Pix-Elated

Adelpha had a great idea for a thread: Rate vs. polished, with pictorial examples from her closet. http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....-my-closet

I thought it would be fun if more of us could contribute. She started from her phone so the option for us to add photos wasn't there. That's why I started a new thread.

Here's my contribution.

I am a lover of Chelsea boots. So I'm not ashamed to say that I own two pair.

1. My RATE Chelseas -- Blundstone chisel toes, several years old, worn a lot on weekends, for errands, when the weather is lousy.

ETA: They are looking more scuffed up than usual due to a couple of very mucky/ snowy outings. Typically, even my RATE stuff looks a little less...er...RATE.

2. My POLISHED Stuart Weitzman's.

Happiness factor with both is very, very high. I do prefer the polished boot, but I don't think I'll ever give up my RATE Chelseas, either.

How about you? Do you have a RATE/ POLISHED twin in your closet? Or any RATE/ Polished sibs?

This has been an unusually busy social week for me, so instead of purely "at home" wear, I have been making use of my OTG capsules.

Pics 1 and 2: Out for lunch with hubby on an unseasonably warm day. I could have done without that belt, I think. Oh well. But I LOVE my Stuart Weitzman booties. LOVE!!!

AT blouse
Winner's sweater vest
Halogen Seamed skirt
Microfishnets
SW booties
Vince Camuto colourblock pea coat. I mostly wear it with trousers but I also like it with a straight skirt.

Pic 3: Out for casual supper at a friend's house.

Theory turtleneck
AT leopard print pants
SW booties

ETA: these trousers are peculiar. They don't really photograph terribly well and I think they look better IRL. But they do sort of cling to my lower leg or sock in a weird way. They work a bit better without socks. But obviously that is not an option for me at this time of year.

Closeups show the necklace (I almost never wear necklaces but I felt like it called for something shiny) and the new bracelet that hubby gave me for Christmas.

Pic 6: Out for lunch with a friend.

Comments and suggestions for improvement welcome.

I've been neglecting my GAP BF for my slimmer slouchy skinnies, which I prefer for their texture and distressing and fit. But today I felt like giving this looser BF another chance, I wish you could see the cool diagonal cable on the Theory crew...it's got great textural interest.

BF jeans: Gap
Crew neck sweater: Theory (consignment)
Boots: Doc Marcies (letting my inner punk come out!)
Scarf: BR (gift from hubs)
Belt: Michael K. (on wise suggestion from Jeneva)
Earrings: from my Secret Santa, Kirti.

Okay, admittedly, this is not such a big sacrifice for me, who still doesn't really love shopping and has nowhere good to shop in any case! (See Angie's shopping weaknesses post today.)

I've hardly reached wardrobe nirvana. I still have a few glaring wardrobe holes. I also own a number of items that, while good in theory, are definitely showing their wear and need to be updated or replaced. And my closet doesn't completely reflect my style aspirations at this point, either (though it is getting increasingly closer).

And yet, on the whole, I have the clothes I need to get through this season in comfort and even some degree of style. Yippee!

(Thank you, YLF!)

But my reason for shopping my closet it budgetary. In mid-March, I'm going to London with hubby, who has a conference there. So I want to save my pennies for some shopping there!

Any advice on what in particular I should look for in London would be much appreciated!

I'd like to add my own revelations and resolutions to the growing list.

2012 was my first full calendar year on the forum; I joined in May 2011 so I'd already had one summer/ fall season, but I date my full participation really from the autumn of 2011.

I started that season with a fairly empty closet, apart from some consignment clothes and others donated by friends. I've made quite a lot of purchases in 2012. Some of them, in retrospect, were great purchases . And some were sort of dumb. But it's all part of the learning process, and mostly I've been able to wear the clothes I bought with pleasure.

Allthough at times it seemed as if my style was going nowhere, as a new year begins, I think I"m much closer now to a true personal style -- one that feels like an expression of who I am and that fits with my actual needs.

Some key revelations:

I've come to believe that while it's nice to buy quality pieces, not every article of clothing needs to last for years. It is okay to retire items after a couple of seasons or even after one season if I've worn the heck out of it in the first season's go-round. I've also come to realize that I'm that kind of dresser. I pick favourites and wear them repeatedly in a season and really enjoy that; but by next year I will be onto something new.

I discovered taupe as one of my neutrals, along with navy, ink blue, and denim. It plays well with my blues and greys and also gets along with the black that I can't quite eradicate from my wardrobe.

I figured out my signature colours -- fuchsia, peacock blue, cranberry red, orchid.

I embraced the slouch. While I still wear two pairs of legging jeans (mostly tucked into boots and/or with oversize sweaters) on the whole I'm preferring my slouchier jeans and trousers.

I found myself more and more attracted to modern and fairly minimal items and outfits. Although I still rely on scarves to add some pattern and neck warmth in winter, I'm even looking for ways to reduce my use of that accessory -- which means looking for more pattern, texture, and shine in my footwear, belts, and bags, and also looking for individual clothing items that pack a punch. They may be essentials, but they also need to make a statement.

I fully embraced booties.

I paid much more conscious attention to what I ACTUALLY wear and feel comfortable wearing in my day-to-day life, and also began to subdivide my activity capsules in way that helps me make sense of my continuing discovery of wardrobe holes. Heck, until very recently, I could never even identify wardrobe holes as such!

Going forward, a prediction and a resolution:

Prediction: I'll go even further along the menswear influenced direction. It's a look I really like, and one that works pretty well on my small busted, long-necked, fairly straight figure. It's consistent with my love of jackets and jeans. And it can always be feminized a bit with fuchsia. :-)

Resolution: I am shopping in advance for the fall/winter season, hopefully with an actual NAS trip. This is the first year I feel I might be able to predict my wants and needs with any accuracy. So I'm saving my pennies for that, starting now.