Defining Your Personal Style

Recently, I'd been feeling like I was in a bit of a style rut. I'd cleaned out my closet multiple times, thinking the problem was I just needed to re-evaluate what I had in there. This seemed to work for a bit, but then I'd feel like I needed to do it again, like something just wasn't right in my personal fashion world. And I finally think I found the problem; my fashion sense is changing ever so slightly, and my closet isn't a reflection of that. I am in need of re-defining my personal style.

Something that sparked this realization was a post-Christmas shopping trip to Macy's with my mom. While searching the racks, I came across this dress, and decided to try it on. After all, I love stripes, recently I've noticed I gravitate towards more neutral colors, and the jeweled neckline was a sweet accent. Turns out, it was too sweet. It fit perfectly, but I felt completely awkward in it. As I stood in the dressing room pondering it, I realized that yes, it has stripes and neutrals, but the cut was not my style. The puff sleeves felt too girly, too young, too... not me. But what is me?

Searching for answers, that night I researched a variety of different articles on finding or defining your personal style. I then developed a series of steps to take, to help me get back on track and redefine my style. While these are slightly specific to how I work and my current situation, they can certainly be applied to your own closet!

1. Find Your Style Inspiration. Head on over to Pinterest! I have multiple fashion boards on my Pinterest, and I went through all of them, deleting any pins I didn't like any more. This may seem silly, but I knew that getting down to the pins I actually love would help me to have a clearer view of what I like. Surprisingly, I deleted a lot! What I had left was a better reflection of my current style. (If you don't have a Pinterest, I highly suggest setting one up. Or, you could go through fashion magazines and cut out the things you like.)

2. Narrow It Down. I went through my boards and took 2-3 images from each one that were my absolute favorites. Using PicMonkey, a free online collage software, I compiled my images together, so that I could see everything at once. (You could also stick the images into a word document, or affix your magazine cut outs onto one piece of paper.) Here is what I came up with...

3. Put It Into Words. Break down elements of each picture, and put it into words. These words will help you stay on track when editing your closet, and when you go out shopping. My words are...

Stripes          Neutrals          Classic          Leopard Print          Classic Cuts with a Modern Twist             

        Pops of Color                     Pattern Mixing              Jeans                 Cozy                    Accessories   

These words are the back bone of my personal style. It's important to look at the images you chose with the words, because the words alone can be misleading. Take classic, for example. Classic can mean preppy, but I would not consider my style to be preppy (bows and blazers are not really for me, and these images have just a little edgy-ness to them). 

4. Evaluate Your Closet. Go through your closet piece by piece, and ask yourself if each item reflects one of these words. Keep the images handy (I printed mine out so it could walk into the closet with me) so that you can reference those as well. If an item doesn't match your images & words, think about if you really want it in your closet still. Perhaps you need to keep it around until you find a replacement that does reflect your style. Or maybe it's just time to say good bye. Just because you once loved an item doesn't mean it has to stay in your closet. If you are unsure, try a trial separation, and put items you are hesitant about letting go of in a bag or bin in another room or somewhere outside your closet. This is also a great time to make sure everything still fits, and to make plans to fix anything that needs repair. Make piles for keep, toss (either sell or donate), and unsure. I had 16 items to either sell or donate, and I put 10 in the back of my closet for a trial separation.

5. Make Lists. Using a notepad app in your phone, make a list of your words and a list of things you need to shop for. This will help you to stay true to your style next time you go shopping, and remind you of anything you needed to replace in your closet. Here are mine...

I actually have already purchased the navy tights and the black skirt, because those were the most crucial for the winter months, and I'm excited to add the rest! I also really would like a new pair of boots and a new purse, just to freshen things up, but I cannot decide what kind or style. And let's be real, I am the last person that needs more shoes or bags!

This process really helped me diagnose my style problems, and helped me to re-define my personal style. Hopefully it works for you also! Please let me know in the comments! Have you ever had to take a second look at your style? How has your style evolved over the years?

--Caroline

                             

Closet Clean Out: Minimalism Approach

Last week I shared with you a ton of articles (sorry!) about different ways people have adapted Minimalism to their life, with the focus being on the closet. (Read my post here.) Fired up by these articles, I attacked my closet with guns blazing!

Step One: Figure Out Which Clothes Are Your Favorites

To do this, I cleared off my bed so that I could lay out these favorite pieces. Then I started thinking about my favorite pieces while not in my closet looking at them! (I think this is an important piece missing from my previous clean-outs, because you are forced to really remember your closet, and therefore the most memorable pieces are the pieces you love the most.) I grouped similar styles into categories, so I could really see what I loved. In the process, I tried on each piece, and I actually came up with a couple outfits just with my favorites that I hadn't thought of before!

I ended up with 40 pieces: 3 sweaters, 3 dresses,  jackets, 13 tops, 4 basic tanks, 2 skirts, 4 shorts, 3 jeans, 1 pant, and 1 romper. 

