Wardrobe Management

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Building a Workable Wardrobe – Part Two

The following is a guest post from Dottie, a regular reader of this blog, who is sharing some strategies for building a workable wardrobe.  This is the second part of a two-part series (read part one here). Part One covered essentials like body type, color palette, personal style, and so forth. This section focuses on a further strategy for building a workable wardrobe. Dottie welcomes feedback from “Recovering Shopaholic” readers, especially those of you who have additional strategies that you’ve used for creating your own wardrobe.

How to Build a Wardrobe Using a Color Palette

Years ago, I had a color analysis, which helped me identify the ideal colors that I should wear. My palette consists of:  black, charcoal gray, medium gray, light gray, white, navy blue, medium blue, red (blue-red), burgundy, dark violet, icy violet, icy blue, icy pink, and a blue teal.  The colors you wear near your face should be the most flattering colors for your hair color, skin tone, and eye color. Continue reading →

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Building a Workable Wardrobe – Part One

The following is a guest post from Dottie, a regular reader of this blog, who is sharing some strategies for building a workable wardrobe.  In this first part of a two-part series, she focuses on personal style, color palette, and other considerations that can help in the selection of clothing for a wardrobe that “works.” Dottie welcomes feedback from “Recovering Shopaholic” readers, especially those of you who have additional strategies that you’ve used for creating your own wardrobe.

For most people, building a wardrobe that really works may take years of trial and error. A lot of what we buy for our wardrobe is driven by what’s promoted as the latest fashion – and as this is constantly changing, it can be confusing when faced with so much choice. Just think of the options available for jeans: Slim leg or skinny? Dark wash or distressed denim? Bright colors or patterns? Coated or not? Mid-rise, low-rise, or natural waist?

One approach to building a wardrobe is to buy what fits and works within your budget. But you can end up with a lot of clothes that don’t work well across your wardrobe. When I was just starting to build a wardrobe for work years ago, I bought items in pairs – a top and a skirt or pants, for example. I made an attempt to purchase clothes in a particular color palette (the wrong one, it turns out). But, looking back, there was less cohesion – less of a wardrobe than a collection of odds and ends. Continue reading →

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What is Your Closet Personality Type?

Last week, I watched a video from style expert Bridgette Raes on fashion psychology and closet personality types.  I found the insights presented in the video so fascinating that I decided to address a blog post to this topic.   I believe that many of you will also enjoy these concepts and may learn some things about yourselves through Bridgette’s wisdom.

Window to the Soul

During her eleven years of working as a stylist and spending time in hundreds of women’s closets, Bridgette Raes has encapsulated five main closet personality types.  She strongly believes that our closets really “tell on us” as people and that how we dress, shop, and manage our wardrobes can be reflective of all parts of our lives.  Whereas many people feel the eyes are windows to the soul, Bridgette considers the closet a window to our internal realities.  In short, “messy closet, messy life.”

Closet Personality Types

“Our closets are windows to our souls.” – Bridgette Raes

Continue reading →

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Looking Outside the Closet: My Jewelry Inventory

Since I started this blog last year, a large part of my focus has been on paring down my overly large wardrobe.  Until now, I’ve spent very little time and attention on decreasing the size of my accessory collection.   In fact, I didn’t even include all of my accessories in the three closet inventories I’ve done (most recent here). While I noted the number of purses and scarves in my overall count, I’ve done very little to address the excess in these two areas.

Addressing the Elephant in the Room

I now feel it’s time to make a strong effort to pare down my accessory collection, including the proverbial elephant in the room, my large assortment of jewelry.  You may know me as a numbers and statistics “junkie,” but I have a confession to make. Until yesterday, I had never taken an inventory of the contents of my jewelry box!  Seems like a glaring omission, doesn’t it?

Jewelry Inventory

Does your jewelry box look like this?

Continue reading →

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Shopping and Wardrobe Goals for 2014

Now that I’ve finished my many 2013 wrap-up posts, it’s time to work on creating some powerful goals for 2014.  Today’s post will focus on shopping and wardrobe goals, while another post later this week will center on more general life goals.

2014 Shopping and Wardrobe Goals

What are your shopping and wardrobe goals  for 2014?

Since the tagline for this blog is “Trade your full closet for a full life,” I want to make sure to devote adequate time and attention to the second part of that equation this year.   I hope that many of you will join me in setting goals related to your shopping, your wardrobe, and your life at large and that some of you will opt to share them in the comments section of this post. Continue reading →