Author: Debbie Roes

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March 2015 Accountability Update

The first quarter of 2015 is now behind us.  Time sure does seem to be flying by!   Since April is now underway, it’s time for my March accountability update.  For those who are new to the blog, these monthly reports are where I share what came into and left my closet during the previous month and how I did with my shopping budget.   It’s my way of keeping myself honest and on track with my wardrobe and shopping.

Shopping Accountability Updates

Although I don’t have the type of formal goals this year that I had during 2013 and 2014 (see this post for what I’m doing instead this year), sharing what I bought, what I culled, and how much I spent will help me to stay deliberate (my theme for 2015) with both my shopping and wardrobe management.

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March 2015 “Grab Bag” of Useful Links

It’s the last day – and the last post – of the month, so it’s time for me to share my latest “grab bag” of useful links.   But before I do, I want to thank everyone who has shared their feedback on where to find quality clothing in response to my last post.   As I mentioned in that post, I will be adding all of the reader input to mine and creating a permanent resource page on the website.  I will share that link once it’s available.

If you haven’t had a chance to chime in about your quality clothing (and accessories) sources, you still can do so up until Friday, April 10th.  I wish I could leave comments open indefinitely on the blog, but the spammers had to go and ruin our fun such that I must close the loop after two weeks.   However, you can always submit feedback to me via the Connect Page.

Springtime flowers

Spring has definitely sprung in many parts of the world!

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Where to Find Quality Clothing

Many of us are looking to shop less often and place shopping into the proper perspective in our lives. At the same time, we’re also aiming to find quality items that will stand the test of time.   In the comments section of one of my previous posts, some readers shared resources for where they find quality clothing and asked me to share my insights on the topic.   I thought that would be a great topic for a post.  As I’ve often said, I get some of my best post ideas from readers!

focus on quality

In today’s post, I list some of my favorite locations for finding quality clothing, as well as some additional resources provided by readers.   You may also wish to check out the guest post written by frequent commenter Dottie last year, “How to Tell if a Garment is Well-Made.”  This article provides a wealth of information to help you determine if clothing pieces will last before you buy them, so I encourage you to check it out if you haven’t already seen it.

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What to Do With Your Closet Cast-Offs

I’ve written quite a bit about how to pare down an overly large wardrobe (see here and here for some of my best suggestions on this topic), but I don’t think I’ve given too much attention to what to do with our clothing cast-offs.   Today’s post outlines some suggestions for how to best move these items on to a new home.

Dealing with closet cast-offs

Are you unsure what to do with the clothing items you’ve culled?

First, an Important Point about Guilt…

Before I cover my specific suggestions, I’d like to cover one important point. A lot of times, our primary reason for holding on to clothing we no longer love is guilt. We feel guilty for having spent money on items that we have rarely or never worn. We may also experience remorse for not having used gifts that were given to us by loved ones. But such feelings cannot bring back lost dollars or push us to love things that we simply do not.

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More Thoughts on At-Home Wear

Terra Trevor’s guest post last week and the follow-on comments from readers really got me thinking about what I wear at home and how I feel about it.  I’ve written quite a bit about how our wardrobes should suit our actual lifestyles instead of imagined or wished for lives.   However, for some reason, when I’ve thought about my own wardrobe and lifestyle, I really only took my “out and about” activities into consideration.  I mostly left my at-home life out of the equation and have rarely addressed this topic on the blog thus far.

At home clothing

What do you wear when you’re at home?

Such an omission might make sense for someone who is rarely at home and spends the majority of her time at an office and engaging in after hours and weekend socializing.  This type of woman may not really need to give much attention to what she wears at home.   A few pairs of pajamas or nightgowns may be all she really needs.  But that is not my life at all.

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