Hello My Life Well Loved readers, I am Buffy York and I write a lifestyle blog called The Style Gathering. I live in Birmingham, Alabama with my husband and 4 children and we are all counting down the days until the college football season starts. Roll Tide Y’all! I met Heather four years ago when I started taking Pure Barre classes and found her energy and positive attitude to be so appealing. Several months ago when I decided to start my own blog Heather was one of the first people I called for her expertise, and last week when she asked me to be a guest blogger on My Life Well Loved, I was honored and jumped at the chance. Thank you Heather. I hope your readers enjoy…..
It is absolutely ridiculous that I stress out about what I am going to wear on any given occasion, but I do. Last month, I was invited to the Belk Fall Fashion Preview with their VP of trend merchandising, Arlene Goldstein, and my normal stress out over what to wear escalated to a full blown freak out. These moments usually set in motion a series of events that go something like this. I call my friend and say “What in the world am I going to wear?” and she says “What were you thinking?” After that several iphone pics of outfit options are texted back and forth, I head over to her house with an armload of clothes, she opens a bottle of wine and starts pulling things out of her closet and we put together an outfit. This happens alot and the bonus is that she has a “skinny mirror” in her bathroom so I leave with a little pep in my step.
Moments like this and the upcoming change of seasons and the fact that I want to fire everything in my closet got me to thinking about how to get the most out of my current wardrobe without dropping a load of cash. There are several ways to go about this but here are a few ways that have worked for me and you may find useful.
BORROW CLOTHES Double your wardrobe by having access to a friend’s closet. This clearly works out well for me. In the photographs above I am wearing the outfit my friend and I put together to wear to the Belk Fashion Preview. The BB Dakota leather shorts and Namrata Joshipura jacket I purchased from Laura Kathryn are mine and the Haute Hippie camel silk tank belongs to my friend. She and I have an awesome arrangement but here are a few things to consider, borrowing etiquette if you will, before you borrow or lend. First, these arrangements should be two-way streets. If you are going to borrow expect to lend. I actually love seeing my clothes on my friend. It gives me a renewed interest in articles of clothing that may have lost their luster in my eyes. Have you ever broken up with a boyfriend and then see him out with another girl? You think “Wait, did I miss something here?” Same emotions apply to clothes. Something else to think about is who you want to swap with, I only swap back and forth with one friend. She and I have similar taste and body types and we buy clothes in the same price range. Next thing, always return clothes in better condition than you borrowed them, and if you ruin a piece of clothing be prepared to make it right. This will ensure that you get to borrow again. Lastly, I don’t borrow shoes or fine jewelry. Number one, my friend buys very expensive shoes, like one’s with red soles, and shoes are too easily ruined and number two, jewelry is too easily lost.
HIRE A CLOSET CONSULTANT I totally understand if you do not want to borrow or lend out your wardrobe and another relatively inexpensive way to get a new outlook on your closet is to hire a consultant. Typically their services can be tailored to meet your needs from just and hour or two of putting together outfits from your current wardrobe to personal shopping. Two years ago I hired my friend Kerri Bunn to come in and help me. At the time I was working full-time and I needed some go to outfits for work and life. I was sick of standing in my closet, that housed many a clothing item, and not being able to figure out what to wear. Kerri came in and assessed what I owned, she put together many different looks complete with shoes and accessories and we took pictures with my phone to reference later. She even completely reinvented a 10-year-old jacket that I was about to give-away and I have probably worn it 30 times since. In addition to Kerri Bunn, Birmingham has several other stylists such as Tracy James of Chic Made Simple and Megan LaRussa Chenoweth of Southern Femme, each with different levels of wardrobe consulting. If you prefer not to spend any money just get a friend whose style you like to come over and revamp your looks for free.
ORGANIZE A CLOTHES SWAP PARTY I have participated in one of these with a group of my friends and it really is very fun. Get a group of women together and tell them to bring their unwanted somewhat current clothes in good condition and cash to a designated friend’s house. The clothes should be clean, on hangers and priced in $5 increments with their name on the price tag. One person is the “banker” and after shopping each others clothes the banker writes down what each person owes and gives credit to the original owner. After the party is over and all the tallys have been made each person either pays what they owe or they receive cash if they sell more than they buy. These clothes swaps can be done in many different formats so make sure you set your guidelines and everyone understands what is expected before the party.
These are just a few ways that I have found to freshen up my wardrobe without breaking the bank. What are some of the tricks that work for you? What is your wardrobe pick me up? Heather and I would love to hear from you. Post a comment below or email me at buffy@thestylegathering.com.
Wearing: Haute Hippie silk tank | Namrata Joshipura blazer (old) similar here here here | BB Dakota leather shorts | Steve Madden block heel (on sale) | Gigi New York clutch | Shalla Wista Studio nameplate necklace and lightening bolt necklace | Gorjana cuff | Stella and Dot bangle | Kate Spade iPhone case
She is gorgeous! I hope I look that flawless in the years to come 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
http://neatly-packaged.com/
Thank you Nancy and thanks for visiting my site.
I want to do a clothes swap with my friends! What a great idea, love it!
Loved the article! It makes me feel so much better about borrowing!! Thank you so much for some great ideas.
Thanks Celeste for commenting. Borrowing is the best!
Love the shared blogging!
Great article! I need to have Kerri come look at what I have and what I need. I also love the clothes swap idea. That sounds like the perfect guilt free girls night out!!
Jill go to KerriBunn.com to contact her. She treated me right. Very affordable and she gave me tons of outfit ideas with the clothes I already own.
Two of my fave AL bloggers together! 🙂 Buffy, that blazer is killer!
Thank you Lauren, I got the blazer on sale at Laura Kathryn in Crestline Village. I searched high and low to find it on the internet with no luck. I bought it very on sale so I think they must be out of stock. Bummer. You can borrow. I am very liberal with my closet.
Love the entire outfit! Gorgeous! Go Dawgs! 🙂
Thank you Ali. I love this outfit too. I often have a uniform every season and this might be it as we transition into fall.
I wish I had someone to borrow/swap with, that would be so fun!
Great blog, Buffy! I need to call Kerri for a consult. 😀
Yes you do Susan. It changed my mornings when I was getting ready for work.
More Bama bloggers! Woo hoo! The guest blogger looks like Brooke Shields a little ( I believe I have the right actress). I want to do a clothes swap with my friends, but I think too many of them are the same size as me. I didn’t know Birmingham had personal style consultants either. I know Bham is bigger than Montgomery, but I only thought it was cities up north. Either way, great advice and outfit!
Tara if your friends are the same size as you that is even better. More selection. You should google Montgomery Closet Consultants. You might be surprised what you find.
That swap party sounds like a fun idea! I know I have some outfits that could use a good home.
You should totally have a clothes swap. They are so fun!
Buffy-you look amazing!!!! Great read and ideas!!!!
Thank you Diana!
Such a beautiful outfit. Gorgeous ring too!
Thank you Lysha. My husband did a great job on picking this ring out. I love it!
LOVE this look and everything about it: the purse the leather shorts and even the phone case. Love!
Tiffany there are links to the purse, shorts and phone case at the bottom of the post. Thank you for reading. It was a fun post to write.
UMMMM she is gorgeous! I love the tones of that outfit and it’s a great transitional out fit into fall.
MJ, thank you so much! I love this outfit too. You are right about the tones being a great fall transitions. At the event I wore it to they were talking about camel being a major player in the fall color palette.
Buffy – LOVE the LOOK and advice!! My favorite is the idea of taking pictures of outfits for future reference:)