Ladies: A Fun Way To Save Money on Clothes —a High Tech Wardrobe Capsule
July 23, 2012Engaging your emotional self (or inner child) when it comes to managing your cash flow will make the difference between making or breaking your budget. We all know rationally what is good for us – like eating an apple instead of a cookie. We know we “should” reach for the apple but our emotional self wants the cookie and a battle ensues.
Shopping for clothes often involves a similar battle where women overspend – easy to do. The white leather jacket was not on the shopping list and not in the price range, but the inner child wanted it and somehow took over the rational person inside who walked out with it. Can you tell I am speaking from experience? How many times have you gone shopping and come home with some random item that you wore once or twice because it didn’t really go with anything? You wonder what you were thinking.
The other day, I found a fashion website that can help. A while back I wrote about putting together wardrobe capsules to get maximum use of all the pieces in your closet then only making new purchases of items that go with at least two pieces in your capsule. An added benefit for someone who is creatively challenged, to plan out outfits ahead of time from head to toe down to the details of the jewelry so you look totally put together (and fabulous.)
The problem is knowing what to add to your base pieces if you can’t visualize very well. I know something when I see it as a whole but I am not one to be able to put it together in my head or even in the store, it doesn’t occur to me to pair things up. Until now! When I was surfing on my new favorite site called “Stumble Upon” (which randomly provides content based on your interests), I found Polyvore – a do-it-yourself fashion site where you put together outfits using online templates. For example, if you have a blue sheath dress in your closet, you can play around with making different outfits by dragging a similar looking dress to a template and then adding shoes, jackets, a sweater, jewelry and whatever else to see how it works. This is a dream come true for the “visualizing challenged” people like me.
Another plus is you can view other collections. I looked for collections for women over 40 – no miniskirts and cut off jean shorts for me – that had the classic style. I like to get ideas from people who have a great eye. Here are some ideas I found that I called “classy casual.”
Obviously, these sites sell clothes (so show restraint!) but you don’t have to buy them or certainly go beyond your budget. I see this as a way to work with what you have in your closet already and only pick up new pieces for which you can shop for the best prices on sale or pick up at discount retailer like my favorite -TJ Maxx.
Here is a collection, I put together completely with similar pieces I have in my closet! It is kind of basic and boring – but it’s a start!
Playing Around with Work Outfit Ideas
Other resources:
The Chic Fashionista – ideas for any age on how to work with what you have already to be classy and stylish.
Fabulous After Forty – from the ladies that brought us “Color Me Confident.” These ladies who fill a niche for the over forty crowd – love them!
How Not to Dress Like a Mom – or at least don’t wear mom jeans –humorous and full of great tips (like transitioning to fall). She has a freaky Friday blog on stupid fashion trends like the “ponytail” hole in a workout sweater. The idea seems reasonable but the result is strange looking.
Oh and an added bonus… its fun. My inner child loves this. Can you tell? How about yours? Once the inner child is a happy camper, the need to overindulge in useless fashion items is unnecessary. Besides, I don’t want to end up in a “no more mom jeans” blog as an example on freaky Friday! All in all, the do-it-yourself wardrobe capsule seems like a great way to indulge the inner child without spending a fortune as well as looking and feeling fabulous along the way. Let me know how it goes.