playing closet: Tate

This is my friend, Tate. And she is great (my rhymes – do you appreciate?).

We joined Zeta at the same time, and we fell in love just after Bid Day. She spent two years with the Peace Corps in Botswana, and came back to the States almost a year ago (I know we’re all glad to have her back – me, her family, her friends, me, her boyfriend, her animals, me).

She’s a smart lady, who loves science, and loves to help people, so she’s going to med school, natch. She starts this summer and asked for my help in putting together an updated wardrobe for this next chapter in her busy life. Being the interested-in-fashion-and-style friend that I am, I wholeheartedly agreed (and by that, I mean I replied with a very enthusiastic “YAAASSSSS!”).

We started by Tate sharing her style "Pinboard" with  me via Pinterest, so I could get a better sense of her style, especially after living abroad for the last 2 years. We discussed her between-jeans-and-business-casual dress code for medical school, and the her style: boho meets young professional. Then we were finally able to get together one evening (after several weeks of planning and "would this evening work? what about this time?" discussions), with the company of her dog and cat.

Currently, her clothes are spread between a few different places, all over the State, so we tackled what she had in her closet currently. We went through each and every item and discussed:

Could she wear this for med school?

What about clinicals in a few years?
Can she pair this with items she already has?

If not, what are some pieces that would complete several outfits?

We came up with a list of items that would be worthwhile to add to her closet, a few of those items are: a black pencil skirt, some new Converse, a chambray shirt, flowy cardigans, and a faux leather jacket, as well as a list of items to replace when she happens upon the perfect item: an LBD, a polka dot shirt, and a big black belt.

We also discussed several ways to wear some of the items she already has, such as her flannel shirt under a pullover sweater, or a cardigan, and the easiest way to print mix: florals and stripes, or polka dots and stripes.

And, just this weekend, we were able to get together again and work on her closet. I don't have any pictures to share, but we did pretty much the same thing as before. And she took a few items off my hands for me, including a really cute floral dress that she might wear for her white coat ceremony this summer...!

playing closet: Amanda

Many many weeks ago (back in March - yikes!) my friend, Amanda, and I decided to "play closet" at her house one evening. We had some wine, Mean Girls, and puppy love from her shiba inu, named Kirin (find him on Instagram: @kirintheshiba).

The plan was to evaluate her closet a bit, and transition her closet from winter wear to spring/summer wear. Amanda works in a local school district, with a business casual plus dress code. She occasionally attends conferences and teaches seminars, and has to break out the suit and heels. She also kicks my rear every time we run together, and teaches a mean Zumba class - girl loves fitness and being healthy and working out. 

Here is her closet before we started. And an almost empty glass of red...

We started by examining each piece of clothing and asking a few questions about it:

1) Does it fit? (getting at if it should be donated or kept)

2) Do you love it? (again, getting at the same as above)

3) How recently have you worn this? (again, keep or donate)

3) Is this wintery, or can you wear it during the warmer months?

Amanda's winter stuff got moved to the back of her closet, so it's out of sight, and out of mind until the fall. Personally, I find that helpful and useful - it's the worst to look at heavy sweaters in the middle of summer; it makes me feel like I have nothing to wear because I can't wear what's in front of me.

There were a few items we hung a little bit to the side - lighter sweaters, perfect for the snowy days in April and May (*cough* Mother's Day *cough*), or a cold office. And when we get to the heat of the summer, they can easily be added back into the winter clothes pile. 

When we rehung the clothes she can wear for warmer weather, we grouped them by sleeve type/length (some people do color, or style). We then moved to pants, jeans, dresses, and skirts, and worked our way through those.

Last were shoes and scarves.

Here is the after shot of Amanda's closet. Truth be told, we didn't really get rid of that many items - I think a handful. All we really did was sort, and condense, and discuss potential outfit options:

"This polka dot shirt is great. What do you normally wear it with? This would also be really great paired with these pants, or under a dress. Or what about this color skirt?"

Dresses and maxi skirts.

