Wardrobe Revamp - Part One.

(image cred)

A few weeks ago over California Pizza Kitchen deliciousness I was picking the brain of a friend who had recently met with an image consultant. Have any of your readers done this? I'm intrigued.  The more she told me about having a professional help her go through her closet and purge the things that she doesn't wear, don't look good on her, or (this is so me) she shouldn't have purchased just because they were a 'good deal' the more curious I became.  Then she talked about getting makeup, hair tips, and practical ways to take her look up a notch and I was just plain jealous!

After further mulling this over, it might be something I save up and pay to do myself in the not-so-distant future but in the meantime I thought, I don't have to wait for someone else to tell me some of these things.  I know a few pretty basic things I could already be doing better at.  For starters, despite having a pretty sizable  accessory wardrobe I rarely wear jewelry.  I have a tack rack that hangs heavy with fun necklaces, two shelves of bangles and scarves, a shelf dedicated to hats, and a container of clutches 2 of which still have the tags on.  That being said - the most I do on a given work day is switch my purse out to a matching one (oh friends, I can't even tell you about my purse stash yet).

So, I called in a friend Sunday night to help me purge.  I forked over my cell phone, open to the ebay app and while I purged she posted.  One benefit to having worked for consignment shops for years is that I know the value of brands and I know what sells.  So, my sweet friend Kayla diligently hung up my clothes, took pictures, and posted them to ebay with my the prices I suggested so I could recycle the things that don't flatter in hopes of using the money to buy things I can't live without.

I left no stone in that closet unturned!  I purged shoes, bags, jewelry, workout clothes, lounge wear, jeans, dresses, tops, even 'unmentionables' (don't worry, those didn't make the ebay cut).  Then I sat back for a few days and enjoyed the bidding.  Ok fine, I OBSESSED about the bidding.  There's something incredibly fun about watching things that don't do you any favors sell for more than you paid for them (let's be real - you all already knew I'm a bargain huntress with a knack for coupons).  But as the dollars rolled in I got excited to be putting packages in the mail daily and racking up money for new, wisely chosen items.

I scoured Pinterest and enlisted the help of several friends picking out outfits I could create with items from my own wardrobe or with the help of a few pieces I should add anyway.  Reading Lauren Conrad's Style book also gave me some ideas of what ammo I wanted.  Then as I shopped with Meagan in Indiana and then with Kayla again in Florida I didn't buy a single thing I couldn't honestly say I LOVED no matter how cheap it may have been.  It turns out a $5 ill-fitting shirt is still ill-fitting when you get it home.  

So part one of revamping this wardrobe was really two parts - the great purge and the recycle of the old to fund the new.  I managed to make a couple hundred dollars quickly, with minimal effort I might add, and that was a great start to my restocking expeditions.  Also, I'm trying (key word: trying) to take a less-is-more approach to clothing anyway.

In closing I will add it's been really fun to get feedback from the purchasers of my purges on ebay.  Many of you may remember I lost a considerable amount of weight two years ago so many of my purges were things that I hope never to fit in again but they found happy new homes across the country and that's been really rewarding for me as well.

Don't worry - part two isn't far behind.

Love,
B