Day Six: Another day, another outfit

Day Six

On this glorious day six, I took some advice from my lil' sis and wore some color. I love this shirt (Kohls) and it's definitely one of my favorites. My pants are from Gordmans and I'm rocking my new shoes from Target (see day 4). I think I look pretty good if I don't say so myself :) Thanks to Amber for taking a mighty fine photo!

Day five and the panic begins to set in...



Day Five

 So I'm only on day five and I'm already wondering what the heck I've gotten myself into. The challenge is quickly turning into a high-pressure situation where I now look at my closet and begin to panic. What if I can't make it 20 days? What if I wear something too soon and can't wear it when I really need to (like yesterday's pink shirt)? Do I really have to wear that? But hey, I signed up for this and I'm going to finish!

Today's outfit consists of a pair of khaki pin-striped trousers from the BR Factory Store ($25), a sleeveless white blouse from Kohls ($17) and a pair of Madden Girl brown wedges I picked up at Gordmans. I'm pretty sure they cost me about $30 which is a pretty good price for anything from Steve Madden.

Looking at today's picture I'm thinking I need to start taking these pictures first thing in the morning so I'm not all wrinkled up from sitting at my desk. Wrinkles sure do add some class, don't they? Lol! And, I'm also thinking that makeup might have to become part of my daily routine. People never seem to notice whether I have makeup on or not so I don't know why I waste 20-30 minutes of my day in the mirror, but sometimes a girl just needs some makeup!

Day Four & I cheated...sort of :)

Day Four

Day four of the challenge and I had to buy a new pair of shoes. I know that one of the main points of this challenge was to STOP buying clothes but having new shoes became a necessity as of yesterday. You know those uncomfortable shoes I wore for Day Three? Well they suck so bad that I was forced to replace them. Lucky for me I found a pair of black wedges at Target for $19.99! Anyhoo, today's outfit is a pair of black slacks from Target (Merona brand I think...) and the shirt is a sale item from Kohl's. I also pulled out a necklace in an effort to spice things up a bit today. One negative: this is the only "nice" pink shirt I have and I just remembered that this upcoming Friday (Oct. 1st) is Breast Cancer Awareness day here at work and we're all supposed to wear pink! What am I going to do now... ???

Day Three.

Day Three

Nothing too exciting for Day Three. I'm not happy w/ today's outfit but as the temperature is dropping I have to get these sleeveless tops out of the way. It was too chilly this morning to wear my favorite sandals so I pulled out some black, one-inch Mudd wedges (Mary Jane-esque w/ a strap across the front of the foot). They are old, scuffed and hurt my feet so I think it's time to update. You know what this means? Time to check out the Target shoe aisle! My pants are actually black, or at least used to be black, and I bought them at JCPenney's awhile ago. Don't you love when you buy something black and after a few washes it could pass for gray? So annoying...

My shirt today is one from the local Banana Republic Factory Store and, as I mentioned before, the pants came from JCPenney's. The shoes came from some outlet shoe store in Austin, TX. I have no idea what I paid for any of these items but, knowing me, nothing was more than $25 a piece. In fact, I think the pants were about $14. BUT, you get what you pay for and, like I said, these pants USED to be black.

And, on a side note, I need to accessorize more (talk about a drab outfit w/ no shine or sparkle) and should start wearing makeup. It's really a huge step for me to be putting pictures of me sans-makeup on the Internet!

Day One/Two

Thursday, Sept. 23rd, marked the first day of My Wardrobe Challenge. I'm on Day Two and so far so good! Picking out outfits each day has now taken on a whole new meaning.

Day one

On Thursday I opted for a pair of gray slacks (Gordmans, $17), red tube top (Gordmans $8), a white cardigan (Dillards, $8) and a pair of sandals I picked up at Payless for around $12.  Total cost of for this outfit was about $45. 

Day Two

The pants I'm wearing today, Friday, are not one of my favorites so I wanted to get them out of the way sooner rather than later. They are from New York & Company and are a hand-me-down from a friend (thanks Jonna!). They are super comfortable and could double as pj's, but I feel fat when I wear them. I'm not big on the wide-leg pants and tend to favor straight-legged or boot-cut. The black shirt is from the Banana Republic Outlet and probably cost about $10. If you don't have a BR outlet near you, find one. I refuse to buy (actually I can't afford to buy) clothing from the real Banana Republic so I go to the outlet instead. Similar clothes, same BR quality (which I have found to be excellent!) but for a much lower price. If you look online you can usually find a coupon for additional discounts and, when paired with in-store savings (like when they put the entire store on sale for 40% off), you end of saving quite a bit. I did wear the same sandals as yesterday making the total of today's outfit just over $20.

Now, it's the weekend, and it's weird to say, but I can't wait until Monday!

My Wardrobe Challenge...

Quite simply, I love clothes, but, what girl doesn't? I'm not a slave to brand names or fancy designers and I refuse to pay full price for anything I buy. I hunt sale racks and frequent shops like the Banana Republic Outlet, TJMaxx and Gordmans for good deals. I haven't always been such a frugal shopper... Back in college (before I grew up, got a "real job," bought a house, and started living an "adult" life) I'd drop $100 on a pair of jeans and not think twice! Wow, how things have changed...

Hence, the beginning of My Wardrobe Challenge! As the Recession continues (I don't care what the "experts" say, I'm still feeling it!) I've decided to put a halt to my shopping and instead see just how far I can stretch my current wardrobe. If anyone were to look in my closet (er, two closets) they'd find what they would believe to be a vast assortment of suitable "work" attire. However, when I look at the same closets I see a bunch of crap that I don't want to wear anymore. Some of my clothing is old, some new, but don't we all desire what we don't already have?? In an effort to remind myself that I actually do have enough clothing to get by, and because I enjoy a good challenge, I've decided to see just how long I can go without repeating any of the same "work" outfits. I work in a business casual enviroment (no jeans, t-shirts, etc) but can dress it up some if I so choose. I'm not including my weekend attire as part of the challenge because, quite frankly, I spend so much of my time at work (and money to buy the work clothes) that my casual wardrobe is not nearly as vast. My goal is to make it at least 20 working days without repeating outfits but I'm optimistic that I can go for much longer.

Check back often for my daily updates (complete with pictures) and thanks for following My Wardrobe Challenge!