closet essentials

Fashion Fridays, Closet Essentials, Part 3

March 6, 2015 by Gindi 4 Comments

Today wraps up this series on closet essentials. It has been such fun! First, I visited Cyndi and offered tips on how to diversify her work wardrobe. Then I hung out with Mary to learn great closet reorganization tips from her closet expert. Today, you get to meet Julie and see our no-to-low budget closet makeover.

First, let me tell you hanging out with Julie feels like home. Julie and I have been friends for over 12 years. We traveled to Italy together in our first year of friendship and that cemented it (I know she has a weird thing about brushing her teeth all the time, and she knows I have a weird thing about not being able to listen to someone brushing their teeth).

There are only a few houses in Houston my car will autopilot to without checking directions. Julie’s house is one. When I visited her this week, we’d both had bad days, and the ability to decompress with someone who gets your life stage and challenges is like medicine for my soul (we both are lawyers at energy companies who have young kids). Julie’s friendship is a gift.

Julie is also a trooper. She lets me come in her closet (this is her second go round with me) and let me say “um, NO ma’am” and toss a Christmas themed sweatshirt on the floor. There almost no one else I could be so honest with (to her detriment!). (Her adorable three year old snapped this shot of us. So we photographed her back.)

On to the closet! Julie’s closet bones are good, but she underutilized her storage space. In addition to her closet bars and shelving , Julie also has shelving outside her closet (previously linen space) and a bedroom dresser she rarely uses. We looked at some of the most valuable real estate in her closet, the shelving unit in the dead center, and decided to restructure:

1. She had a small shelf of knick-knacks as well as boxes of knick-knacks further down. Those weren’t being used and the “sentimental” keeps should be stored in the attic. Wah-lah…new space opened up. (Also note the tiny jewelry storage boxes. These are rarely useful. Practical jewelry storage needs to be bigger and viewable.)

2. She had top shelving filled with costumes. Julie actually uses costumes because she does some theatre and is a Halloween enthusiast, but costumes needed to be moved to the spare room closet (including her disco ball hat, saddle shoes, wigs, and wacky dress up jewelry).

3. She had jewelry in a conspicuous spot which was smart, but the peg board wasn’t nearly large enough to keep the area uncluttered. She plans to buy a couple of low cost peg boards/hanging sticks for that interior jewelry unit/shelf to make it more functional and keep less items stacked on the ledge.

4. She wears big fluffy house shoes which, along with shoes she no longer wears, take up space in the center of the closet. The shoes we gave away, and the house shoes we moved out of the way to the back of the closet.

As for shelving, her clothing shelves were overstuffed and cluttered. We pulled out a stack of unused and unusable scarfs from a dresser drawer and agreed to put pajamas or off season items in that drawer, thus freeing up space in her main shelving unit. We edited her pajamas, which had multiplied like bunnies, and particularly focused on the ones that were worn or had Loony Tunes on them (nothing harder on a marriage that wearing Tweety on your bum).

With her t-shirts, out-of-date shorts, unused purses, sweatshirts, and pajamas gone, she now had shelving open for her jeans which currently took up a decent amount of space hanging in her closet. Jeans are ideal for folding, and this gave her room to better organize her clothes and evaluate if anything was missing.

Her hanging clothes were in pretty good shape. We donated worn items or those we couldn’t update with tailoring, and then looked to see what pieces she needed to polish her professional wardrobe. She has a solid base but should look for a handful of items to round out her wardrobe:

1. Blouses with pattern, color, and/or texture – she has several solid color shells to wear under her blazers, but they don’t add much interest. Here are a few versatile (and reasonable) layering pieces she could pick up:

This simple timeless blouse from ModCloth features a versatile lavender and blue pattern.

I love this mosaic neutral colorblocked blouse, especially if paired with a brighter skirt or blazer.

Julie loves blues, so either this bold blue anchor print or aqua paisley blouse would be a perfect addition.

This great tunic blouse from Nordstrom’s comes in TEN colors and could be worn tucked in under a suit or worn out over jeans on the weekend. Same goes for this classic tile print dressy tank from ModCloth.

2. Accessories – she doesn’t love necklaces with color but is comfortable with the idea of purchasing, and using, scarves. Particularly since Julie likes to match like color with like color, rather than mixing colors and patterns, adding a scarf is an easy way to tie an outfit together which has different color or patterns. Any of these would do the trick:

This whimsical bird scarf could be used on any number of her outfits.

This Loft scarf combines different neutrals and two patterns that could add a layer of sophistication to most of her work wardrobe (it’s all I can do not to buy this now, I am so in love with this scarf!).

And for a little more money, I love the patterns and colors infused in this Hinge scarf from Nordstrom’s.

3. A pair of camel or chocolate trousers – she has a lot of black trousers and light tan trousers, but she needs some darker neutral browns to diversify her neutral options.