Then, I examined what was similar about these pieces, so I could determine my "style":

     -classic shapes

     -main colors: white, black, nudes, grays, blues

     -occasional pops of color: greens, pinks, reds

     -simple patterns (stripes & dots primarily)

Now when I'm buying new things that don't necessarily fall into this category, I can really think about if they work with my favorites. (I strongly suggest this evaluation step, even if you think you know your style. That way you know what you are always working with!)

Some observations I made during this step:

     -99% of the things that made it into this category were bought in-person (or tried on a similar size and ordered correct size).

     -Many were unplanned buys that I immediately fell in love with in-store.

     -I knew I was done when I walked into my closet and didn't know what to grab next! This is so important!

Step Two: Figure Out Your "Need to Keeps"

After squishing all my clothes to one side and putting my favorites front and center, I sorted out what I needed to keep. For me this was winter coats & jackets, formal dresses for sorority rituals and functions, and anything I knew I would need for recruitment in the fall. For you, this might mean your job uniform, business suits (only if you 100% love them!), etc. 

Step 3: Attack the Rest & Get Rid of What You Don't Love

By grouping the questionable items together, and making my favorites front-and-center, I was more able to evaluate if something I decided to keep was going to work with everything else I had. For this step, it's extremely crucial to try on everything. If I tried something on and I didn't 100% love it, then out it goes! For me, the things that automatically went were items that require a bandeau or tank (I hate having to wear extra things underneath), items that didn't end up washing well, and items that attract kitty hair like a magnet. 

I also found it helpful (or at a minimum interesting) to take note of some of the things I added into my "loves" first:

     -jean jacket (I wear it a lot, guess I forgot about it in the first step!)

     -3 sleeveless blouses that can go from casual to dressy easily (filled a void in my "loves"!)

     -colorful maxidress I recently got (perfect for spring and summer!) 

I divided up the items I was getting rid of into 3 bags: donate, sell on eBay, and take to a local consignment store. (I prefer Plato's Closet--they pay cash on the spot! Find a location near you here.)

Also important to note: I did this step over two days. Sometimes you just get burnt out and take the easy way out (keep everything), which is not what you want when trying to really be minimal. So I made some decisions the first day, then I slept on it and reevaluated the next morning. 

Step 4: Purgatory

I put every item that I wasn't sure about into a "purgatory" of sorts, in the back of my closet. The pieces that made it here are not favorites, but I do really like them and wasn't ready to get rid of them. When trying to really pare down your wardrobe, you do need to be hard on yourself, but sometimes that's hard! I ended up with 15 items in purgatory, and I'm going to see if I pull anything out in the next month or so (the end of the semester). If I don't then out they go! The key here is sticking to this--don't slack!

Step 5: Deal With the Rejects

Take the time to properly deal with your rejects. Kitty Boy helped me take pictures for my eBay items, and then I loaded up my car to take the items to Plato's. (They took some stuff but not everything, so I'll be adding the rest to my donate bag!). Whatever you do, do not change your mind once you've committed to getting rid of an item. If you wanted to get rid of it for even five minute, it's obviously not worth keeping!

In the end, I went from 92 tops/dresses and 13 pants/skirts to 61 tops/dresses and 8 skirts/pants! That is hanging items only, so my jeans and shorts that are in my dresser don't count in those figures. I am planning on evaluating the remaining dresser drawers (my workout clothes, underwear, and pj's) but that is not nearly as exciting! Overall I am really really proud of myself! Since I've been getting dressed in only my loves, it's been a lot easier to get dressed in the morning, which is always nice. I'm also enjoying my closet rods being less crowded! 

Stay tuned for updates on my purgatory items, as well as updates on my fight to be as minimal as possible. On my list to really go through are my school items, and my large beauty product collection... yikes!

--Caroline

Five Friday Favorites

It's been kind of a long week, but at the same time a very short week. In my classes, we've all been assigned our next projects, but either we can't quite start on them yet or we are just in the early stages of idea development. Because of this, we all feel a little tired, not motivated, and really just ready for another break. For me personally, it also doesn't help that I haven't quite gotten back on the working out horse, which always gives me more energy. I've just had a lot of errands to run or meetings to attend recently which has made it hard. But regardless, here are my Five Favorites things about this past week...

1. My furniture design class turned in our cardboard chairs to the local elementary school this week, and it was so much fun! (Look for a more detailed post next week!)

2. This Styled Life reached a milestone on Bloglovin'! I'm so happy with how this little idea of mine has grown since I started last June. 

3. I sported this cute ensemble on Wednesday for a little mid-week style!

4. I've made some progress on my closet clean out, check back next week for the update on this post!

5. I'm wanting to get my hair cut, thinking something along the lines of this...

Have a lovely weekend!

--Caroline

Simplicity & Minimalism

The other day, I found myself sitting (unexpectedly) at Firestone Auto Care waiting for my car to be looked at. After checking emails, and fiddling around on my phone, I turned to their magazine collection and picked up the March 2014 issue of Ladies Home Journal.

That was a great decision, a fantastic decision. And let me tell you why.

