I invited a friend to help with my closet edit. Angie had suggest this as an option. I typically shop on my own or with DD, but rarely with friends, so I had to carefully consider whether this would help. It turned out to be very helpful, maybe because the friend I invited was not afraid to be brutally honest. She told me that it would be better for her to tell me I look like a clown than for people to laugh at me behind my back!

With her help I managed to fill four more bags with clothing and to eliminate 12 pairs of shoes. I tried everything on, and she assessed fit and color, plus whether the item looked worn out or dated. Her father owned a cleaning and tailoring business, so she was picky about dart placement and quality of the construction. We also have very different body types, professional roles, and personal style so she wasn't tempted to play dress up in my closet like DD or some other of my friends.

She agreed that white is no longer a great neutral for me but not all whites are bad. She thought whites with warm/yellowish undertones were the worst. I pulled put all my white sweaters, and have only three left! The rest are going to DD who can wear this color well, and said she wanted them.

I also eliminated stripes, a couple dresses in the wrong color, and one or two item that were worn from frequent wear.

My style refresh included purchase of some high rise Jean's and I also purchased one pair of almost boot cuts since these were trends mentioned by Angie. I have a few cropped sweaters in my collection that work well with a high rise Jean, but I wanted to find a couple trendy statement knits for the season. I opted for something with puff shoulders, fitted wrists, and a fitted torso. I think this style looks like something a storybook princess might wear, which could get costumey, so I tried my choices on for my friend who loved them. I also added a couple pink sweaters which are hard to find in my palette. One was inexpensive and pulled the first time I wore it. The light pink feels wonderful and replaced a sweater I wore out last year. These are essential pieces and very simple in design. I also found two wraps, one in a great color, and the other is a statement piece with the puff shoulders and fitted bodice I was seeking. It looks great with dresses and is the way I will update my simple sheath dresses. I bought a Rag and Bone ribbed blue and grey sweater at NAS, and tried two sizes. Angie suggested sizing up, but DH and my friend thought the smaller fit better. I found a form fitting rib sweater from Theory, in light blue and a boucle cashmere hoodie also purchased at NAS. I just purchased a light navy long cardigan recently but when I was taking its picture noticed some white yarn in the seam on one side only. I'm not sure I will keep it now even though it feels and looks like very high quality cashmere. I also purchased a basic navy cashmere v neck that fit well. I like it for making a column of color in certain outfits. I purchased an EF grey ribbed tunic sweater with a split turtleneck. I still enjoy long straight silhouettes so I will continue to wear them.

In hold I put two light blue sweaters. My friend thinks they are okay but not great. One is too chunky and stiff and the other is too big. Both are showing signs of wear. They may become lounge wear for cold days. The other item I put in holding is a bulky blue-green cardigan which is too heavy for wearing in my workplaces. I love the color but it's super warm.

Pics 1-5 are some of the eliminated items along with one white top for comparison so show how warm toned they are.

Pic 6-7 are the sweaters going into holding. I suspect the blue will become sweaters to wear for shoveling snow, and or lounge wear.

Pic 8 is the puff sleeve wrap
Pic 9-11 are the two new pink sweaters
Pic 12 is my trendy new statement sweater.
Pics 13-15 are the blue wrap from DVF, and the blue R&B and hoodie from NAS.
Pic 16 is the ribbed Theory sweater
Pics 17,18 are the cardigan I might return with white yarn showing at one seam.
Pic 19 is the navy v neck.
Pic 20 is the EF tunic

I included my color palette with some of the pics.

It looks like a lot of new sweaters! This is where I spend the bulk of my clothing budget. I also added fewer than I removed.

I have fewer than 90 sweaters right now including summer sweaters. This is the lowest my total has been since I started posting on the forum.

I mostly stick with solids but am still considering the possibility of adding a tweed and a fair isle sweater to my collection to finish this years update.

There is one new wildcard sweater I didn't post. It's a metallic sweater. I have loved good quality metallic knits, and this one looks a bit like tinsel.