September Pinspired: A New Way of Thinking about Clothes and Style

This is my fourth Get Pinspired linkup, and I wanted to take this opportunity to do a little bit of reflection on what I have learned over the past four months.

I've never been one to buy clothes excessively... and I've never been one to buy things I didn't love.  But Pinterest has helped me to buy deliberately, strategically.  I am actually looking forward to cleaning out my clothing when we get moved into a house, and those who've known me for a while know that that's kind of a big deal ;-) 

Last week, Ethan and I were out shopping, and I had been talking about trying to find one of those slouchy sweaters that are all over Pinterest, and look so comfortably stylish.  I finally found one, and tried it on.  Then tried it on in a bigger size.  Then tried stripes instead of solid.  You know what?  The look does NOT work on me.  It just doesn't.  And I'm over it :-)  Same thing happened with mint jeans a month or so ago.  They are so cute on some models, but they just didn't do anything for me when I put them on.  Pinterest made me try them on, but Pinterest also gave me the shopping philosophy to walk away when they didn't flatter my figure or fit my personal style.

 

I've learned that, as much as possible, I demand multi-taskers.  You can see from my red pants post, white skirt post, and denim jacket post that I want almost every piece in my wardrobe to be able to be worn multiple ways and in a wide variety of outfits over the casual -> dressy spectrum.  Now, every time I try on a piece, I ask myself: Does this flatter my figure (from all angles!)?  Can I wear it multiple ways (ie, button-downs as shirts, cardigans, or under a sweater)?  Do I have something that serves the same purpose (ie, do I need a red cami when I have that red short-sleeved v-neck)?  Then the really tough question:  Will I actually reach for this when I'm getting dressed, or do I like the IDEA of the piece more than the piece itself?  The result so far has been that every.single.piece of clothing I have bought in the past few months is something I LOVE and I enjoy wearing. 

Okay.  Moving on.  Here's a photo I just had Ethan snap of me tonight, wearing one of my favorite new shirts.  I have worn a lot of "pinspired" outfits this week, but... I've been having some depression problems the past couple of weeks, and most pictures I've tried to take have made me want to cry.  My recent hair loss, that extra weight courtesy of PCOS... fun stuff, y'all.

These were loosely inspirational pics for this outfit... I actually wore the shirt with dark skinnies earlier in the month, but they were in the wash when I got dressed tonight :-) But these were some of the outfits that helped me determine that the plaid shirt was versatile enough to come home with me.

via Cranberry Chic

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Couldn't find original source for this one, either.

Also!  I was so excited about this!!  I've loved everyone's chunky, shiny watches, and I finally got my own.  It looks SO much like this $500+ Citizen watch, but it cost me... drumroll... under $11, thanks to the off-brand and stacking sales and discounts at Kohls.  Yippee!!!

I hope everybody has a lovely September!