Told 'ya you'd be seeing this jeans + booties pairing again. They've taken a bit more effort to break in than I'd like, but: WORTH IT.

I ended up buying this sweater over the summer, during Locher's 30% off sale, and let me tell y'all - it was worth every penny. I might not get to wear it as often as I'd like (this is definitely not appropriate for even my office's casual standards) but it makes me so freaking happy.

Also, as much as I'd love to claim complete inspiration for this look, have you ever watched the seasonal styling videos from Allegra Shaw? She and I have completely different body types, and I do think some of the looks she puts together wouldn't work for me, but it's been really great for my brain to watch her work. She's clearly a fantastic stylist, who puts in an incredible amount of effort into making these videos, and she's got me thinking. Despite the mammoth-sounding task, I think I'd like to spend some time looking at specific pieces in my wardrobe and styling them differently. I think it'll just make me feel more deliberate/intentional in how I'm presenting myself, which will result in a happier me.

It's an interesting conundrum, that whole fashion thing. One of my wishlist items in 2018 was a teddy bear coat, and after much hemming and hawing (and trying and failing), this Zara bomber came out on top. I loved the collar, fit, color, etc., but almost from the get go I haven't felt as awesome wearing it as I would have liked.  Chatting with a friend who also bought it, I think we're both suffering a bit from feeling too over-the-top for DC. I don't mind sticking out a little, but feeling totally out of place? Not nearly as fun. I'm determined to wear this coat enough to be able to make a reasonable decision about whether it deserves a place in my closet or not though, so here's to one outfit and hopefully many more to come.

Well I've found myself at the end of another year in clothing and my closet, and there have been some definite ups and downs. I'm not going to promise to keep this post brief, I've already proven that to be impossible, but at the very least I can try to keep it organized. And with that said, first up is a look back with my Clothing Recap.

For the last two months of the year I picked up the following the items:

November/December Purchases:
1. Badass Feminist Cropped Sweatshirt (The Outrage)
2. Whose Land Shirt (The Outrage)
3. Corduroy Button Down (The Frankie Shop)
4. Gray Turtleneck (J.Crew)
5. Oversized Cardigan (The Frankie Shop)
6. Black Midi Dress (Reformation)
7. Faux Leather Leggings (Torrid)
*8. Wool Coat (H&M)
*9. Christmas Sweatshirt (FashionFitnessFoodie)
**10. Black Midi Dress #2 (Reformation)
**11. Floral Midi Dress (Reformation)
**12. White Jeans (J.Crew)
**13. Puffer Jacket (H&M)
**14. Orange Maxi Dress (Anthropologie)

*Bought in December
**Bought in Winter 2018-2019 Season

And as you can see I once again fell prey to the December sales and my no-buy didn't go very well. But do I consider it a failure? If I do at all it's definitely only partially, because the things that I did buy were purchased after some serious consideration and prediction for what I'd want next year (and hopefully farther), and others are testing a style before investing. I think the shifting of my style, which isn't major but is definitely still happening, makes me hesitant to make too many investments in more ethical/sustainable brands. The price point is understandably higher, but if I don't get any true wear out of it, was the purchase actually sustainable? For me the answer to that question is no, because even when you keep in mind resale, the actual purpose of the garment - to stay in my wardrobe as a staple for years to come - didn't work out. I think in the future that for more adventurous pieces in that price bracket I'll probably consider trying a cheaper version first, to see how much of a home I actually have for it, and maybe style it a few different ways with what I already own before making a final decision.  Does this mean I'm suddenly going to go back to buying a ton of fast fashion? No, because the other thing I discovered this year is that I like to ride that thin line of having what I want while still knowing that less is more.

2018-2019 Closet Philosophy 
I have purged more items from my closet this year than I have in years. Maybe it's just me watching too much of The Anna Edit, but I finally got sick of seeing things I didn't want to wear. First items were pulled out to live in piles, then in orderly (ish) tote bags, and then I bought an end of bed storage unit, to keep everything together and hidden from view. I'm never going to be that person who adheres to a strict capsule with numbers, but I think the philosophy of narrowing your focus each season is a good one. I didn't think I needed to rotate my wardrobe because technically I have room to have everything out year round, but I do admit that it's easier to choose what to wear when the only thing you're considering are appropriate to the weather options. I think the next step will be to finish purging each season over the next year, and narrowing my wardrobe only to the pieces I love - even the ones I kept because they were "useful" don't get a lot of wear, so what's the point of keeping them? I'm not going to be that person that tells you there's a specific timeline for when you should get rid of something, but I find that putting things out of sight and out of mind is a good step 1.

2019 Wardrobe Resolutions
So what about 2019? Over the year I noticed that every couple of months I would purchase between 12 and 15 new items for my wardrobe, which while I don't think is too bad for someone who's doing a significant amount of purging, it's not super sustainable. So in addition to purging (hey-o, did you know I have a Poshmark account?) I'm going to try and curb my shopping even more. My goal for 2019 is *each season* not to purchase more than 10 new items. I fully expect there to be some fudging on this goal, just because that would be a pretty large departure from last year's shopping habits and also, because there are some seasons where I'm buying a piece for the next/different one. For example, using a kind-of-shitty infographic because I'm not a real graphic designer, this is what my Winter looks like so far:

Of course the puff jacket (which I got on SUPER SALE, it was amazing) is Winter appropriate, and the jeans too (despite the distressing) but all the dresses are for summer [shrug]. My general goal for summer is to not feel like I "need" Spanx and to not wear a bra whenever possible. Both of the Reformation dresses were on sale AND fulfill my #nobra goals, so I'm pretty excited to actually wear them. The Anthropologie dress is also no bra friendly, but we'll see how much cleavage I want to rock when not on holiday.

So if we're going with the new wardrobe plan, that leaves me 5 more clothing items to purchase between now and mid-March (or thereabouts). I've got my eye on a cashmere sweater, but honestly for right now that's about it. And while I won't deny that I'm a bit of a impulse buyer, I like knowing how much wiggle room I have, and will take some time this season to examine my Winter wardrobe for any holes.

.....and I might just be waiting for Ashley Graham's 2019 collection with SwimsuitsForAll to drop....

BUT ANYWAY, reign in the shopping, purge the wardrobe, organize my closet/apartment. Those are the goals. They sound relatively short when you list them out like that, but I have a serious immediate gratification problem, so I know that sticking to these and understanding that it will take time to meet them all will be just as hard as the goals themselves.