Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Work it Wednesday: Khaki and Cream

As I mentioned yesterday, my clothing style tends to toward the classic and basic. I like simple shapes in soft fabrics. If it is comfy, I don't wear it. So here is a pretty basic, neutral outfit.
sweater: goodwill, pants: walmart
Pretty boring, right? A super soft and comfy cream sweater with skinny khaki pants. In my Cheap and Chic world this outfit totals $8. Not bad, right?

Here is how I actually wore it today. It is pouring down rain and about forty degrees out. Ick! So rain boots, rain coat with a hood and bright colors were a must!
raincoat: walmart, boots: target, necklace: goodwill

bright necklace and multiple rings

Now here are two more outfits with the same basics. First a more work appropriate look with a burgundy cardi and pumps.
cardi: cato, pumps: payless, clutch: ???

And finally, my favorite look and the one I would have worn if it wasn't pouring down rain outside. A leopard scarf, some bangles and chocolate boots. Perfect.
scarf: by me, boots: payless


And a Cheap and Chic tip just for y'all because I love you. The scarf is nothing more than two yards of chiffon fabric I found on sale and JoAnn's. I love scarves, but they tend to be out of my price range and rarely are marked down on clearance enough for me to take the plunge. Last year I looked everywhere for a leopard print scarf and came up empty. Until I ran in JoAnn's for something else and ran across this pretty chiffon fabric in the clearance section. I think it was $1 a yard. So for $2 I have the perfect leopard scarf. It even has metallic gold thread running through it. If the edges start fraying too much, I'll just take the sewing machine to it, but for now it is perfect as is.

So there we have folks, three easy ideas to change up a super basic outfit. Do you use accessories to keep things fresh? Or do you let your clothes do all the talking?

Holy Statement Necklace!

Hello, lovely lady friends! I thought I would take a minute and share my system for organizing accessories. As you've probably noticed (or not), my clothing style tends toward the minimal. I rarely (like pretty much never) wear prints and tend to keep to the simple and basic. But when it comes to accessorizing, I go a little nuts. I adore jewelry and scarves and shoes and bags. Love them. The bliss that the perfect statement necklace brings to my soul is scary, y'all. Needless to say, I have a ton of the things (statement necklaces). And scarves. And earrings. And tights. And.... well you get the picture. So, what's a thrifty lady to do with all these lovelies, you ask? (Well, maybe you didn't, but you should.)
This. This is what you do with a million and one beautiful things. Ahhh. There is such satisfaction to be found in looking at an organized space that is both pretty and useful. It makes me happy. (I know, I'm easy to please.) So, what you see here, my dears is my Accessories Central. (Well part of it, anyway. Bags and shoes and belts are elsewhere.)
This is my collection of statement necklaces. In keeping with the theme of my blog (Cheap, y'all, it has to be cheap!) I'll let you in on a little secret. Actually two secrets. None of those pretties cost over $10. Also, they are hanging on a belt rack purchased at Walmart for about $4 and screwed into the wall by yours truly. I suppose you could also do individual hooks, but I like for each necklace to have it's own home.
Moving right along, now. The drawers hold tights, hose (gasp, I know, who wears hose anymore?), and socks. I got it on sale for under $5 several years ago and it has been happily corralling my leg and foot wear ever since. The two ivy covered boxes are the final remnant of an organization project from my high school days. They are ordinary shoe boxes covered in contact paper. There used to be dozens of them, but these are all that remain. Considering their advanced age, I think they are in pretty good shape. They hold wallets and little zipper purse bags.
Until recently my giant, dangly earrings resided in my jewelry armoire along with the rest of my earrings and were generally tangled and difficult to see and crowded. I pinned several cool earring display/storage projects, but didn't have the funds to do any of them. Then while sorting for a garage sale I ran across these two mesh baskets. The silver one came with a gift from Bath and Body Works, I think, and the gold star had ivy in it for years. I think it was a wedding gift. They don't match, but they work and make me happy. So there.
Next up we have a plastic bin from the dollar store that holds my scarves. Not the best solution, but one that works for now. The two silver trays came from the Target dollar aisle and hold my bangle bracelets. And finally the two flowered boxes were on clearance at Ross or Marshalls or something. They have all those mini things that go in purses. Compacts, mini notepads and pens, tissues, sewing kits, a tiny lint roller and purse sized static guard, you know various cool stuff like that.

And there you have it. Storage on a dime. Actually not really. The most recent purchase here was the belt rack for my necklaces and that was almost a year ago. The rest of the stuff has been used and re-used in various ways and areas of my house with every move. And believe me, there have been a bunch of them.

So, how do you organize your pretty things? Any tips?

Monday, February 13, 2012

So.......Hi.............It's been a while


Well. Hello, friends. It has been a while, hasn't it. Life has been difficult lately and blogging just went by the wayside. I have been missing the interaction and outlet though. So, I'm back. Sort of. I'm thinking about changing the format. I love the personal style element of my blog, but quite frankly I'm not getting dressed much right now. We are sort of homebound due to the fact that we have no income. So, no going out. Simple, yes? Also, boring. But, that's life. Currently lived in my warm and comfy sweater sweats (which you probably don't want to see). Anyway. The point of that lovely sob story is that I think I'll do a little more posting on my other loves - books, cooking, organizing and decorating on a dime (or a penny as the case may be.)

Here's where you weigh in. What kind of posts would you, my followers and readers like to see more of?
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