We also discussed a few pieces Amanda should consider adding to her closet as a young, hot, fun, stylish lady and professional: #1 being a chambray (she ended up coming to my house a few weeks later, and taking one off my hands. win-win.), and a skirt or two, plus a few dresses. 

So, even if my sweet friend doesn't end up adding anything to her closet, or changes around the organization of it, I think we came up with some great ideas for outfits, and multiple ways to wear some great pieces she has. And, we got watch listen to Gretchen Weiners and Regina George in action. I mean...

Happy Saturday - I'm off getting my toesies did with girlfriends, then to a Zeta event, then a graduation celebration, all in one day! Whew - this girl is going to be tiiiiiired.

tough to spring

You guys, I'm finding it tough to transition into spring outfits. I'm hanging onto the dark colors and layers and sweaters.

What is the deal?! I LOVE sunshine and warmth and sandals. 

I think it's that I'm more comfortable creating outfits with layers - the layers allow for more visual interest. In the summer, when it's hot, it's a top and a bottom. And typically sandals. That's about it. Most of the time it even feels too hot to wear jewelry, let alone a light jacket or cardigan or scarf. It's not that I don't like summer clothes - please don't misunderstand me.

What I like about layering is that it allows me the opportunity to remix my closet and the items in it - I can create LOTS of outfits using the same piece. In the summer, it feels like I've got a lot more limited options, since I can't really put anything over it, or wear it with tights, or add a scarf, or a vest or jacket on top. It's less pieces to remix and put together. But maybe I should just use this as an opportunity to flex my styling muscles?

Is this making any sense? I'm looking forward to warmer weather, I just always have a tricky time with the transition of the seasons - it takes me a few weeks to wrap my clothing & styling brain around the changing temperatures. Anyone else experience the same thing? Or am I the only goon hanging onto sweaters and scarves?

sweater: thrifted (J. Crew)

pants: Target

scarf: Pendleton

flats: thrifted

C to D

And here we go, from C to D (A to B here, and B to C here).

C was pedicures and lunch, and D was dinner at a steakhouse.

the most handsome pup in the world. besides his handsome brother...

The above outfit featured an embroidered tank top under a white button-up shirt, a fun scarf, skinnies, and neon sandals. Perfect for an unseasonably warm winter Saturday - I took off the scarf and button-up at least a few times each. It helps to have layers to keep me cool, hot, and comfortable.

And for dinner, I abandoned the button-up shirt and scarf, added a light blue cardigan, faux leather jacket and booties. I kept the embroidered tank top and skinnies the same, allowing me to change from one event to the next in (almost) record time.

embroidered tank top: from a friend

skinnies: c/o Aéropostale

button up: GAP

scarf: gift (Old Navy)

sandals: Target

cardigan; Eddie Bauer

faux leather jacket: Target

booties: Old Navy

B to C

More ideas for ways to go from place to place, or you might say since we already covered A to B, this is B to C.

Exhibit B: frolicking in the mountains, and then driving back through the mountains and a few mountain passes to a lower elevation to run errands and get settled at home after a weekend of play. Exhibit B is comprised of: a bulldog sweater, leggings, a scarf, a down vest, and snow boots.

And lots and lots of snow.

Exhibit C: perfect for running errands and enjoying the winter sunshine in Colorado (the temperature this day reached 70! in the middle of winter! I rolled down my car windows and turned up the tunes. Y'all, it was great). Exhibit C was comprised of: the same (wonderfully awesome) bulldog sweater, skinny jeans cuffed a few times, fancy pointy-toed flats, a faux leather jacket, a pearl explosion necklace, and shades. Shades for the above mentioned sunshine.

This was an easy transitional look - I kept the sweater the same and changed my bottoms and outer layers. And accessories, too. And the entire vibe of my ensemble.

But, you gotta do what you gotta do when you swing from one weather extreme to another, and you need to look good and feel good while you're doing it.

sweater: Target

scarf: c/o Aéropostale

vest: Old Navy

leggings: c/o Aéropostale

boots: SOREL via JAX

sweater: Target

jeans: c/o Aéropostale

jacket: c/o Aéropostale

flats: Target

A to B

If you've got a busy weekend ahead of you, with several places to be, that happen to be one right after the other, pay attention - this post is for you.

