what the others have said and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kind compliment!

I think gryffin really hit on something with "dramatic classic" -- in the sense that you are (in part) emulating me and that is my Kibbe style category. I'm not 100% sure it is yours, of course (according to his system, that is), but you clearly have both classic and dramatic elements to your style.

Since your closet is full of great pieces and you are already taking photos, how about challenging yourself to a month of outfit photos without a break? I did Mo's "No Repeat November" challenge and it really stepped up my game. It wasn't the stricture against repeating that helped, so much -- although that did help me clue in about some further purging I could do, and where my wardrobe holes were.

What really helped was the daily photo. I had been taking photos pretty regularly (but not always posting) -- but this was much more consistent than I had ever been. Looking at them all together at the end of the month I got a much clearer sense of what my style IS, what I WANT it to be, and what is MISSING for me to make it that way. I feel my shopping is going to be much more focused, going forward. And my purging, too.

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Urban duchess... love it.

Thanks Suz, that's a great idea. I do generally take daily photos, but rarely post them. Looking at them all to put together this post was quite eye opening, probably what you experienced in November. To be accountable every day, to a group like this, would probably help me fine tune things as well. I'd certainly be afraid to pull out the long sleeved tee, black pants and boring cardi!

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Oh, where can I find out more about the Kibbe system? I should probably look into that, at this point. I see it referenced a lot.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Here is the quiz. I warn you, it is difficult to understand. http://seasonalcolor.yuku.com/.....ful-Monty#.

There is more on the website. Example; http://seasonalcolor.yuku.com/.....ideline#.U

The illustrated version might make it easier to answer the questions accurately.

Beth Ann

Veteran

Elizabeth: You may have spent more than you wanted to, but you have put your purchases to good use and found a really fabulous, consistent style. Brava! It's perfectly doable to refine and tweak now with the items you have already.

I see dramatic classic as a good moniker. I've had trouble connecting with a moniker myself, but my style rubric: form with flow / energy with ease, has been crucial to planning outfits and moving forward. You might check the archives for "rubric" threads and see if this tool is helpful for you, too!

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Thanks Beth Ann. I'm thrilled that you find my style "consistent", as this is something I'm not confident in. I guess when you pull your favourite things, consistency is more likely, as I don't feel consistent on a day to day basis. I think Suz's recommendation of doing a full month of posts is a good one, then I'll see my weaknesses, or get in the habit of trying harder! Take this morning for example, I'm tired, and feel puffy, and I so so so wanted to reach for pants with "give" and a big baggy sweater. My FFBO. But I forced myself into something nicer, so it can be done!

And yes, I will search for rubric threads, thanks!