goldenpig

Just curious...what trends or items in your closet are you tiring of? Anything you used to wear often or were really excited about, but now you are moving away from? How long did it take for you to get sick of it?

For me, I am still really happy with the clothes I bought since joining YLF last summer. But I am starting to get a little tired of my animal print and brightly colored denim.

Sometimes when I see a lot of animal print, I start to think of older women who wear lots of makeup and jewelry (not to say that people who wear animal print are old, but it tends to skew a little old in my mind). It could also be that DH hates animal prints and it's rubbing off on me. I am glad I returned the leopard print faux fur jacket that I tried last winter, because I think I probably wouldn't have worn it very much. I have a PB blouse and animal print heels and ballet flats and belt and scarf, but they're all kind of underutilized.

As for colored jeans, I wear my red pair and white pairs a lot, but the bright cobalt and orange and turquoise ones haven't seen that much play. Again, it could be the teasing/negative reaction from hubs about my "clown pants" that is "coloring" my view of them. I haven't gotten rid of any of my animal print or colored jeans yet (because they're still in style and I could still totally see myself wearing them), but I'm planning to be more selective about new trends in the future, so I don't overdose on something I'll get tired of quickly!

What are you sick of or regret buying too much of, and why?

I loved reading about Una's friend picking out an outfit from Una's closet for Una to wear! What a great idea!
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....ick-friend

But I don't have any friends I can ask in real life to do that, so I thought I'd ask my YLF friends instead! Since I'm trying to shop my closet, I thought I'd take suggestions for outfits you would like to see me wear, and maybe that would give me fresh ideas for new ways to remix items from my closet and keep my mind off the temptation of buying new items. I'll try to wear some of them next week after the photo challenge!

Here are a few threads with lots of pics of my closet and a couple threads with typical outfits for me (there's also my blog http://goldenpig.lookfab.com/ with lots of other outfit examples).
http://goldenpig.lookfab.com/p.....ation-pics
http://goldenpig.lookfab.com/p.....yle-rubric
http://goldenpig.lookfab.com/p.....es-or-both
(ETA: Here is my Pinterest page with some of the items in my closet:)
http://pinterest.com/goldenpig/my-style/

So, anything catch your eye--suggestions for a new outfit for me to wear (or an old favorite combo you'd like to see again)? Thanks in advance!

OK, just curious how much time you all spend here? One big chunk, or few minutes here and there all day? Try to estimate an actual number of the total amount of time per day (or per week if you're here infrequently). I'm trying to figure out what the average is, and what is reasonable. I am trying to limit myself to 15 min a day, but it's quite a struggle and I'm not sure how feasible that is long term!

Today I wore a wool shorts and tights combo and couldn't figure out where to wear it appropriately:
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....pying-aida
I had a meeting with our office manager today to go over the books and was pleasantly surprised--I made a lot more last year than I thought I did! I am so glad because DH is always so stressed out about money (no matter how much we have) so at least I can tell him the good news that I am earning more than we thought. Maybe this would help him come around to the idea of a third kid (he always keeps saying we can't afford another). So to celebrate I went out to lunch, by myself, to a Mexican restaurant (my favorite food). Here is my shredded beef chimichanga and virgin pina colada. Yum! I haven't eaten out by myself in ages--feels so decadent, LOL! So, that's where I wore my outfit today.

And in my previous thread someone mentioned that it seems I don't have any of my own hobbies anymore now that I have kids. Yes, that is true, my kids are my "hobbies" now. I don't have any other "hobbies" other than YLF and my mommy board, which is why it's tough when DH doesn't understand why I like to spend time doing it. He has his photography and video games so I try to do it when he's playing his games. But I just found a possible new hobby--making balloon animals! We went to my niece's birthday party last weekend and one of the dads there was making balloon animals for the kids. He said that once he had to wait in line for a half hour to get a balloon animal for his daughter and he said "Never again!". So he went onto YouTube and learned how to make balloon animals himself. I thought that was hilarious but also very smart! I tried it myself and figured out how to make a balloon dog, it wasn't that hard and was a lot of fun! So here are my first attempts at becoming a balloonist. I think I may try to check out YouTube and learn how to make some more animals, so that in case my day job doesn't work out I'll have something else to fall back on, LOL!

