Thursday, February 10, 2011

Could it be, I've finally turned over a new leaf?



Once upon a time, back in 2000, I graduated from UCI and 2 weeks afterwards, I became a financial advisor. I wore the prettiest suits, Anne Klein, Ellen Tracey, and anything that had the classical style to it. I bought all these fine goods at the nearest outlet, of course, as a kid on a peanut (seriously, peanut, not beer) budget could not afford much!

Fast forward 3 years later, I was recruited to work in a bank. Of course, this was a considerable move up in the totem pole, and being in a bank, one would be required to wear conservative banker’s clothes. I wore the likes of Brooks Brother’s finest. I got giddy every time a new suit came out, a new shirt with a different pattern, French cuffs, sweater sets, etc. What a great time this was! I looked polished, ready to conquer the world at 24 years old. Choosing my attire each morning was simple, I had my rounds of what went to the dry cleaners, what stayed in cycle.

At 27, I started my own company. What a great time that was, 5 years ago, and my lifestyle and wardrobe took a field trip as well. I rediscovered J.Crew, started reselling the goods, and all in all, I could justify buying, wearing once, reselling, only to start the cycle all over again. The clothes got trendier, sequins amassed and before you knew it, I had much more than I knew what to do with. It was great, I was a glutton.

A few interesting things happened over a year ago. I grew up. Now, I say that loosely, as I’ve always been mature, a saver and what not. But I started questioning my habits and my happiness. Not that I don’t have a great family, great in laws, a great husband, a great job, etc. But when I start examining my clothes, I realized I had a closet full of things I liked, but not loved. So here comes the great 2011 purge.

I pulled out 3 hefty bags. Filled them, cinched them. Scarves, I had more than the days of winter. Jackets, same thing. Cardigans, if I didn’t love them, they went in the bag. Tops, pants, accessories (thank goodness I don’t accessorize much) too. It felt great. Now they sit in the closet, awaiting to be jcrewround2. Keep your eyes peeled, you might be looking for that one thing I don’t need anymore.

So what now? I’m turning over a new leaf. Or leaves. Well, now that I’ve decided to scale down, yet scale up, I’m relooking at wardrobe from the outside in. You’ll find that I’ll be polyvore-ing much of the same items I’ve always coveted, and adding a few more key pieces that I love. Anthropologie will be here and there, but even in a store full of beautiful things, I can’t imagine another top to go with another cardigan, another skirt, etc.

This dress is nothing short of fabulous. It's silk, it's pretty in dots and cinches at the side, which says, I'm a lady. I can imagine pairing with many different cardigans and love that it's retro, which means I'll probably never tire of it. It's simply gorgeous, and for $168, I can't remember how many times I bought one thing from J.crew that cost $168 that I have no recollection of.

You’ll see more styling from my new love, Kate Spade. What I love about Kate Spade is the lack of choices. Sounds weird, doesn’t it? ( Well, in my near future post, I’ll discuss with you the Paradox of Choice, which was one of the books I read. I’ll post a clip soon, as the author is part of Ted Talks, a series of eye opening discussions that are really eye opening. ) With Kate Spade, I’m not spending an hour going from page to page and analyzing the styles. The styles are simple, the choices are small and the decisions are easier to make. And, being that it is so high priced, you tend to think harder about the want/need/must have/will spontaneously combust if I don’t get it feelings associated with buying. In a nutshell, I’m looking at saving time, money and space.

Enough about me. Have you turned over a new leaf lately?

3 comments:

  1. I love this dress too! And wore a similar colored cardigan with it.

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  2. I would love to hear more on that book..and I really like the idea of less is more. Wish i could pare my own wardrobe down and have really only those key pieces but it's too late for me.
    I can not bring myself to rid of things I still love (major hoarder) even if the result is that I have tons of J Crew and am totally disorganized! HELP!;)

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  3. I think you have to ask yourself why you have 10 white tee shirts. Or 10 button up shirts you don't wear. Or why you have 12 pairs of jeans and half of them still have tags on them.

    Did you buy it at the moment because you'd knew it would make you feel good? Were you punishing your own wallet or someone else's?

    It's ok to know you have a problem, but more importantly, it's wanting to fix it.

    Here's the link to the book!

    http://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Choice-Why-More-Less/dp/0060005688

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