Extreme Closet Restructuring
I might have called it a makeover, but I’m not doing anything physical (not even painting).
Awhile ago I mentioned a wardrobe organization dream I’ve had: to have every hanger labeled with it’s “part of wardrobe”. Since then, I’ve actually been working on the project, little by little, learning ALOT.
- Functionally some of my clothes just aren’t what they should be. For example, what good is a pastel cotton twinset that isn’t long enough to wear with white linen short-sleeved pants?
- Other things, primarily those with ruffles or gathers, have to be moved to a different lifestyle segment.
- I am hurtin’ for certain for fall (I’m okay for jeans, it’s tops and layers I need). More on that to come, for sure!
Here’s the process:
- Dividing my clothing by lifestyle segment, my dresser will eventually house all my leisure clothing.
- In my closet (pictured here), the area directly in front of the door is reserved for my casual clothes; less used social items are in the far back, business clothing, uniforms, and my racks of skirts are just to the left of the door, where I have to dig for them a little.
- Still to be decided: which coats stay in here and which go into another closet. (My home doesn’t really have a coat closet.)
- For the hanger labels I found some little manila hangy things and wrote on each one: Season, Lifestyle Segment, Part of Wardrobe (bottom, top or layer), and a number corresponding to it’s rank in my wardrobe. Roughly, and this is specific to my wardrobe calculations based on the pie chart project and how many I need of each piece, the rank corresponds to years (1 is the new item, 2 is last years’ and so on).
- I will have to come up with a different labeling system for my dresser. Probably a sheet of paper in each stack, possibly laminated.
Knowing that I need clothes really badly and I’ll have birthday money in a little over a month gives me great incentive to get this project finished. I’ll keep you posted!
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What Do Your Shoes Say About You?
Via Shoe Are You?, the blog of shoe therapist Meghan Cleary, aka Miss Meghan author of The Perfect Fit: What Your Shoes Say About You 
(Related link: via bits and bobbins, The Shoe Project, people’s faces and their shoes.)
I’m sure personality has more to do with it than anything, but I have often wondered if toe shape is related to anything physical - say, jawline or anything. I really think about this stuff.
So if designer sneakers say the wearer is trendy and proud of it, what do my newly thrifted ($6.95) plum-colored, textured micro-suede Keds say? LOL 
Miss Meghan?
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Teen Style Tuesday: A Series of Fall Outfits
SCORE! Today, in our final pre-Halloween Monday morning thrifting excursion, the skirt dd had been eyeing was the 99 cent color tag. She didn’t even notice the brand-new tags were still attached until coming out of the fitting room! It’s hard to tell in the pictures, but it’s an Eddie Bauer corduroy brown herringbone with a single pleat in the front.
And since I had to re-shoot all the pictures due to my photographic incompetence, I’m just going to be quiet now … grumble, grumble. I probably wouldn’t be able to say anything nice anyway. I have told you that I have zero interest in photography, haven’t I?
Update: since this post is (marginally) about daughters, it seems appropriate to mention the new blog carnival at Real Life: Mothers and Daughters Blog Carnival. Check it out!
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Straight A’s
In selecting the terms I use to describe the six figure types, I purposely chose “A” to describe a figure which is narrower in the shoulders than in the hips.
One sticky misconception concerning this figure type is that they are always rounded. Allow me to suggest a project: begin to look for straight A’s. Often projecting a sort of gamine appearance, slim “A” figure types with straighter lines are not uncommon.
Creating an A-line silhouette is most flattering to this body type.
How to do it in 2007? From Angie’s updated list of tips:
Keep your shoulder line strong and refrain from wearing items with “a sloppy shoulder line”.
In addition, allow me to capsulize much of Angie’s excellent advice into the following statement:
the “A” silhouette created by your clothing can be either full-length (think hip-length jacket and wide-ish pants) or knee-length (think dress & leggings).
What’s your favorite bit of advice for the “A”, whether rounded or straight?