And here's a bonus pic of a bush that looks like a smiling pineapple. Have a good day everyone!

I don't normally think of myself as a trendy fashionista, but it's still fun to try new trends once in a while. You know what I'm going to say, since I'm wearing it today--my H&M floral ankle pants! These pants remind me of my black cotton blazer with floral print that I used to wear all the time in junior high, circa 1985-86. Which was about the last time in my life that I used to follow fashion trends closely! They are so super trendy and I know I'm not going to be able to wear these pants forever--the floral pants look is so in/hyped right now it may already be dated by next season! Fortunately they're only $14.95 so I can get them down to a reasonable CPW quickly!

Are you into fashion trends? What is the super trendiest item in your closet? Why did you buy it? How long do you plan to wear this item?

I have accumulated a pretty large wardrobe and one of the issues I am thinking about is how many clothes I have and that the more clothes I have, the less I can wear each one. Also I am thinking about which pieces I own still have the tags on and wondering whether I should keep or purge them since they haven't been worn yet. At first I thought I should return/consign everything that hasn't been worn, but on the other hand if I'm starting SYC maybe I should keep them since they will be like getting new clothes without buying anything new!

What's in your wardrobe that still has the tags on? Why haven't you worn them? What are you planning to do with these items? If you have worn everything, then what are the least worn items in your closet and why are they still taking up space?

Here are mine:
1. Evening/cocktail dresses--This is the main offender category.
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....il-dresses
I have several fab dresses that are too fancy for work and I have no occasion to wear them. On the other hand, it's probably good to have something ready to go if an occasion like a holiday party or fundraiser gala should arise (which happens a couple times a year). And also maybe I should try to go on more dates with DH and get dressed up more often! I have a red satin Suzi Chin, black and magenta floral Tahari satin halter dress, wine and black lace Sue Wong, black lace Bailey 44 and black ruffled Kate Spade wrap dress that have not had their IRL debut yet. I returned the blue J Crew dress but ended up buying another in poppy. I may try to ebay or consign the Kate Spade but I still like the others.
2. Jason Wu for Target--returned most of it, but still haven't worn most of the keepers yet--the navy fit and flare dress with beige and red stripes, red and mustard sleeveless shells, navy shorts, scarf and straw purse. Wore the navy floral dress and cat tee so far.
3. H&M coral/pastel tops. Was experimenting with different sorbet colored tops. I think I'm keeping the cantaloupe graphic tee and the raspberry cardigan but the rest is going to get returned.
4. Cropped denim jackets--I wore the faded denim one, but have the white AE and red Jolt one that I am going to try to wear now that it's spring.
5. TJ Maxx navy floral dress. Planning to wear ASAP with the white denim jacket, will be good for spring.
6. Trousers. I had a few pairs hemmed finally and am planning to wear them next week!
7. ASOS skirts. A couple of midi skirts (rust & black) that I was too late to return to ASOS. The main thing keeping me from wearing them is I'm too lazy to get out the steamer and dewrinkle them!
8. Old Navy cobalt jeans. Have worn the red one several times already but haven't worn the cobalt ones yet. I guess cobalt isn't my color!
9. INC turtlenecks. I bought them in several different colors on sale at Macy's and have worn the black one, but still have beige, grey, and purple to go. Kinda boring basics so that's why I haven't reached for them.
10. Peep toe wedges--fab emerald and blue pattern, bought on clearance at DSW. But the heels are too high to be practical. Will have to try them out at least once, but I think I'm realizing that I really shouldn't buy high heels. The work shoes that get the most wear for me are the mid-heel nude, red, brown and black pumps that I had even before YLF. And my MOTG shoes need to be flat.
11. Scarves. Another big offender category. I think I'm going to have to do a scarf week to get me in the mood to wear these, because it's just something that doesn't come naturally to me and it just seems to get in the way. Also my clothes are often patterned already so it makes it difficult to wear a scarf on top of that. For not being a scarf person, I seem to have accumulated way too many scarves!

