Category Archives: Style

Kittens, I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but of all the pursuits I used to ADORE, shopping has made me so moody lately.

I see clothes and they do nothing for me.

I see shoes and they do…nothing for me.

I look at the things in my closet before I get ready for work and ask myself, Can we not just skip directly to tights?

To say that my life is currently dominated by spandex/rayon blends would be an understatement, but that doesn’t make this situation right.

Moisture wicking-gear aside, I’ve managed to snag a few things here and there since The Ban lifted.

Thank God.

The madness does not stop there.

Does it ever?  I think not.

A couple of weekends ago I was browsing the J.Crew outlet online and just drooling over everything in sight.  It seems like they’ve made quite the comeback in the last year and a half or so.

BUT (and here’s the kicker) instead of pressing “Checkout” right then and there like the shopping fiend of my former glories, I decided to give it some time to see what really stuck.

Um, excuse me, what?

HOW SENSIBLE.  I’m pretty sure that has been penned in every book about personal finance that has ever been written.

Please note, I did not “refrain” from checking out because of personal finances.  It was wholly rooted in a desire to avoid bringing more crap into my closet.

Still, who knew I had that in me?

Last Friday, I did the actual shopping.  And upon the discovery of a 30% off coupon code that was allegedly expired (it was not), I walked away with a veritable bounty of things for not-so-much money.

In all seriousness, I only spent the same amount that it would have cost to drag an equivalent amount of clobber home from Target.  So my waiting was, in fact, worth it.

Can I get an Amen for that?

Anyway, the haul.  Please note, there is no pleating, there is no neon.  En ce moment, I just…can’t.

Not from J.Crew: The dress, the maroon and lavender cardigans.

I tried to avoid buying more sundresses because as I realized the other week, my closet is actually pretty full of them.  If this is the biggest issue I’m facing, then I think we can all agree that I am in A Good Place.

I mean, can we all agree that we could probably achieve World Peace if everyone had enough frocks in their closet?  Because I’m positive that we could.

My new dilemma is trying to figure out what it is that I actually do need to stock up on for the summer months.

The first step: Purging the shoes I own that are falling apart or don’t fit well.  I’m ashamed to admit that I own a disproportionate number of them.  I need the shelf space.  The time is now.

What are you stocking up on for summer?

At midnight tonight, the shopping ban is officially over.  And now that I can shop?  I don’t really have the urge to.

I can’t say that living with the same wardrobe for the past two months has inspired me to purge any pieces.  Or drastically rehabilitate my style.

I pretty much still love all of it.

Which is good, I guess.  The idea of “paring things down” sounded appealing in that Edgy People Who Own All Black Capsule Wardrobes-sort of way.  But we all know I’m not the girl who lives that way.

But I am able to recognize which pieces I bought because I really loved them and which pieces I bought because I had “nothing” to wear.  You know, wardrobe fatigue.  We all suffer from it.  Some of us (moi) more than others.  Which is part of what I wanted to curb through this.

I did cheat once.  Because they were the two things that were so freakishly cheap, I couldn’t pass them up.

Y’all know I love me a good Rue La La Lilly Pulitzer Flash Sale.

Resort Wear is my kryptonite.

But going into it, I visualized.  I thought about the very specific-sort of things I would be willing to bring into my closet.  Which gave me permission to walk away if those “deals” weren’t there.

My haul?

Just call it Country Club Cammoflauge.

While I was hanging these two in the closet, I discovered a dress that I snagged at the Banana Republic outlet on Black Friday for like…$6.  No, seriously.  It was an extremely pleasant surprise.  Both buying it AND re-discovering it.

That I’m still “finding” things in my closet I didn’t know I owned means I can probably drag this experiment out a little longer while I wait for that personal style-epiphany to strike.

How often do you buy things because you don’t have anything to wear?

When is the last time your personal style shifted drastically?

My copies of Vogue, W and Vanity Fair are tucked snugly in the magazine basket.  I still haven’t finished my December Issues.  This is clearly symptomatic of the fact that it has been a little over a month since I started my No Shopping (for clothes) Ban.

Yes.  Seriously.

I, Kat, managed to survive an entire month without purchasing clothing.

No Boxing Day sales, no New Year’s Day sales.  Nothing.

When I look in my closet, it’s the same show on a different day.

A closed herd.

Full Disclosure: A few things made it easier.  Like the coat that I got for Hanukkah.  And the other coat that I bought right after Thanksgiving, but didn’t decide to keep until the second week of December.

Since I tweeted about them forever and a day ago, I promised Megan that someday I would post snaps.  Today, the snaps.

Subtitle: The one where I try to channel The Duchess.

Before Boujis.

After Boujis. The paparazzi are so pesky like that.

I'm thinking this would be best for a Passing Out. Or The Meet at Cheltenham.

And you already know that something I ordered at the beginning of September finally appeared two days before Christmas.

But really, I’m as surprised as you are.

The first month?  Not so bad.  There were a few moments where boredom took over and the actual act of dressing myself seemed a little bit tedious.  I totally blame that feeling on the week of casual days we had at the end of December.  I think I speak for everyone when I say that casual day is a wonderful thing.  But it also removes all of the mindlessness that accompanies my normal Getting Ready For Work-routine.

And Getting Ready For Work and co-workers you’re not worried about impressing?  Not as much fun finding the right outfit for Friday night.

All of that aside, I can truthfully say that I touched clothing in December that I had not touched in months.

That wasn’t really the point of all of this, but it was nice to know that they were useful pieces and not Bad Buying Decisions That My Pride Kept Me From Returning.

There’s truth to the fact that what you can’t see can’t end up in your closet.

I can’t say that I would be able to commit to a year without shopping.  Ever.  I find the idea to be totally insane in the same way that I will never understand People Who Say No To Mirrors.  But I will say that the last month has been really good for me as I try to figure out what, exactly, it is that I want to add to my wardrobe.

In a perfect world, I would declare January AKA Month Two of The Great Experiment to be the month where I change things up a bit and start innovatively styling stuff from my closet.

To really figure out my personal style.

Instead, I think I’m going to keep on trying to wear things that haven’t seen the light of day in a year.  I think people who don’t actually ban themselves from retail establishments call that “shopping your closet.”

Have you ever implemented a shopping ban?

What’s one piece of clothing that you LOVED when you saw it in the store, but once it disappeared into your closet you never touched it again?