Closet Overhaul

I've decided it's time for a closet overhaul. I feel like it's a natural time for my style and wardrobe to evolve. I found a great series of posts over on Kendi Everyday, that's all about creating a working closet. I'm following her 4 simple steps: purge, assess, organize, shop to create a closet that works for me. By a closet that works for me I mean, a closet where I can go in and put an outfit together with ease, because I love every piece. I'm sick of standing in my closet (that's over flowing with clothes) thinking, "Ugh, I have nothing to wear."

Step One: PURGE
Here is a picture of my closet before The Great Purge of 2011. I usually keep more organized, but I thought letting it get messy, would make for a more dramatic before and after shot. This is almost all of the clothes and shoes that I own. Missing are what's in the laundry, but obviously if I've worn it in the last couple weeks, I'm going to keep it.

Before

 These next two shots were taken after I has everything sorted into piles. I numbered the piles and outlined what they are below. Hopefully you can see the numbers...please excuse the horrible pictures, my camera is a piece of junk.

1. Keepers. These are all the of clothes that I hung back up in my closet. There are a few shirts that I was on the fence about, but hubs said he liked them so I kept them. 
2. Give Away. This is the pile is all of the clothes I got rid of. I ended up with one big bag of stuff that I'm going to try to sell at Platos Closet, and two big bags of stuff to either donate to Goodwill, or store to sell at my mom's next garage sale. 
3. All of my belts and scarves.
4. Keepers (2). This pile is all of my tank tops that don't hang up, so I kept the separate from the other keepers.
5. Maybes. This pile was a tough! It was a pile of clothes that I had to try on before deciding what to do with them. I wanted them all to be keeps, but there were just some things that didn't fit me right post Love Bean. Among them a pair of practically new Gap cords and my favorite black plants that were perfect for date nights and going out.
6. Comfy Clothes. T-shirts, sweats, and pj's. 

 Shoes! I got rid of 6 pair. There were a couple others that I wanted to get rid of, but I need to replace them first. Example: my black pumps, they are in horrible condition, but they're the only pair I have! I boxed up all of my sandals so that they didn't take up so much room.

 

Ta da! Here is the after shot. I did this all on Sunday night, and I have to say, it was easy getting dressed on Monday and Tuesday. So, I think I'm well on my way to have a working closet!

Next step, assess. I'll probably post about that after Thanksgiving, since we're going to visit Timmy's family for a couple days.

My Style: Kenlee Flannel Flip Boots

This will be the first of a few posts on how I plan to wear my latest purchase the, Mossimo Kenlee Flannel Flip Boots that I talked about in my last post. I put this outfit together using Polyvore.

Click here for sources

I'm in love with those little deer earrings! They're so cute. As we head into Fall I'll definitely be pairing the boots with skinny jeans and a slouchy sweater. I probably wouldn't actually wear the jacket until Fall was in full swing, but the rest of it would be perfect for a cool day.

My Style: Maternity

I'll be 22 weeks tomorrow! I can still fit into all my pre-pregnancy clothes, which is really nice, but things are getting a little tight. And since my belly started to pop a couple weeks ago I've been keeping my jeans up with a hair tie. I did buy a pair of maternity capris, and thanks to my momma I got to go a little shopping spree and get some other new clothes!

Almost half my shopping spree budget was spent on unmentionables...O.M.G. getting some bras that actually fit my growing ta tas, has made such a HUGE difference! I went into Forever 21 thinking that I'd be able to get lot's of stuff because I'm really not big at all, but that was real depressing. Mostly because even though they'd fit me now, I knew they wouldn't fit through the entire pregnancy, so I settled on one shirt (the plaid one in the top left corner) and a pair of leggings.

The rest of my shopping I did online at Motherhood. I ordered the dress and 4 other shirt in the picture above. They haven't arrived yet, but I can't wait to try them on and hang them in my closet. I love new clothes!! I didn't buy any jeans, because I can still wear mine pretty comfortably unbuttoned, and I'm debating between jeans and shorts, though I'll probably end up getting a pair or two of both.

One other item on my list to buy it a bathing suit. I am NOT looking forward to this at all. I've always hated buying bathing suits and with my aversion to "naked" pregnant bellies, it's gonna have to be something that completely covers me. Needless to say, I will not be one of those women who rock a bikini the whole nine months. Go them. But it's not for me.

My Style | Tall Boots

By no means, do I consider myself a fashionista. More often than not, I stare blankly into my closet wondering what to wear. And then asking Tim a million times, "Do I look alright" "Are you sure? You're not just saying that to shut me up, are you?!"

I think this is partly because, now that I live in Chicago, there is this imaginary pressure in my life to dress more "city". But despite those feelings, occasionally I pull together a cute outfit. And it seems like every blogger out there does a style post. So I've decided to try taking a crack at writing a style post every now and then.

The topic of my first "My Style" post...how I style my tall boots, inspired by Mama Bear's comment on my Boot Scoot and Boogie post. You'll have to forgive my hurried Photoshop techniques and my face. I  was planning on cropping my head out, but it just looked weird...

Look 1: For this first look I paired my new brown boots with skinny black jeans and a menswear inspired button down (I bought mine at Forever 21, but if you and your man are close to the same size, just borrow one of his!). To make it look a little more polished, I added the blazer. Some people don't think you can/should wear black and brown together, personally I like it. They're both neutrals, so they go with anything, even each other!

Look 2: This look, I was most self conscious about wearing, I always feel that way in leggings...I don't know why though. It was really comfy! I cinched the wrap sweater at the waist with a belt, it doesn't really show up in the picture though. This type of outfit is perfect for a warm Fall day.


Look 3: Dress + tights + boots = cute. That's my general rule of thumb. You may not be a fan of my bright pink stripped tights with the blue and black plaid dress. But I think it works, and I'm the one wearing it right?! And just so you all know, the plaid is very very small.

I guess that's about it...let me know what you think of me doing style posts...I don't want to do them if everyone thinks I dress horribly!! Wait...on second thought, maybe I don't want to know if you think that...