Today’s post introduces a new monthly feature for “Recovering Shopaholic.”  Each month, I will post photos of my favorite outfits from the previous month.

Why post my outfit photos?  This is not really a fashion blog, but I will periodically include photos of my outfits to illustrate style concepts or demonstrate the power of remixing wardrobe items.  The outfit photos I post will usually be more educational than artistic or aspirational, but my monthly favorite outfit posts will serve a different purpose.

Revisiting My Goals

When I started my “Recovering Shopaholic” project and blog, I created a series of goals for myself for 2013 and beyond.  Two of these goals are as follows:

• Create a more manageable and minimalist wardrobe filled only with items I love and wear.
• Define and express a personal sense of style that resonates well with who I am and where I am in life.

Outfits Photos, Appreciation, and Awareness

Capturing and proudly posting photos of my favorite outfits each month will support both of these goals.  Seeing the outfits that I love will help me to better appreciate what I have, which I hope will decrease my desire to shop for more.

Also, my favorite outfits will highlight the types of styles which resonate most for me.  This will assist me in creating other similar ensembles, as well as inform me about the types of clothing and accessories to look for in making future purchases.

Each month, I will identify the common themes I noticed in my favorite outfits in terms of colors, styles, silhouettes, and other features.   As time goes on, I will better understand my unique sense of style and what works best for my lifestyle.

This increased awareness will help me with three more of my shopping and wardrobe goals:

• Buy only items that I truly love and cannot wait to wear.
• Buy for the lifestyle I have, not an imagined or wished-for life.
• Shop for the right reasons instead of to fill a void inside of me.

A Wardrobe Consultant’s “Blind Spots”

As I mentioned on my “About” page, I have a personal wardrobe consulting business. Part of my work with clients involves helping them to identify and express a sense of personal style that resonates with their body, lifestyle, and personality.  While you may think it would be easy for me to also do this for myself, a number of “blind spots” which have gotten in my way, including body image issues, emotional shopping, and low self-esteem.  I will definitely examine these issues (and more) in future posts, as I know they are common among compulsive shoppers.

January Outfit Gems

More to come on “blind spots” and compulsive shopping, but now it’s time for the outfits!  Here are my favorite outfits from January 2013.

Common Themes

January was a fairly cold month here in San Diego (yes, it does get cold here!), so I mostly wore pants, long sleeved tops, and coats.  The themes I noticed were:

• Bright coats (purple, green, blue) and my favorite grey coat, all in a classic fitted silhouette
• Stripes – black/white, black/tan, black/teal, black/grey
• Black pants and dark-wash jeans, all in straight-leg styles
• Scarves
• Black boots

I mostly like to wear classic styles of clothing, but I also enjoy adding color and shine to my ensembles.  My favorite neutral colors are black and grey.  We’ll see if any other common themes emerge in my favorite February outfits (which I will post in early March).

I am enjoying “shopping my closet” and unleashing the power of what I own to create fun and stylish outfits.  My life is fairly casual, but I like to dress my best for all occasions, even if I’m just heading out to run a few errands.  I am learning that I already have many great items in my wardrobe and I don’t need to keep buying more and more in order to be happy with what I wear.  That’s definitely a step in the right direction!

Recovery Tip

For at least a month or two, take photos of the outfits you wear.  Ideally, snap a photo of the outfit on you so you can see how you look in what you’re wearing.  However, if that’s too difficult to do logistically (e.g. you live alone and don’t have a camera with a timer), hang your outfit up or lay it out on your bed or floor for the photo.  The important thing is to compile a group of outfit photos so you can look for themes.

At the end of the month, select your favorite 5-10 outfits.  Ask yourself why you love the outfits you selected.  What common elements do you notice in terms of colors, styles, and silhouettes?  What adjectives come to mind when you look at the photos together (e.g. classic, sophisticated, casual, romantic, preppy, rocker, edgy, etc.).  These elements are clues for future outfits as well as future purchases.  It’s all about increasing your awareness so you can shop smarter (and hopefully buy less!).