One of my friends gave me the idea to do a few posts on "transitional dressing." Not winter to spring, or summer to fall (although I could definitely do some of those, if you're interested), but this is more of a "when you're running around and don't have time to change, but you've got to be somewhere, wearing something different than what you left the house in."

Sometimes that's the gym to brunch, or brunch to gym, or errands to lunch, or pedicures to dinner.

Or, perhaps, dogsledding to lunch...

I went dogsledding with my family a few weeks ago (this was my 3rd time going). And, you guys, if you ever have the opportunity, GO! It's such a rush - you're on a sled, pulled by a team of running dogs, the air is crisp and the snow is bright. You can pretend you're competing in a dogsled race on the frozen tundra, the wind in your hair, the dogs smiling as they run...

If you DO go dogsledding, dress warmly - you'll be in the snow, cruising right along, but you'll also be running and helping to push the sled.

I dressed like I was going skiing, with a few minor substitutions: long underwear/cold weather running gear (long sleeve technical shirt + running tights/leggings) as a base layer; warm technical-fabric sweatshirt; snow pants & ski jacket; mittens, a neck "gator," hat or headband, and warm snow boots, instead of stiff ski boots.

I chose my under layers knowing that I would be heading out to lunch after the dogsledding adventure...

I ditched the sweatshirt, snow pants and jacket, neck "gator" and mittens. I added a buffalo plaid shirt over my long sleeve technical shirt that was my base layer, added a scarf over top, and swapped my hat for a solid black fleece one with a pom-pom on top. Those leggings are ones I wear running, and also the ones I wore under my snow pants while dog sledding (and skiing the next day).

I changed my whole look, in the parking lot of a brewery, without ever baring skin. Keeping my base items the same, and making sure they weren't sheer, see-through, or wildly inappropriate or skin-baring, I was able to easily step out of my snow pants and ski jacket and don a new layer.

And if your base items are basic enough (black, gray, easily matching what you're going to wear next), you can easily dress them up, down, in, out, or under just about anything you might need to don to make it to your next "appointment,"

However, if a quick deck-change isn't an option, there's always changing in the car, or ducking into a restroom. More on that later...

Ever end up running from place to place and need to change up your outfit on the go?

How do you make it work?

ski jacket: Anakie

snow pants: Sniagrab. in high school...

sweatshirt: 2013 Denver Hot Chocolate 15k

snowboots: SOREL via JAX

mittens: Hestra

neck gator: gift

gray beanie: Sniagrab. in high school...

sunglasses: Target Mens' section

buffalo plaid button up: Kohl's

scarf: c/o Aéropostale

running leggings/tights: TJ Maxx 

snow boots: SOREL via JAX

black beanie with a pom-pom: Old Navy

transitioning the other way, part 6

The last of my (spring) transitional looks as we head into fall. But the principles are the same – layers, and a mix of warmer & colder weather clothes. If you’re in and out of doors like I am, layers are key. So, when you don’t want to freeze in the morning, but you don’t want to sweat all afternoon due to crazy temperature fluctuations – wear some layers.

And try mixing and matching the last of your summer wardrobe with sweaters and light jackets.

Or try a sundress with a scarf.

Or something summery with booties.

Because, come January, we know we’ll all be itching to ditch the sweaters and boots…

shirt: Old Navy

cardigan: Aéropostale

jeans: thrifted (True Religion)

sandals: Target

transitioning the other way, part 5

More layering, more dark(er) colors, some studs, and leopard print.

Whenever the seasons shift, it takes me a few weeks to really get into my groove. This outfit is a perfect example – it was May. Yet I wore dark colors and layers like it was fall (technically it’s fall now, though…). Sometimes I want to wear sandals when it’s snowing, or sweaters with shorts when Spring is finally here! Whattt?

studded shirt: Old Navy

chambray: Kohl’s

scarf: WalMart

black skinnies: Aéropostale

sandals: Shoe Carnival