Well, sorry to have been so long-winded, but that was a helpful! exercise for me! Even though I didn't really come up with much to purge, it does make me feel better about SYC since I still have some new things to look forward to wearing! Also it lets me see which categories I should really stop buying (evening dresses, scarves, high heels) since they are really not getting worn much.

I posted an outfit that I thought was mixing a lot of patterns in one outfit:
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....one-outfit
Nicole posted that it worked because the grey croc tote was a texture, not a pattern. What is the difference? I thought texture was something you can feel, like nubbly tweed or corduroy. Just wondering what makes something a texture vs. a pattern. Is it the size of the print? Are croc, snakeskin, leopard prints etc. textures or patterns? Is fur a texture? Also sometimes I notice people calling an outfit pattern mixed even when it looks pretty subtle to me, like herringbone or gingham check pants with small enough prints that they look solid. What about polka dot or herringbone or fishnet tights? Just curious what you consider pattern mixing and what the difference between textures and patterns is.

This is a WIW but also a keep or consign thread. I had ordered a bunch of stuff from ASOS but didn't return it in time so this dress has been hanging in my closet unworn. I think I posted it once and the reviews were mixed. It's time to make a final decision about keep or consign so here it is. It's a purplish brown midi dress by Vero Moda with a floral print. Wearing it with a Forever 21 double buckle wide belt, Forever 21 bronze cuff, Mia Nanette brown ankle boots, Anthro olive parka and Fossil chevron stripe bag. Is this fab or frumptastic? I know this may not be your cup of tea...does it look dated (even though it's new) and too Little House on the Prairie, or is it on-trend with the midi length? In #5 I'm going for the full-on hobo chic effect (LOL) with the parka and pattern mixing bag. For reference, #6 is the look I'm after (Joseph Altuzarra Fall 2011).

ETA: More styling options:
7-brown parka brown boots
8-white parka brown boots
9-black belt black boots bangles
10-white parka black boots
11-brown parka black boots
12-cognac leather jacket
13-black leather jacket
14-15. hammered silver bracelet
16-black bangles

I recently posted a WIW with an old mint green skirt with daisies on it that I've had for decades.
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....yay-or-nay
I was unanimously told to get rid of it, that it's horribly dated and the colors are all wrong for me. Yet I'm still really sentimentally attached to it and I'm not sure I can get rid of it! Rita was saying, "Maybe it can stay in the secret sad corner of your closet" for the pieces that really shouldn't be there but somehow are exempt from purging. I thought that was really a really funny concept (but so true!) and thought it would be worthy of its own thread! Hopefully this will be useful/therapeutic!

What pieces in your closet really should be purged and you know it, but somehow you can't bring yourself to get rid of them? I'm calling it closet "purge-atory" because they manage to reside there in limbo, safe from purging because they're sentimental favorites, but not getting worn either. Why are you holding on to these pieces--what do they mean to you?

And I'm not talking about the pieces you're planning to purge when you get around to it. For that stuff, I challenge you to start posting some keep or purge threads (I plan to do this soon myself with some of those pieces). I mean the really stubborn stuff that seems to be purge-proof! I think talking about it will either help us decide why we need to keep these things, or else spur us to finally let go!

