New Year's Day Outfit

Let's be honest: I cannot make a "resolution" for the new year. If I resolve to stop spending money, I'll spend more just to spite myself. Emotional terrorism is always a good idea.

So, how do I go about making 2012 better than 2011? I trick myself. Here's my plan to curb my spending: shop smarter (and just buying everything on sale is not smarter). I am going to turn outfit creation into a game. My closet houses a lot of clothes, but I never seem to have anything to wear. Typical problem for women, yeah?

Well, let's call this game my new year's challenge. I challenge myself to stop buying the same things in several colors (I only ever wear one of the colors), forgetting what's in my closet (too many things get shoved to the back), buying multiple versions of the same dang thing (who really needs five black cardigans?), and being too lazy to take back clothes I clearly won't wear (if it still wears the tags after a month, then it needs to go back to the store).

 So, how else can I curtail my spending habits?

1. Buy only what I love. I need to stop buying "meh" items just because they're on sale. They just collect dust in my closet and eventually end up in Goodwill bags or a friend's closet.

2. Buy with outfits in mind. If I can think of at least three things that shirt will compliment, then I'm making a smart choice.
 
3. Take notes (mental or written down) on what I "need." If I try to put together an outfit, but I know it would benefit from a gold belt, then I should go on a hunt for a gold belt. (It's good to maintain focus.)  

4. If I'm really not sure about something, I must think on it. If it's still around in a few weeks-month and I'm still thinking about it, then it's a wise purchase. For example, see the white coat in the following picture? I waited TWO months for that coat. It was $148, and I refused to pay that much. I took some items back to The Limited yesterday, and I decided to take a gander at the clearance rack. Low and behold, what did I find? Only one of those coats was left, it was in my size, and it was marked down to $69.99. Fate? I think so. I took the coat to the register and asked if I could tack my teacher's discount (15%) to this clearance item. She said yes, so I bought the coat for $60. Patience is a virtue, folks.

 This necklace was already in my collection. I'm pretty sure it came from Kohl's, and I'm certain that my mom allowed me to use one of the million 30% off coupons she poops out.

The pink sweater is also from Kohl's.

The gray skinny corduroys are from American Eagle. I think my mom bought them for me last Christmas. You'll find that my mom picked out a lot of my clothes. I put new meaning to the song "I get it from my momma."

I found these lacy black flats on the clearance rack at DSW. I wanted black flats, and I narrowed my choices down to two. I took a picture of both shoes on my feet and texted the picture to my mom. She liked these better than the others, which I was hoping she'd say.

(Side note: I'm glad I could exercise self control and buy only one pair. See, I'm already making progress!)

Wish me luck on my new year's clothes challenge!