While thumbing through, I came across the article "The Joys of Living Small: Three Families Share Their Tiny Houses" (read it here). Thinking it was an article about designing for small spaces, I naturally started reading, and I can tell you it wasn't about designing for small spaces. It was about so much more, and truly got me thinking.

I have always had a knack for organizing, a love for purging unused items. Yet I continue to have a lot of stuff. If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you probably have read about my many challenges I've attempted to curve my spending: my Post-Birthday Shopping Challenge, my Fit2Shop Challenge, and my most recent No Shopping In February Challenge. But this Ladies Home Journal article, and the subsequent research and blog-reading I did, has got me thinking about why these challenges haven't helped my habit. 

In the article, Dave Bruno's 100 Thing Challenge was mentioned. Curious, I typed it into google, and came across his blog and information about his book. Fired up about the negative effects of consumerism here in the United States and the ability to fight it by leading a simple life, the words on his blog by both him and his contributors lept off the page right at me. (literally, I swear! lol). I got to thinking about why I like clothes, why I like to shop. I got to thinking about how I don't want to be in debt for the rest of my life, how I don't want to pass down negative traits to my (very future) children. I thought about how I want to be able to afford travel & experiences for both myself now, and in the future. 

"Temporary and fleeting things..." is a compelling way of wording it...

(Take a look at Dave Bruno's blog here, watch his TedTalk here, and read another blogger's version of the challenge here.)

Additionally, I came across the blog INTO MIND, written skillfully about minimalistic capsule wardrobes, and finding your style. The articles that really spoke to me were "How To Build The Perfect Wardrobe: 10 Basic Principles"  and "10 Wardrobe Building Projects for Sunday Afternoons." 

Even though I wrote about how to do a closet clean out not to long ago (read here), I can still learn much from both articles "Closet Cleanout: The Only 10 Pieces of Clothing You Need" and The Order Obsessed's blog entry archive, "Category Archives: build + edit a wardrobe." They both outline some unique ideas I've never heard of that might actually push my de-cluttering skills! 

Due to my research and readings, I have decided I would like to make a change. I believe that why my previous challenges and closet-clean-outs have failed to stick is that they 

1) only affected the physical buying of clothes, not the mental thought processes or emotions involved with shopping.  

2) did not encourage me to think about my personal style or my favorite pieces and why they are my favorite pieces

3) they only acted as temporary changes, not lifestyle changes.

4) I was far too easy on myself!

Check back soon to see the results of my research! I'm excited to finally push myself like never before when dealing with my wardrobe which always seems to grow.

Do you have the same problem? How do you deal with never-ending clutter? How do you feel about the 100 Things Challenge?

--Caroline

Tech Thursday: Favorite Apps

There are a couple apps on my phone that I just really really love, and I thought I'd share them with you today!

ENVELOPES 2

This is my favorite by far. If you've heard about the envelope system for financial management, this is the modern-day version! You can set up your envelopes with whatever name you'd like, and then put however much money you want in them (you can also have the app automatically set monthly budgets, but I haven't used that myself). Why this is so perfect is, if you are not a 100% cash carrier, you can take out money from your envelope after every debit card purchase. The Envelopes app has really helped me to track my spending, and know exactly what I have in my accounts (rather "envelopes") at any given time! Plus, it's secure and doesn't actually like to your checking or savings accounts because it's all manually entered. Even better? It's FREE! Check it out here, via iTunes. 

AFTERLIGHT

A great photo editing app, it's like having photoshop on your iPhone (with a little bit of Instagram thrown in there). With high-quality photo editing and lots of cool filters to choose from, I definitely recommend this app for anyone who loves having editing photos. Doesn't Berlioz look so much cuter when the lighting issue is fixed? Only 99 cents on the iTunes app store. 

RED STAMP

I heard about this app through some of my Premier Designs Jewelry ladies, who use it to make cards to either message virtually or print and send out to jewelry lovers. There are a variety of designs, occasions, and messages to choose from, all of which are customizable! You can, like I said, save it digitally to your phone to text or email out, or you can send it to Red Stamp and they will print them for you and mail them to you. How cool! I used this app to send my mom a virtual card on her birthday, and the other day played around with it to write a cheeky message to go with a photo of me crossing the finish line at a 5K (I might have been a little bored, okay?!). Free on the iTunes app store. 

WATERLOUGE

My graphics professor told me about this one... It's an app that turns your pictures into watercolor images! So cool! Makes your Instagram posts a little more French, and brings out the artist in everyone. I tested it out with the beautiful flowers Kyle gave me for Valentines Day. $2.99 on the iTunes app store. 

SIMPLY BEING--GUIDED MEDITATION FOR RELAXATION AND PRESENCE

I read about this app, I believe in a magazine (don't remember which one, honestly could be making that up even!), and decided to try it out. I usually listen while I'm going to sleep, and I've noticed the nights I use it I tend to sleep much better! Always a plus. The app has lots of customization options, and I've found it to be a soothing asset to stress-relief. Definitely worth the mere 99 cents on the iTunes app store. 

What do you think of these apps? Do you have any favorite apps to share? Share in the comments!

--Caroline 

Linking Up with: What I'm Loving Friday's