4. Knock Around Clothes (Julie’s term) – her casual wardrobe was sweats and outdated shorts. She hesitates to wear yoga pants around the house because she, like every other American woman, doesn’t love her legs. But a solid colored tee and a comfy, but more modern, set of bottoms can be lovely AND functional for a mom with young kids. I recommend trying things on versus ordering on-line like usual. Start at Athleta or Academy or similar store to try different styles and fabrics to see what works for your body type. (This is my go-to “knock around” skirt from Athleta!)

Now that we’re done with closets, what’s your favorite tip? And we’re starting our Shopping With a Purpose (SWAP) series up again next week – let me know if you have an event or situation dilemma.

Fashion Friday: Closet Essentials, Part 2

February 27, 2015 by Gindi 1 Comment

This is where my little bit and I were last Sunday:

What on Earth?

Is that a freakin’ awesome closet?

I’m not jealous because this is my best friend, and I’m sure if I ever lose 40 pounds she’ll let me borrow all those cute blazers!

Seriously, this woman has a great eye. For her 40^th birthday, we spent a weekend in Manhattan and had a blast eating and shopping our way through one of our favorite cities. She has accumulated quite a collection of handbags, shoes, work clothes, and fun clothes. She doesn’t change sizes like I do so her outfits have multiplied.

She has had a walk in closet, you’ll see from the before and after pics her closet didn’t change sizes, but it just was poorly organized. She’d walk in and feel messy because of the piles of shoes on the floor and no good way to organize them. Plus she had a bunch of wasted space and no idea how to make functional use of it. Here’s some shots of the throngs of baskets and shoe racks that weren’t doing the trick:

So for her Christmas/Birthday/Valentine’s present, her darling husband (who is a seriously master gift giver) hired a closet organizing company to come make over her closet! Those companies aren’t cheap so that’s why it was her big gift this year, and boy has it made getting dressed in the morning easier.

I sat her down for a Q&A about her closet, so listen in to the great tips she shared about what works and what doesn’t work. You could easily incorporate aspects into your closet with just a focused shopping trip to Target or The Container Store.

Me: What feature(s) do you love most about your new closet lay out?

Mary: The section that holds all of my purses, with acrylic dividers, and the baskets that hold my clutches and smaller handbags. In my old closet, all of my purses were in plastic bins on high shelves. It was a huge pain to get a ladder to bring down a bin and rummage for a purse (then put it back and the ladder), which made me just use one purse most of the time. I don’t have expensive purses, but I have many that I really like and now I can interchange them with what I’m wearing pretty easily.

Me: What did they suggest that you never would have thought of?

Mary: To make use of space up high, I wanted a closet rod that had a handle that pulled the rod down, but there wasn’t enough wing-span. The designer suggested using instead a reach pole like they have in department stores. So I can still access clothes that are up high without bringing in a ladder. I put clothes up high that are seasonal, like now I have the summer stuff up there, and I will move them around as it gets warmer. But since Houston weather goes from cold to warm so quickly, I can still easily grab a pair of shorts if I need.

They also suggested valet rods, which are rods that pull-out to hang dry cleaning or an outfit for the next day. So I try to put my outfit together the night before and hang it on a valet rod which makes getting dressed in the morning so easy.

I have some really handy jewelry drawers that pull out at the back of the closet and those also help me to keep my costume jewelry organized.

Me: What doesn’t really improve functionality all that much?

Mary: The fact that I just have too much stuff, and a lot of it is similar. We all tend to gravitate to certain brands, colors, and I found that I have many duplicates. I struggled because they’re nice pieces that fit, so I didn’t want to get rid of them. For example, I love a denim trouser for work. It’s not really denim, but it’s blue and is a lightweight denim-looking fabric. Well, I have four pair and that’s overkill. So this process made me think about what I need and what I don’t need and just because it’s a good deal or is on sale, I don’t have to buy it. (Commentary from the Peanut Gallery – Wiser words were never spoken!)

Me: How do you make sure you rotate what’s in your (pretty extensive) wardrobe?

Mary: It’s hard to really figure that out. I heard someone say that they would turn the hangar the opposite way after they wore an item so you could tell it was recently worn. I’ve started to do that. I’ll try to pass over something in my closet that I’ve recently worn and go for something else.

(Can y’all tell little bit LOVES her some Aunt Mary?) So come on, it’s your turn – what works in your closet? What definitely does not? What item in Mary’s closet would you love to have?

Fashion Friday: Closet Essentials, Part 1

February 20, 2015 by Gindi 2 Comments

Meet my fun friend Cyndi. She is a smart entrepreneur who is busy and colorful. Well, everywhere but in her closet. When we explored its depths (and I mean depths, she got a bigger closet this year), we found she wasn’t very adventuresome or colorful (except for in one category, keep reading!).

