Wardrobe Cycle

A Three Part Story

Part 1: Deep clean

We have one (ONE!) very small, very narrow closet in our new house. While I love our house, space is hard to come by. All coats, clothing, shoes, linens, bath towels, pool towels need to be able to fit, so out with the clothing I haven't worn in a year, two years, five years.... Out with items that don't fit. Out with the city girl wardrobe. I'm talking 40% of my clothes and accessories.  I was ruthless. Afterward, I took a large box over to a thrift store, made a pretty penny, and was on my way. No store credit, thank you. Cash only, please. All proceeds donated to making LBD's room look less like a dungeon and more like a little girl's room.

Part 2: Fall cycle

Then there was this one day.... The air was fall, the trees were fall, my tea was fall, everyone I passed on the street was fall. Every corner turned was fall, fall, fall. So, I did a thing that only fall can do to me, I stopped inside the same place I sold my box of gently used items to a little over a month ago (Part 1). I slowly perused the wool skirts, admired patterned sweaters, and rustled my way through jewel tone scarves. Ahhh, fall clothes. They remind me of the days long ago when I would go to the department store with my mom for back to school clothes. I loved the anticipation of going back to school. The smell of cedar pencil shavings, the chalk dust, the swish of new corduroy pants walking to school on the first day.

Those memories are great and all, but with a husband in school full-time and a one year-old there's absolutely no room for a fashion budget. But the beauty of buying vintage or thrift is selling for trade or store credit.

So, this is what I did.

Once the baby went down for her afternoon nap, I went through the items I was on the fence about with the previous massive closet clean.

This is what I took in for trade...

One MOMA-esque black and white skirt...

One canary yellow jacket with glittery buttons...

And two barely worn light-weight scarves.

Out of those four items I took in, this is what I got for trade along with a couple bucks for coffee and a scone...

Part 3: Old and New....ish

I also recently attended a clothing swap party with the leftover goods that didn't sell from earlier and a few additional items that were weeded. Before I showed up, I had every intention of going strictly for the company and not taking anything home, but I caved and ended up with a few items I've been making great use of.

No matter how hard I attempt to stay away, I will always be draw to fashion. One of my guilty pleasures is following a small handful of fashion blogs and while I admire their ability to always seize the latest trend, I feel a bit removed from it. Long gone are the days with a disposable income. I've learned the value of need verses want. Not spending, not obtaining more than needed. Utilizing what I have and not taking in more than needed.

New is nice, but old is way more fun.

Skirt: trade (above), All other clothing and accessories: 4+ years old

70's Plaid Shirt: trade (above), Sweater: 7+ years old, Vintage Levi Jeans: swap, Boots: swap

I'm much more comfortable behind a camera than in front of one, but every once in awhile (when I actually let him take my picture) my husband seems to capture a gem of a shot.

Good As New: Cowboy Up

Hey ya'll!

LBD and I are in Texas this week visiting my family and soaking up some glorious, warm sunshine.

Bare toes and tan shoulders.

Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson on repeat.

Thought it would only be appropriate to feature a lil' hill country vintage wear....

PhatDog

digvintageclothing

xoUda

Four Eyes

I have four eye envy.

Let me explain....

Back when I was 7 years old, I would often pretend I couldn't see very well. Whenever I'd have to  read with my mom, I would squint my eyes and press the book close to my face so my nose almost brushed the pages. This act became routine all because I so very, very badly wanted to wear a pair of eye glasses. A desire that had nothing to do with a colossal crush on the blond haired, glasses-wearing boy who sat next to me in Mrs. Head's third grade class. Must have been a coincidence, right? Eventually, my mom took me to the optometrists of which after a brief examination, the only prescription I left with was a prescription to go to my room.

A few weeks went by, and my crush on blond haired boy rapidly dissolved, as crushes tend to do at that age. But at 27 years old, I still harbor a crush on eye wear. For some fun this afternoon,  I did a some browsing online and found a handful of old school frames to my liking.

Even if they are merely for make believe...

Thrifting

This weekend, I'm starting my quest in sewing and need some fabrics to practice on, so I went over to the Goodwill to see if they had anything I could work with.

Good As New: Suitcases

I never know what to do with some of the stuff I have laying around the house. Magazines a couple issues old, photocopied recipes, TO DO lists (the never ending TO DO lists!).  I don't use some of these items enough to be left out, so when I found a variety of retro suitcases used as storage I thought it was extremely cleaver . They're inexpensive when bought at a local thrift store, but can also be found for sale on Etsy and Ebay. I'm thinking of doing this with LBD's toys eventually, but here are a few other ideas that caught my eye:

An craft organizer or sewing kit...

Good As New: Tea Dresses

Naughty Shorts dresses are one of my many inspirations behind wanting to learn how to sew. Rebecca, the fabulous designer of Naughty Shorts, upcycles vintage fabrics, bedsheets, etc. to make one-of-a-kind, custom order tea dresses.

Look at all them perrdy colors!

Old School

I had to drive to Manistee (only 35 minutes north of Ludington) on Wednesday and this old schoolhouse-turned-antique-shop-now-vacant-building caught my eye. And then when I was driving back down the same road to go home I noticed the FOR SALE sign on the steps. Yes, please! Will and I always talk about turning an old school house into a home someday.

Good As New: Serving Trays

The lease on our house is up in April, so we will be moving. Again. Which means no projects for me for awhile. But even though I don't have any future home improvement tasks, I'm always on the hunt for ideas when we eventually settle down in a home. I'm hoping this will be sooner rather than later, because my binders and web bookmarks are overcrowded as is, which is why they have a new residence on this blog.

Upcycled concepts especially catch my eye, so when I saw these vintage trays used as magnet boards or wall decor I thought they would make a great first addition to my new inspiration filing cabinet.

South By Southwest

This is my "just because" present from Will, a southwest, vintage-inspired cuff.

Love that man of mine!

When I was younger, I lived in Paradise Valley, Arizona and thus my interest in Native American culture was born. This cuff reminds me of reading Chief Seattle's famous letter to the United States Government for the first time.

*top image from Earthhart Jewelry

Old Soul

I am a lover of old things.

Old houses, old movies, old clothing, old furniture, old fabric, old books, etc. When Will and I moved into our charming Park Slope apartment together we didn't have a whole lot of furniture.  So, on a warm Saturday morning  I set out with a friend to the Brooklyn Flea Market to see if there were any good finds for cheap. What did I buy instead of purchasing something useful like an end table or a lamp? A 1913 Victor Victrola in good, working condition. Way, way better than a lamp in my opinion.



I'm a believer in buying old versus buying new. And buying old to create anew. "Upcycle" is word I've incorporated into my vocabulary recently. It is defined as the process in which something old or something that would ordinarily be thrown in the trash is converted into something of  better quality and value. Essentially, giving it a second  life.