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Just Linking: August 24th, 2007
Vildy is reading Fashion is spinach,
Speaking of fashion books, I recently received a small payment from my amazon affiliation
Wendy also was lovely enough to send me a link, this one to net-a-porter’s gray for fall layout. I’m inspired! But not everybody’s looking forward to a big gray cycle; the last time I brought up gray for fall, Damselfly and Anna both weren’t happy about it. Perhaps a fashion lab combining gray with other colors?
After last week’s Rockin’ event, I just have to mention - Laane plays the bag-pipes, among other instruments. That was a fun question, wasn’t it? Also, a great big thank you to the following blogs for incoming links this week:
Here’s another random thing that’s been on my mind: Hadley Freeman thinks the mid-calf skirt is unflattering. I disagree. What do you think? Does anybody have skirts of both lengths and the willingness to model a fashion lab?
Have a lovely weekend!
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Fashion Lab: Skinnies and Flats
The thing that cracks me up about asking you guys to send in pictures for fashion labs is how good you look in everything. Makes the lab almost useless! But in a good way. 
Take erin is nice, for instance. In the comments on my previous fashion lab about saddlebags and skinny black jeans, she said,
“i agree that those pants are being worn too small, but also the shoes play a part. i experimented with my own skinny jeans– high heels made the hips more prominent, which surprises me because they are so often said to be slimming. when i put my little canvas flats back on, i looked a lot better”
And kindly sent in pictures. In my opinion, erin looks fabulous in both.
I want to go shopping.
My problem with skinnies is generally in the calves (me in skinny jeans), they just end up fitting like leggings (good thing mine are stretch!). Coming in September: dcrmom tests the Zafu jean finder recommendations.
Thank you, erin, for modeling for us!
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Is It Always Okay to Wear Black to a Funeral?
The short answer is yes.
Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be another anti-black post. But on the heels of discussing what to wear to weddings, the topic of funerals or memorials seems timely. Six months ago, I posted what I wore to the funeral of an infant (which I still think was good) and we had some discussion there.
But here’s the challenge, see, Deborah alluded to it in the aforementioned comments: there is a slice of humanity with utter confidence in their qualification for the after-life. Thus, they view death simultaneously as a cause for mourning and celebration. The family mourns a temporary separation. Should you dress somberly to honor a person passing from pain into God’s presence? It doesn’t feel quite right.
When my own grandmother passed away after battling lung cancer, the immediate family wore mostly black. I was a little surprised to notice some of her friends wearing bright colors. But not offended.
I am one of those with confidence. When I leave this earth, like the thief on the cross, I am going straight to Paradise.
And what will you wear to my funeral?
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When Is It Okay to Wear Black to a Wedding?
It’s no secret: I am not a fan of black. That is to say, while black can be useful, it’s not the only answer to every dressing question. (Perhaps I’m a bit rebellious, although I prefer to think of myself as creative!)
When in the past I have mentioned the idea that some people consider wearing black to a daytime wedding a breach of etiquette, I get the impression that for most that is a new idea. To which I respond, but never aloud, “didn’t your mother teach you any manners?”
Sorry. You know I love you guys.
Erin at A Dress A Day says it much better than I could, in her wonderfully thorough Rules for Dresses at Weddings:
One: do not wear black. I can hear somebody whining that she only has one nice dress, and it NEEDS to be black because she has to wear it on New Year’s Eve, and besides, black is slimming. I am not listening to you. You do not wear black to weddings. You do not wear black to weddings because wearing black at weddings means you disapprove of the marriage. You do not wear black to weddings because someday, god forbid, you might actually WANT to wear black to a wedding in order to show your disapproval and your deep grief over somebody’s ill-advised nuptials, and no one will know that this is what you intended because there will be a roomful of women in LBDs dancing barefoot to “We Are Family” and your grand gesture will be for naught. MARK MY WORDS. (Besides, black is BOR-ing. And not as slimming as you might think.) Black and white prints are allowable if they would be unsuitable for a funeral.