Welcome to the first of a three part series for Fashion Fridays on Closet Essentials. What must you have as a part of your wardrobe? What should you ditch? What could you change? How should you be thinking about what’s in your closet now?

That’s what we’re going to tackle with this series. Cyndi was gracious enough to serve as my first guinea pig! Cyndi’s lifestyle is a mix so her wardrobe has to be as well. She owns her own law firm so a workday could mean anything from working on her computer from home (very casual), to meeting with clients in her office (professional but business casual), to appearing in court on behalf of her clients (suit is a must). She has an active daughter so weekends are busy running errands, and she’ll rarely dress up – perhaps for an evening out with her husband since even Sunday church isn’t particularly dressy.

This is what Cyndi was doing right:

Summer Casual! She had a closet full of gorgeous dresses in every color and pattern you could imagine. A casual maxidress for running errands or bright sundresses for movie night or brunch with friends. She also had an assortment of wedges that she could pair comfortably with the dresses. A great look for casual summer weekends.

This is where Cyndi was missing the mark:

Everything else. While her dresses reflected her colorful and interesting personality, her winter wardrobe and work wardrobe was primarily made up of black, brown, bland gray, and creams.

Here’s what closet essentials Cyndi was missing:

1. Neutral work pumps. This is not black or brown. These are actually less neutral than bone, taupe or gray. And Cyndi didn’t have a single solitary pair in that color family which left her stumped on what to pair with a couple of her lovely, but rarely worn, work suits. Now Cyndi does have some medical issues with her feet that leave many of the mass market shoes out of reach, but there are supportive shoes that can feel modern and work appropriate.

VANELi, Cole Haan, Rockport, and others all design heels for comfort, and if you hit Nordstrom’s during a semi-annual sale you can pick up some of these higher priced pumps for $100 (often well designed comfort shoes are pricier). It will require a lot of work, and I told Cyndi she’d probably have to spend a few hours in a shoe department in order to understand what shoes offer the support she knows her feet need. Here’s some great options:

Cole Haan Bethany wedge –

VANELI peep toe pewter pumps –

Geox snake skin embossed pumps –

2. Colorful shells. Cyndi has to wear more conservative suits to court and most of her suits were black. However, she normally paired her black suit with a black shell or possibly an ecru or gray shell.

My advice: STOP! Here is a wide open opportunity to infuse a work wardrobe with bright color. With her skin tone and hair color, she could easily shine in reds, purples, turquoises, and pinks. Luckily, you can nearly always pick up work shells on sale and she needs about five to jump start her work wardrobe.

This bold red patterned number from Loft comes in at under $50 –

As does this mauve mosaic shell that’s on sale at Loft this week –

Some blouses can go on their own or with a simple cardigan for those business casual days – like either of these from Macy’s:

3. Accessories. Cyndi has virtually no necklaces or scarves. The few necklaces she does have would pair well with a tunic and jeans but couldn’t be worn for work, and there’s not much in the way of color and texture in the scarf category either. This is the simplest and cheapest solution. While she mentioned she’s less comfortable accessorizing with necklaces, she was completely on board with picking up some interesting scarves. I always start at Charming Charlie’s for entry price point color and infinity scarves are the easiest to style.

This turquoise ocean inspired infinity scarf only runs $18 –

While this dot infinity scarf comes in around $40 from Macy’s (without coupons) but in gorgeous colors like fuschia, cherry, and iris –

But don’t exclude statement necklaces just because they’re not typically in your comfort zone. It’s good to have a couple pieces that you could pair for work or a night out. Stella & Dot or Chloe & Isabel are great places to get inspiration (and catch sales to make them more affordable).

I like this Meridian piece from Chloe & Isabel –

Here were the list of tips left hanging inside Cyndi’s closet door along with a few action items:

1. If you are wearing three of the same colors when you get ready to leave, then swap one of them out for something brighter.
Have fun – mix patterns and colors and textures! (Here was one of OUR experiments shopping in her closet!)

2. Get a color wheel and tape it to your door – experiment with coordinating and contrasting instead of matching all your outfits.

3. Accessorize! Throw on a scarf or necklace or interesting earrings before you walk out the door.

4. Tailor your suits. Take in your best fitting, most modern blazer and have at least three of your suit jackets hemmed up several inches to modernize them. Also, consider converting them from two buttons to one button for your frame and modernizing the buttons.

5. Shorten your shirts. Tunics don’t actually hide your bum, they accentuate it. Consider instead wearing a shorter shirt with a casual blazer (in a color other than beige! – she had three).

How about you? When’s the last time you evaluated your closet? What are you missing? What do you love best? And let’s all give Cyndi a huge shout out for being the first in our series! Next week, you’ll travel with me to my best friend’s closet reno!