What is it worth?

I have talked about how this Shop-my-closet-365-challenge has made me think about my closet and what I choose to spend money on and the fact that it has made me a lot more conscientious about what I am buying. A new thing that is happening to me, is that I am starting to have an inner discussion about everything that I buy to determine if something is really worth the retail price for me. 

I am now approaching shopping in a completely different way. Instead of going: "this costs $50, cool", I think to myself whether I am buying it just because the price suits me or am I buying it because it is worth that amount. I also off course have to check that it fits within my budget.  

Example: I bought this white t-shirt a week of so ago:

I can't really remember what I paid for it, but I look at the price, say $25 and I determine that for a white t-shirt, I will not pay more than say $15. Then I try it on and the fit is great, which pushes up the price a bit more. Then I look at the details, I see the beading and that adds a bit more to the price, so in the end, I feel it is worth it for me to spend $25 on it. Sounds a bit silly, but it works for me.

I think/hope it should work pretty much the same way once my strict budget is no longer in place. For a designer outfit the brand, cut, fabric, beading, fit and way it makes me feel, will all come together to determine the price that I feel the item is worth.

If all I get out of this challenge is to make me more consciously involved when I am buying stuff, I feel that I would have succeeded.

Day 143 - Outfit 143

Pink silk top, jean skirt, beads and Jimmy Choo shoes

Knackered

After 12 hours at work, a severe lack of sleep, tired eyes slow brain and crazy frayed nerves, I can think of nothing better to do tonight than watch "So you think you can dance".

Day 142 - Outfit 142

Cardi, maxi dress and DKNY espadrille wedges

You know you have a lot of clothes when

You know you have a lot of clothes when:

- you can wear a new outfit every day for 141 days

- your closet is magically shrinking

- you say you are not a clothes hoarder and your mom bursts out laughing

- you still can't fit all of your clothes into your closet even thought you have donated 2 big bags full of clothes

- you can wear a new outfit every day for 141 days and half your clothes still doesn't fit you

- when the extra bedroom becomes your closet (added by Jayna)

- when there are clothes all over your bedroom floor (added by Julie) 

Who has something to add to this list?

Day 141 - Outfit 141

Linen jacket, butterfly silk top, boyfriend jeans and sliver sandals (plus little Lilu, model extraordinaire!)

Swap party

My friend Mary has come up with a great idea. (she says she was inspired by my Shop-My-Closet-365-challenge, which off course is a great honour).

Mary has come up with a great way for us to shop for free. Basically, a bunch of girls are going to get together for a great night of chatting, laughing, wine-ing and shopping. We are each going to bring a few items from our closets that we don't wear anymore (clothes, shoes, jewellery or handbags) and we are going to shop each other's things.

Not exactly sure how it is going to work, but I'm really looking forward to it, so watch this space as there will be an update as soon as the big day has taken place.

Looking forward to it!

Day 140 - Outfit 140

Cardi, chiffon top, boyfriend jeans and sandals - very comfortable work outfit.

Hungry for Harrods

Today I'm craving Harrods.

I absolutely love that place. For those of you who don't know Harrods, it is the most fantastic department store that I have ever been to...and I mean EVER. Have a look at their website:

http://www.harrods.com/ 

The place has a style and feel of its own and I must admit, I love almost everything about it, from the 27-something restaurants, the amazingly glorious food department (where you can buy from biltong and asparagus to foie gras and caviar), the pet department, the classic furniture area to the amazing designer clothing and accessories departments.

If I had things my way, I'd go there at least once a month, every month, because I never ever get bored there. You can't see everything in 1 day (unless you go through really quick, which off course is something I don't do, because I savour every moment in there), so I can go as often as possible and have a different experience each time.

Today, I miss Harrods and would love to have gone there for the day with either my hubby of my friend, Madelein (my favourite Harrods partner). I'd love to do some High Tea or perhaps oysters and champagne and spend hours looking at expensive handbags and fabulous shoes.

Not sure when I'll be able to get to Harrods next, but till then, I guess I'll just have to have the occasional cravings.

Day 139 - Outfit 139

A very un-Harrods-y outfit, but perfect for a lazy Sunday BBQ at our friend's house

Bananas for Banana

I love me some Banana Republic and after today, I love it even more. I bought the 2 cute silk tops below for the ridiculous price of $40 - gotto love a sale at Banana Republic. Not too mention the big red "another 40% off sale items" sign. Seeing one of those signs, has the same effect on me as the Pied Piper's tunes, I follow blindly...

I feel pretty and witty and bargainista-y!!!

Day 138 - Outfit 138

Trend alert: Colour blocking - I'm wearing a purple maxi dress (another trend) with a cerise pink cardi.