To prove I am not utterly heartless, I will “allow” the following exceptions:
- The bridal party. Often the person disputing the long-standing tradition of not wearing black to a wedding will use the new fashion of having bridesmaids in black as an example. There’s no connection. Bridesmaids wear what the bride chooses for them. Guests must police themselves.
- The visibly pregnant. If you can only find one maternity dress and it’s black, the bride will understand. If not now, some time later when she’s looking back at the wedding pictures because she’s so big she can’t convince her pregnant self to get up off the couch.
- For an evening wedding.
Admittedly most etiquette experts now call the prohibition against black antiquated, but fashion experts The Budget Fashionista and Angie at youlookfab still advise color as a better option.
Some other don’ts:
- Don’t wear red. This one also comes from Erin, the reason for it is because red is such an attention-grabber.
- (I’m sure you all know this but) never wear white to a wedding, in order not to compete with the bride.
- No sequins for day weddings and nothing, nothing revealing.
I once attended a wedding where the groom’s step-mother was wearing a turquoise sequined mini-dress. Believe me, no matter how good she looked in it, she was the object of pity not admiration.
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How to Order a Latte
How life goes: yesterday my daughter had a fabulous idea for a Teen-Style Tuesday post and this afternoon we were going to shoot it. Instead, my other daughter got released from work early (she’s a nanny and the kids’ dad got some time off), so the two ladies went thrifting. I could have gone, but I had to wash my hair. Okay, that was probably over-share.
While aimlessly floating around the blogosphere, looking for inspiration for a teen-oriented post that does not require a model, I encounter The Oracle of Starbucks, via Fabulously Broke in the City. What a cute concept! Too bad it’s so poorly done.
(Disclaimer: while I do believe that our choices reveal something about what’s going on inside, I would never advise seeking supernatural wisdom apart from God. That would be foolish. This is just for fun.)
What the oracle said about me:
Personality type: Clueless
You don’t go to Starbucks much; when you do you just tag along with other people since you have nothing better to do. You would like to order a Tazo Chai Crème but don’t know how to pronounce it. Most people who drink short double split shot mocha breve are strippers.
Also drinks: Wine coolers
Can also be found at: The mall
Now, since ordering a latte is an important skill for a teen to master, at least here in The Great Northwest, I will walk you through my order and the reasoning behind it, proving that I indeed have a clue.
Short: a short is an 8 ounce cup. If you choose to order a short, you may have to explain that to the person behind the counter. Many coffee houses start their sizes at 10 or 12 ounces.
Always give the size of the beverage first!
Double: two shots of espresso. When ordering a hot drink, I always order one shot for every 4 ounces, for iced I add an extra 4 ounces. Most people consider this pretty intense.
Split-shot: half regular, half de-caf. Depending on how much caffeine I have already had, and whether I want to be bothered adding extra syllables to my order, I may leave this out.
Mocha: The simple reason I order mocha? It’s way too easy to get a flavored latte too sweet. Chocolate syrup is less sugary.
Breve: simply means use half & half instead of milk. Yum!
One thing the oracle said was true: I don’t go to Starbucks much. For the money, there are lots of places around here to get superior coffee.
What’s your order? Don’t worry, I won’t use it against you.
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A Single Dress
This is a re-run from March of 2006.
In many of our lives, it simply doesn’t make sense to own alot of dresses. Considering cost per wear, you may, like me, be motivated to get by with as few as possible. I do think it can be done with one; but maybe not the one you think.
I realize there are geographical differences of opinion, certainly if you live in New York feel free to use black, but in many areas you still risk hurting a bride’s feelings if you wear black to her wedding. (I’m looking for a little back-up from you southern belles; most people around here look at me strangely when I suggest black is not appropriate wedding guest apparel.)
In any case, there are options. For a one-dress wardrobe, a seasonless dark, solid or print, with a summer sleeve (for me that is none) is ideal. Something simple and elegant, to be worn with pumps and a jacket in the winter and with sandals in the summer.
Having one go-everywhere dress on-hand doesn’t mean I’m required to wear it to every event, it simply means I am not required to do emergency shopping.
