One Teaspoon Awesome Baggies Jeans // Birkenstock Madrid Birko-Flor sandals // Lacoste Sunglasses // PANDORA Tropical Palm sterling silver necklace // Daniel Wellington Watch
It was Harper’s Bazaar that argued this fall is the season of colour. Rich mustards, burnt terracotta, pale blues and deep greens; pink, pink, pink. Gone are the days of “dressing like a waiter” in black and white. Navy is the new neutral. And so on and so forth. Anyways, the article made a great case for buying all the ready-to-wear that is conveniently shoppable at ShopBazaar.
But what do you do when the season is over and black and white comes back with a vengeance for Spring 2015? (I’m assuming).
I can’t afford to have any more mistakes in my closet. If my closet was a 6th grade algebra test, it would have red strikes all over it. Well, that’s only partially true. I was a fucking boss at algebra. Clothing? Not so much. I ask: Why are you following me?
You see, my achilles heel is my budget. I’ve spent the past 6 years making hardly any money and therefore not able to really invest in a good wardrobe. I do the usual couple hundred bucks a season at Forever 21 to stay on trend and then juggle whatever comes my way via brand collaborations. Sometimes they are amazing pieces and other times it’s quite a challenge to learn to love something you never wanted in the first place – I’m being frank, here, I get to try tons of jewelry, jackets, shoes, sweaters, bags, etc. Some I grow to love more than anything I’ve ever picked out for myself. Others feel forced – I can style them like I would a merchandizer at a department store but after a few wears I’m disenchanted. I’ll wear anything, once.
Have I said too much?
Well, I’m being honest. I would much rather wear The Row from head-to-toe day in and day out than 80% of what’s in my closet currently. And this makes me quite unhappy. So, I think the best way to approach AW15 is not by adding a whole colour palette to my existing wardrobe – but to get rid of everything. It’s going to be like a blow out bonanza. Everything must go! Just the thought of dumping half the shit I own sends a thrill down my spine. A chance to start over. A chance to make it right. A chance to be me.
Sure, there are some pieces I’ll keep like my Fausto Puglisi skirt and a couple of vintage finds and outerwear – but the rest needs to leave my house pronto. Hanging onto it has been like hanging onto a bad relationship. It’s more about what the clothes symbolize than their actual aesthetic value to my look. It seems quote-unquote-wasteful to dispose of clothing that I’ve spent hard earned money on. But those pieces have served their purpose, they no longer bring me joy.
Will I have the courage to clean my slate?
Let me know your thoughts and if you have any advice as to what I should do, drop me a line @jetstejustine
Love how these shots turned out!
-A
http://www.alexanderliang.com
I did a MAJOR purge in January. It was scary at first and made me a bit anxious, but then felt amazing. Haven’t regretted a single thing that disappeared from my closet.
Plus, that feeling you get when you find an awesome piece of clothing at Value Village for almost no money? Well I like to think that a bunch of women got to feel that when they dug some of my purged items out of the racks.