Seen on Seenon

Today, I saw a few lovely specials on the Seenon.com website that made me wish a had a few extra hundred $$$. (okay, I needed quite a few Benjamin's to be able to buy the Vintage Louis Vuitton and Gucci bags that they are offering today, but still, I have a soft place for both those brands)

Gotto love the bags above - there is always space in my life/love/closet for some Vintage Gucci and Louis Vuitton

Day 137 - Outfit 137



Off-white cardi, Calvin Klein top, jeans and gold bauble sandals

Summer Lovin'

I know that fashion always works a season ahead, and I appreciate it, but really people, for the love of all that is summery and hot, can we please tone down the autumn advertisement campaigns. Summer has barely started and I'm ready to enjoy the heat, so don't upset me already by threatening me with warm clothes, cold weather winter coats and everything about the cold that I dislike. I love my fashion and I love my fabulous websites, but on a 94F day like today, the thought of forcing myself into a thick skirt and pair of tights with a long sleeved shirt and jacket makes me feel extremely uncomfortable and not at all ready to imagine myself in cooler weather.

I'm not quite ready to go on a website sanction yet, but I think I might just have to avoid the "just in" section for another 3 weeks or so.

I think it is better to get Summery advertisement in Winter than it is to get Autumn adds in Summer. At least summery ad's inspire you to look forward to fabulous weather, amazing outfits, longer days and a great glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in the hand while sitting outside on the deck. Just fab. For now, I'm enjoying the weather and the amazing summer sales, that just get better and better as the weeks go on.

Yay Summer - may you stay around for a quite some time!!!

Day 136 - Outfit 136

Golden wheat silk top, denim skirt and a repeat of my 90's leather & wood shoes

Wonderful Wednesday - not

I have been wracking my brain, trying to come up with something informative/clever/cool/bizarre to blog about today and I have nothing. I guess real life and a full time job that you don't particularly love or that doesn't satisfy your soul/creativity, can do that. It can on the odd occasion suck the creativity right out of you. 

I am no fool, I know not very many people on the planet love their jobs, but I know some people do and I wish I could be one of them. The uncoolest thing of it all is, ask me what I really want to do and I have so many ideas, that I can't get my thoughts straight. I'd love to work in the clothing industry, own a boutique, write about fashion/clothes, import South African home products to the USA, write about travel and food, etc, etc, etc.

 Most people will say: "why don't you go work in retail?" It definitely is a fair question, but one I find very difficult to answer. I did work in a large fancy department store for a while and even though I enjoyed it most of the time, I really did not LOVE it because of some of my co-workers. I was just not a cut-throat sales person and when people "stole" my sales, I said nothing. Sounds a bit wimpy, I know, but it just isn't me. Also, the pay is dreadful, unless you are a cold blooded, heartless, sale stealing, people-out-of their-food-money-convincing bad ass sales person.

For now I'll keep blogging. Sometimes I might bore you. Sometimes I might tell you something you didn't know. Most of the time I will just waffle on about clothes and my love for it and you know what, that will just have to give me enough pleasure to endure my regular 8-5 job. At least I have something to look forward to: my blog and you reading it.

Day 135 - Outfit 135

 Wearing my fun fan kimono-esque top, a white tank, jean skirt and silver kitten heeled sandals. I got loads of compliments today, so all in all, it was a good outfit day.

Can you say Awe-some?

Fashion, in particular shoes, can definitely be considered Art. The pair of Alexander McQueen shoes below, even though it might not be the most practical and regularly worn pair of shoes, are just fantastic! After all, should you really have to wear something so amazing regularly to make it worth your while to buy it? If I had the $$ lying around, those suckers would be in a "special shoe" rack in my closet so quickly, the sales person's head would spin. 

Alexander McQueen - true ART (from the Neiman Marcus website)

For some more Fashion Extremes/Amazing Art in shoes and handbags, check out the Neiman Marcus website below

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/templates/P6.jhtml?itemId=cat36230731&parentId=cat000143&masterId=cat000141

Day 134 - Outfit 134

Black cardi, black and navy dress, leggings, Tod's sandals and flower Aliceband

Manic Monday

After a crazy day at work, the gym, cooking food and doing laundry, I'm going to take it easy today and just post my outfit of the day photo. (Slacker, I know, but it was a bit of a Manic Monday)

Day 133 - Outfit 133

Grey sweater, maroon top, jeans and ballet flats (plus Bewley the poser)

Prints

I have a weird love for fun (some might call it childish) prints. If it has a piece of fruit (see http://shopmycloset365.blogspot.com/2011/03/fruity-fun.html ), a bow, a fan, a bird/dog, lace or anything funky on it, I love it. Luckily for me, this year, Stella McCartney agreed with me when she had the fabulous citrus prints on the runway, but for the rest of it...I'm not so sure. 