Here's some of my purgatory pieces (and no I didn't try these all on, they're from old threads):
1. The aforementioned daisy skirt. I have had this so long I don't remember buying it and it has survived many purges. I feel very feminine when I wear it and I've always liked it. Now I can see that it's dated with the small print and the shape. I know it should go but I'm not ready yet.
2. My 80's acrylic neon handprint sweater. I would never wear this out unless it was an 80's costume party, but it's the only piece of clothing I managed to save from when I was a teenager. So it's more memorabilia than anything else. It's residing with my other mementoes, not in my closet.
3-5. More floaty printed skirts from my 90's Ann Taylor era. I have so many of these still! I still like the skirt and top in #3 even though now I know that beige is not my color. Plus it's my only maxi skirt. The top in gets no love here either but I'm keeping it to go with the skirt. I got rid of the tops in 4-5 but the skirts are still hanging around. I think I may be ready to let go of these two now though, thanks to this thread!
6. Pink floral printed blouse from H&M. It's the only pink top I own. I used to wear it all the time with jeans and red pumps (because the flowers are printed in red. But it's rather low cut. I'm on the fence about this one, I think I may be ready to get rid of it (actually it was in the donate pile, but DD rescued it and said "This is pretty!"). This is DD at her first birthday party, BTW!
7-8. Two Anthro tops that I bought several years ago, pre-YLF. I used to get tons of compliments on these two (several patients were like, "I have that brown top too!"). Now they don't feel so fab in comparison with my new stuff. The neck on #7 is annoyingly wide so I have to wear a strapless bra with it and brown isn't really my color, but I'm keeping it for now because I like to wear it under my orange poncho and this is the only long sleeve brown shirt I have. #8 is my color (rust orange) but it's a little too frou-frou and ruffly-puffly. I feel like it makes me look a little pregnant. And it's also a bit low cut. I'm on the fence about this one, it might be able to go to the donate pile now. I still have the skirt in #8 too but I like it a lot too!
9-10. My plaid miniskirt! From my college days. I posted this before and the consensus was that my post-baby tummy is straining the buttons. I last wore it for a 60's themed holiday party in Dec 2010 (DH and I went as a NASA scientist and mod girl, bucking the hippie groovy theme that everyone else went for). I'm keeping this forever because DH thinks I look hot in it, LOL. I think I may have to let out the buttons a bit though to give my apple tummy some more room!

Also, I have a whole collection of Paul Frank T shirts and purses that need to go, but that's another story (need to figure out eBay first).

Well, that was useful! I think at least 4 of these are inching their way closer to the donate pile! What do you think? Any encouragement on which ones to let go? Just don't say all of them! :) By the way, I finally made it to the consignment store today to sell some things for the first time, and they took 11 pieces! And I donated the rest. Yay!

Can't wait to hear your "purge-atory" stories! And LOL, I can't believe I am posting an album of un-fabness. That has got to be a new one for YLF!

I've been totally hands off with my daughter's outfit choices recently because I love seeing what colorful pattern mixing combos she comes up with (http://goldenpig.lookfab.com/p.....tern-mixer and http://goldenpig.lookfab.com/p.....ion-critic for example). Today she picked this cute Easter dress (a gift from Grandma) and even picked out a green necklace to match. She's got a shirt and shorts underneath so she can take it off for gymnastics class after school. Isn't she adorable? Especially with DS (who always wakes up with a mohawk). I love seeing them together (#5 is when they stole my shoes last night and were having fun clomping up and down the hall--DD again has a cute self-chosen outfit), they are best buddies!

But this morning, the nanny was helping her get dressed and told me that after DD put the dress on, DD looked at herself in the mirror and said, "I look fat in this dress." OMG! She is 4! I asked her why she said that and she said, "Because this dress is really puffy." DH is trying to lose weight, and does talk about having to exercise and wanting to lose weight to be healthier. She has commented that "Daddy looks thinner now", and a few weeks ago she patted my belly and said that "Your belly is fat because Baby and me stretched out your tummy, but that's OK." So she clearly is thinking about how people look.

She rarely watches TV and when she does it is just educational programs like Signing Time or kid's cartoons like Ni Hao Kai Lan. She's never seen a movie. I don't usually watch TV either. I don't know where she is getting this stuff. Maybe from other kids at school? (She's just in preschool, for heaven's sake!) She does know how to read, so maybe I should hide my fashion magazines (although I've never seen her reading them)?

I remember growing up that my mom was always "on a diet" and taking Dexatrim and not eating until she felt faint, so I resolved never to do that to my kids. I've tried to do all I can to reinforce healthy body image, and it isn't even an issue for me (I'm a normal BMI and pretty happy with my body) so I don't know what else to do. I've always tried to be positive about body image, both hers and mine. I always tell her that it doesn't matter what you look like or what you wear, that you are always smart and beautiful. I never ever say anything about my body in front of her, or say that I look fat. I don't even consider myself fat, so it wouldn't even come up!

It's sad that this body image consciousness is so pervasive and starts so young. I really hope it was just an innocent comment and that I'm not reading too much into it, but I can't help but worry!