Fighting Temptation

I think I have tossed about twelve pairs of shoes that were too small/big/old since I started my fashion diet, so now I really needed some footwear. I saw a pair of Ugg boots on sale that were available in my size. The Uggs cost 129 Euros (around 185 US dollars) which means they were a bargain. I really struggled because I needed ankle boots that matched with everything and were comfortable, but then again, the entire country has them too and last year I swore to never wear Uggs again. So I made up my mind and decided not to buy them because I was really looking for boots in a more neutral colour (and they were lilac). After a couple of days I found a pair of boots I thought were right for me on the internet, taupe ankle boots with a small heel, and I visited the store to try them on. Unfortunately, those boots weren’t right either, the fit just wasn’t right and apparently, taupe isn’t my colour. But I did find some other boots I liked at the store and they did fit great. The only problem with that pair was that one of the shoes had a small ink stain and there was some discolouration between the shoes, so I asked the saleslady if they had another pair in my size, but they didn’t. So while she was calling to another store to see if they maybe had them, she grabbed a dark sponge out of the counter drawer. Still on the phone, she carelessly wiped the grey sponge onto the perfect beige shoe, which left a big dark stain. Great, now both shoes were ruined. When she told me none of the other stores had the boots she did smile at me and said: “But see, you can alter the colour of the shoe!”  But making the shoes darker wasn’t what I wanted, I might have just bought the shoes if she had given me a bit of a discount because those boots too were a little expensive (120 Euros). But since she wrecked the shoes, I left the store shoeless and feeling bummed. But there was no need for me to feel sad for much longer because suddenly I remembered the Minnetonka boots I always wanted! These were a lot cheaper (75 Euros). For some reason, they’re very rare in Holland, nobody wears them here. They are just exactly what I want: neutral, comfortably and easy to match with all my clothes. They arrived a couple of days ago and I have worn them every day since. I’m so happy with my new shoes, I hope they’ll last quite a while!   

Simple idea, huge change.

When I’m grocery shopping at the local supermarket and I see there’s a new papaya scented shower gel that’s inexpensive, I’ll be tempted to just buy it without considering if I need or not.  So when I took a shower a couple of months ago and saw that there were at least seven bottles of shampoo and five shower gels present in the bathroom (that’s a lot for just two people), I decided to stop shopping carelessly and start using all the things that I had. Since then, I looked more closely to all the things that were laying around the house and found for instance that I also owned twelve lipglosses/-sticks. Why would I need twelve different lipglosses when they aren’t even very different shades? I always wear beige/pinkish colours on my lips, and they all are. My lips aren’t that big, they don’t need twelve glosses to cover them. These items are for me the kind of things I purchase without consideration. The essence of my new shopping philosophy is just really simple: use everything you already own and buy something new when you’ve used the product you owned. It is that simple, but it made a big change in the way I look at shopping. And as you all know, this has led me to start my fashion diet.  Besides the financial benefits of buying less, it also gives a great feeling of satisfaction when you fully use a product or garment and wear it out. It feels great to throw away a shirt that’s worn to threads instead of feeling the guilt of hanging another new shirt in the closet next to unworn others!

Special Items 2

I love scarfs! And I must say, I have a lot of scarfs, maybe even a bit too much. I think a good scarf can really give your outfit that special touch. Not too long ago, I visited a local flea market at which I spotted this beautiful scarf. It was just one euro, so I had to take it. It kind of reminds me to the People of the Labyrinths tie-dye look that I love. This scarf is made of silk by the way and it feels like good quality to me. The lady who sold it to me told me she dyed it herself during a party at the beach a long time ago (must have been a hippie once ;-)). But because she dyed it herself, this means I don’t have to worry about running into someone who’s wearing the same scarf. Even though I must say that has never been one of my great fears, otherwise I wouldn’t be wearing H&M clothing. I’m not thát much of a fashionista.  I do not yet have any memories of special occasions at which I wore it, but those are just yet to come because I think I’ll be wearing this beauty a lot coming fall.  

Garment of the Moment

H&M Image

A while ago, I told you about my Alexander Wang Tee, which I love and wear a lot! But off course, I have more garments in my closet that I adore. One of those pieces is my nude H&M Blouse. I bought it in January but I didn’t really wear because it had elastic in the waist that made it look a bit cheap-ish and not really flattering. So because I was a bit annoyed by the elastic, I simply didn’t wear it (I know, that’s bad). Just a couple of weeks ago I had an amazing idea: why not remove the elastic?! Since I removed it after my epiphany I just love it! I have worn it so much since then. Everybody thinks it’s made out of silk, but really it’s just viscose. It really does look (and) feel like silk, though. I’ve added some pictures of it so that you can see the difference from the removal of the elastic, and just how it looks. If you ever have the chance of buying that blouse, just do it! The feel and fit are great (much better than a lot of my other H&M garments) you will not regret that purchase.

Combining Your Wardrobe

What I found to be very important, is finding a colour palette in which you can fit your entire wardrobe. Once you've found one that suits you, you can combine almost everything! This way, you don't have to have a lot of garments to match many outfits. For instance, I'm used to sticking to the colours grey, green, beige, (off-)white, pinkish colours and brown. By sticking to my palette, I can just mix and match endlessly. I must say that I'm not really a fan of patterns, because if you are, it can reduse your opportunities to mix it up. To show you what I mean I picked out one of my favourite cheap blouses, my paisley blouse. This is one of the very few patterned garments I own. I bought it a couple of months ago for just 1 euro and I'm so happy with it because it goes with everything! I also like it to be a unique item (it's second-hand and not just antother H&M piece, like so many of my clothes) I can match this blouse with the beige cardigan you can see in the middle of the first picture (which I also own in grey, and it matches with that one too) and the brown jacket a bit more to the left. I know a lot of friends of mine do not pay attention to the colour of the clothes they buy, which often leaves them with a cute piece that's  just unmatchable with the rest of their wardrobe. Sometimes they even buy other things just so that they can wear the stuff they've bought earlier! So my tip of the day: choose a colour palette in which you feel comfortable and which may just save you a lot of money on misbuys!