Below are some of my favourite prints that I own:

Day 132 - Outfit 132

Purple and grey silk top, boyfriend jeans and Tod's sandals

Wooden shooze

I love it when fashion gets refreshed and redone a few years later. That way you really can get the "wear" out of something. Not all items of clothes can be refreshed or modernized to be worn again (I'm thinking of most of the items from my and my mom's closets during the 80's), but sometimes you can be very lucky. Unfortunately you never can be extremely certain after it goes out of fashion, so it can be quite difficult to keep the correct pieces and donate or sell the wrong ones.

The sandals below are back and ready to be worn and I'm just happy that I didn't get rid of them (I was tempted many times, because they take up so much space!). I bought them (or actually, my mom bought them for me) when I was still a University student and shockingly, I wore those babies to class running from our residence to campus and between classes (usually with maxi dresses) for hours on end and found them extremely comfortable. Now, years later (I'm not going to say exactly how many), I'm so used to wearing flat sandals and ballet flats, that I am finding it difficult to believe that these very high shoes were once so comfortable on my feet.

I've decided to take them for a little spin today - just to a restaurant in Boulder. I'm not quite brave enough to wear them for hours on end. Baby steps...

I just love these shoes!

Day 131 - Outfit 131

Ready to rock my vintage (how old does something have to be to be vintage?) shoes with a cream cardi, green flouncy top and jean skirt.

Another Forever21 day

I have been wanting to go to the shops and was hoping to find something cute and cheap(ish) at Anne Taylor, Loft, Banana Republic, Gap...anywhere really, but I only seemed to find things I liked at Forever 21. Below are the pics of my purchases. I spent $50, so I still have $60 left of my monthly budget - yay!

Purple and Navy chiffon top



Blingy t-shirt



Cute blue dress




Little pearly buttons on the sleeves - cute!



Successful trip, methinks.

Day 130 - Outfit 130

Every time I wear this top, it reminds me of my friend Madelein since I was visiting her in London when I bought it. I'm wearing it with boyfriend jeans and Calvin Klein sandals

20%, 80% of the time

The other day, I saw an interview with Peter Walsh (he is a clutter expert and has appeared on loads of Oprah and Nate Berkus shows - if I wasn't positive about the fact that the man knows what he is talking about, I would not be able to listen to him since he ppronounces the word "clutter" as "cladda", which annoys me to no end - I digress).

During this interview, he said that most of us wear 20% of our closets 80% of the time. That was definitely my modus operandi, but thanks to the Shop-My-Closet-365 challenge, I can with pride proclaim that I am no longer guilty of that. It has been 129 days and I have worn a different outfit every single day - mission accomplished (almost - just about 236 days/outfits left for me to succeed in the challenge).  

Day 129 - Outfit 129

Black cardi, summery dress and pink Prada sandals

Fabulosity

I don't really follow Kimora Lee Simmons as a fashion designer/creator, because I have never purchased a single Baby Phat item. I do however know that she is all that and a bag of chips with a larger than life personality and fabulous clothes. (and to be honest, anyone who is good enough for Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel, is good just fine by me)

I noticed that Kimora has a new book out called Fabulosity and I heard her say that "it (Fabulosity) is the state of being fabulous." 

Well, that is something to aim for and a pretty good word to live by (for any clothes/fashion lover).  

I think I might just adopt it too - not necessarily overnight, but I'll slowly but surely aim to achieve Fabulosity. Best thing about it, is that Fabulosity is something that not only comes from within, but it is also in the eye of the beholder/outfit wearer. Me, looking/feeling good for me - gotto love that!

Day 128 - Outfit 128

Cropped jacket, light blue-green embellished top, boyfriend jeans, blue-green sandals

Announcing the Jimmy Choo Sale

Whoohoo - it's that time of the year, the Jimmy Choo sale. Normally I would be out of my skin with excitement, but unfortunately, since my budget does not allow it, I will just be drooling over each picture of every shoe, bag, scarf or sunglasses with a longing look and a lustful heart.

If you would like to be tempted and teased by beautiful works of art, go ahead, do it, look at the website:

http://www.jimmychoo.com/sale/icat/saleuk

Day 127 - Outfit 127

Light pink Tommy cardi, white BCBG top, jean skirt, silver sparkly sandals and a pink Burberry alice-band

Lela Rose @ Loft

I absolutely love it when 2 things I love come together to create something even more fabulous. That is what is happening at Ann Taylor Loft. Lela Rose has joined forces with Loft to release a new fabulous dress line that I absolutely love! Fabulous pale summery colours and romantic prints/details, what's not to love!?!?!?!



Day 126 - Outfit 126

Cardi, very bright ruffle top, boyfriend jeans and gold bauble sandals

Jimmy Choo at Bergdorf Goodman

I saw these lovely Jimmy Choo's on Bergdorf Goodman's website an loved them so much, I couldn't help but post a picture of them. I just love this bold and bright pink. It's just stunning!

Day 125 - Outfit 125

Gotto love purples and pinks: summer dress and black sandals.