Last week there was an event at my job and I needed to dress up.
Well… if you've been keeping up with the goings on here at Out of Debt Again, it just so happens about 16 months ago I went through my closet in a mad fit, determined to donate all the clothes that hadn't fit me for years. Who knew after vowing to never diet again for the past fifteen years that I'd give the GAPS diet a chance just four months later? Dang. I don't shop for clothes a lot, and I certainly don't dress for the latest fashions. I do wear what looks flattering to my body and I think I have an eye as to what those items are. So all the clothes I donated would fit now, but they're gone. It's hard to not feel a little sad for that. Especially that long black dress with the purple and lavender roses. That was one of my all time favorites, and I only paid $15 for it at Ross Dress for Less.
Anyway, back to my point, I needed to dress up for an evening event at work. I had saved back one fancy looking jacket that I just couldn't bear to part with when I had my mad donating fit, it is black with shiny little pieces sewn to it that are a golden color. I decided to hit Savers and see if I could find some pieces to match with this jacket. I found a nice black tube skirt by Briggs NY for only $5.99 which fit perfectly. I then decided to have a look at the shoes and found a black pair of heels by Naturalizer, for $6.99. Naturalizer shoes are known for being comfortable, and especially now that now that my feet no longer hurt since I started GAPS, I can wear heels again! I also found a black and gold beaded necklace for a mere $1.99, which pulled the gold color out of the jacket and really made the outfit. I already had a black t-shirt which matched perfectly with this outfit, and I also had the gold earrings (which were given to me by a friend -and she found them at a thrift store originally!)
So for $15.00 I found several pieces that can easily be mixed and matched to make other outfits.
I love the versatility of an outfit like this. The possibilities are endless. With a dark red or green shirt underneath, and a matching red or green necklace, I'll have a pretty outfit to wear for Christmas parties. The skirt looks very flattering on me and I could get by wearing it without jacket. With a colorful top and matching necklace it would work well for attending a birthday party or baby shower.
Another cool thing about the design of the skirt is once I lose more weight, I could easily take in the seams to make it smaller. It won't be difficult at all because of the straight tube style.
What about you? Do you try to buy your clothes with an eye toward multiple outfits?
I am a fashion idiot, which is probably why I don’t spend a ton on clothes. I prefer a dress over a skirt because I don’t have to worry about combining an outfit. Some people have a natural skill when it comes to pulling things together (like you). That skill jumped right over my gene pool unfortunately.
If I was good at it, I would definitely have a ‘mix and match’ attitude when shopping. Keep in mind, I do buy things that I think will be functional. However, I just have no confidence when it comes to trying something ‘new’.
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
October 9th, 2010 at 11:15 am
@Everyday Tips, hey I’ve always considered myself a fashion idiot but I’ve started to realize in the last few years that I guess I’m not! 🙂 Thanks for visiting and commenting!
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I like to be able to mix and match with casual clothes, but with dress clothes? Nah. I dress up infrequently enough that having an entire outfit just for the occasion is fine with me. Accessories must mix and match. But the main clothes part? Not necessary. (Actually, most of my dress clothes are dresses, so in those cases, it’s a non-issue.)
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
October 9th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
@Heather, I dress up for church which is another reason I love the option to mix and match. So would you buy a brand new outfit for each “event” or party you might attend? So like one new outfit a year?
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Heather Reply:
October 9th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
@Mrs. Accountability:
Dress up for church – makes sense!
Buy a new outfit? No. I mean, I do occasionally, but usually I’ll just wear something that I have. Everything that I have I love to wear, so I have no issues with wearing things twice or more or more!
If I still lived back East, I might have more mix-and-match, because there are more things to dress up for. But here in AZ, not so much.
My MIL has been teaching me how to sew, so for the last couple of family weddings I’ve gone to, we’ve made a dress. Those haven’t been re-worn yet; not sure that they will. (One of them was when I was in chemo and was quite skinny — not sure I’ll ever fit into it again, but I’m healthy now, which is much better!)
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
October 9th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
@Heather, ah, okay. And yeah, I hear that we don’t dress up so much here in Arizona. That is really cool that your MIL is teaching you to sew! And I’m glad you are healthy now, that is much better! Thanks for responding to my question. 🙂
What a terrific mix and match outfit! I’m not fantastic at choosing outfits or fashion pieces, but sometimes simple, versatile items are the best. I’ve owned a pair of black slacks for years that I wear whenever I have to dress up (which is rarely!) They come in handy when I have to go out.
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
October 9th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
@Little House, thanks! I am not much of a clothes shopper and I really like it when I can find one thing that will help to stretch the usefulness of other items that I have.
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I am terrible at matching clothes. Luckily I mostly wear jeans. My husband is the guy with the fashion sense! It may also be somehow linked to how we spend money on clothes- I spend next to nothing, and he likes to buy buy buy.
This looks like a great outfit! If I had more time I’d hire a professional shopper to pick out all my clothes for me!
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
October 9th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
@Journey To Our Home, funny on how your husband has the fashion sense! My husband actually has a great sense of what will look good on me. More than once he’s come home with a top for me and I take one look and think, “Ewww!” and then I try it on since he bought it for me and ends up it looks really nice on me! Thanks for visiting and commenting!
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Lovely outfit! I think it looks great on you. How is your garden going? I haven’t seen a gardening post from you in a while. 🙂
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
October 9th, 2010 at 7:47 pm
@Mrs. Gardener, thanks! I am trying to work up my energy to plant for the winter but I’m still smarting from the last round with the critters. This time I narrowed it down to round tailed ground squirrels, there must have been a million of them this year. Plus I still have gophers. I must plant at least Swiss chard! I can’t bear to buy it from the grocery store. Thanks for asking.
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That looks very nice! The cute jacket really dresses it up. You look like you’ve lost some weight, too…looking good!
Love your story about the plantar fascitis…it’s good to know someone managed to shuck off the pain without the ministrations of an orthopedist. My guy told me essentially what you figured out: never go barefoot and wear well padded shoes with heel lifts. He likes Danskos, but Sanitas, which are the original makers of Danskos, still make the original pain-free shoe. I found them at a huge discount, as seconds, online at Footprints.com. Doctor’s advice aside, I’ve always suspected that losing a little weight would help the feet a lot…
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
October 10th, 2010 at 9:37 am
@Funny about Money, thanks. I have lost 12 more pounds since we had the blogging get together. I just have to clarify what healed my feet. I tried for two years to heal my feet by not going barefoot and wearing the ugly men’s casual wear shoes, but my feet still hurt. Within two weeks of going on the GAPS Diet my feet TOTALLY stopped hurting. I can now go barefoot, wear shoes without cushioning, walk through stores, take long walks. NO PAIN WHATSOEVER. At two weeks into GAPS, I hadn’t lost enough weight (imo) to have made a significant impact. I have eliminated all processed foods from my diet, so there is no telling exactly what facilitated the healing. I suspect gluten intolerance, but the only way to find out medically if it’s a problem is to start eating gluten again and then have a test done. I’m not willing to start eating gluten again to find out. Not having pain in my feet has been a huge motivator in keeping with the diet. That, and being able to sleep without my back stiffening up. Those two things were causing me a lot of suffering and pain for years – the back stiffening had been going on for ten years, and two weeks into GAPS they ceased. I’m totally convinced it was the change in diet that healed those problems.
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I definitely do something similar. I buy clothes (mostly in grey) to match with my other outfits, but I put colour in the tops, and accessories. Everything else goes!
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