Thoughts from my Closet overhaul

Good morning lovelies! I spent a good portion of my holiday break during a MAJOR closet overhaul. Since my goal for the new year is recapture my style, I thought it best to critcially evaluate the items in my closet, evaluate what wardrobe gaps I have, then use the money that I had been gifted to fill those holes. After 2 days worth of work, I have made two key observations:

1. I feel the most comfortable and confident in dresses/skirts - My closet had numerous pairs of trousers but only 2 pair really made me feel polished. However, I felt polished, pretty, and ready to take on the world in ALL of my dresses and skirts.

2. My wardrobe gaps are as follows:

- a few basic colored skirts (grey/navy/black) - I have lots of patterned skirts but I need solids to build various outfits around.
- layering tanks - my current ones are several years old and really don't accommodate my current chest size (thank you pregnancy/breastfeeding)
-Shoes - My current shoe collection does not include any pumps or work appropriate heels. Must remedy soon!
-Tops that accommodate breastfeeding - My body is in a strange place right now. I am close to my pre-pregnancy weight but my chest is much larger due to breastfeeding so my pre-pregnancy tops just don't fit or work for having to nurse/pump. I need to look for tops that I can slip off my shoulder rather than having to completely remove for pumping.

Once I realized what I needed, I decided on my plan of attack. I have a limited budget so I need to approach my shopping in a deliberate manner so that I can get the most "bang for my buck". As of today, my plan is to invest in higher end skirts and shoes as these items our ones that I will be wearing for much longer than breastfeeding friendly tops (only plan to breastfeed until baby girl is 1 (half-way there).

With all that being said, I haven't shopped in quite some time so I am looking for recommendations on great quality skirts and shoes especially ones that are good for fussy feet (think high arches!)

Thanks in advance!

9 years ago

PalmFronds

Active Member

Congrats in getting that closet haul done!!! I hope to do the same soon but right now pulling out of the flu so it will have to wait. I am in a similar place as you, my baby girl is 7 months and I plan to nurse until 1 year so I agree on the tops-needing-access.
Skirts: I have always liked jcrew or banana republic for nice quality dressy casual skirts, many of which can be washed. Denim or cotton skirts win for me unless it is winter.
Shoes: believe it or not I have had great luck with lifestride flats or wedges when I find cute ones. I also wait for fidji low heeled pumps to go on sale then snag those. I can actually RUN in those things!

Best of luck revamping! Hope to post about my own in future

kimlee

Veteran

PalmFronds - Thank you for the recommendations. Believe it or not, the trousers that I do adore are Banana Republic, so I will be giving their skirts a look. I am also going to check out your suggestions for shoes!

You are welcome! BR does make some great skirts, especially if you like pencil or slight Aline.
How are you finding dress-wearing with breastfeeding? I miss my dresses! The only ones I wear now are the shirt dresses, otherwise I feel like I wear them only 3 hours before needing to completely disrobe to nurse, aaack !!!

Oh and amazon is a great place to haunt those fidji pumps for sales...

Jennifer

My daughter is about 4 days away from being 1 year old, so I am just coming out of the BF-ing stage (or more accurately, the pumping stage - I am still BF-ing in the morning and evening).
Like kimlee, I am firmly on Team Skirts/Dresses. I really missed my work dresses in the past few months when I've been pumping at the office. However, I ended up buying a plain black wrap dress from BR and have been wearing it at least once a week - it has worked really well for pumping. I have a Seraphine nursing slip that I wear under the wrap dress and between the two I have both good coverage and easy access for pumping.
My recommendations for tops during the nursing/pumping stage are tops that button down the front, but I was also able to pump wearing tops that don't open down the front, as long as they were loose enough in the midsection that I could pull them up. This would also work for nursing. My chest appears to be closer to its pre-pregnancy size now, but when I first went back to work I bought a couple of cheap silk/quasi-silk blouses from Joe Fresh. They look fine and filled the gap that I needed - though not sure whether I will keep them for the long term now that I don't really need them anymore.
At home, I've had a much more casual approach to nursing attire - I have been wearing a lot of nursing tanks with either casual shirts or cardigans.
kimlee, for plain office skirts I recommend the Halogen Seamed Pencil Skirt from Nordstrom - I've had good success with those (I currently own three in different colours) but their colour selection isn't that great right now. If you can wait another month, I'm sure they'll have their spring colours out soon. Quality is consistently good, the skirts are fully lined, and I have been known to machine wash mine.

Nordstrom

Halogen Seamed Pencil Skirt (Regular & Petite)

$69.00

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unfrumped

Congratulations on the overhaul and new plan!
I need curvy skirts, and tailor those in the waist, so my go-to is Ann Taylor; Talbots I look but seldom pull the trigger; Pendleton has some lovely wools; BR I have one skirt that is now a little too "straight" and I'm contemplating having it tapered vs. toss; Halogen gets rave reviews. I've tried some Lafayette that are lovely but did not get a good fit.
A lot of places have good sales on skirts now. Most of mine are dry-clean only, which can be a minus. I have trouble getting good fit, skimming and flattering properties in a flat cotton or denim.

Thank you all for the replies and recommendations. I am off from work today so I will be looking at the selections that you mentioned and placing some orders today. I will be sure to show odd my purchases when they arrive.

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